Condition guides

Comic book grading guides

How to grade a comic book, the 10-point scale, NM vs VF vs FN, photographing a raw book, color-breaking defects, page quality, spine wear, pressing, and a glossary of the words that actually move a grade. Chart estimate for raw condition only — not a professional certification.

• How to grade a comic

  A conservative home method: honest photos, structure first, paper as a ceiling, color breaks over bends, and the lower number when you are unsure.

• Grading scale

  A 10-point ladder with no 9.7 or 9.5. When a book sits between two grades, the lower one is assigned.

• NM, VF, FN, VG

  Letter grades are bands. NM is roughly 9.2–9.8. VF is roughly 7.5–9.0. A listing that only says VF is not a 9.0.

• Photograph a comic

  A grade is only as honest as the photos. Square shots, even light, original files (not gallery screenshots), and a close-up of wear that blends into the art prevent inflated reads.

• Color-breaking defects

  White paper showing through ink is a color break. It costs more grade than a bend of the same length that does not break color.

• Page quality

  Paper color is a ceiling, not a bonus. White is required for a perfect 10.0. Brittle pages cannot exceed 3.5.

• Spine stress

  The spine is where books fail first. Stress, ticks, roll, and splits are graded by depth, color break, length, and accumulation.

• Corners and edges

  Corners and the right edge take stacking damage. Missing paper is a piece defect; a soft blunt is not. Manufacturing chips are not graded like a torn bite of the same size — except at the very top of the ladder.

• Raw condition

  Raw means the book in hand: unrestored, unslabbed, graded conservatively from photos. It is an estimate for condition, not a certificate and not a price.

• Should I press?

  A press can relax some waves, light bends, and roll. It cannot restore cracked ink, missing paper, or brittle pages. When in doubt, do not press first.

• Glossary

  Short definitions for the words that actually move a raw grade — so a listing and a photo mean the same thing.

• AI grading accuracy

  Photos show a lot, not everything. What an AI estimate can read, what it can't, and why the lower grade wins when it is close.

• Comic grading app

  What a good comic grading app should ask for, show you, and admit — and how this one runs in your phone browser with no download.

• Worth grading?

  Raw value, slabbed value, every cost both ways, and time. A fill-in-your-own-numbers check before you pay for professional grading.

• CGC vs PSA vs CBCS

  What each grading service says about itself, side by side — CBCS has closed to new submissions — and why to grade it raw first.