# Is "The Sandman: Season of Mists" by Neil Gaiman a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Sandman: Season of Mists by Neil Gaiman (DC Comics, 1992) is identified by: Trade paperback collecting The Sandman #21-28, first printing November 1992, identified by the original ISBN (1-56389-035-1 / 1852864478), the printed cover price, and the absence of any later-printing indicia on the copyright page. Collected first-thus.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Trade paperback collecting The Sandman #21-28, first printing November 1992, identified by the original ISBN (1-56389-035-1 / 1852864478), the printed cover price, and the absence of any later-printing indicia on the copyright page
- A defining first-issue tell: this is the last Sandman collection issued under the regular DC Comics logo rather than the Vertigo imprint, so a genuine first printing carries the standard DC bullet logo
- A 1992 hardcover was also issued (faux-leather boards embossed with a replica of Lucifer's key)
- Correct publisher/imprint: DC Comics

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Neil Gaiman |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| Year | 1992 |
| True first | world edition |
| Format | Comic / graphic novel |
| Key point | Trade paperback collecting The Sandman #21-28, first printing November 1992, identified by the original ISBN (1-56389-035-1 / 1852864478)… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
Trade paperback collecting The Sandman #21-28, first printing November 1992, identified by the original ISBN (1-56389-035-1 / 1852864478), the printed cover price, and the absence of any later-printing indicia on the copyright page. A defining first-issue tell: this is the last Sandman collection issued under the regular DC Comics logo rather than the Vertigo imprint, so a genuine first printing carries the standard DC bullet logo. A 1992 hardcover was also issued (faux-leather boards embossed with a replica of Lucifer's key).

## Is this the true first?
Collected first-thus. The individual monthly comics The Sandman #21-28 (1990-1991) are the true first appearances of this material.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later printings are noted as such in the indicia; because DC/Vertigo trade paperbacks of this era do not use a traditional publisher number line, identify a first printing by the original ISBN, the printed price, the regular DC (non-Vertigo) logo, and the lack of a reprint statement. Second-printing paperbacks and all later editions were issued after the Vertigo imprint launched in early 1993 and therefore bear the Vertigo logo.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Sandman: Season of Mists* by Neil Gaiman a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-sandman-season-of-mists
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.