Expert: Chris Brown - 2/3/2008

Question
We have a brand new copy of the Finnish Carl Barks Library book XXIV printed in 2007. On one page in the book there is a spot which looks like a drop of ink from the printing of the inner cover pages. There are no other visible irregularities in the book. Do you know if this will cause the book to decrease in value? We have other books from the same series that don't have any similar markings. Thanks for your help.

Answer
Hi Ramona
Unlike collectors of coins or stamps, collectors of comics do not look for imperfections.  This is because many comics come of the printing presses imperfect.  Collectors prefer the most perfectly printed comic available.  That being said, the flaw you mention in your Carl Barks Library would most likely affect a future collector's willingness to pay based mostly on how much it detracts from readability and presentation.  If the spot is in the margin or otherwise innocuous, I would expect its effect on value to be minimal.  If it detracts from a page of artwork or makes a word balloon unreadable, it would possibly be a little more important to a potential buyer.

If you haven't already, you might want to compare your copy to another one.  It's possible that all copies were printed with this flaw.

Chris