Watchmen turns 40 in 2026, and DC Comics is marking the anniversary the way it marks most big comics milestones: with a wave of card-stock variant covers spread across its core monthly line.
Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons, and John Higgins' original 12-issue series ran from May 1986 through October 1987, and DC is now publishing monthly facsimile editions of each issue alongside the new variant program.
The anniversary variants themselves land across a dozen different current titles, each paired with a different high-profile artist rather than concentrated on a single book.
Here is the complete confirmed lineup, including on-sale dates for the three anchor issues and what is still to come.
Twelve titles are confirmed to carry a Watchmen 40th Anniversary card-stock variant: Batman #15 by Frank Quitely, Nightwing #144 by Nicola Scott, Detective Comics #1115 by Dan Mora, and Justice League Unlimited #25 by Clay Mann.
Rounding out the lineup are Action Comics #1104 by Mahmud Asrar, Supergirl #19 by Gerald Parel, Wonder Woman #39 by Jorge Fornes, Emperor Aquaman #23 by Mikel Janin, Flash #39 by Rafael Albuquerque, and Legion of Super-Heroes #3 by Rafael Grampa.
Superman #44 carries a variant from Chris Bachalo, while Green Lantern #41, tied into the Green Lantern: First Light storyline, features artwork from Dan Hipp.
Both were the last two confirmed as part of the full twelve-title program, rounding it out to cover nearly every major ongoing DC title releasing in November 2026.
Action Comics #1104 arrives first among the confirmed dates, on sale November 11, 2026, with Mahmud Asrar's variant alongside Mark Waid's main story.
Detective Comics #1115 follows on November 18, with Dan Mora's variant pairing a Clark Kent-focused storyline, and Superman #44 closes out the stretch on November 25 with Chris Bachalo's cover.
Every Watchmen 40th Anniversary variant is a card-stock cover priced at $5.99 US, a dollar above the standard $4.99 cover price most of these titles carry.
That pricing structure matches how DC has handled past card-stock anniversary variant programs, keeping the premium small enough to stay accessible to regular series readers rather than a true high-end chase item.
Rather than concentrating the anniversary on one flagship Batman or Superman issue, DC spread the dozen variants across its Bat-family, Superman-family, and Justice League-adjacent titles at once.
That approach mirrors how DC has run other multi-artist anniversary programs before, giving collectors a reason to track a wider slice of the regular lineup instead of chasing a single standalone issue.
Marvel's screentone-style Momo-Tone variant covers, also landing this November, are a dedicated Peach Momoko art style applied across Marvel's own published books, a different publisher and concept entirely from this Watchmen program.
This Watchmen wave is DC's own in-house anniversary celebration, spanning named artists working in their own individual styles rather than one unified visual treatment across every cover.
A card-stock variant is thicker than a standard interior page but still benefits from the same bagging-and-boarding approach as any modern comic you want to keep in top condition.
Current-age EVORETRO Comic Bags sized for modern single issues fit each of these twelve variants without needing a separate size for the card-stock cover itself.
Pairing each bag with a Current Age Comic Backer Board keeps the heavier card-stock cover from bending in long-term storage.
Alongside the variant covers, DC is publishing monthly facsimile editions of the original 12 Watchmen issues, starting with Watchmen #1, giving readers a way to revisit the source material in its original single-issue format.
A WIP edition of Watchmen #1 is also planned at an oversized 11-by-17-inch size, reproducing Dave Gibbons' original artwork with a new introduction from the artist, a separate purchase from both the facsimiles and the variant covers.
Tracking all three tracks at once, variant covers, facsimile editions, and the oversized WIP edition, means a completionist's shopping list for this anniversary is considerably longer than a typical single-cover celebration.
Twelve titles across DC's core monthly lineup.
$5.99 US for the card-stock cover, a dollar above standard cover price.
Action Comics #1104 with Mahmud Asrar's cover, on sale November 11, 2026.
No, that was a separate Peach Momoko screentone program on Marvel titles from a different publisher.
With twelve different titles and artists involved, this is a wider chase than most single-book anniversary programs. Keep every pickup flat and protected with a set of current-age comic bags as each issue arrives.
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