Is My Saga #1 a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Single issue Saga #1, cover-dated March 2012, Image, double-sized, cover the printed price
• The first printing is identified by ORANGE lettering in the 'Saga' title logo and carries no printing statement
• Later printings are marked (the second printing shows the title logo in BLACK with 'Second Printing' noted below the price)

How Image Comics marked a first edition

• Many Image collected editions also carry a descending number line on the indicia page; a '1' present indicates the first printing.

Full Image 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?

The true first is the single issue #1 (2012). The first trade Vol. 1 followed the same year; deluxe hardcovers are first-thus only.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Issue #1 went through five printings, each clearly marked. The key visual point: a first printing has the orange title logo and no printing line; the second printing shows a black title logo.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Saga #1 a first edition?

A first edition of Saga #1 by Brian K. Vaughan & Fiona Staples (Image Comics) is identified by: Single issue Saga #1, cover-dated March 2012, Image, double-sized, cover the printed 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 true first is the single issue #1 (2012).

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

Issue #1 went through five printings, each clearly marked. The key visual point: a first printing has the orange title logo and no printing line; the second printing shows a black title logo.

I have a first edition of Saga #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.