# Is "In the Shadow of No Towers" by Art Spiegelman a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of In the Shadow of No Towers by Art Spiegelman (Pantheon Books, 2004) is identified by: Oversized board-page hardcover that opens vertically, Pantheon Books, New York, 2004, ISBN 0-375-42307-6. The plates were first serialized in the German newspaper Die Zeit and in the Forward; the US Pantheon board-book hardcover is the first book edition and the true first as a collected book.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Oversized board-page hardcover that opens vertically, Pantheon Books, New York, 2004, ISBN 0-375-42307-6
- The first printing carries the full number line 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 (a first printing has the line ending in 1)
- Printed on heavy card stock throughout, the format echoing the newspaper broadsheets in which the plates first ran
- Correct publisher/imprint: Pantheon Books

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Art Spiegelman |
| Publisher | Pantheon Books |
| Year | 2004 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Comic / graphic novel |
| Key point | Oversized board-page hardcover that opens vertically, Pantheon Books, New York, 2004, ISBN 0-375-42307-6 |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
Oversized board-page hardcover that opens vertically, Pantheon Books, New York, 2004, ISBN 0-375-42307-6. The first printing carries the full number line 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 (a first printing has the line ending in 1). Printed on heavy card stock throughout, the format echoing the newspaper broadsheets in which the plates first ran.

## Is this the true first?
The plates were first serialized in the German newspaper Die Zeit and in the Forward; the US Pantheon board-book hardcover is the first book edition and the true first as a collected book.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club edition; later Pantheon printings show the number line beginning at 2 or higher.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *In the Shadow of No Towers* by Art Spiegelman a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/in-the-shadow-of-no-towers
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.