Is My Batman: The Dark Knight Returns a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Collected one-volume edition of the 1986 four-issue Prestige-format series
• The DC softcover trade
• , 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 material) followed

How DC Comics marked a first edition

• Modern DC collected editions use a descending number line in the indicia ('10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1'); the lowest number present is the printing, so '1' present indicates a first printing.

Full DC Comics first-edition guide →

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. Confirm the first-edition statement — look for “First Edition,” “First Printing,” or the publisher’s equivalent wording.
3. Read the indicia — a first-printing single issue carries no later-printing line; a collected edition is “first thus,” not the true first.
4. Verify this is the UK true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
5. Photograph four things — the front cover, spine, title page, and copyright page — the standard record for identification.

Format & printing

This title first appeared as a single issue / periodical, not a trade book. The true first is the first-printing single issue; later trade paperbacks or hardcover collections are “first thus.” Check the indicia (the small-print publication block) for a printing statement.

Is this the true first?

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.P-009358

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

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.P-009359

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Batman: The Dark Knight Returns a first edition?

A first edition of Batman: The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller (with Klaus Janson & Lynn Varley) (DC Comics) is identified by: Collected one-volume edition of the 1986 four-issue Prestige-format series.

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. For a single issue, the indicia shows the printing. 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.

Is the book-club edition the same as the first?

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.

I have a first edition of Batman: The Dark Knight Returns — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap — an unclipped, priced jacket matters. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and use the free First Edition Checker to decode the printing. To sell, the author’s collecting guide covers the market. And if you are clearing books in the Albuquerque area, the New Mexico Literacy Project offers free pickup, any condition, and makes sure collectible copies are identified rather than discarded.

Glossary

First edition

Every copy printed from the first setting of type. Collectors usually want the first edition, first printing (the true first).

First printing / impression

A single press run from that setting. The first printing is the earliest and most desirable; later printings are still the first edition but not the true first.

Number line (printer's key)

A row of numbers on the copyright page (e.g. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1). The lowest number present is the printing — a line including 1 marks a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2).

Points of issue

Specific physical details — a stated edition, a number line, a typo, a jacket state — that identify the true first printing.

Book-club edition (BCE)

A reprint made for a book club. Tells include a blind-stamped dot or square on the rear board and a dust jacket with no printed price. Not the true first.

First thus

The first appearance of a particular version (first paperback, first illustrated, first U.S. printing) — a first of that kind, not the first edition of the work.