Twelve issues published between September 1986 and October 1987, a single issue which stands out, and a market whose supply collapses from one issue to the next.On a statement dated September 6, 2026, theWatchmen#1 uncertified has a median asking price of $60 across 43 listings, while the other eleven numbers range between $10 and $30. The gap is real, but it is not the most interesting fact in the survey: it is the number that is. #2 has 146 ads, #12 has three. A median calculated over three listings does not describe a market, it describes three sellers.
What exactly the 1986 series is
Watchmenis a maxi-series of twelve issues, written by Alan Moore, drawn by Dave Gibbons and colored by John Higgins, published by DC between September 1986 and October 1987. The format matters for the collector: a maxi-series is announced from the start as finished. It has neither relaunch, nor parallel numbering, norannualcame to intervene. The whole to be assembled is therefore defined once and for all, and it consists of twelve objects.
This close explains part of the market behavior. On an open series, a collector can stop at any time without his collection appearing incomplete. Here, stopping at number eleven leaves a visible hole. The request therefore relates less to isolated issues than to the entire series, which shifts the question: the difficulty is not finding one copy, it is finding twelve copies in comparable condition.
The title has also had a career in collections which goes well beyond that of the booklets. A reader who discoversWatchmentoday almost always does so in bound volume. This dissociation has a direct consequence on the market for original booklets: those who buy them do not buy them to read the story, which they already know.
The statement of September 6, 2026, number by number
The following figures come from a survey of current announcements on the American market, carried out on September 6, 2026. These areprix demandés, not sales prices: they say what sellers hope to obtain, never what a buyer paid. Each announcement was linked to its number by the title; those which did not explicitly mention the issue concerned were excluded - 123 on number 1 alone, which gives the measure of noise in a keyword search.
#1 — the only number apart
Median $60 uncertified across 43 listings, range $11 to $315. In certified, median of $250 across 19 listings, from $89 to $6,000. This is the only issue in the series whose two segments are sufficiently detailed for a median to mean something.
#2 to #9 — a narrow chainring
Uncertified medians between $10 and $20. #2 is the most abundant in the survey with 146 advertisements, #3 has 109, #4 has 94. On this plateau, the difference between two neighboring numbers is more due to what was on sale that day than to a stable hierarchy.
#10 — an exception to watch out for
Median $30 across 20 listings, with a low of $19 — the highest low in the series after #1. A high floor reads differently than a high median: it indicates that no seller goes below it, therefore an absent low supply rather than a strong demand.
#12 — three ads
Three uncertified listings, $11 to $20. The last issue of a maxi-series is structurally less offered: it was less printed, and those who bought it bought it to finish their series. The $14 median shown here has no statistical value.
A number without its number cannot be interpreted. “Median $14” and “median $14 across three ads” are two different pieces of information, and only the second is usable. This is why each amount in this article is given with the number of ads on which it is based.
The rule goes both ways. A low median on a high workforce is a solid fact: it describes a truly liquid market. A high median on a headcount of one or two only describes an ad, and an ad is not a deal.
What certification reveals, and what it hides
The certified segment of the statement is narrow everywhere except for the first four numbers. #1 has 19 certified announcements, #2 has 16, #3 twelve, #4 nine. Beyond that, we're down to three, two, one — and numbers 7 and 8 don't count any that day.
This distribution is consistent with the cost of the action. Having a fascicle certified costs the same price regardless of the fascicle. The operation therefore only makes economic sense if the expected value of the copy justifies it. On an issue whose raw copies trade around $13, the certification costs more than the item. We do not certify, except in exceptional copies - and this is precisely why the rare certified copies of central issues display amounts which seem disproportionate compared to their gross segment.
The trap is to read these amounts as odds. #5 offers the clearest illustration of the survey: a single certified ad, at $200, compared to a gross median of $14 out of fourteen ads. The apparent ratio is fourteen to one. It measures nothing other than the fact that only one certified copy was for sale that day, and that its seller was asking $200 for it.
The median of #1 pulled up
The uncertified range for #1 is $11 to $315. Such a spread over the same number indicates that very different states coexist under the same description. The median of $60 therefore does not correspond to any specific example: it separates two halves of a heterogeneous whole.
