# Is "The Sandman: The Dream Hunters" by Neil Gaiman & Yoshitaka Amano a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Sandman: The Dream Hunters by Neil Gaiman & Yoshitaka Amano (DC Comics / Vertigo, 1999) is identified by: Illustrated prose/art book with Yoshitaka Amano paintings; 1999 hardcover first printing (DC Comics/Vertigo, ISBN 1-56389-573-0 / 978-1-56389-573-9), identified by the full number line 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 on the copyright page. True first is the 1999 Amano-illustrated hardcover (first-thus); it won the 1999 Bram Stoker Award for Best Illustrated Narrative.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Illustrated prose/art book with Yoshitaka Amano paintings
- 1999 hardcover first printing (DC Comics/Vertigo, ISBN 1-56389-573-0 / 978-1-56389-573-9), identified by the full number line 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 on the copyright page
- Issued in pictorial boards without a dust jacket, with brush-painted endpapers and a gate-fold Amano painting of Morpheus, 126 pages
- Correct publisher/imprint: DC Comics / Vertigo

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Neil Gaiman & Yoshitaka Amano |
| Publisher | DC Comics / Vertigo |
| Year | 1999 |
| True first | world edition |
| Format | Comic / graphic novel |
| Key point | Illustrated prose/art book with Yoshitaka Amano paintings |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
Illustrated prose/art book with Yoshitaka Amano paintings; 1999 hardcover first printing (DC Comics/Vertigo, ISBN 1-56389-573-0 / 978-1-56389-573-9), identified by the full number line 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 on the copyright page. Issued in pictorial boards without a dust jacket, with brush-painted endpapers and a gate-fold Amano painting of Morpheus, 126 pages.

## Is this the true first?
True first is the 1999 Amano-illustrated hardcover (first-thus); it won the 1999 Bram Stoker Award for Best Illustrated Narrative. The later P. Craig Russell comic adaptation (2009) is a separate work with its own first.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Russell adaptation editions are distinct works; later hardcover printings show a number line that does not run to 1.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Sandman: The Dream Hunters* by Neil Gaiman & Yoshitaka Amano a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-sandman-the-dream-hunters
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.