Sin City in French: Every Edition Explained

Few comics have changed French publisher as many times as Sin City, to the point that the album titles are no longer the same depending on the house. Better to know, before opening your wallet, which generation of object you are looking for.

As always in this guide, only verified information (creators, issue numbers, dates) is stated as fact; the analysis is our own, with no reproduction of protected pages or dialogue.

The US original in brief

Frank Miller writes and draws Sin City in black and white for Dark Horse Comics, from April 1991 to April 2000. In the anthology Dark Horse Presents, the first story sees the light of day; other stories follow, collected in seven volumes whose full list appears in the correspondence below, from The Hard Goodbye to Hell and Back.

The sequence of the seven volumes does not follow the internal chronology of events, which Frank Miller deliberately blurs; it follows the publication order. If you are looking for reading advice itself, that is the subject of our reading order. For the screen adaptation, our comparisons of the 2005 film and its sequel sort out the two media. Here, we stay on the French editions.

The French editions, in order of publication

1994 to 1999: Vertige Graphic

The first French edition of the first volume appeared at Vertige Graphic in 1994: a black-and-white album, which simply keeps the title "Sin City". Five more albums follow through 1999, including "J'ai tué pour elle" ("I Killed for Her") and "Des filles et des flingues" ("Girls and Guns"); the full list of titles is repeated in the correspondence below. For these first six albums, sources disagree on the house, Vertige Graphic or Rackham, that signs each printing: we therefore do not settle it album by album.

2001 and after: Rackham, Love & Rockets line

Rackham, a publisher based in Montreuil, publishes the series from 2001 in its Love & Rockets line, directed by Alain David. The seventh volume, "L'Enfer en retour" ("Hell and Back"), appeared there on September 9, 2001, in 320 softcover pages, translated by Lorraine Darrow. The first volumes are reprinted afterward, and the date of the third, "Le Grand Carnage" ("The Big Slaughter"), varies: sources disagree between 2003 and 2004.

What these albums have in common is the translator, Lorraine Darrow, credited on the volumes of this period. Her name is one of the best reference points for telling the old version from the new.

2013: a new series of Rackham albums

A second series of Rackham albums began in September 2013, with the first volume published under its American title "The Hard Goodbye". Sources disagree on the binding of these 25 cm volumes: it is a point to check on the copy offered.

2017: the Rackham omnibus

In November 2017, Rackham gathered the seven stories in a single volume, under a title listing the seven albums, with Lorraine Darrow as translator. It is the only way to read the whole series without changing volumes, at the price of a very thick object. For those who want to compare this version with the more recent reissues, it keeps the old translation.

Since 2023: Huginn & Muninn, Signatures USA

After the end of the contract between Rackham and Frank Miller, Huginn & Muninn took over the French rights and has published a reissue since September 22, 2023 in its Signatures USA line. It relies on a new translation by Henri Loevenbruck, with new covers, and exists in two formulas: a standard softcover edition in a compact format, and a hardcover collector's edition. The black and white of the pages is kept.

The titles change with the new translation. The first volume is called "Sombres adieux" ("Dark Farewells"), the second "Une femme à se damner" ("A Woman to Be Damned For"), the third "Le grand bain de sang" ("The Great Bloodbath"). For the rest of the line, check the exact title on the cover: it is not modeled on the old series.

US / French edition correspondence

These grids match the American stories to their French titles. No split into booklets appears in them: the stories circulated as limited series, and only the title of the collected volume matters when buying.

Which edition to choose for your profile

You are discovering the series

Start from the Huginn & Muninn reissue: it is designed for a reader who has never opened Sin City, with a new translation and current covers. Read the first three available volumes to get an idea of the series before continuing. If format matters to you, the standard softcover edition is the lightest, the collector's edition the most polished.

You want the historical translation

The Rackham albums of the Love & Rockets line and the 2017 omnibus keep Lorraine Darrow's text. This choice is consistent for those who read the series in the 2000s and want to find the original phrasing, or to compare two states of the text.

You collect first French editions

The Vertige Graphic albums, from November 1994, are the first objects of the series in France. In that case, check the imprint on the back, the condition of the paper and the publisher's notices: since the house, Vertige Graphic or Rackham, is not always obvious from the title, a detailed seller description is worth more than a listing title.

You like large formats

The hardcover Huginn & Muninn collector's edition answers this profile. Look at the announced dimensions before planning the space on your shelf.

Pitfalls and points to watch

The first pitfall is the title. The first album bears the title of the series, which makes listings ambiguous: "Sin City volume 1" can designate the Vertige Graphic album, the Rackham album or the Huginn & Muninn volume "Sombres adieux". Only the cover, the publisher and the year remove the doubt.

The second concerns translations. The old translation is credited to Lorraine Darrow, the new one to Henri Loevenbruck. The two French versions coexist and the album titles do not overlap: read an excerpt of each before choosing, especially if you value the slang of the old version.

The third is numbering. The volumes follow the American publication order at all publishers, but a lot made up of volumes from two houses may contain the same story twice under two different titles. Check the story, not just the number.

The fourth concerns dates, which diverge: the third Rackham volume is dated 2003 or 2004, and the binding of the 2013 series is not described the same way everywhere. A date discrepancy changes nothing about the object, but it should prompt you to check the copy rather than its description.

Finally, do not confuse the French editions with the American Dark Horse collections, published in English. For Frank Miller's other major work in French, see our guide to the editions of The Dark Knight Returns.

One last precaution specific to this series: Sin City is a black-and-white story, whose whole effect rests on the contrast of the ink. When buying secondhand, therefore look at the print quality of the solid blacks in the listing photos, how well the paper holds at the corners and the possible presence of moisture marks, which show up faster on nearly all-black or all-white pages than on a color album.

To build a series in seven volumes, draw up a two-column grid, one for the original American story, the other for the French edition you own. You will immediately spot a hidden duplicate, for example a Rackham "Sin City volume 1" bought in addition to a "Sombres adieux". Our reading order helps you decide in which order to fill the missing slots.

What these editions are worth as a collection

We give no figure, because the prices of these editions vary with availability. The method stays stable. For a recent album, still available from the publisher, compare the secondhand price with the listed new price; for an edition no longer in the catalog, like the older albums or the 2017 omnibus, no new price serves as a reference and you need to compare several completed sales.

For a lot of several albums, first check consistency: same edition, same condition, consecutive volumes. A mismatched lot, with two publishers mixed, resells worse than a homogeneous series. Condition is judged on the spine, corners and cover; to learn how to assess it, see our guide to comics grading in France, and for the editorial context, the overview of comics publishers in France.

Finally, the appeal of an edition also lies in its role: the first French edition interests the historian of comics in France, the omnibus appeals to those who want everything on one shelf, and the current reissue targets the reader. Decide on the role you expect before comparing prices.

One last reference point on the US side: the first story, The Hard Goodbye, was first prepublished in installments at Dark Horse, in the anthology Dark Horse Presents, starting in 1991, before being collected in an album. It is this story that the French editions place in the first volume, under titles that vary from one publisher to another.

Frequently asked questions