Is My Miracleman (Marvelman) a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Eclipse Miracleman #1, cover-dated August 1985, recolors and continues the UK Warrior Marvelman strips resized to US comic format; the standard first printing carries a the printed price cover price
• This is the first US printing of the material under the Miracleman name
• The first roughly 1,000 copies were diverted as promotional editions for the 1985 San Diego Comic-Con and exist as two scarcer variants: a Gold edition (about 400 copies, with a numbered gold certificate of authenticity, signed and numbered by Alan Moore on the first page) and a Blue edition (about 600 copies, with a blue certificate signed by Cat Yronwode and Dean Mullaney but unnumbered)
• These convention copies are noted to carry a printing crease on the front cover, distinguishing them from the standard newsstand/direct first

How to confirm the first-printing statement

Publishers stated first printings differently by era. The decisive tells are a printed “First Edition/First Printing” statement, a number line whose lowest number is 1 (Random House ends at 2), or a dated first printing with no later printings listed. Paste your copyright page into the number-line decoder.

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?

The original Marvelman strips first ran in the UK anthology Warrior beginning in 1982. Eclipse Miracleman #1 (August 1985) is the first US appearance of the material as Miracleman. Marvel's 2014-onward reprints and hardcovers are later first-thus.P-000659

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Marvel 2014-onward reissues and hardcovers are later first-thus, not Eclipse firsts. Among 1985 Eclipse copies, the scarce numbered Gold and unnumbered Blue San Diego variants are distinct from the standard the printed price first printing.P-000660

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Miracleman (Marvelman) a first edition?

A first edition of Miracleman (Marvelman) by Alan Moore (Eclipse Comics) is identified by: Eclipse Miracleman #1, cover-dated August 1985, recolors and continues the UK Warrior Marvelman strips resized to US comic format; the standard first printing carries a the printed price cover price.

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

Check the copyright page. For a single issue, the indicia shows the printing. The original Marvelman strips first ran in the UK anthology Warrior beginning in 1982.

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

Marvel 2014-onward reissues and hardcovers are later first-thus, not Eclipse firsts. Among 1985 Eclipse copies, the scarce numbered Gold and unnumbered Blue San Diego variants are distinct from the standard the printed price first printing.

I have a first edition of Miracleman (Marvelman) — 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.