Is My Hellboy: Seed of Destruction (single issue #1) a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Hellboy: Seed of Destruction #1, cover-dated March 1994, Dark Horse Comics; cover price 2.50 US. This is the first issue of Hellboy's first solo mini-series, conceived and drawn by Mike Mignola and scripted by John Byrne
• First printing carries no printing statement

How Dark Horse Comics marked a first edition

• Trade paperbacks / hardcovers: the indicia/copyright page states 'First edition:' or 'First printing:' with month and year; later printings update the wording.
• Many Dark Horse collected editions print a printing-history line that adds dates as printings accrue — a first printing shows a single date.

Full Dark Horse 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 world 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?

Seed of Destruction #1 is NOT Hellboy's first full appearance. His first appearance in a story is the four-page piece in San Diego Comic-Con Comics #2 (August 1993). His first color and first nationally-distributed appearance is John Byrne's Next Men #21 (December 1993). Seed of Destruction #1 (1994) is the first issue of his own titled series.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Later printings exist and are marked; the first printing has no printing statement.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Hellboy: Seed of Destruction (single issue #1) a first edition?

A first edition of Hellboy: Seed of Destruction (single issue #1) by Mike Mignola (Dark Horse Comics) is identified by: Hellboy: Seed of Destruction #1, cover-dated March 1994, Dark Horse Comics; cover price 2.50 US.

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

Check the copyright page. For a single issue, the indicia shows the printing. Seed of Destruction #1 is NOT Hellboy's first full appearance.

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

Later printings exist and are marked; the first printing has no printing statement.

I have a first edition of Hellboy: Seed of Destruction (single issue #1) — what should I do?

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 lost. To sell, see the author’s collecting guide. Either way, nothing collectible ends up in a landfill.

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.