Sniffing the Newsprint by Tnerb

[CSJournals-migration]

Or A a Small Memoir

 

In the eighties when the deluxe format was released, one of the selling points was stronger paper. I imagine this stronger paper makes grading easier. Over time the newsprint paper used for comic books morphed into what is used today. But, is it better?

 

I loved the feeling of opening a comic book and not only feeling the grittiness of the paper, but its smell. Today comic books have neither the feel nor smell of the comic books I grew up with. I imagine in the eighties when I first began collecting, that collectors who began in the sixties felt the same way.

 

Recently I took a new Star Wars number one and treated it like I was five. During a twenty four hour period I dropped it, used it as a coaster, rolled it up, and shoved it under my pillow. The cover gloss bled through distorting the colors. And there was no smell, no fragrant odor to trigger memories. It was just a comic book.

 

Thanks for Reading

 

Tnerb

 

See more journals by Tnerb

[Ronnylama]

it is the paper. Marvel Fanfare doesn't hold the smell as some of the others of the time period. Like an old wine....aromas sometimes take awhile

[surfer99]

That's the whole reason I love to collect reading copies of my favorite Silver/Bronze books instead of picking up a TPB...love that old comic book smell, and the ads are great!

 

 

 

 

[Brandon Shepherd]

Is it just me, or did the paper for Marvels and DC become really thin in the late 80s and early 90s on the regular monthly books? Every issue I have from that era seem to show a lot of bleeding colors due to the thinness of the paper.

 

On the page quality of TPBs with stories from the cooper age, I'm actually partial to the paper smell of the newsprint paper over the glossy pages used in some TPBs, I think to colors look better too, but that's just me.

 

[Shivabali]

Baxter paper had Gloss but no smell. It was a low sponge, and was dense enough to accept a sort of enamel ink base. Very high whiteness. That was a great change in reading comics imo. Miller's Dark Knight is an obvious example, but also Miller/Sienk in Elektra and runs like Marvel Fanfare. Elementals and Comico and other Independent comic Co.s in the 80's spent the extra cash in hopes to start a revolution of great printing technique. The web took most of it and it never happened. Tnerbs smell is a reality. Stella...Don's....and others....the smell is a great evolutionary adaptation which encourages further searchings. HeeHaa Comic book sheds smell like no others.