How to best judge PQ

[gorgoguy]

Hey all,

 

Any advice on PQ guides that are good, tips on how to judge PQ etc? I would like to learn more in this area.

 

I have the Photo-Journal Guide to Comics and love it. On page A-13 they have a nice circular pie chart of PQ. Is this what many of you use? If yes, do you find this reliable?

 

Thanks!

[FFB]

Hey all,

 

Any advice on PQ guides that are good, tips on how to judge PQ etc? I would like to learn more in this area.

 

I have the Photo-Journal Guide to Comics and love it. On page A-13 they have a nice circular pie chart of PQ. Is this what many of you use? If yes, do you find this reliable?

 

Thanks!

 

No, no one uses that, and it's not really accurate in terms of describing the lifespan of paper, either. The OWL card that Overstreet put out with the 1992 grading guide was somewhat useful, but even that has its issues because they couldn't get the colors consistent from card to card, and not every kind of newsprint started out at the same shade of white as every other kind of newsprint (some started out blue, or pink, depending on what a particular publisher used). The best way to learn how to gauge PQ is just to get some really fresh books from a certain era (say silver age, golden age, and bronze age) and compare them to less fresh copies. Crack a few CGC graded Cream to Off-White books and compare them to some CGC Off-White books. When you open a white page book, you'll know it. The newsprint will still smell brand new and you'll get a fresh ink smell instead of a slightly acidic paper odor.

 

PQ is the one area where perhaps there is the most subjectivity and it is impossible to be exact on every book.