IDW’s Artist’s Edition Numbering

IDW numbers their Artist’s Editions, and has for some time. Here is a complete list of all Artist’s Editions sorted by publication date.

NameShip DateNumber
Dave Stevens’ The Rocketeer Artist’s Edition08/18/10First
Walter Simonson’s The Mighty Thor Artist’s Edition08/03/11Second
John Romita’s The Amazing Spider-Man Artist’s Edition02/01/12Fourth
Wally Wood’s EC Stories Artist’s Edition02/22/12Third
David Mazzucchelli’s Daredevil Born Again: Artist’s Edition06/27/12 
Sergio Aragones’ Groo the Wanderer Artist’s Edition07/25/12 
Joe Kubert’s Tarzan of the Apes Artist’s Edition09/26/12 
Gil Kane’s The Amazing Spider-Man Artist’s Edition01/09/13 
MAD Artist’s Edition01/23/13 
Will Eisner’s The Spirit Artist’s Edition04/10/13 
Jack Davis’ EC Stories Artist’s Edition05/01/13 
John Byrne’s Fantastic Four Artist’s Edition06/26/13 
Best Of EC Comics Volume One Artist’s Edition07/10/13 
Mark Schultz’s Xenozoic Tales Artist’s Edition08/14/13 
Joe Kubert’s Tor Artist’s Edition10/30/13 
Jeff Smith’s Bone: The Great Cow Race Artist’s Edition11/06/13 
John Romita’s The Amazing Spider-Man Volume 2 Artist’s Edition01/29/14 
Jack Kirby New Gods Artist’s Edition05/14/1419
Charles M. Schulz Peanuts Artist’s Edition06/18/1421
Steranko Nick Fury, Agent Of S.H.I.E.L.D. Artist’s Edition07/16/1422
Mike Mignola’s Hellboy In Hell And Other Stories Artist’s Edition07/23/1423
Marvel Covers Artist’s Edition09/24/1424
Basil Wolverton’s Weird Worlds Artist’s Edition10/29/1418
Walter Simonson Manhunter and Other Stories Artist’s Edition11/05/1425
John Buscema’s Silver Surfer Artist’s Edition12/10/1426
Joe Kubert Enemy Ace Artist’s Edition12/24/1428
Will Eisner’s The Spirit Artist’s Edition Volume 201/21/1527
Jack Kirby Mister Miracle Artist’s Edition03/18/1529
Best Of EC: Volume Two Artist’s Edition04/22/1530
Jack Kirby Kamandi: The Last Boy On Earth Vol. 1 Artist’s Edition06/10/1533
Don Rosa’s The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, Vol. 1 Artist’s Edition06/24/1532
Mike Zeck’s Classic Marvel Stories Artist’s Edition07/01/1535
Eric Powell’s The Goon Artist’s Edition07/22/1534
Joe Kubert’s The Return Of Tarzan Artist’s Edition10/21/1537
Herb Trimpe’s The Incredible Hulk Artist’s Edition11/11/1536
Sam Kieth’s The Maxx Artist’s Edition02/24/1638
Graham Ingels’ EC Stories Artist’s Edition03/02/1639
Best Of DC War Artist’s Edition06/29/1640
Jack Kirby’s The Mighty Thor Artist’s Edition07/06/1642
Al Williamson’s Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back Artist’s Edition07/13/1641
Mike Mignola’s The Amazing Screw-On Head Artist’s Edition08/31/1643
Marvel Covers: The Modern Era Artist’s Edition09/14/1644
Jack Kirby Kamandi Artist’s Edition Vol 210/05/1645
Chris Samnee’s Daredevil: Artist’s Edition01/04/1746
Jack Kirby’s Fantastic Four Artist’s Edition01/25/1749
America’s Best Comics Artist’s Edition02/01/1747

Numbering began right at the beginning, with Dave Stevens’ The Rocketeer Artist’s Edition, mentioning on the “About This Edition” page that this was hopefully the first volume in an ongoing series. This continued through the next three Artist’s Editions. By the time David Mazzucchelli’s Daredevil Born Again: Artist’s Edition is published this numbering format is dropped, replaced with “part of an ongoing series”.

A standard format of numbering began with Jack Kirby New Gods Artist’s Edition, with a listing in the indices “Artist’s Edition #19”. Numbering of the volumes in this manner starts with #18, Basil Wolverton’s Weird Worlds Artist’s Edition, but that was almost a year late so it shows up after numbers 19-24 have been published.

Looking at the list one can see a few numbers missing: 20, 31 and 48. We can tackle the last one first, which is Alex Toth’s Bravo For Adventure Artist’s Edition, scheduled for December 2016 release but coming out February 2017. The coveted and long delayed Steranko Artist’s Edition Volume 2 falls right into the dates for number 31. As for number 20, it’s anyone’s guess. Could be as simple as accidentally skipping a number.

There are two previously announced volumes that were never published: Walter Simonson’s Star Slammers Artist’s Edition and Carl Barks’ Uncle Scrooge Artifact Edition. The Artifact Editions have had consistent numbering since Dave Gibbons Watchmen Artifact Edition (#1) in August 2014, and the Barks volume was announced after that so that doesn’t fit. Perhaps we’ll see the Star Slammers volume at some point in the future.

The only way to truly know where the missing numbers went and why the numbering stopped for fourteen volumes is for Scott Dunbier to tell us…