Expert: Nicolas - 2/4/2008

Question
QUESTION: Can you define what "white pages" mean? Is this an industry term?  Is it new?  I have a few comics from the 80s/90s that I may want to cgc and I am trying to determine what "white pages" means exactly.  Thank you.

ANSWER: Hi:

Sorry not to have replied earlier but I was out of town until today.

White pages mean exactly what it means, ie the inside pages and covers oif the book show no signs of yellowing.

As you probably already know, until the 90s, comics used to be printed on recyclable/cheap paper, which had a slight white/greyish color. If the paper retained its orignial color, that is what is meant by white pages.

I would advise you too look carefully at the ones you have from the 80s as I suspect that the ones from the 90s probably retained their color.

Hope this is useful.

Nicolas

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you for you reply.  Yes, I am just trying to determine if I should cgc some of these books or not.  

So for the 80s books - a "white" page does not mean the color white.  So white means non-yellowing/bright original color pages?  

Answer
For the 80s book, it all depends on which paper it was printed. Most of the comics were still printed on bad paper, but they gradually introduced better pulp in the paper (eg marvel fanfare titles).

What I meant is that you are more likely to find a comic with white pages from the 80s than from the 70s.

At the end of the day, paper should not dicate your decision. It is the saleability of the book if graded that should trigger your decision. You should also check on CGC to see where they have issues missing, eg that was never graded. Finally, you do not want to grade a book in bad condition, as nobody will every buy it.

Hope this is useful.

Nicolas