DC is once again closing out the year with a villain-focused holiday anthology, and DC's Naughty List #1 is shaping up to be one of the more cover-driven releases of the season. Rather than a single storyline, the issue bundles multiple short stories built around some of DC's most recognizable rogues.
Confirmed contributors include writers Alex Segura, Che Grayson, Alyssa Wong, Dave Baker, Charles Skaggs, Jude Ellison S. Doyle, and Murewa Ayodele, with art from Laura Braga, Lisa Sterle, Alex Nieto, and Raül Fernandez, among others. That is a notably deep creative lineup for an 80-page anthology.
DC has confirmed an $9.99 price point, an 80-page count, and a November 25, 2026 on-sale date, with all covers printed on card stock. The anthology spotlights villains including Poison Ivy, Livewire, Catman, and Mr. Freeze.
This guide covers what is confirmed about the lineup, the variant cover story drawing the most early attention, and what the key-issue speculation angle actually looks like for an anthology release like this one.
DC's Naughty List #1 is structured as a multi-story anthology rather than one continuous narrative, a format the publisher has used for prior holiday specials. That structure means the issue's appeal spreads across several creative teams rather than resting on a single writer-artist pairing.
Anthology one-shots like this tend to draw a different kind of collector interest than ongoing-series issues, since the draw is usually the specific character lineup and the cover art rather than a continuing plot that readers need to follow into a next issue.
The solicitation confirms stories featuring Poison Ivy, Livewire, Catman, and Mr. Freeze, alongside a 10-page Superman and Wonder Woman holiday story written by Alex Segura with art by Jacob Edgar. That mix of top-tier Batman and Superman rogues alongside a hero-focused backup story gives the anthology a wide character draw.
None of the confirmed solicitation information for this issue points to a brand-new character debut, so collectors going in expecting a first appearance of an entirely new DC character should treat that expectation with caution rather than assuming it as fact.
The standout cover story so far belongs to variant artist Nathan Szerdy, whose cover homages the 1944 Wonder Woman comic Sensation Comics #38, with the original comic's generic armed thug swapped out for Wonder Woman's own archenemy, Cheetah.
That kind of specific, era-accurate homage cover tends to draw attention from collectors who track classic cover recreations as their own subcategory, independent of the actual villain stories printed inside the issue.
Beyond the Szerdy variant, the issue carries a main cover by Ethan Young and an additional variant by Sorah Suhng, giving the release at least three distinct cover options confirmed at solicitation.
With three confirmed covers on an $9.99, 80-page anthology, collectors chasing a complete cover run should expect to buy multiple copies of the same interior content, which is a normal trade-off for any multi-cover anthology release rather than something unique to this issue. Each copy is worth sealing in an EVORETRO Resealable Comic Bag right away, especially if you are holding more than one cover side by side.
DC has run Christmas-season villain anthologies before, and the format has consistently drawn interest from collectors who focus on specific characters, Poison Ivy and Catman collectors in particular tend to track these holiday one-shots closely, even when the stories themselves are short-format and non-continuity-heavy.
That character-driven interest, rather than any ongoing plot significance, is the most realistic framing for this issue's long-term collectibility, especially given that no major new character introduction has been confirmed for this particular release.
It is worth stating directly: as of this writing, there is no confirmed new major character debut in DC's Naughty List #1. The speculative interest in this issue centers on its variant covers, especially the Szerdy Cheetah homage, and its deep multi-writer, multi-artist anthology format rather than any first-appearance storyline.
Collectors should treat any claim of a specific new-character first appearance in this issue skeptically until DC's own solicitation or interior preview pages confirm it directly, rather than relying on secondhand chatter ahead of the November 25 release.
DC has confirmed November 25, 2026.
$9.99 for 80 pages, with all covers printed on card stock.
Poison Ivy, Livewire, Catman, Mr. Freeze, and Wonder Woman's archenemy Cheetah on a variant cover.
No confirmed new major character debut has been solicited for this issue; speculation to that effect should not be treated as fact.
The Nathan Szerdy variant, which homages 1944's Sensation Comics #38 with Cheetah replacing the original cover's armed thug.
With three confirmed covers on a card-stock anthology, keeping each one flat matters as much as keeping it sealed. Slide your copy into a EVORETRO Backing Board the moment you bring it home from the shop.
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