# Is "The Sandman: The Kindly Ones" by Neil Gaiman a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Sandman: The Kindly Ones by Neil Gaiman (DC Comics / Vertigo, 1996) is identified by: Collected edition issued by DC Comics / Vertigo in 1996, gathering The Sandman #57-69 and material from Vertigo Jam #1, with art by Marc Hempel, Richard Case, D'Israeli, Teddy Kristiansen, Glyn Dillon, Charles Vess, Dean Ormston and Kevin Nowlan. Collected first-thus.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Collected edition issued by DC Comics / Vertigo in 1996, gathering The Sandman #57-69 and material from Vertigo Jam #1, with art by Marc Hempel, Richard Case, D'Israeli, Teddy Kristiansen, Glyn Dillon, Charles Vess, Dean Ormston and Kevin Nowlan
- Issued simultaneously in trade paperback (ISBN 1-56389-205-2) and hardcover (ISBN 1-56389-204-4); the hardcover was issued in a dust jacket with the title also embossed on the cloth beneath
- A first printing carries the original ISBN and price with no additional printing statement in the indicia
- Correct publisher/imprint: DC Comics / Vertigo

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Neil Gaiman |
| Publisher | DC Comics / Vertigo |
| Year | 1996 |
| True first | world edition |
| Format | Comic / graphic novel |
| Key point | Collected edition issued by DC Comics / Vertigo in 1996, gathering The Sandman #57-69 and material from Vertigo Jam #1, with art by Marc… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
Collected edition issued by DC Comics / Vertigo in 1996, gathering The Sandman #57-69 and material from Vertigo Jam #1, with art by Marc Hempel, Richard Case, D'Israeli, Teddy Kristiansen, Glyn Dillon, Charles Vess, Dean Ormston and Kevin Nowlan. Issued simultaneously in trade paperback (ISBN 1-56389-205-2) and hardcover (ISBN 1-56389-204-4); the hardcover was issued in a dust jacket with the title also embossed on the cloth beneath. A first printing carries the original ISBN and price with no additional printing statement in the indicia.

## Is this the true first?
Collected first-thus. The monthly comics The Sandman #57-69 (1994-1996) and Vertigo Jam #1 are the true first appearances of this material. Both the paperback and hardcover collections appeared in 1996.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Later printings are identified as such in the indicia; no traditional number line is used, so identify a first printing by the original ISBN and cover price and the absence of any reprint or later-printing statement.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Sandman: The Kindly Ones* by Neil Gaiman a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-sandman-the-kindly-ones
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.