Miracleman #1 Gold, Blue and Standard Editions

Eclipse Comics, August 1985.

First of all it is worth pointing out that the "blue" and "gold" comics are in fact ordinary first print copies of Miracleman #1 and tend not to be recognized in the various price guides (or by CGC) as variants. What makes them different is that these were apparently the first 1,000 off the printing press, which were used as promotional copies for the San Diego comic con in 1985. There is also evidence to suggest that these early copies all had a printing crease on the cover, just to the right of Miracleman's head.

The first 400 were accompanied by a gold colored (and numbered) certificate of authenticity. Each of these comics was signed by Alan Moore and the same individual numbering (out of 400) was also present next to the signature within the comic. Note that some of the numbered copies have "PRESENTED BY:" with a vendor name such as "Sunrise Comics" or "Fact, Fiction & Fantasy" hand written on the certificate, which were given out as prizes at the show. A winner of one of these gems could feel very lucky indeed as these rare items were being sold at the convention for an unbelievable $50 (note that the blue variant went for $20 but even this was a large sum to pay for a comic back in 1985).

Below are example signatures from inside three of the comics:

There has also been a few copies in circulation which bear the Alan Moore signature, have gold certificates, but no numbering on either the certificate or the comic. Whether these were part of the original batch of 400 is uknown but it is assumed they are not.

The second batch of 600 comics were accompanied by a blue certificate of authenticity and the comics themselves were signed by the then Eclipse editor Cat Yronwode and also by Dean Mullaney, one of the founders of Eclipse:

Note that any of above signature comics graded by CGC will be within the census for the standard edition, however, each will bear the classic: "name written on 1st page in pen" on the label (our understanding is that only signatures on the cover get the qualified grade).

As a side-note, Stan Sakai (of Usagi Yojimbo fame) put together the lettering on the certificates, which also bear his signature, and he was paid in comics for his work: he received two of the gold-certified comics signed by Alan Moore!