One of the worst surprises that can happen to a comic collector is to spend a large sum on a first appearance of Iron Man in Tales of Suspense #39 or Ant Man in Tales to Astonish #27 or an early issue of Batman, Superman, or Amazing Spider-man and end up finding out that the comic has been restored. In the current market, a restored comic from the Silver Age with a purple CGC label is regularly worth 50% less than an unrestored comic in the same condition and often collectors do not find out until spending more money sending in their comic to a professional grading service like CGC or PGX. There are many tell tale indicators as to whether a comic has been restored. This guide is intended to give a basic understanding of some of the more common restoration processes and is only meant to be helpful professional advice and experience. If after checking these items, you think you still might have a restored comic, sending the comic to a grading service is a sure way to find out and, especially if you are selling a comic, bringing your comic to a professional might answer your question. Here are some primary areas where restoration is used:

Staple Replacement and Spine Roll Removal

Since both of these involve removing the staples I am describing them together. Staples are often removed when rust is starting to set in and affect the paper in the rest of the comic. To determine if the staples have been removed first examine the cover and look at the paper on the spine beneath the staple. Does the paper indent under the staple match the location of the staples themselves? Are there darker stains matching where the staples are now? Open the book, do the indents still align with the staples for the first few leaves (also called a wrap: i.e. whole sheet, the first and last two pages of the comic is one leaf/wrap) of paper? If the paper indent or the discoloration, (caused by the oxidation of the staple) does not match the staple it probably has been restapled or removed (probably for spine roll flattening). The next area to inspect is the centerfold, are there extra staple holes? If so, it has probably been replaced and the centerfold was not aligned properly. Also check to see if the centerfold aligns top and bottom with the rest of the pages because if it does not it usually means the centerfold was once detached or the entire comic was dismantled. Another sign is if the staples are skewed, this usually means the staples have been reattached.

When a spine roll is removed additional restoration indicators may be present. Since the book is dismantled with the interior pages and cover individually separated and pressed flat, then refolded and pressed again, certain stresses are often evident. The other method of keeping the book whole and using weights usually places a visible strain on the stapled areas. In either case, slight dulling of the cover is often present whether caused by hydration (adding dampness to the comic to make for easier pressing when dismantled), which often removes a bit of the gloss or a stress area (often marked by color loss or flaking, sometimes by stress lines radiating outward from the spine) to the right or left of each staple if the book is kept whole. On the interior pages there is often an area 1/8 to 1/2 inch in width that runs along the edge of the spine that reflects light differently because it once rested at a different angle. Only areas that have been rolled then unrolled will have this feature, also if a comic has interior tanning (most older issues will) the tan marks will be unusually irregular near the spine.

Married Cover (or pages)

Another restoration that I have seen is the removal of the old cover which is then replaced with a new cover. If the signs mentioned previously are not present then the wear on the edge of the interior pages does not match the wear on the cover. On the pages, one leaf is removed and replaced with one from another comic. This might sound unusual but I have seen many Marvel comics in pristine condition from the 1970’s with the Marvel Value Stamp cut out of the original comic. I have seen many that have been restored with an interior page from a lower grade book, this is a common restoration for Hulk #181 (first Wolverine) and Marvel Premiere #15 (first Iron Fist) and I have heard of it happening with X-Men #97.

Cut Edges

One common restoration performed on square bound issues (100 Page Giants, 80 Page Giants, Marvel Giant Size) is making the issue seem like it was naturally printed square bound with no cover overlapping the edges of the comic. Usually someone will cut the excess edges off so the issue does not have the cover overlapping because the overlapping often bends the cover, lowers the grade and also is considered a printing defect. If someone has tried to trim the edge, unless if it was trimmed with an X-acto knife there usually is some form of small squarish piece that will remain or the edges will be slightly frayed in the area that was cut. X-acto Knifes often will leave irregular angles to the edge and sometime the paper will also be wavy due to the shifting angle of the blade. If this was performed by someone knowledgeable using a matte cutter (a razor in a holder, like a boxcutter), unless the entire edge was sliced (like the whole top edge of a comic was shaved) there would be different edge coloration to the paper that has been shaved (i.e. bright white instead of a slightly tanned color) which should be visible to the eye but definitely could be seen using a cheap lighted hand held magnifier. Edges are also often cut when a comic is displaying signs of marvel chipping, a common silver age problem. Edges cut with a regular paper cutter will also show signs of waviness. A pro will use a guillotine cutter to cut the entire edge on a regular sized comic and in this case the only way to determine the restoration is to compare the size of the issue in question to another copy of the same comic or another copy from the same publisher from the same publication year.

