# Is "The Death-Ray" by Daniel Clowes a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Death-Ray by Daniel Clowes (Drawn & Quarterly, 2011) is identified by: First edition, first printing hardcover, Drawn & Quarterly, published October 2011 (ISBN 9781770460515). The material first appeared in Eightball #23 (2004), an oversized single-issue comic, which is the true first publication.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, first printing hardcover, Drawn & Quarterly, published October 2011 (ISBN 9781770460515)
- Oversized volume of roughly 48 pages, approximately 9 the printed price by 12 the printed price inches, issued in glossy illustrated boards without a dust jacket as published
- There is no printed dust jacket to be price-clipped; identification rests on the boards, format, and the absence of any later-printing statement
- Correct publisher/imprint: Drawn & Quarterly

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Daniel Clowes |
| Publisher | Drawn & Quarterly |
| Year | 2011 |
| True first | world edition |
| Format | Comic / graphic novel |
| Key point | First edition, first printing hardcover, Drawn & Quarterly, published October 2011 (ISBN 9781770460515) |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First edition, first printing hardcover, Drawn & Quarterly, published October 2011 (ISBN 9781770460515). Oversized volume of roughly 48 pages, approximately 9 the printed price by 12 the printed price inches, issued in glossy illustrated boards without a dust jacket as published. There is no printed dust jacket to be price-clipped; identification rests on the boards, format, and the absence of any later-printing statement.

## Is this the true first?
The material first appeared in Eightball #23 (2004), an oversized single-issue comic, which is the true first publication. The 2011 Drawn & Quarterly hardcover is the first standalone book edition (first-thus).

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
A later Drawn & Quarterly softcover/paperback edition exists and is a reprint. The hardcover first printing carries no stated-first line, so it is identified by format (glossy illustrated boards, oversized) and the absence of later-printing indicators.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Death-Ray* by Daniel Clowes a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-death-ray
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.