Is My Swamp Thing: Saga of the Swamp Thing (Book One) a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First trade-paperback collection (DC/Warner, 1987
• ISBN 0930289226), gathering Saga of the Swamp Thing #21-27, with the story 'The Anatomy Lesson.' A first-thus collected edition; identify by the absence of any later-printing statement on the indicia/copyright page

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. 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?

The true first appearances are the individual comic issues: Alan Moore's run begins with The Saga of the Swamp Thing #20 (1984), and #21 'The Anatomy Lesson' is the landmark issue. This 1987 trade paperback collects #21-27 and is a first-thus collection, not the true first appearance of the material.

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Later Vertigo re-collected and renumbered editions (from 2009 onward, adding issue #20) are separate, later first-thus collections.

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of Swamp Thing: Saga of the Swamp Thing (Book One) a first edition?

A first edition of Swamp Thing: Saga of the Swamp Thing (Book One) by Alan Moore (DC Comics) is identified by: First trade-paperback collection (DC/Warner, 1987; ISBN 0930289226), gathering Saga of the Swamp Thing #21-27, with the story 'The Anatomy Lesson.' A first-thus collected edition; identify by the absence of any later-printing statement on the indicia/copyright page.

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 appearances are the individual comic issues: Alan Moore's run begins with The Saga of the Swamp Thing #20 (1984), and #21 'The Anatomy Lesson' is the landmark issue.

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

Later Vertigo re-collected and renumbered editions (from 2009 onward, adding issue #20) are separate, later first-thus collections.

I have a first edition of Swamp Thing: Saga of the Swamp Thing (Book One) — 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.