Is My The Dark Knight Returns a First Edition?

The points of issue

• True first appearance is the single prestige-format issue Batman: The Dark Knight #1 (cover-dated 1986), the first of a four-issue limited series (each issue individually subtitled)
• First-printing single issues carry no later-printing indicators
• The collected volume followed and took the first issue's subtitle as its title

How DC Comics marked a first edition

• Modern DC collected editions use a descending number line in the indicia ('10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1'); the lowest number present is the printing, so '1' present indicates a first printing.

Full DC 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 is the prestige single issue Batman: The Dark Knight #1 (1986). The collected trade edition is first-thus and went through numerous printings. Tenth-anniversary and Absolute editions are also first-thus, not the true first.P-009310

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

Later collected-edition printings carry printing indicators; recolored, anniversary, and Absolute editions are distinct later states, not the true first.P-009311

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Dark Knight Returns a first edition?

A first edition of The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller (DC Comics) is identified by: True first appearance is the single prestige-format issue Batman: The Dark Knight #1 (cover-dated 1986), the first of a four-issue limited series (each issue individually subtitled).

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 is the prestige single issue Batman: The Dark Knight #1 (1986).

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

Later collected-edition printings carry printing indicators; recolored, anniversary, and Absolute editions are distinct later states, not the true first.

I have a first edition of The Dark Knight Returns — 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.