Is My Sin City (The Hard Goodbye) a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Originally serialized by Frank Miller in Dark Horse Presents, beginning with episode one in the Dark Horse Presents Fifth Anniversary Special, April 1991, and continuing in Dark Horse Presents issues fifty-one through sixty-two, June 1991 to June 1992
• First collected edition titled simply Sin City, Dark Horse, softcover, black and white with spot red, around 208 pages; sources date the first collected printing to 1992, with the subtitle The Hard Goodbye added in January 1993
• Stated first printing

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?

The Dark Horse Presents Fifth Anniversary Special, April 1991, is the serial true first appearance of the story and of the character Marv, with the continuation running through Dark Horse Presents fifty-one to sixty-two. The first collected book was titled Sin City; later editions retitled it The Hard Goodbye and are first thus under the new title, not the original first collected printing.P-009305

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition is recorded. The retitled The Hard Goodbye printings and the film tie-in editions are later. Confirm the original Sin City title on the first collected printing; sources disagree on whether that printing is dated 1992 or 1993, so verify the date on the copy in hand rather than assuming.P-009306

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Sin City (The Hard Goodbye) a first edition?

A first edition of Sin City (The Hard Goodbye) by Frank Miller (Dark Horse Comics) is identified by: Originally serialized by Frank Miller in Dark Horse Presents, beginning with episode one in the Dark Horse Presents Fifth Anniversary Special, April 1991, and continuing in Dark Horse Presents issues fifty-one through sixty-two, June 1991 to June 1992.

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 Dark Horse Presents Fifth Anniversary Special, April 1991, is the serial true first appearance of the story and of the character Marv, with the continuation running through Dark Horse Presents fifty-one to sixty-two.

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

No book-club edition is recorded. The retitled The Hard Goodbye printings and the film tie-in editions are later. Confirm the original Sin City title on the first collected printing; sources disagree on whether that printing is dated 1992 or 1993, so verify the date on the copy in hand rather than assuming.

I have a first edition of Sin City (The Hard Goodbye) — 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.