Comic Book Collecting - Conservation of Comics

Conservation of Comics

Comics, being a printed medium, should be stored in cool, dark places, as sunlight can bleach the pages, and heat and moisture can also damage them. Sunlight can also react with the paper, causing it to "yellow", as well as having a bleaching effect on the inks used within the comic. Some collectors advise against storing comics in cardboard boxes, or using backing boards, as these are both sources of acid which can react with the fibers of the paper of comics, eventually destroying a comic. If these products are used to store comics, these collectors advise using products marked as acid free.

PET film, polyethylene or polypropylene storage bags are popular, and allow a comic to be "bagged" in a contained environment, and have become the traditional way of storing comics. Some comic shops now sell comics already in bags, although the quality of the bag can vary. These types of bags are not considered "archival safe" because various plastic compositions may contain elements or have other properties that could harm the comic in years to come. Mylars are the only bags available that are archival safe. Corrugated plastic boxes, preferred by some collectors, offer greater protection against acid while also offering better protection against moisture damage and vermin damage.

Original art, typically 11x17 bristol boards with the pencils and ink, can be protected against direct sunlight as well as acid deterioration by using an archival quality frame coupled with glass which has been treated to protect against ultraviolet rays.

In the column Comic Book Vitamins on the Project Fanboy website, Steven Sykora discussed preserving collections by submitting your comic books to the CGC, where comics are inspected for flaws, graded accordingly and placed in an inner well - a sealed sleeve of Barex, a highly gas-impermeable plastic polymer. Then, the comics are sealed through a combination of compression and ultrasonic vibration in a transparent, hard plastic capsule. This process is often referred to in slang as "slabbing" and there is debate as to whether this provides better protection for your comic books than an acid-free backing board and Mylar sleeve.

Storing a comic as a computer file (scanning and saving the comic as a comic book file or .cbz/.cbr) is also an option, allowing those without access to the comic itself a chance to see at the least the story for themselves, though the legality of this practice is considered copyright infringement by many workers in the industry, including Tarot: Witch of the Black Rose creators Jim Balent and Holly Golighty of Broadsword Comics.