The noise of number searches
Of the ads returned by a “Watchmen 11” search, 176 did not concern this issue. Any median calculated without filtering by number describes a mixture, and the error is invisible in the result.
The series sold in batches
Part of the supply circulates in complete series, excluded from this statement. Comparing a number price to a lot price divided by twelve gives a meaningless result: the lot is sold for what it is, a set already assembled.
Reprints under the same title
The title was withdrawn and reissued. An ad that does not specify the print run leaves the buyer to decide alone, and the price difference between a first print run and a reprint is not readable on the cover.
A statement is dated, not permanent
These figures describe September 6, 2026. Reading them again in six months as if they still described the market would be an error of method, not an error of figures.
Asked is not sold
A $6,000 listing proves that a seller is asking $6,000. It does not prove that a copy has exchanged at this price, nor that it will exchange.
How to read the series rather than its numbers
The survey suggests an overall reading that is more useful than a classification. Three regimes stand out. #1 constitutes a market in its own right, with enough certified and raw supply for a buyer to compare. Numbers 2 to 9 form an abundant plateau where the copy is chosen on the condition and not on the price, the gaps between advertisements being greater than the gaps between numbers. Numbers 10 to 12 are rarely offered, and this is where patience matters the most.
For those who want to bring the twelve together, this structure has a practical consequence. The difficulty is not at the beginning of the series, where attention is spontaneous, but at the end. #1 can be found whenever you want, provided you pay the price. #12 can be found when it is on sale. Putting the series together starting at the end is counterintuitive, but that's the order dictated by the offering.
A numerical consequence deserves to be posed. Bringing together the eleven numbers excluding #1 at the medians of this statement represents approximately $182, compared to $60 for #1 alone. In other words, the number that focuses attention weighs a quarter of the cost of the whole, and three quarters are played on booklets that no one talks about. A budget built solely on the reputation of #1 is therefore wrong in proportion.
This reading is similar to what we observe in other closed maxi-series: the first issue focuses attention and the last issue focuses rarity. The details of the fascicles and their content are covered in ourguide des numéros clés, and the evaluation method in ourguide de valorisation.
Write down what you own, with the date
A reading loses its value as soon as you forget when it was taken. The collector who notes « #1 estimé 60 $ » without a date finds himself, two years later, with a figure that he can neither confirm nor correct, because he no longer knows what to compare it to. Noted « 60 $, médiane de 43 prix demandés, 6 septembre 2026 », the same figure remains judgeable indefinitely: we know what it measured, on what number, and at what time.
The same requirement applies to the state. « Bon état » means nothing from one seller to another. What is transmitted is what we have observed ourselves: the appearance of the angles, the holding of the stapling, the presence or absence of a spine fold. On a series of twelve fascicles intended to remain together, the uniformity of condition is more important than the absolute condition of each piece.
On the September 6, 2026 statement, its uncertified median is $60 on 43 ads, compared to $10 to $30 for the eleven others. The gap is therefore real and is based on sufficient numbers. These are asking prices: they indicate the level at which sellers position themselves, not the level at which trades are concluded.
Three uncertified announcements concerned him that day. Two causes combine for the last issue of a maxi-series: a lower print run than at the start of the series, and owners who acquired it to complete their set and therefore have no reason to resell it separately.
No. On #5, this ad was the only certified ad in the survey. A number of one does not allow any generalization: the figure describes an announcement, not a market segment. The certified usable segments of the survey are those numbers 1 to 4, with nine to nineteen announcements each.
The two paths have a different cost which is not only financial. The batch saves time and guarantees the whole, but imposes the condition of its weakest link. Purchasing by issue allows you to choose the condition of each issue, at the cost of a search which stumbles upon issues that are rarely offered - the last three, according to this report.
By asking the seller and demanding a photo of the indicia page, which bears the print print. A cover alone does not make a decision. A silent announcement on this point must be treated as a redraw announcement until proof to the contrary is provided.
A figure keeps its date, its number and its source
My Comics Collection keeps your estimates with what allows you to reread them: the date of the statement, the number of ads behind the median, and the condition that you observed yourself.