scburdet

3.0/3.5, leaning to the higher grade in concurrence with my board colleagues.

3.5ish. Pages look a little dark and the tearing around the staples is going to make pressing out the spine roll a little risky in all likelihood.

>9.2. The back white areas look a little soiled or discolored, which would be something to consider cleaning or factoring in before grading as it could set the ceiling.

I don't see this as a 9.8. 9.2±0.2 after pressing. You won't see readily noticeable defects on a 9.8. There's definitely a stress mark with a little color breaking & maybe the smallest of chips out of the top edge. That alone would be enough to go below 9.8. Although there always seems to be books that defy the odds and score higher.

I think 4.0/4.5 is right for the sub crease. I'd definitely do some examination to exclude the possibility the top edge was trimmed. My gut says it's just a miscut from printing, but always something to be mindful of. It's hard to tell if something is trimmed in photos, and I'm not sure I'd bet on my ability to ID it with a book in-hand either.

IDK if I would call this a beater copy. It's salvageable IMO since the egregious staining is on the reverse & it looks OK from the front. I would have called this a 4.5/5.0 just based on the front cover & spine. CGC doesn't have much tolerance for stains so 3.0/3.5 is where I'm at. Maybe a 4.0 if you slip an extra $20 inside the pages for the graders. I have seen some videos of people somewhat successfully washing water stains off with water & then pressing the book to restore the look of the page. Since it's the outer edge of the back cover & it is a major key, I would check to see if there's a professional out there thinks this is an option. I think these non-chemical techniques would avoid a restored label, which you wouldn't want given the rest of the condition.

The label says signed 4/2022. I call BS on the label. Submitted beginning of March 2022. Claremont signed at the end of April. My comics from the same submissions came back in June. After several weeks I made several inquiries with customer service. Eventually an agent said some books didn't get signed and this was one of them. Book moved to GEI around mid-Oct and finally got graded about a week ago. Pleased with the results though.

9.0/9.2 it looks like there's a little color loss around the edges on the back. It might still get a 9.4. I kind of doubt higher.

around 7.5 pressed. The black cover is unforgiving, so I can see an unexpected bump. I echo @JollyComics rec to verify this is the genuine article. From what I can see using this guide below, I think it is, but I cannot state this with confidence since I've never seen either version in person. I'd also want someone who's familiar with the books to look at it in-person before sending (unless you bought this new when it was originally released) https://momentofcerebus.blogspot.com/2018/08/cerebus-1-and-fakey-fakers-how-to-tell.html

5.0/5.5 even with the staple detachment. I'm leaning 5.0 b/c of the apparent foxing in the white areas.

I was at 4.0 on the front b/c of the reader's crease. The discoloration on the back tho, 3.5. Maybe it still gets a 4.0 b/c of more allowance for discoloration on older books, but I'd bet the 3.5.

Back cover photo is pretty blurry, but the back also looks a little grubby to go with the subscription crease. 5.0/5.5

1.8/2.0

5.0/5.5 the discoloring defects on the back are the limiting factor.

The foxing/paper oxidation seems moderate, so I'd expect 7.0±0.5 depending on who grades it & what kind of day they're having.

4.0/4.5

2.0

the rippling looks pressable to my untrained eye. The foxing is what would get dinged here. Maybe 7.0/7.5

9.0/9.2

1.0

3.5/4.0. The number of pieces out has me in the 3s. I can buy that this gets a SA spidey bump though.

9.2/9.4

3.5/4.0. I have a feeling the cumulative discoloration defects are going to get dinged pretty hard, so leaning low

I took it as such. Riding high now so the crash & burn will be all the more glorious

My Grader Notes. Just couldn't see the last one at 9.6, but I maintain you can't really be that accurate on very high grade books with photos.