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anyone notice severe rippling in 1989-92 Marvels?

Started by SuperBird,

30 posts in this topic

SuperBird

SuperBird

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Most of my Marvels from 89-92 now have severe rippling on the top and bottom edges, and often through the entire book. It almost looks like moisture damage. At first I thought it was just my copies, but 3 years of trying to find replacement copies—at conventions, eBay, and on these boards— of Conan 212-252 (the only books I still cared about) have proven that EVERY copy I've come across has similar damage. These are very common books, so I've probably looked through dozens of sets at this point.

 

I also had a similar run of Captain America, also trashed, but have not tried to replace them.

 

Anyone else notice this?

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SuperBird

SuperBird

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My runs from this period have that waviness. It's the paper used, as JC said.

 

Anybody know if/how grade is affected?

 

I assumed they'd become VGs?

 

wait, your in canada and your books are wavy? that means it's not caused by heat, I guess...

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seanfingh

seanfingh

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Yep, and it definitely had to do with the type of paper used and the ink/printing process. I have a few Marvels from that era, and some are slightly rippled at the top, yet none of the DCs are.

 

I have always noticed it the most on the "Return of Warlock" Silver Surfer run from about 46-56 and i also think that SS 34 (which I bought multiples of :insane:) suffers as well.

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500Club

500Club

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My runs from this period have that waviness. It's the paper used, as JC said.

 

Anybody know if/how grade is affected?

 

I assumed they'd become VGs?

 

wait, your in canada and your books are wavy? that means it's not caused by heat, I guess...

 

No, not heat/temperature.... I don't think. Overall, the books seem thinner, also.... probably an effort by early 90's corporate Marvel and Ron Perelman to squeeze more profit out of the company.

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towards2112

towards2112

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Overall, the books seem thinner, also.... probably an effort by early 90's corporate Marvel and Ron Perelman to squeeze more profit out of the company.

Double entondere

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Point Five

Point Five

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Most of my Marvels from 89-92 now have severe rippling on the top and bottom edges, and often through the entire book. It almost looks like moisture damage. At first I thought it was just my copies, but 3 years of trying to find replacement copies—at conventions, eBay, and on these boards— of Conan 212-252 (the only books I still cared about) have proven that EVERY copy I've come across has similar damage. These are very common books, so I've probably looked through dozens of sets at this point.

 

I also had a similar run of Captain America, also trashed, but have not tried to replace them.

 

Anyone else notice this?

Matt showed me the Conans he is talking about and I was shocked by how extreme the problem is. It's not "slight waviness" that can easily be flattened out, like some moderns have. The books do indeed look moisture-damaged (though they're not) along the top and bottom edges.

 

I assume it's just a problem with some Marvel titles from this era, not all...for example, the tail end of the (widely collected) McFarlane Spideys would coincide with this period, but since no one else has ever mentioned this problem, it would seem ASMs are not affected.

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KEY ISSUES Comics

KEY ISSUES Comics

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It's funny to be talking about this, because I was looking at a collection yesterday and the books from that era suffered from the same. I was relieved, if I can say that, to this because I always thought my books from that era were damaged...

 

Well, better it happen to these book than to our cherished pre-1985 books!

 

NOTE: I've noticed this effect primarily in Web of Spidey, Spect. Spidey, and the Conans already discussed.

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Kraken's Lair

Kraken's Lair

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In the early nineties I bought most of Marvel's output and I remember finding that waviness on a lot of books. Off the top of my head, I remember GI Joe, Web of Spider-Man, Spectacular Spidey, and Quasar being the most likely to have severe waviness. I didn't collect Transformers at the end, but I have seen many issues since then with waviness. I also remember issues of Thor, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Captain America with waviness, but it seemed to be not every issue. I also seem to remember some issues of DC's Impact line having waviness, but I could be misremembering. I will have to check. And when there was an issue that was bad, it generally affected every copy available at the two local shops I went to at the time.

 

I think the cause is definitely the type of paper combined with the type of ink. It was always the books with $1 and $1.25 cover price that are affected. All of the books have white newsprint-type pages. Not quite as nice as the heavier mondo or baxter papers, but not the classic pulpy newsprint that most books were printed on in previous decades. They reproduced colors and artwork very well, but maybe there were too many bleaching chemicals used on them? Oh, and years of storage in packed-tight long boxes have not done a thing to make my issues flatter.

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Loki

Loki

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I've got the same problem. :(

 

I can even pinpoint when it seems to start - the mid-December 1989 issues. My Web #58 and Spectacular #159 are the ones that start rippling. Fortunately I quit buying new issues a few months later, so I didn't end up with too much damage to my collection.

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boomtown

boomtown

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I've noticed this in Uncanny X-Men 282 & 283 also. I ordered stacks of these books at the time & didn't really notice a problem. Pulled out a stack of them awhile back & they have the wave. Rest of books in the long box are fine so it has to be something about the books. Release date was late 1991.

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