# Is "The Sandman: Brief Lives" by Neil Gaiman a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Sandman: Brief Lives by Neil Gaiman (DC Comics / Vertigo, 1994) is identified by: Collects The Sandman #41-49, first printing 1994, issued in both trade paperback and hardcover with dust jacket. Collected first-thus.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Collects The Sandman #41-49, first printing 1994, issued in both trade paperback and hardcover with dust jacket
- Interior art by Jill Thompson and Vince Locke, with an afterword by Peter Straub; cover and jacket design by Dave McKean
- First printing carries ISBN 1-56389-138-7
- Later printings are noted in the indicia, so identify a first printing by the original ISBN, the printed cover price, and the absence of any later-printing statement rather than by a number line
- Correct publisher/imprint: DC Comics / Vertigo

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Neil Gaiman |
| Publisher | DC Comics / Vertigo |
| Year | 1994 |
| True first | world edition |
| Format | Comic / graphic novel |
| Key point | Collects The Sandman #41-49, first printing 1994, issued in both trade paperback and… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
Collects The Sandman #41-49, first printing 1994, issued in both trade paperback and hardcover with dust jacket. Interior art by Jill Thompson and Vince Locke, with an afterword by Peter Straub; cover and jacket design by Dave McKean. First printing carries ISBN 1-56389-138-7. Later printings are noted in the indicia, so identify a first printing by the original ISBN, the printed cover price, and the absence of any later-printing statement rather than by a number line.

## Is this the true first?
Collected first-thus. The monthly comics The Sandman #41-49 (1992-1993) are the true first appearances. Both the paperback and the hardcover appeared in 1994.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No traditional number line is used; later printings state the printing in the indicia. A first printing shows the original ISBN, no reprint line, and the first-issue price on the rear panel.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Sandman: Brief Lives* by Neil Gaiman a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-sandman-brief-lives
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.