# Is "The Dark Knight Returns" by Frank Miller a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller (DC Comics, 1986) 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). True first is the prestige single issue Batman: The Dark Knight #1 (1986).

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- 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
- Correct publisher/imprint: DC Comics

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Frank Miller |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| Year | 1986 |
| True first | world edition |
| Format | Comic / graphic novel |
| Key point | True first appearance is the single prestige-format issue Batman: The Dark Knight #1… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## 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.

## 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.

## 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.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Dark Knight Returns* by Frank Miller a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-dark-knight-returns
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-03.