Is My Saga #1 a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Cover-dated March 2012, printed cover price, Fiona Staples cover showing Alana breastfeeding the newborn Hazel
• The first print has no reprint notation and the series title 'Saga' is lettered in orange
• The second printing (April 2012) renders the 'Saga' title in black and adds the words 'Second Printing' directly below the price; subsequent printings are likewise marked
• The first-print indicia is dated 2012

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. Read the indicia — a first-printing single issue carries no later-printing line; a collected edition is “first thus,” not the true first.
3. Verify this is the world true first — not a later-market or reprint edition.
4. 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?

True first appearance of Alana, Marko, and Hazel. The unmarked first print is the key; high-grade and CGC 9.8 first-print copies are the most sought. Later printings are common and clearly marked.P-036487

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.P-003391

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: Cover-dated March 2012, printed cover price, Fiona Staples cover showing Alana breastfeeding the newborn Hazel.

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

Check the copyright page. For a single issue, the indicia shows the printing. True first appearance of Alana, Marko, and Hazel.

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?

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.