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E.C. Fan Addict THREAD
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6,321 posts in this topic

Got lucky today and bought a little pile of GA from a local guy. In the pile was a copy of this EC. I already had one but the price way way right.

Got home and pulled mine out and this is what I saw. I wasn’t aware there was a color variation. Why? A later run? Did the ink run dry or did someone change their mind? The change mostly appears in the title. Did the magenta plate gain? Is one version scarcer than the other?

C1AE0B83-FCB5-4F34-B807-B4353FAF6DBB.jpeg

53D3248A-A066-4B81-855F-79A51894D5FA.jpeg

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5 minutes ago, Robot Man said:

Got home and pulled mine out and this is what I saw. I wasn’t aware there was a color variation. Why? A later run? Did the ink run dry or did someone change their mind? The change mostly appears in the title. Did the magenta plate gain? Is one version scarcer than the other?

Could be the way the blue ink has aged.  My first copy of Weird Science #11, typically navy blue behind the logo, had become a light grayish lavender.  (For years I didn't know the true color was supposed to be much darker!)  Extended exposure to light will turn those early EC blues to various shades of purple or violet, even grey.   

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12 minutes ago, Robot Man said:

Got lucky today and bought a little pile of GA from a local guy. In the pile was a copy of this EC. I already had one but the price way way right.

Got home and pulled mine out and this is what I saw. I wasn’t aware there was a color variation. Why? A later run? Did the ink run dry or did someone change their mind? The change mostly appears in the title. Did the magenta plate gain? Is one version scarcer than the other?

C1AE0B83-FCB5-4F34-B807-B4353FAF6DBB.jpeg

53D3248A-A066-4B81-855F-79A51894D5FA.jpeg

I think that's just fading, but not 100% sure.  One could also be late in the print run so ink was low.

If you decide to get rid of one of those, PM me and let me know what you want, by the way...

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1 minute ago, 29dukedog said:

Could be the way the blue ink has aged.  My first copy of Weird Science #11, typically navy blue behind the logo, had become a light grayish lavender.  (For years I didn't know the true color was supposed to be much darker!)  Extended exposure to light will turn those early EC blues to various shades of purple or violet, even grey.   

It actually looks to me like the magenta plate “gained” on the top one. Neither look faded or aged. Would love to see everybody else’s copy. 

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If you compare the green and blue "ladder" around them, the Magenta copy has a much lighter green, and what is blue in the other copy is grey.  Either their entire ink was low during printing, or the cover colors all faded.  I tend to think the latter.

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1 hour ago, jpepx78 said:

I don’t think the colors are faded. Here are 2 Gaines Files copies of Weird Fantasy 15 from the Heritage archive that shows a purple cover and a blue cover.

If we assume there has not been any fading in these GF copies, I believe the difference is due to the slight variation in the mixing of the printing inks. Since comics were printed using a 4 color CMYK process (cyan, magenta, yellow & black), a slight variation in the ratio in one of the inks will make a visible difference in the color. I tried to duplicate the cover colors using a CMYK blender. For example if the ratio of the cyan ink is changed (by mixing up ratios), purplish color can turn into bluish color. So less rigorous print quality control might explain the prevalent cover color variations in Fiction House books and other comics that people have discussed previously.

Wow, you really took the ball and ran with it!  

 

 

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I looked at my listings to see if I had WF 15 to compare it to Robot mans, I did have it :banana:  but when I looked for it I find its not even the same book, so I have missing a book I thought I had  :cry:

Why were there two WF 15s ?

As a side note I looked at my 90s reprint of RMs 15 and it is Blue

 

1182113995_WeirdFantasy15.thumb.jpg.e4c1582fdd4ef6b1b174d33d16c3ff30.jpg

 

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