Bill Robinson

And now, as Paul Harvey would say, is ... The Rest of the Story We work with CGC Mike and Mr. Nelson, chief at CGC to get the book re-submitted for a press and re-holder. It takes a while, and when it comes back . . . you guessed it, true believers; whoever put it in the holder "thumbed" the top edge on the back cover. See picture below, pre-submission on the right. At this point are just shocked. How could something like this happen with the big man overseeing it. Well, he was shocked too. He apologized and offered to have it sent back again to be fixed. Now I wasn't so sure the book could get an 8.5 again with this new defect. He said he was pretty sure he could make it almost invisible. We felt like we had no choice at this point but to try again. So off it went. He was good to his word; see picture below of the top edge of the back cover now in the current holder. HOWEVER . . . you knew that was coming, right? There was a chunk of plastic floating between the outer shell and the mylar. Used a tiny screwdriver to get the plastic out, or at least down in the gutter. So all's well. You'll be glad to know that CGC was totally professional throughout and took full responsibility.

Shouts to theCapraAegagrus for bringing this to the attention of CGC Mike and shouts to Mike for taking it up the ladder. It looks like we'll get some help on this. Thanks to the community and CGC for being willing to listen to these concerns and issues.

The white in the pictures of the slab is mostly reflection. There isn't a bunch of white tics on the spine now, just a bunch of dents that weren't there. It's definitely the same book.

None of the new damage breaks color to my eye. It all looks press-able. The interior didn't get damaged that I can see. It's just a ton of dings where there were none. It's an 8.5 that looks like a 7.5 instead of an 8.5 that looks like a 9.0. That difference - (buyers judging the book not the grade), could be worth a couple thousand dollars.

This is a bit of a long story, so strap in. I'm going to try and only give facts, here, not supposition, but there are some real missing pieces to the story where supposition is all I have. I've been pressing now for almost five years. I decided to "go pro" and hang out a shingle with my local comic shop, offering press and submission services to their customers. My first customer from the LCS wants me to press and submit his Marvel Spotlight 5, the first appearance of Johnny Blaze Ghost Rider and possibly a very high grade copy. When I see it, I tell him it's got a shot at 9.0, which for a book with an all black border like that and a book fifty years old is no small thing. I press it and it looks great. Easily an 8.5 and a shot at 9.0. We submit it under the walkthrough tier and overpay a little for the service based on the condition of the book. CGC Grades it at 8.5 and returns it. When it arrives in my hands, the bottom spine corner of the slab is completely broken. There is no damage to the shipping box whatsoever. Supposition time, but it SEEMS like because there is no damage to the box, someone at CGC dropped or was careless with it enough to break the slab, THEN SHIPPED IT ANYWAY. When I call to find out how they are going to handle the issue, they don't ask for pictures, they just tell me to submit via the Mechanical Error tier. When I point out that we paid $300 to get the book graded and "walked through" the agent talks to a peer or manager and comes back on the line to tell me to not only put ME on the outside of the box in sharpie, but WK (for walkthrough) as well. She tells me to email her directly with tracking so she can make sure the book is handled under walkthrough. I check the book for obvious damage from the slab break and there isn't any. The book looks great. We resubmit. Five business days after they have marked it as received it still says "scheduled for grading." When I call to find out why it's not being processed, I'm told by another agent that it's an ME submission and will be handled as such. When I give the name of the initial agent, I'm told she responds, "I would never tell a customer that I would help with walkthrough service on a mechanical error." So, She Lied. Two more full weeks of business days pass and now the book is out for delivery. Twice, FedEx says they weren't able to deliver because nobody was home. We were here, the guy didn't ring either doorbell and certainly didn't knock very loudly. The third day, I clear my schedule to remain where I can keep an eye out for him and, of course, they don't even come to the door. Today, he came up, rang the bell twice and walked off, leaving the package without the required signature. Super. When I open the book, thankfully, the grade of an 8.5 is still there, HOWEVER . . . that now looks like a gift grade. There are numerous dings and reading stress on the top edge of the book and numerous dings down the spine. This isn't reversion, those dings on the top were never there before and a few on the spine were not either. What to do, dear reader? Do we call CGC, raise hell and see if they would consider pressing and re-holdering on their dime? Do I crack it, fix the press-able issues and *GULP* resbmit to CGC? Fix and submit CBCS and accept the 10% loss in value? Do we just crack it, fix it and leave it raw? Do we leave it as is and wash our hands of the whole thing? I'm posting some pics of comparisons between post-press and the re-holder. I'll also post a pic of the cracked slab for nightmare fuel.

Hey there, just wanted to share the Darwyn Love again; this one is the only one in the census! Found out by contacting the Editor of the book Shelly Bond that it was printed for the NYC Comic Con in 2015. She said they printed 200 copies.

There are strides being made on staining. Kaptain Myke's new book has practical solutions including a Heat Press based and Blue LED light techniques. Fascinating stuff that takes a lot of practice, patience and probably destroyed books. They are getting stunning results, tho.

Hello, I've submitted books before, but never something that isn't in the Census. When subbing, I don't seem to have any way to note that this is not Twilight Children #1 regular cover - I'm guessing they will figure it out. Is there some note I should add and if so, how? Another question: How will it be noted on the label? Simply "Variant Cover" or something else? I have reached out to all the creatives (who are living), Darwyn Cooke's main LCS dealer and various Darwyn fan pages for info. This has no barcode. Best guess is that this was printed for a convention, Expo or private event - any info is helpful if you know something or even just if you've seen one or bought/sold one. I overpaid for this one, (tho who can really say), and it's a part of my personal collection. I'm slabbing it to preserve it, not to sell. Thanks in advance.

More pics of this one. Llittle spot of dirt at bottom right that might come out.

I think that is it. Thanks for looking!

$25

$5

$8

$20

$25

$20

$15

$10

$8

$15

$15

$3

Color rub in several spots along spine and in logo. Reader copy. $6

$5

$30 for the pair