Is This "Lightening?" 0

[alexgross.com]

see attached pics of a nice looking hulk 1. it's graded by someone not our cgc overlords with a regular label, and currently in an ongoing auction. i've seen a lot of hulk 1s, owned two copies myself, and i've never seen either a front or rear cover this bright. it appears to me to have been lightened through some process. i know this is a thing that some people do. 

i just wish to know from those who are experts on such things here @joeypost if they think this book has been lightened, and if so, if having cgc grade it might result in a conserved or restored label. i don't plan to bid on it as it will be pricey, but it has really piqued my curiosity. 

[joeypost]

It is very clean. But if it was “whitened” they didn’t do a very good job. I am sure every dry cleaning and possibly some chemicals may have been used. Without having the book in hand I can only guess  how glossy the book is. The back cover appears dull to me lending me to believe it was cleaned with more than erasers. 

[jcjames]

I wouldn't kick it out of bed. 

 

[Bookery]

On 12/30/2022 at 10:52 PM, jcjames said:

I wouldn't kick it out of bed. 

 

Not advised.  Sleeping with one's comics and/or kicking them can often turn the above issue into this...

 

[jimjum12]

On 12/31/2022 at 9:30 AM, Bookery said:

Not advised.  Sleeping with one's comics and/or kicking them can often turn the above issue into this...

 

.... and THAT'S only if you're still single  GOD BLESS.... 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

[october]

Probably just scanner settings. You can't trust colors/brightness over the internet. 

[alexgross.com]

On 12/31/2022 at 7:36 AM, october said:

Probably just scanner settings. You can't trust colors/brightness over the internet. 

i tend to agree that one cannot trust scans, but in this case, i do not believe this is a result of the scan. i'm well versed in photoshop, and when scans are bad, they enhance contrast, often to hide issues. aka as blowing out the scan. these images have tons of mid range detail, which never happens in bad scans in my experience. one could do this digitally if one wished. but i don't think that's the case on this book. as joey said, it looks weird, like a bunch of whitening work was likely done to the book. also i removed the image of the top of the case as it's not cgc. when scans are bad, the labels often give clues. but this label looked perfectly fine. 

[Dr. Balls]

From the printer aspect: there is also a chance that the black plate was not dialed in enough during production - meaning the density of the black ink isn't correct, resulting in that hazy dark grey, rather than a deep black.

A google search uncovers a couple examples of other Hulk books that do not have deep blacks as well, so it very well could be a production variance. (I don't want to use the words 'production issue' because it's not really a "problem" per se, more of a acceptable printing variance when looking at the print run in it's entirety)

I discussed Hulk #1's cover in another thread (not sure where it's at) and how tricky it would be to make the cover come across as deep and vibrant - the color mix on the rich blue on the cover likely made this book a hard one to produce on the printing side. Some Hulk covers are super dark, some are muddy looking - this is because there is all four colors coming together to make that dark blue on the cover, and there's a lot of room for variance, especially on a large run, and ganged up with multiple covers on one parent sheet. The book you are showing us might be part of that variance, not necessarily from a chemical process.

[THE_BEYONDER]

On 12/30/2022 at 7:20 PM, alexgross.com said:

 

What grade is this book currently labeled at?

[Artboy99]

I personally think the scan was manipulated slightly. and the image was brightened up or lightened up using a graphics program. The "white" background does not look real to me, it is digitally enhanced I.E. it does not look like the background of the white scanner cover and is digital white fill as there should be the slightest of shadow behind the book if it is truly scanned while in a slab and not manipulated. Also the background the book is scanned against can make a significant difference in the scan result. Here is the same book scanned twice, once with just the white scanner cover background and once with a black card stock background. 

Edited January 1, 2023 by Artboy99

[alexgross.com]

On 1/1/2023 at 7:19 AM, Artboy99 said:

I personally think the scan was manipulated slightly. and the image was brightened up or lightened up using a graphics program. The "white" background does not look real to me, it is digitally enhanced I.E. it does not look like the background of the white scanner cover and is digital white fill as there should be the slightest of shadow behind the book if it is truly scanned while in a slab and not manipulated. Also the background the book is scanned against can make a significant difference in the scan result. Here is the same book scanned twice, once with just the white scanner cover background and once with a black card stock background. 

this auction house uses a light room to shoot their books, not a scanner. all their books are white background like this. it's heritage. not a secret. 

[blazingbob]

On 1/1/2023 at 9:09 PM, alexgross.com said:

this auction house uses a light room to shoot their books, not a scanner. all their books are white background like this. it's heritage. not a secret. 

Just an fyi but if you use the HP Scanjet 8270 you can scan it with cover down that will show a white background,  cover up that will show a black.