Is My The Walking Dead #1 a First Edition?

The points of issue

• Cover-dated October 2003, printed cover price, first print run of roughly 7,000 to 7,500 copies
• The first print carries no printing notation on the cover and the indicia shows no 'printing' line (or states 'First Printing, October 2003')
• The 'Walking Dead' logo red is the lighter first-print shade
• The second print (December 2003) adds a 'Second Printing' notation near the Image logo at the bottom of the cover, the logo red is noticeably darker and almost black, and the indicia explicitly reads 'Second Printing, December 2003.' Later printings (third, fourth) are likewise cover-marked
• A known first-print color error exists in which 'Mature Readers' prints in black on a minority of copies

How Image Comics marked a first edition

• Many Image collected editions also carry a descending number line on the indicia page; a '1' present indicates the first printing.

Full Image 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?

True first appearance of Rick Grimes. The direct edition with the Image logo is standard; a genuine 2003 newsstand copy with a UPC barcode is far scarcer. Any newsstand premium attaches only to the first print.P-037193

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

No book-club edition. The key trap is paying first-print prices for a marked later printing or a later-printing newsstand copy. Confirm there is no printing notation anywhere and that the logo is the lighter first-print red rather than the darker second-print red.P-037194

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of The Walking Dead #1 a first edition?

A first edition of The Walking Dead #1 by Robert Kirkman & Tony Moore (Image Comics) is identified by: Cover-dated October 2003, printed cover price, first print run of roughly 7,000 to 7,500 copies.

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 appearance of Rick Grimes.

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

No book-club edition. The key trap is paying first-print prices for a marked later printing or a later-printing newsstand copy. Confirm there is no printing notation anywhere and that the logo is the lighter first-print red rather than the darker second-print red.

I have a first edition of The Walking Dead #1 — 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.