Four Color Comics

I’ve always been a sort of insular comic book geek: a collectors’ market of one. By this I mean that I have limited interaction with other collectors, and don’t know much of the lingo. For example, I have no idea how to grade comics. Fortunately, the web offers help.

Mile High Comics has posted their comic book grading standards. While these are purely verbal (as opposed to visual), they do provide a starting point:

Mint
We do not offer to sell comics in “Mint” condition. All comics have some flaws. They are produced in factories, by indifferent workers, in huge production runs. The odds of a “perfect mint” comic getting through that process are infinitesimally small.

Near Mint
All the comics we receive that are in exceptional condition fall into this category. For the most part, they are comics that are unread or were perhaps read once. This is a choice collectible and would meet the standard of the vast majority of collectors.

Very Fine
Under the standards of pre-2000, almost all of these books would have been classified as NM. We have shifted our standards to be even more picky, and now shift comics with very minor, but noticable flaws into the Very Fine category.

Fine
Comics in “Fine” are priced significantly less than those in Very Fine and for good reason. They will all have some sort of slight flaw that, in a some way, detracts from their overall appearance. At the same time, however, it is generally recognized that comics in Fine are still considered by most collectors as “investment-grade” books. For collectors seeking very nice comics, without the extreme cost of Near Mint or Very Fine, Fine is an excellent alternative.

Very Good
This is the most common grade that we see comics in that are from the 1970’s and early 1980’s. These comics have been read. Often, quite a lot. They show considerable wear and have many flaws. But they are firm, tight comic books. They are not significantly damaged in any way and are still a nice collectible. Except for very rare material, however, they are not considered “investment-grade.”

Good
The “Good” category of comics is the broadest category that we sell. It’s a catch-all category of comics that are complete, but always flawed significantly in one way or another. These comics are primarily for reading. Under no circumstances can these comics be considered “investment- grade.”

Fair
Comics in Fair have complete stories, but may be excessively taped, torn, water-damaged, brittle, have half the front cover or all the back cover missing, interior non-story pages missing, interior coupons clipped, excessive writing, or excessive rubber stamps. The one point in their favor is that their stories are complete. If you just want to own an old comic, and don’t care that it’s basically a rag, this is your category. And the prices are cheap.

For more detailed information, check out the comic book grading standards.