An Action Comics #1 and a Detective Comics #27 are the first two books to be graded under CGC's new restoration scale. CGC agreed to launch these two books before the July 1 official start date.
As noted in an earlier article, CGC has expanded its restoration scale to help collectors understand what was done to their book. The following is a list of conservation and restoration repairs, materials used for these repairs, and the new CGC restoration scale:
Conservation Repairs
Tear seals
Spine split seals
Reinforcement
Piece reattachment
Some cover or interior cleaning (water or solvent)
Staples cleaned or replaced
Some leaf casting
Materials Used for Conservation Repairs:
Rice paper
Wheat glue
Vintage staples
Archival tape
Restoration Repairs
Color touch
Piece replacement
Re-glossing
Paper bleaching
Married pages or cover
Materials Used for Restoration Repairs:
White glue
Re-glossing agent
Acrylic or water color
Pencil, crayon, chalk
Pen, marker, white out, paint
Leaf casting
Cadaver piece fill
White bleaching
The New Restoration Scale
Quality (Aesthetic) Scale – (Determined by materials used and visual quality of work)
A (Excellent)
Material used: rice paper, wheat paste, acrylic or water color, leafcasting
Color match near perfect, no bleed through
Piece fill seamless and correct thickness
No fading, excessive whiteness, ripples, cockling, or ink smudges from cover or interior cleaning
Book feels natural
Near perfect staple alignment, or replaced exactly as they were
Filled edges cut to look natural and even
Cleaned staples or staples replaced with vintage staples
Married cover/pages match in size and page quality. Professionally attached
B (Fine)
Material used: pencil, crayon, chalk, re-glossing agent, piece fill from cadavers
Piece fill obvious upon close inspection, obvious to the touch
Color touch obvious upon close inspection, or done with materials listed above
Cover cleaning resulting in slight color fading or excessively white
Interior cleaning resulting in slight puffiness, cockling, excessively white
Enlarged staple holes, obviously crooked staples, or backwards staple insertion
Replaced staples not vintage
Married cover/pages do not match in size and/or page quality. Professionally attached
C (Poor)
Material used: glue, pen, marker, white out, white paper to fill missing pieces
Piece fill obvious at arm’s length
Bad color matching, use of pen or marker. Bleed through evident
Cover cleaning resulting in washed out/speckled colors, moderate cockling and/or ripples
New staple holes created upon reinsertion, or non-comic book staples used
Trimming of any kind
Married cover/pages poorly attached with non-professional materials
Quantity Scale – (Determined primarily by extent of piece fill and color touch)
1 (Slight)
All conservation work, re-glossing, interior lightening, piece fill no more than size of two bindery chips, light color touch in small areas like spine stress, corner crease or bindery chip fill. Married cover or interior pages/wraps (if other work is present)
2 (Slight/Moderate)
Piece fill up to the ½” x ½” and/or color touch covering up to 1” x 1”. Interior piece fill up to 1” x 1”
3 (Moderate)
Piece fill up to the size of 1” x 1” and/or color touch covering up to 2” x 2”. Interior piece fill up to 2” x 2”
4 (Moderate/Extensive)
Piece fill up to the size of 2” x 2” and/or color touch covering up to 4” x 4”. Interior piece fill up to 4” x 4”
5 (Extensive)
Any piece fill over 2” x 2” and/or color touch over 4” x 4”. Recreated interior pages or cover
Featured below are the above mentioned books and the certification details. The summary of the graders notes lists every restoration technique used, the quantity and quality grade assigned for each, and its location on the book.
Action Comics #1
Detective Comics #27
In the near future, this information will be added to the CGC website.
Detective Comics #27 image courtesy of Dave & Adams