10 Daniel Clowes first editions are documented on this shelf, from Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron (1993) to Monica (2023) across 5 different publishers. Each linked guide gives the points of issue that separate a true first printing of that Daniel Clowes title from later printings and book-club copies — the publisher and year to expect, the number-line or edition-statement conventions, and the tells that show up in online listings.
Identification only, per the house rule: no prices and no appraisals here. Checking a Daniel Clowes copy in hand? Type the title into the First-Edition Checker or photograph the copyright page with Snap & Sort.
- Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron — 1993 · Fantagraphics BooksFirst collected edition, Fantagraphics Books, 1993, gathering the story serialized in Eightball issues 1 through 10 (1989-1993). The trade issue is a black-and-white softcover of 142 pages bound in publisher's stiff wraps; a concurrent signed limited hardcover was issued in black and dark-orange printed cloth with Clowes's signature on a blue bookplate laid to the half-title page. Although the story's opening…. Originally serialized in Eightball issues 1 through 10. The first collected edition is the 1993 Fantagraphics printing, issued in a trade softcover and a signed limited hardcover; later printings are separate states. Reprinted many times; later printings carry printing statements distinguishing them from the first.
- Pussey! — 1995 · Fantagraphics BooksFirst edition, first printing, Fantagraphics, 1995 (full title Pussey!: The Complete Saga of Young Dan Pussey; ISBN 156097186X). Issued as a saddle-stapled comic-format softcover in illustrated wrappers, with an introduction by Crispin Glover. Collects the Young Dan Pussey strips that first appeared serialized across issues of Eightball; the 1995 Fantagraphics volume is the first collected book edition (first-thus). Later printings are reprints; the first printing is identified by the absence of later-printing indicators on the indicia.
- Ghost World — 1997 · Fantagraphics BooksFirst collected edition, Fantagraphics, 1997, a limited signed and numbered HARDCOVER of 2,500 copies, approximately 80 pp., with Clowes's wraparound cover art and the green-and-black interior color scheme. This 1997 limited hardcover is the true first book edition; the trade softcover did not appear until 1998. Confirm the 1997 hardcover and its numbering rather than the later softcover. The Eightball serialization (Fantagraphics, issues 11 to 18, June 1993 to March 1997) is the true first appearance. The 1997 Fantagraphics limited signed and numbered hardcover (2,500 copies) is the first book edition; the 1998 trade softcover and the later expanded Special Edition and 2001 film tie-in are all separate later issues. No book-club edition. The key distinction is format and date: the 1997 first edition is the limited hardcover, not a softcover. The widely circulated softcover is the 1998 trade printing and later; the Special Edition and film tie-ins are later still.
- David Boring — 2000 · Pantheon BooksHardcover, Pantheon Books, 2000 (ISBN 0-375-40692-1). First printing identified by a complete number line ending in 1 on the copyright page. Collects the David Boring storyline from Eightball #19-21. Issued in dust jacket. The US Pantheon hardcover is the true first book edition; the story was previously serialized in Daniel Clowes's comic Eightball #19-21 (Fantagraphics, 1998-2000). The UK Jonathan Cape edition (ISBN 0-224-06323-5) followed. No book-club edition; the 2002 Pantheon trade softcover and later printings are not the first.
- Ice Haven — 2005 · Pantheon BooksOversized hardcover, Pantheon Books, 2005 (ISBN 0-375-42332-X), a reworking and expansion of the material from Eightball #22 (2001). First printing has a full number line ending in 1. Issued in illustrated laminated boards without a separate dust jacket. Eightball #22 (2001) is the true first appearance of this material; the 2005 Pantheon hardcover is the first standalone book edition (first thus as a reworked book). No book-club edition; the later Pantheon trade softcover is not the first.
- Wilson — 2010 · Drawn & QuarterlyOversized hardcover, Drawn & Quarterly, 2010 (ISBN-13 9781770460072). First printing identified by a complete number line ending in 1 and the Drawn & Quarterly indicia. Bound in pictorial illustrated glazed boards with thick boards per Clowes's request; the book was issued as a boards-only volume without a dust jacket. An original graphic novel not previously serialized; the Drawn & Quarterly hardcover (April 2010) is the true first edition. No book-club edition; the later softcover and subsequent reprintings are not the first. Because the book has no jacket, identify the first by the number line ending in 1.
- Mister Wonderful — 2011 · Pantheon BooksFirst book edition (full title Mister Wonderful: A Love Story), Pantheon, 2011, number line to 1. Oblong hardcover with illustrated laminated boards, issued without a dust jacket. Expands the story serialized in the New York Times Magazine with roughly forty pages of new material. First book edition 2011; serialized in the New York Times Magazine 2007-2008. The US Pantheon edition is the true first; a UK Jonathan Cape edition also appeared in 2011. Later printings are numbered accordingly.
- The Death-Ray — 2011 · Drawn & QuarterlyFirst edition, first printing hardcover, Drawn & Quarterly, published October 2011 (ISBN 9781770460515). Oversized volume of roughly 48 pages, approximately 9 the printed price by 12 the printed price inches, issued in glossy illustrated boards without a dust jacket as published. There is no printed dust jacket to be price-clipped; identification rests on the boards, format, and the absence of any later-printing…. The material first appeared in Eightball #23 (2004), an oversized single-issue comic, which is the true first publication. The 2011 Drawn & Quarterly hardcover is the first standalone book edition (first-thus). A later Drawn & Quarterly softcover/paperback edition exists and is a reprint. The hardcover first printing carries no stated-first line, so it is identified by format (glossy illustrated boards, oversized) and the absence of later-printing indicators.
- Patience — 2016 · Fantagraphics BooksFirst edition, first printing hardcover, Fantagraphics, 2016 (ISBN 9781606999059). Issued in illustrated boards without a dust jacket; the copyright page carries the printed statement First printing, March 2016. An all-original graphic novel with no prior serialization; the 2016 Fantagraphics hardcover is the true first edition. First printing is identified by the printed First printing, March 2016 statement on the copyright page rather than a number line; later printings alter or drop this line.
- Monica — 2023 · Fantagraphics BooksFirst edition, first printing hardcover, Fantagraphics, October 2023 (ISBN 978-1-68396-882-5). An all-original graphic novel of about 106 full-color pages in roughly 8.25 by 11 inch format, issued in illustrated boards. The first printing carries no later-printing statement on the copyright page. An all-original graphic novel; the 2023 Fantagraphics hardcover is the true first edition. Later printings are indicated on the copyright page; the first printing lacks any later-printing statement.
More Comics & Graphic Novels shelves: Frank Miller, Frank Miller & David Mazzucchelli, Frank Miller & Geof Darrow, Frank Miller & Lynn Varley, Gene Luen Yang, Gilbert, Jaime & Mario Hernandez.
← All authors · All genres · part of the First-Edition Identification resource.