Creepy 15 Interior Pages - Bug Chew or Chipping??? 1 1

[loganparker]

Just purchased a nice looking Creepy 15 sold to me as a NM-.  I agree with the grade based on the exterior appearance but nearly all of the the right lower corner interior pages have the chipping demonstrated in the pics (not the covers). Is this a bug chew or some sort of chipping common for Warren mags during that era? How does this affect the grade? Thanks

[Randall Dowling]

That looks a lot like typical Warren corner chipping to me. 

[Jayman]

On 9/15/2023 at 12:08 PM, Randall Dowling said:

That looks a lot like typical Warren corner chipping to me. 

@The Lions Den

[OtherEric]

Typical chipping, but a fairly extreme example of it.

[The Lions Den]

On 9/15/2023 at 12:40 PM, Jayman said:

@The Lions Den

I'm humbled and honored to be included in this discussion; thank you! 

I'm thinking the key to this being chipping and not insect damage is based on a couple of factors: 

1) Chipping on early Warren magazines (especially Creepy) is very common---that paper stock was cheap!

2) Bugs don't usually differentiate between the interior and the cover; that would have to be one fussy insect.

And in severe cases, it can affect the grade. In my view, the rest of the book would have to be super clean and sharp to still give it a 9.2. But that's just like, my opinion, man...  

Edited September 15, 2023 by The Lions Den

[loganparker]

On 9/15/2023 at 1:21 PM, The Lions Den said:

I'm humbled and honored to be included in this discussion; thank you! 

I'm thinking the key to this being chipping and not insect damage is based on a couple of factors: 

1) Chipping on early Warren magazines (especially Creepy) is very common---that paper stock was cheap!

2) Bugs don't usually differentiate between the interior and the cover; that would have to be one fussy insect.

And in severe cases, it can affect the grade. In my view, the rest of the book would have to be super clean and sharp to still give it a 9.2. But that's just like, my opinion, man...  

Very helpful…thank you very much! 

[B2D327]

On 9/15/2023 at 2:21 PM, The Lions Den said:

2) Bugs don't usually differentiate between the interior and the cover; that would have to be one fussy insect.

This was the first thing that came to mind and my thought was, “is there some chemical/agent in the cover paper that would cause a pest to reject it and if so why not avoid the book entirely?”.

The jagged edges gave me the impression it had come from mice but being unfamiliar with the history of the Warren manufacturing practices made your post educational for me 

[Randall Dowling]

On 9/15/2023 at 1:21 PM, The Lions Den said:

But that's just like, my opinion, man...  

[WolverineX]

looks like an animal bite

[jr70]

You'll never get a more expert opinion then the ones you have here, but I agree chipping.  Annoying but common.

[B2D327]

On 9/15/2023 at 5:01 PM, jr70 said:

You'll never get a more expert opinion then the ones you have here, but I agree chipping.  Annoying but common.

Glad it came up since I’ll be aware of the issue as I continue to build my collection 

[The Lions Den]

On 9/15/2023 at 8:20 PM, B2D327 said:

Glad it came up since I’ll be aware of the issue as I continue to build my collection 

Thanks for bringing it up!  

Normally I do a comparable, but unfortunately the copy of Creepy #15 I have right now doesn't have this flaw. I can tell you that I've seen corner chipping on this particular issue of Creepy numerous times in the past, though. 

Maybe someone here on the boards has a copy of this book with similar corner chipping so we could compare it with your copy?    

[oakman29]

On 9/15/2023 at 1:20 PM, WolverineX said:

looks like an animal bite

As an exterminator by trade. THAT my friend is  silverfish chewing.

[Axe Elf]

Without pulling mine out of the bag, there's just the tiniest bit of "chipping" of the inside pages at the top corner, visible from the back cover scan--but it's so small as to almost be insignificant unless you really zoom in.

[Randall Dowling]

On 9/15/2023 at 7:45 PM, oakman29 said:

As an exterminator by trade. THAT my friend is  silverfish chewing.

You feel that strongly about it, Dave?  You know bugs better than most but I've seen a lot of Warrens from that period with the exact same defect.  I always thought it was just poor paper stock that tore at the edge when it was trimmed at production.  It's always at the corners on the books I've seen. 

[OtherEric]

My copy:

[WolverineX]

On 9/15/2023 at 8:45 PM, oakman29 said:

As an exterminator by trade. THAT my friend is  silverfish chewing.

Take Oakman29's word to the bank.  He knows.  

[Jayman]

On 9/15/2023 at 3:18 PM, B2D327 said:

On 9/15/2023 at 2:21 PM, The Lions Den said:

2) Bugs don't usually differentiate between the interior and the cover; that would have to be one fussy insect.

This was the first thing that came to mind and my thought was, “is there some chemical/agent in the cover paper that would cause a pest to reject it and if so why not avoid the book entirely?”.

I have seen examples of bug chews right here on the boards showing covers where they definitely chewed around certain ink colors. As if the bugs didn’t like the texture or the taste as much as other colors.

[loganparker]

Here’s a few more pics of the front cover, first few pages, latter pages and pages of the top right corner for comparison. 

[The Lions Den]

On 9/15/2023 at 8:45 PM, oakman29 said:

As an exterminator by trade. THAT my friend is  silverfish chewing.

However remote, the possibility does exist that this book could have both "normal" chipping and silverfish damage. After all, it's almost as old as I am, and I've had all kinds of problems...