Since part 1 clocked in at over 2,500 words, I decided to cut this bit for space and do a separate post so people who aren't interested can ignore it in favor of the primary entries. It seems wrong to write about anything from the 90's era, especially where Image is concerned, without showing off some of the variants they produced as well. So here's a small showcase of a few other ways you might have encountered Gen 13's first issue back in the day:
Ashcan Edition
This was a special promotional edition published by Jim Lee's "Homage Studios" and Aegis Entertainment. It's roughly 2/3rds the size of a normal comic, printed in black and white, and individually numbered in gold stamp in the lower-right corner of the front cover. There were 3,000 of these printed up -- mine's #2980, in case you can't read the number off the scan. There's been a resurgence of interest in this edition, and they can go for some decent money. Not enough to retire on, but you could buy yourself a nice dinner with the proceeds.
Amusingly enough, the #1 ashcan includes the artwork for the poster from issue #1, just reduced to splash across two pages instead of having a fold-out component.
Direct Market Edition
Source: ComicBookDB.com (R.I.P.)
I didn't realize this for a long time, but there's actually a difference between the newsstand (comics purchased somewhere other than a comic shop, like the magazine rack at your local Wal-Mart or drug store when that was a thing) and the direct market (what you got from the local comic book shop) editions of this particular issue that goes beyond the presence or absence of a barcode. The newsstand edition is the one I used for the cover scan in the main article, but this is the direct market edition. You can identify a direct market edition without even opening the bag because there's no barcode in the lower-left corner obscuring Helga's face.
Why would this matter? Well, the direct market version shipped with a fold-out poster in the middle of the book, featuring Fairchild, Grunge, Freefall, and Burnout penciled by Jim Lee and inked by Alex Garner. The newsstand edition lacks this poster. If you're a completionist, check that the poster is intact before you buy. No good seeking out this edition if the previous owner hung it on his wall, after all.
Second Printing (Direct Market)
Subsequent printings of the first issue used different artwork penciled by Campbell, inked by Garner, and colored by Chiodo. If you see this cover, you're looking at a second printing. If you're still not sure, check the inside front cover, as it will say, "June 1994 Second Printing" at the bottom of the credits page.
Like the first printing, this one comes in both "Direct Market" and "Newsstand" versions, and once again, the only difference between the two is the presence or absence of a barcode on the cover and the tri-fold poster in the middle of the direct market edition. Some of the internal ads have been changed to reflect newer releases (like the WildC.A.T.s. animated cartoon ad on the back cover), but nothing about the storyline is altered.
Eye-Popping Full-Color 3-D Edition
If you wanted to see the gang pop off the page, and you had $4.95 burning a hole in your pocket, you could scoop up this variant edition, grab a pair of those blue lens/red lens 3D glasses, then sit back and read the exact same story you had already read!
Image actually released both first- and second-printing editions of the book in 3D, with no difference except the cover art. I only have the 2nd print cover in my collection, so it's all I'm showing here, but you may see the original artwork with the 3D bubble on it too. This version dropped both the poster and the sketchbook pages from previous printings in favor of some more ads and a blurb on Ray Zone, who handled the 3D artwork conversions for the book. The effect is an amusing novelty, but there's no reason to read this if you have one of the other editions unless you want a headache.
American Entertainment Exclusive Edition
A variant printing produced exclusively for American Entertainment, which you could only obtain through mail order. This is a bare-bones reprint of the second edition of issue #1 which runs 24 pages. No sketchbook, no ads, no poster, and just a plain black back cover with the "Gen 13" logo in the center. There's something off about the print quality on the interior artwork, which makes it darker and not as sharp when compared to the normal printings. If you just can't get enough Fairchild and need to see her in that maid's costume, your dream just came true. Otherwise, barring diehard collectors, you've no reason to pick this up as it's literally just the story.
These aren't the only variant editions floating around out there. I'm missing all six of the different Chromium covers, and the book was reprinted several more times over the years, each with new cover art. The Comic Book Database entry (R.I.P. to my favorite comic site, which was bought out and absorbed into the Grand Comics Database) for this issue included thirteen separate entries, and I'm not sure that's a complete accounting of every edition. But I think that's enough for today's history lesson.
See you back here next week for more Gen 13 with issue #2!