Is My V for Vendetta a First Edition?

The points of issue

• First complete collected edition, DC Comics, June 1990, softcover trade paperback in cardstock wrappers, ISBN 0-930289-52-8, with the printed cover price
• Collects the ten chapters of the completed work in full color, with additional art by Tony Weare
• Stated first printing; original Lloyd mask cover without any film imagery

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. 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 UK 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?

Originally serialized in black and white in the UK magazine Warrior from 1982, which is the true first appearance of the material; the run was later completed and colored for DC. The 1990 DC softcover is the first complete collected book edition. Distinguish the UK Warrior serial from the US collected book.P-000692

Telling it from reprints & book-club editions

A Book-of-the-Month Club hardcover was issued the same year, 1990: it is the trade paperback contents bound in hard covers with white endpapers, and it followed the softcover. The commercially published first is the DC softcover. Later 2005 and 2006 film tie-in printings carry movie cover art. Confirm the June 1990 first softcover printing and original mask cover.P-000693

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of V for Vendetta a first edition?

A first edition of V for Vendetta by Alan Moore & David Lloyd (DC Comics) is identified by: First complete collected edition, DC Comics, June 1990, softcover trade paperback in cardstock wrappers, ISBN 0-930289-52-8, with the printed cover price.

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. For a single issue, the indicia shows the printing. Originally serialized in black and white in the UK magazine Warrior from 1982, which is the true first appearance of the material; the run was later completed and colored for DC.

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

A Book-of-the-Month Club hardcover was issued the same year, 1990: it is the trade paperback contents bound in hard covers with white endpapers, and it followed the softcover. The commercially published first is the DC softcover. Later 2005 and 2006 film tie-in printings carry movie cover art. Confirm the June 1990 first softcover printing and original mask cover.

I have a first edition of V for Vendetta — 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.