question about moisture "waviness"

[Brother J]

I have a comic that is pretty much perfect in every way, except it has some waviness to it that seems to be a sign that the book was near some moisture at some point. There are absolutely no water stains or smell or anything else to indicate the moisture other than this waviness. How much does this knock off the grade of this comic, which would be NM otherwise? Thanks in advance for any help!

[Dr_Neff]

you would knock off .5 every size of the mark/stain/affected area. Like a little teeny bit 9.2, little bit more 9.0, little bigger area 8.5 you get the idea. Show us your comic and put it in the "please grade my...." area and see what shakes out.

Is it brittle in that area? like if you weighted the top would it flatten or crumble?

[divad]

7.0 / 7.5

 

[grandz-migration]

Without seeing the scan ( or comic ) I would

say the cause is from moisture, or uneven saddle stitching.

 

In the 90's there where some Silver Surfer, and Thors that

came that way from the printer, or dist.

 

Do the waves run top to bottom?

[Brother J]

you would knock off .5 every size of the mark/stain/affected area. Like a little teeny bit 9.2, little bit more 9.0, little bigger area 8.5 you get the idea. Show us your comic and put it in the "please grade my...." area and see what shakes out.

Is it brittle in that area? like if you weighted the top would it flatten or crumble?

 

No, it's not brittle at all. I just scanned the book, but the problem doesn't really show up in the scan. The area affected is about a 2"x2" area, the waviness does go through the entire book, though. I'm thinking probably F/VF or so, just to be on the safe side. Thanks everyone!

[qualitycomix]

you would knock off .5 every size of the mark/stain/affected area. Like a little teeny bit 9.2, little bit more 9.0, little bigger area 8.5 you get the idea. Show us your comic and put it in the "please grade my...." area and see what shakes out.

Is it brittle in that area? like if you weighted the top would it flatten or crumble?

 

No, it's not brittle at all. I just scanned the book, but the problem doesn't really show up in the scan. The area affected is about a 2"x2" area, the waviness does go through the entire book, though. I'm thinking probably F/VF or so, just to be on the safe side. Thanks everyone!

 

That kind of book is a perfect candidate to be pressed. I had a book with a similar problem that was a GD+ with the waviness. After press, it was a solid 6.0.

[Dr_Neff]

you can have it pressed or do it yourself, about a year under some really heavy stuff, like a knee high stack of life magazines.

[Brother J]

you can have it pressed or do it yourself, about a year under some really heavy stuff, like a knee high stack of life magazines.

 

It's a modern (worth about $30 in NM) so it's probably not worth trying to press it, though I agree that a good pressing and you wouldn't know that anything was ever wrong with it.

[Dr_Neff]

what is the book?

[Brother J]

what is the book?

 

Rai # 3, a VALIANT comic.

[Mike Bray]

ya -- probably not worth it --

[deamentia]

I live near the ocean (I'm in San Francisco), and every Wednesday, when I get my books home, no matter if they've only been sitting out for 5 minutes, they get that waviness you're talking about. I'm thinking the only way to really get rid of it is from pressing. What's weird is my older books that were printed on "newsprint" don't get that waviness to them.

[spoonerism]

I think the difference in the newer books is the ink. The cover inks nowadays form a plastic-like layer on top of the paper, which is usually a coated stock. When the paper changes shape from moisture, the ink doesn't, hence the waviness. In older books, the ink is embedded more in the (more porous) paper.

 

Keeping the books in a properly dry environment should fix the waves, especially with some natural pressing, like laying them in a stack instead of stood on end in a box.

 

I tend to keep a stack of comics to read near the bathroom and get this problem a lot (since I live in a 100-plus-year-old house that doesn't have a vent fan in its bathroom).

[Mr. Zipper]

I tend to keep a stack of comics to read near the bathroom

 

Remind me to never buy any books from you.

[Ze-man]

I tend to keep a stack of comics to read near the bathroom

 

Remind me to never buy any books from you.

 

Wasn't that a dilemma in a Seinfeld episode?

 

George and the Big Art book.

 

[Ze-man]

you would knock off .5 every size of the mark/stain/affected area. Like a little teeny bit 9.2, little bit more 9.0, little bigger area 8.5 you get the idea. Show us your comic and put it in the "please grade my...." area and see what shakes out.

Is it brittle in that area? like if you weighted the top would it flatten or crumble?

 

No, it's not brittle at all. I just scanned the book, but the problem doesn't really show up in the scan. The area affected is about a 2"x2" area, the waviness does go through the entire book, though. I'm thinking probably F/VF or so, just to be on the safe side. Thanks everyone!

 

It is weird that only a 2x2" area is affected, yet you can see no visible water damage. I have a WH comic that is wavy over the entire book on what is an otherwise pristine NM book. It is an unsightly flaw for a book to have.

 

Stacking books on top of a book that exhibits warping may reduce it somewhat, but it never really removes it.

 

I think you are safe calling it a F/F+ depending on how severe the warp is.

 

 

Ze-

[Mr. Zipper]

Are these new comics you are referring to?

 

I've noticed that many new comics have a bit of a vertically running wave that can be seen on the top or bottom edge. I don't know what causes this, but it's not moisture damage. I suspect it has to do with the paperstock and/or the full bleed ink distribution.