Cleaning

There are two forms of cleaning, each of which can cause specific problems with a comic and both of which are unnoticeable (even by CGC) if done correctly. Dry Cleaning uses various kinds of erasers to remove things like light soiling and pencil marks to make the comic whiter and more appealing. Wet cleaning involves immersing the cover in solvents to remove grime and dirt which is then followed by a distilled water wash, blotting on acid neutralizing paper and pressed in a dry mount press. This creates a cover with excellent contrast between the whites and colors.

Dry Cleaning

Dry Cleaning, if not done professionally, can be noticed by ink smears and areas where ink has been removed by an eraser. Sometimes these are linear, sometimes in circles if erased with an eraser pad in a circular motion, sometimes text or images can be blurry. Dry cleaning can also cause a slight smoothing of the paper which should be visible when the comic is held at an angle in the light. Sometimes if very poorly done by someone using a colored eraser instead of a white one, the eraser color is also visible.

Wet Cleaning

Wet Cleaning usually destroys a comic unless done professionally, the damage is easily detectable with the books having a variety of the worst defects: entire book is wavy, color is spotted throughout the cover, cover colors bleed through cover and so on. Sometimes green and blue ink from the cover will bleed onto the inside page but most often the color red bleeds onto the first page. The cover does not need to be these colors for this to happen, since a four color method is used ((Cyan, Yellow, Magenta, Black (CYMK)) to create the cover colors.There is also a smell that the comic gives off, a keytone smell, not like old paper, or must or mold.

Fixing of Paper Tears

Some fixing of paper tears is obvious and is considered a defect but not restoration. Using tape and regular glue are two examples of products that are not considered restoration but at the same time the term is usually defined in the comic business as “the addition of non-original material for aesthetic enhancement” by both Overstreet and Comics Guaranty, LLC (CGC).

Use of Glue

Easily identified by a slightly grayish line revealing the edge of the tear. When repairs are done this way not only is the tear is visible but there also is an obvious change of color as well as reflectivity from the glue.

Use of Invisible Tape

Easily identified by a patch which is shinier than the rest of the comic surface.

Use of Archival Repair Tape

Easily identified by a dull spot on one side of the paper while the verso has no dulling. It looks like a loss of cover gloss, sometimes there is discoloration also. It is even more obvious if you use a hand held magnifying glass.

Use of Heat Seal Paper

Similar to above, can be identified by a dull spot on one side of the paper while the verso has no dulling. It looks like a loss of cover gloss depending on the quality, it can be hard to detect but look for that slightly dull "sheen" that reflects light differently than the rest of the surface.

Use of Thin Paper, Methyl-Cellulose, Wheat Paste, Rice Pastes

These methods all involve covering over the tear using a thin layer of paper like substance. The pastes can glob up if not correctly applied, or edges of the thin materials might be seen. As with the last two entries, there is cover gloss loss and a slightly dull area that reflects light differently. Usually the tear can be seen under further magnification usually under a 20x microscope and is extremely apparent under a 40x. If the water is not mixed with the paste correctly paper distortion, usually waviness, occurs.

The other major kind of repairs are filling in areas where there is a hole in the page, not covering but actually recreating the paper or using a similar paper mixed with pulp to fill in the hole. These methods are mostly used by experts and are not detectable, not even with a flat bed black light scanner especially when combined with an efficient form of re-glossing. Leaf casting on suction tables, casting with alcohol and hand pulp filling are a few of these methods.

This guide is just a beginning of my writings on the subject, hope it was helpful. If enough people give positive feedback on this I would probably discuss color restoration next. My store, thecomicgarage!!, carries hundreds of unslabbed (not GCG graded), unrestored comics. If you have additional information or areas you would like me to cover drop me a line.

Be well--

David Baratier
Copyright 2006