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All three books have identical covers; these were put out long before the
variant cover craze that seems so popular in limited edition books today. Also
contrary to popular belief Eclipse Comics had nothing to do with producing these
editions. I talked to Cat Yronwode (one time editor/part owner of Eclipse) and
according to her she and Dean Mallaney (other owner/husband) were approached by
a 3rd party (a comic store she couldn’t remember the name of) to do nothing more
than sign copies of the regular edition of the book, which was in turn dubbed
the Blue Edition. I can only assume that the comic store (Sunrise Comics
perhaps) also had a similar deal with Alan Moore to sign 400 copies turning them
in to the Gold Edition. Of late I have seen more and more copies that are signed
by Moore that are not numbered, but come with a very similar Certificate of
Authenticity as the Gold Edition, I have no idea how many of these there are
because unlike the “true” Gold Edition they are unnumbered. All special editions
were released in 1985 at the San Diego comic-con and are the first distributed
copies of Miracleman #1, the Gold sold for $50.00 and the Blue for $20.00.
Miracleman Gold and Blue Certificate of Authenticity
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Gold COA |
Signed COA |
Blue COA |
All the signatures that appear on the COA are just copies; they are not real as
the COA is just a photocopy. But if you look closely at them you will see there
are a couple of differences between the COA’s, most notably the Gold Edition
certificate vs. the other two. The Gold COA is numbered at the bottom as it was
solicited as being signed and numbered out of 400, clearly this must be a
requirement for being a “Gold Edition”. As you can see the other “Gold Edition”
COA has no number, which means to me it is not a Gold Edition at all, but merely
a signed copy of the book that comes with a COA. Also near the top of the Gold
COA are the words “Presented by Sunrise Comics”, this is also missing on the
other “Gold” and Blue COA’s, why I‘m not sure but since it is only on the true
Gold Edition COA I think it worth noting. None of the Blue Editions to my
knowledge were numbered, but they were supposed to be limited to 600 copies.
Another COA enters the fray
Gold COA-2 |
There is yet a 3rd version of the Gold COA, that you can plainly see has the
number at the bottom, but it is still missing the words “Presented by Sunrise
Comics” at the top. Why it is only on one of the COA’s is a mystery to me, but
the one copy it is on has been in my collection since 1985 and it was bought as
a Gold Edition, but it was not purchased at the San Diego comic-con. I
personally think this would count as a “Gold Edition” COA, but I would reserve
final judgment until I could see a title page scan/pic with a matching number.
Miracleman Gold and Blue Signature Pages
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Gold Book |
Signed Book |
Blue Book |
This is what makes these books the Gold and Blue Editions, the signatures on the
title page. Once again the true Gold Edition book is numbered to match the
number on its COA, were as the other “Gold Edition” is not. These might be small
differences between the two books, but I think the only true Gold Edition is the
one that is numbered. The other “Gold Edition” while still a highly desirable
book it is not a Gold Edition at all, I have seen a few of them for sale being
called “Gold Editions” but consider them more as “Fools Gold” if anything. If
you have a difference of opinion or if you have something to add please go to
the message board and share your thoughts.
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