Welcome to TvComics.com! We buy and sell vintage comic books and more.  We will treat you fairly and with respect!  Please explore our site - we look forward to welcoming you as a customer.  TvComics is always looking to purchase pre-1973 comicbooks!

Grading Guide

Below you will find a general guideline as to how we grade our comics.  In general, our Grading Standards are on the conservative side and you should expect to be very happy with any purchase you make from TvComics.com

• MINT (M): Practically perfect. This comic has white pages, absolutely no corner, spine or staple stress. If there is a doubt, it is not Mint. Looks brand new.
• NEAR MINT (NM): Almost perfect. No apparent obvious defects; high cover gloss; no fading; covers flat, centered and unworn; spine flat and tight; centered staples; interior pages clean and white. Permissible defects: slight stress by staples; minute corner creases; small binding or printing faults.
• VERY FINE (VF-, VF, VF+): An exceptional comic with great color, flatness, white/off-white pages and minimal spine stress (2 or 3 minute hair lines). Color break on the spine stress is allowed, but only for the tiniest of fractures. Actual corner dullness is allowed if only two are dulled. A hint of a crease, tiny, may be allowed.
• FINE (FN-, FN, FN+): Above-average book that is flat, colorful, and still attractive. From a distance the book will look as good as new, but close inspection will quickly reveal flaws. Cover should be bright, but a little dullness is allowed. This grade will have some staple stress and spine stress, but not too much. One or two corner dings are also ok in this grade. The pages must be light brown at the darkest.
• VERY GOOD (VG-, VG, VG+): This book will quickly show flaws as first glance. Staple stress is allowed. A small amount of tape is ok (please do not ever use tape - it will destroy your collectibles!) The cover may have a small tear. A small hole or corner tear may be allowed if it is less than the size of your pinkie. A staple may be completely loose from the cover. Cover brightness is dull or not present at all. Some minor dirt ("soiling") is allowed. Some marker, pen, or pencil can be present on the cover, but not when it does damage to the cover or hides the wording or art. The entire story is readable. Most older comic books that were read a few times and changed hands a few times are in Very Good (VG). It is said that some of the rarest comic books are never found in conditions better than VG.
• GOOD (GD-, GD, GD+): This grade has all pages and covers, but there will probably be small chunks missing from the cover. Comics in this grade are usually creased, torn, and dirty, rubbed or smudges, but should be readable. Staples can be rusty. Paper quality and color is not great, but pages can not be brittle. Cover 'brightness' or glossiness will be low or even gone.
• FAIR (FR-, FR, FR+): A very badly worn comic. This grade has the full main story and should have most of the cover. Chunks missing, tears, tape, soil may be present. Even holes throughout the interior pages. Pages are dark and may be close to being brittle. A missing staple is common. Corners are definitely not sharp. Spine is very worn with many stress marks.
• POOR (PR): Comic books in this grade are ragged. They rarely have the cover attached at all. The cover is usually ripped, shredded or generally mutilated. Also, the story could be missing pages (many times the centerfold is gone) and the pages are so brittle they could tear just by turning them.

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