5 Frank Miller first editions are documented on this shelf, from Ronin (1983) to Sin City (The Hard Goodbye) (1986) across 2 different publishers. Each linked guide gives the points of issue that separate a true first printing of that Frank Miller 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 Frank Miller copy in hand? Type the title into the First-Edition Checker or photograph the copyright page with Snap & Sort.
- Ronin — 1983 · DC ComicsTrue first appearance is the single issue Ronin #1 (1983), the first of a six-issue limited series running 1983-1984. First-printing single issues carry no later-printing indicators. The collected edition followed in the later 1980s and is first-thus. True first is the single issue Ronin #1 (1983). Collected editions are first-thus, not the true first. Later collected-edition printings are reprints and carry printing indicators.
- Batman: The Dark Knight Returns — 1986 · DC ComicsCollected one-volume edition of the 1986 four-issue Prestige-format series. The DC softcover trade (1986), adding new material (new introduction, endpapers, chapter headings, sketchbook), is the first collected trade; identified by stated first printing, the printed price, and ISBN 0-930289-21-8. A hardcover trade edition and a Graphitti Designs signed/numbered slipcased hardcover (limited, with additional…. Precedence: the four original Prestige-format comics (DKR #1-4, 1986) are the true first appearances and are themselves collectible, especially #1 in first print. For the BOOK, the DC trade is the first collected edition; the Graphitti signed slipcased hardcover is the premium limited state but later. The UK Titan edition follows the US. No standard book club; distinguish the 1986 first trade from later DC reprints via stated first printing and the original ISBN. The Graphitti edition is identified by its slipcase, limitation page, and Miller/Janson signatures.
- Batman: The Dark Knight Returns #1 (comic) — 1986 · DC ComicsPrestige format (squarebound, cardstock cover), cover-dated 1986, the printed price. The first printing carries no printing notation; later printings (DC ran several) state 'Second Printing,' 'Third Printing,' and so on, on the cover or in the indicia. First-print interior paper and cover gloss differ subtly from reprints. First appearance of Carrie Kelley (the new Robin) and the aged Batman of this continuity. First-print #1 is the key issue; firsts of #2-4 are also collected. The Prestige format means there is no newsstand/direct split. No book-club edition. The trap is later printings of #1 marked with a printing number; only the unmarked first printing carries first-print standing.
- The Dark Knight Returns — 1986 · DC ComicsTrue first appearance is the single prestige-format issue Batman: The Dark Knight #1 (cover-dated 1986), the first of a four-issue limited series (each issue individually subtitled). First-printing single issues carry no later-printing indicators. The collected volume followed and took the first issue's subtitle as its title. True first is the prestige single issue Batman: The Dark Knight #1 (1986). The collected trade edition is first-thus and went through numerous printings. Tenth-anniversary and Absolute editions are also first-thus, not the true first. Later collected-edition printings carry printing indicators; recolored, anniversary, and Absolute editions are distinct later states, not the true first.
- Sin City (The Hard Goodbye) — 1992/1993 (collected) · Dark Horse ComicsOriginally serialized by Frank Miller in Dark Horse Presents, beginning with episode one in the Dark Horse Presents Fifth Anniversary Special, April 1991, and continuing in Dark Horse Presents issues fifty-one through sixty-two, June 1991 to June 1992. First collected edition titled simply Sin City, Dark Horse, softcover, black and white with spot red, around 208 pages; sources date the first collected printing…. The Dark Horse Presents Fifth Anniversary Special, April 1991, is the serial true first appearance of the story and of the character Marv, with the continuation running through Dark Horse Presents fifty-one to sixty-two. The first collected book was titled Sin City; later editions retitled it The Hard Goodbye and are first thus under the new title, not the original first collected printing. No book-club edition is recorded. The retitled The Hard Goodbye printings and the film tie-in editions are later. Confirm the original Sin City title on the first collected printing; sources disagree on whether that printing is dated 1992 or 1993, so verify the date on the copy in hand rather than assuming.
More Comics & Graphic Novels shelves: Frank Miller & David Mazzucchelli, Frank Miller & Geof Darrow, Frank Miller & Lynn Varley, Gene Luen Yang, Gilbert, Jaime & Mario Hernandez, Joe Sacco.
← All authors · All genres · part of the First-Edition Identification resource.