"Well that's one LESS copy!!" (Comics you damaged/found damaged)

[AnthonyO'Brien]

Found a bagged copy of Kirby's Eternals at a flea market the other day. When I read it, the comic had tears on the back. Still an interesting read though.

Have you ever damaged a valuable comic or found one in bad shape?

[MajorHoy]

You should see what shape my copy of Giant-Size X-Men #1 (which I bought new off a spinner rack back in 1975) is in.

[C_Miller]

A few years back, the comic book store I frequent had a copy of Giant-Size X-Men #1. The wall that they have their keys on obscures the bottom half, but they're always happy to pull them down for customers to look at. Anyways, from the look of it on the wall, it was in perfect condition, the white was still perfectly white, the corners and cuts were sharp, staples perfectly placed, no other color fading.

Well, the problem is when you pull it off the wall, the bottom 4th, exactly how much is covered by the shelf is completely water damaged and destroyed. I don't think I'd ever seen a book for sale with worse water damage. But literally the top 3/4th of the book is a 9.8.

And that, friends, is why you must place your comics on a raised platform if you store them in your basement. The book still fetched $150 or so, so it wasn't a total loss.

[ERON]

Well, now I know who found my copy of Giant-Size X-Men #1 that got washed away in a flood back in '98, along with the rest of my fledgling collection.

Speaking of water damage, I found a bunch of Silver Age Turok, Tarzan, Batman, and Captain Marvel Jr. comics at an antique store a few years back that had varying degrees of water damage, but were still readable. I also have an old Black Terror comic from the '40s that I bought online that has part of the cover torn off, but is otherwise in decent shape.

[Jim Kelly]

Virtually every comic book I bought in the 1960s as a little kid got torn to pieces by me--just from me reading them over and over and over until they completely fell apart. But I kept them anyway. It's possible I sold some intact copies to the five and dime store on Canada Way near our home--since he would buy comics for like two cents and then resell them for five cents. But I only remember getting comics from there, not selling them back to him.

[AnthonyO'Brien]

Found a late seventies X-Men vs juggernaut in good Nick at a thrift store. Trouble is, some kid wrote his name above the splash page. Oh well, it was still readable. Ever damage any with sticky tape?

[Mace Dolex]

In a dollar box found me a Detective Comics #472 from the Steve Englehart/Marshal Rodgers run, very worn with slight rips and nicks but all pages still intact

[AnthonyO'Brien]

Gave my niece a copy of Batman adventures 12 (First Harley) in 1994. She scribbled on it as kids do with "worthless kids comics". Found another copy of it for a dollar at a thrift store and hope to sell if for big bucks one day...

[Jim Kelly]

Ever damage any with sticky tape?

So after I tore my comics to shreds in the 1960s, by 1970 I learned that you should keep your comics intact. Trouble is they'd rip--so I figured I should repair them and then they wouldn't fall apart. Thankfully I only did this to some of my comics and by around 1973, I knew better.

The two things I hate when I get back issues is when the comic has "water" damage--is that water?--and when it has an unholy stench--I've got some comics that I couldn't read because they smelled as bad as Jerry's car.

[From The Shadows]

I remember quite a few X-Comics in the late 90's and early 2000'a the ink would come off on my fingers sometimes leaving black finger prints or even white ones. That's all I got.

[GOLGO 13]

Years ago, I had a shot at a Spider-man #1 that was NOT mint at all. Cover had torn pieces , yellowish pages, creases, yadda-yadda-yadda. Would have probably fetched a .5 grade. I dismissed it without a 2nd glance.

Now? Bro, I would break a land speed record reaching for my wallet for that today. Live & learn.

[MajorHoy]

Years ago, I had a shot at a Spider-man #1 that was NOT mint at all. Cover had torn pieces , yellowish pages, creases, yadda-yadda-yadda. Would have probably fetched a .5 grade. I dismissed it without a 2nd glance.

Now? Bro, I would break a land speed record reaching for my wallet for that today. Live & learn.

Spider-Man #1? From 1990?

Heck, that's only 31 years old.
(I think I might have a spare copy of that kicking around in a closet somewhere . . . )

[williamtheday]

Imagine somebody with so much money they buy enough mint copies of Superman #1 (1938) to read while eating Sloppy Joe sandwiches...

[MajorHoy]

Imagine somebody with so much money they buy enough mint copies of Superman #1 (1938) to read while eating Sloppy Joe sandwiches...

That would never have happened.

Superman #1 didn't come out until 1939.

[GOLGO 13]

Spider-Man #1? From 1990?

Heck, that's only 31 years old.
(I think I might have a spare copy of that kicking around in a closet somewhere . . . )

LOlz!! That I probably have 2-3 of those #1's rotting away along side my Jim Lee X-MEN #1's. Probably never to be touched nor much less read ever in my lifetime.