How Can You Tell a First Printing of X?
Japanese manga rarely prints a first edition banner. The proof is in the colophon, the spine, and the flap.
For the original Asuka Comics volumes of X (Kadokawa Shoten, 1992 to 2002), there is no first-printing line in the Western sense. Identification rests on the physical evidence Japanese collectors have always used, and on knowing which of the three cover lives a copy belongs to.
THE TESTS
In order of reliabilityThe colophon
Open the back of the book. The Japanese colophon page prints the issue date of that impression. A first printing of volume 1 shows the volume’s first issue date, 29 July 1992, with no later impression date beneath it. Later printings add their own dates, and the colophon is where the truth lives.
The ISBN block
The eighteen Asuka volumes carry ISBN-10s in the 4-04-924 range, running from 4-04-924306-7 (volume 1) to 4-04-924892-1 (volume 18). An ISBN-13 beginning 978-4-04-113 marks the 2023 Premium Collection instead.
The spines
A genuine Asuka run shows the connecting spine picture unbroken across all eighteen volumes. Replacement volumes from other editions break the image, which makes the spine test a quick authenticity check on any claimed complete set.
The flap
An original dust jacket carries its volume’s tarot illustration on the flap. A missing jacket, common on used copies, removes both the tarot and part of the book’s identity, which is why jacketed copies are the collector grade.
THE PREMIUM COLLECTION
Not a first printing, and not pretending to beHow to spot it
Bigger presence on the shelf, all new cover art drawn in 2023, color restorations inside, and the CLAMP PREMIUM COLLECTION line printed on the cover itself, as on the volume 1 and 18.5 covers pictured in this shelf’s gallery.
What it is for
The Premium Collection is the reading edition and the only home of volume 18.5. The Asuka set remains the first-edition object. The two runs answer different questions, and a serious shelf eventually holds both.