I grew up as a fan of  Spider Man and X-man comics, which were hard to get in my small province town. At an older age time spent reading and collecting comics faded in favor of other activities.  . Not so long ago, as a twist of fate, I re-discovered the comic books. Bought a few on some local auction sites, a few on e-bay. I rediscovered the fun of reading my favorite comics and as a collector the fun of grading and archiving my comics.

With the help of the internet I discovered some new habits and terms which back in my childhood did not exist and/or I did not care about it. Before I carry on I wish to explain a few of them.

Grading – determining the condition of the comic book

Mylar – Kind of acid free PVC, the term also stands for the bag made out of Mylar , cut in the size of a comic

Overstreet Comic Book Grading Guide – is an approach to have a Standardized Grading system – So there is a way to have an objective grading without the need to pay.

Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide – the bible when it comes to find out the value of a comic.

MicroChamber and Artcare papers – boards to slow the acid destruction of the paper.

The grading companies

Along with these terms and habits I also discovered something that really bothers me.

The Grading companies – like CGC (Certified Grading Company – established in 1999,) ant the later PGX (Professional Grading Experts) – who are self proclaimed industry leaders for grading comics, make a lot of money on the back of collectors offering questionable services. My personal questions are as follows:

Who “certified” them? – Is there a higher board, a governmental agency offering these certifications? Not as far as I know. The second company calls itself Professional Grading Experts. To become an “expert” in legal terms somebody has to earn the title at least after the certification of a board, so we are back to my first question. Self proclaimed “expert” can be anybody.

Why let them grade for you? – If somebody is a collector he has a background about his hobby. He knows about what he collects and who to grade it. Thankfully there is a perfect guide – Overstreet Comic Book Grading Guide – which offers a standard for grading comics which by the way is used also by CGC, so they have no secret knowledge. If a beginner comic collector is not sure about his grading he can go to a comic book convention where he can find help from somebody who is in this “business” for more then eleven years, he can go to his local comic store or use one of many comic book collector forums. And if with all this help somebody still needs a third party help – well – then he is an idiot.

Why slab my comic book? –Some argue that comic book`s quality can’t deteriorate once in the case. Well – just leave it in the sun for a few days. In ten years even a slabbed comic is going to turn yellow. A collector can slow down the acid destruction with the same method as CGC does. Use MicroChamber paper and Mylar bags – it cost just 1$ per comic book and it does a better job. Secondly – who can you check the condition of a comic in time if it is slabbed? You have to open it thus rendering worthless the whole grading process. And there is one more reason not to slab a comic, it is sad not to be able to read it or at least to run through its pages once in a while. Why own it then? I saw a new trend – Acid free bags for the CGC slabs. Great. How far can somebody go in stupidity? What next? A second grading company proofing the integrity of the slab?

Did you buy a CGC slabbed comic book? Are you sure that CGC did a good job grading the inside of the comic book? Are there any missing posters or cupons or even pages? You don`t know until the slab is opened. It is a small torturing thought – like : Don`t think of the pink elephant.

This brings to my next question – Why own a CGC slabbed comic book? – Investment stand point. In a new inflated market created by a bunch of guys who state that this process makes the books more valuable. Watching the first transactions on e-bay of CGC graded comics, which suddenly sold for 3 to 5 times its value (calculated using – Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide) a strange pattern appeared. It was like the people from CGC were acting as sellers and buyers just rise the price of the slabbed comics , creating the myth that a slabbed comic is more valuable. These actions turned the attention of those who wanted to make an “investment”. The result was that slabbed comic book prices sky rocketed. Slabbing turned into a speculation.

The end effect? – Following the natural curve of any economical boom, this investment in slabbed comics is going to fall. If you are looking for an investment buy gold, petrol or company shares, leave the comics to the geeks to collect them. Just imagine what happens to the market if comic books are slabbed directly after print. All of them! Comic books are not about making money – unless you are the producer or the distributor of comics.

Afraid of buying restored comics? – An amateur as well as many professional comic book collector and dealer would not be able to recognize a comic book that had been restored by a professional, so CGC gives a heads up there. Nothing more wrong than this – I have read and also seen comics which were low grade, restored by a museum employee, sent to CGC and returned with a high grade and no remark about restoration. Maybe CGC did not notice or just wanted to earn more on that comic. Don’t forget that CGC receives % out of the higher comic books for grading it.

CGC and PGX is a scam, they created an inflated market for “investors” to buy un-restored, high graded comics.

Are you sure that a e-bay seller is not producing fake CGC and PGX slabs right this moment? – It only takes some empty slabs which can be bought from online comic suppliers, a printed CGC or PGX header, some holographic stickers which can be ordered online and an old comic book that was heavily restored. Grade it 9.0, slab it and put on sale for half of the normal price. I bait waiting for an “investor”.

As a collector – Why buy a slabbed comic? When for a fraction of the money you can hunt down private collections, comics sold in bulk, where a Gold age comic is hidden. In December I bought a few Golden age Flesh comics for a few bucks, it was a risk regarding the grade of them, but for that price, even if it would have turned out to be in poor condition it was a great buy because I got to enjoy some Golden Age comics. I have read them all.

Afraid of buying poor quality comics on e-bay? You don’t need a slabed comic, just ask for more pictures from the seller or just stay away from e-bay. There are great ways to buy old comics like Comic book conventions.  The greatest place to buy a comic book – Why? It is a hand on buying, you see what you get, and as a geek it is an opportunity to make at least a few friends. With the Overstreet Comic Book Grading Guide in the hand, you can grade the comic right before you buy it. No Comic Con near you. Drop in the local comic shop, maybe they have what you wish if not ask them to  find it for you. So there is no need to buy a slabed graded comic book to be sure that it is in mint condition.

Comics are ephemera and are meant to be enjoyed. I will end with this short description of a collector opening his newest comic book acquisition:

“The first thing I did when I slid it out of its Mylar sleeve was too carefully

open the comic and smell it. The smell of vintage comics is something else. A

little musty and dry, but a wonderful smell none the less. Then after putting

my son to bed, I turned the lights down, put some appropriate music on and read

that comic! And for the time it took me to read it (I don't know how long, I wasn't

really looking at the clock) I was in heaven. I read every word, every advertisement,

everything that was in that comic, I read. After I'd finished, I slid it back into

it's sleeve and put it back into the protective case I have reserved for all my more

valuable comics. And that's why I buy comics; to enjoy them, to relish every page,

to appreciate them as the story telling medium they were always intended to be.”