Which page number to use--story or book? 0

[John E.]

Which page number to use--story or book?

Original comic art on Marvel and DC boards usually have two page numbers: the story page, often written in black ink by one of the creators, and the book page, often written by someone at editorial in red ink that indicates where the page lands in the comic taking ads into consideration (is this correct?). So for us completists who like to give as much information about the art on CAF, which page number should be used? Story or book? Is there an agreed upon standard?

My default is to use the story page simply because I'm paying more attention to what the creators put down. 

In thinking more about it, isn't important to have a standard in order to avoid page conflicts in the "Comic Art Archive" between to users? Also, for nostalgia collectors, isn't (could it) be important to use the page number that lands in the book, the object of nostalgia? Does the publisher treat that as the "official" page number. On the other hand, if you own a complete book and upload all the page individually, you're probably going to upload them in the 22-page sequence and not introduce gaps that represent ad pages.

Furthermore (), how do you represent stories published in anthologies? If it's an 8-page story, do you say, "This is page one of an 8-page story," or do you say, "This is page 9 in Creepy #12? Art dealers tend to go by the former.

Please edify me!

[malvin]

There is no standard.  I remember back in the old days (which wasn't that long ago) when you would buy pages without scans, you would try to cite both and a description of a panel to be sure you are talking about the right page when buying art.

Malvin

[mister_not_so_nice]

Definitely use the page from the story.  

Story page 8 in the comic is going to be the same as story page 8 in the TPB.  

Personally I name all of my scans by title/issue/page. So a typical file name will be "comicbook09pg16"   This keep all of the files nice and organized.  

If the short story is published in an anthology I'll still use the printed page placement for the numbering. So, if i have an eight page story it may be labeled pages 38-45 in my files (and on CAF)

[alxjhnsn]

Yep, I use the story page for a freestanding comic - Title, Issue, Page

For an Anthology, I'll still use the story page - Anthology Title, Story Title, Page

[Mighty Hal]

Since I often don't have the comic or TPB to consider, I usually list the page number that's shown on the original art. It's not always listed but I find it on the upper part of the page about 80% of the time.

[Dick O.]

Always use the story page number! I discussed it in this article with an illustration:

https://comicbookinvest.com/2017/01/20/affordable-art-january-2017/

 

[Doc McCoy]

Agree, go with the number from the published work.  Easier to find at a later date.

[Twanj]

I see Heritage (at least sometimes) lists them as "...Story page X"

Either way you do it, "Story Page X" or "Published Page X", I find it better to have it labelled instead of just "Page X".

[JadeGiant]

story page

[SquareChaos]

The only one that won't change is the story page.

[thethedew]

Whatever page number which is printed by the letterer on the published portion of the art.  (I've found it varies from book to book - page-count or story-count)

If there isn't a published number, best judgement going by what's written in the margins by editorial.

[delekkerste]

34 minutes ago, SquareChaos said:

The only one that won't change is the story page.

+1000

Story page is the standard.  That way, you always know that page 14 directly follows page 13.  And, as people have pointed out, with more people reading these stories in trade, digital, reprints, etc., it's the only way to keep the references consistent.

The only way I would take the page number in the upper right hand corner at face value is if neither I, nor the seller, had easy access to the published story in any format.  Otherwise, it's story page number all the way - this seems to be the accepted standard at the auction houses, dealer sites, etc. as well. 

 

[delekkerste]

As for a story within an anthology, I tend to start the numbering from page 1, even if the story starts on page 9, 17, 24, 36 or what have you in the published book.  Unless, again, I have no other frame of reference. 

[Unca Ben]

Yep, go by story pages not by the published page number, whenever possible.  I'd find it awkward to label a Captain America page one splash that was published in Tales of Suspense (where it was the second story following Iron Man) as anything but page one.
There are books where the story page number isn't inked on the page - those are frustrating.  Then I may have to use the page written in editorial crayon at the top, or the number printed at the bottom below the image area, for reference.
I'm careful with the editorial/publishing scribblings at the top of the page as they can be misleading.  There are OA pages where the story has been reprinted and the original book title has been changed to reflect the reprint title, or the issue number has been changed to reflect the (sometimes much later) issue number the story was reprinted in.  (Like the original X-Men or Sgt. Fury series).

 

Or we could go by total page count (like as used by the GCD) where the front cover would be page 1 and the interior of the front cover would be page 2...   

Edited May 31, 2017 by Unca Ben

[John E.]

Thank you all for your answers! Story page it is!