Hewitt

On one of my paperbacks, some pages are on the verge of falling out near the front, and the binding looks damaged. (First picture is from this book). This is only for a few pages at the front though - for the rest of the book, this isn’t happening. I’m also concerned about one of my hardbacks. Between 2 pages at the front and back, there’s a bit of a gap (picture 2 and 3) Again, though, other pages appear to be fine. My OCD is going haywire with this. Anyone know what’s causing it?

I try to man. I just worry a lot about breaking/ruining stuff, kind of kills the enjoyment for me. My collecting background is largely militaria, and that stuff was generally built to withstand a lot more than my hands.

Is this actually a thing, or is this a joke that went over my head? Like can you actually ruin a book with bacteria?

I guess the question I’ve got, then, is that are such marks normal to see in a book, or are am I leaving behind some kind of sweat or even damp imprint that is unusual or could be avoided? The marks don’t look so bad now; they largely seem to dry off or evaporate. On a side note, do people usually wash their hands before reading their stuff? Tbh, at this point I think it might just be making things worse, either by making my hands sweaty or leaving moisture on them. side note 2: tried some surgical gloves, even with something thin like that, turning pages is difficult.

Hey all, I've been reading volume 1 of Lady Mechanika, and I've been having some issues with hand marks. I usually hold the book in my hands when I read, and can see the marks of my fingers and palms on the back, cover and occasionally pages of the book, leaving what look like wet imprints. They seem to fade over time, but a few are left behind. I haven't encountered the issue with other books in my collection. The thing is, I have taken to washing and drying my hands before reading. I've been increasingly thorough in drying my hands to see if that helps, but its still happening, albeit perhaps less severely, I'm not 100% sure. My hands do seem to get clammy when I'm reading, but I've only started noticing this since I've started washing and drying (I had the odd finger stick here and there to a cover, but now its happening all the time). Not really sure what to do to be honest. If I don't wash my hands I'm inevitably gonna get some chicken grease or something on a book, but I seem to be leaving noticeable marks when I do. Its frustrating, and I'm worried about ruining my comics because of this. I've tried to take some photos, but its kind of hard to see. In the first photo, its a black mark below the knee, highlighted by the light. In the second, its a white mark on the shoulder.

Hey all. Been reading through some stuff from the 2006 Hawkgirl series. It’s... alright? The quality of each issue seems to vary drastically. Are there any good Hawkgirl reads out there? I’ve seen some recommendations for New 52 Earth 2, might take a look if that’s any good?

Alright, seems I’m a bit ridiculous. Guess I gotta chill out a bit. I like my physical copies. I tried reading stuff on ComiXology and Kindle, but E-readers just don’t do it for me; I still pack about 5-10 physical books when I go on holiday. When I first started out, I didn’t really care much. I just read them without worrying. Then I started listening to all this advice on what to do and what not to do, and it just made me feel like I was doing it all wrong.

Hey all, So, I tried to do everything right with this one. Washed my hands, laid the book on the table (with a clean towel beneath it), didn’t flatten it out, lifted each page gently and let it fall naturally. And yet, the spine looks bent. What did I screw up guys? Not going to lie, feel disheartened. I don’t really care much about the particular book, but I wanted to read it without damaging it. There’s a ton of other stuff I want to read in my collection, but now I’m scared of damaging it, and I ain’t got the cash to buy replacements of everything. More generally, guys, I think worrying about condition is killing my love for actually reading. I’ve become so worried about stuff like this happening that I think I’m more concerned about it then the actual story I’m reading. I don’t want to stop collecting physical books, but certainly don’t want to be so worried about it.

Thanks for the welcome Don’t have the cash to buy doubles of everything (joys of studying Military History), but there are certain covers i don’t want to risk getting damaged and would buy duplicates for. Not really sure what to do with some of the older stuff I’ve got though; I’ve got stuff I like the cover art of and want to read (specifically the 2006-7 Hawkgirl series), but can’t easily get duplicates of and having been holding off on reading for fear of damaging. Friend suggested maybe getting collected editions to read, then filling in my collection of single issues over time as a solution. Even if I do go the duplicates/Ebook/collected editions route, I’d still like to be able to handle stuff with confidence. So from what I’ve gathered thus far: 1: Have clean hands (or gloves) 2: Lay the comic on a flat surface or some sort of cradle. 3: Gently lift pages, allow to fall naturally, don’t open the book fully (not quite sure I get this one: seems like it would be hard to read a book half closed). 4: Try not to eat or drink around the books. So that Justice League I posted: I know it’s unlikely to ever be worth much, but I do like the cover art. Have the pages bended badly enough to warrant getting a duplicate, or is it alright?

Got into collecting with the MLP: Nightmare Knights series, mainly because of this issue: I’d bought some stuff before then, but really fell in love with the cover art of this one, and have been collecting the rest and what I can get from the main series. I also try to get anything Hawkgirl related (I managed to get a few issues from her individual series and some stuff from Justice League). Was my favourite character from the Justice League cartoons as a kid, also my main in the first Injustice. Besides that, I’ll just things that have pretty covers. Box has got some Amazing Spider-Man, X-Men, Black Order stuff that I bought purely on the cover art.

Sounds like buying duplicates or a digital copy as well as the physical one might be the way to go, at least for stuff I really like. I generally prefer reading a physical copy, but digital is definitely more convient. So what would a reasonable person who wants to read something without risking damaging it do? Would the way I’ve handled the pages be viewed as serious damage, or is it pretty standard for a read book?

So am I getting worried about nothing? It's just something you have to accept unless you want to be super pedantic? Like I said, don't want to damage or ruin a book, but I don't want to be pedantic to the point of it becoming a chore.

That's not the expensive one I bought, although that one isn't in Mylar either. I know its not a expensive book, but still don't want any of my stuff getting damaged. At the same time, I don't want to put off reading anything for fear of it getting damaged.

Hey man, thanks for the help, really appreciate it. Yeah, got a towel in there at the moment, trying to keep everything as upright as possible. Does it matter if the stuff in your collection leans to one side? I’m trying to keep my stuff as straight as possible, but when i go to my local comic book store, all the books are visibly leaning forwards or backwards. Got another question, if you don’t mind: I’ve noticed that the pages of the stuff I’ve bought and read through seem bent in comparison to stuff I haven’t read yet (I’ve attached a picture below to show what I mean). Is this to be expected, or am I doing something wrong?

Hey all, I started collecting a few months ago. I've been bagging and boarding my stuff, and bought a storage box to put it all in. However, I went over my stuff last night, and I'm not sure if its being bent I've attached some pictures (Haven't sealed flaps yet - still researching best way to do). The yellow boards are some older Hawkgirl comics I bought, all the rest is new. The rear two boards are whats got me the most worried. They used to be at the front, and seem the most visibly bent. Really worried guys - most of the stuff in there isn't valuable, but I really don't want it to get damaged. On a side note, I just bought the Justice League Hawkgirl sketch cover, and REALLY don't want anything to happen to that. I was thinking of just putting laying that on its own in a drawer, with nothing on top of it. Would this be the best way of keeping it safe?