line/printer wheel question on new Marvel books

[Paladin]

Anyone notice these on the left side of most Marvel (not the Ultimate books) comics coming out these days? Do you think it affects grading of the new books or is it just accepted as a given?

[fantastic_four]

Are you talking about that book-length crease that runs parallel to the spine, about 1/4" away from it?

 

That line is me off...it's sometimes impossible to find copies in my area that don't have it. It HAS to affect the grade, it's a defect.

[blowout]

That line is me off...it's sometimes impossible to find copies in my area that don't have it.

 

Same here. Nearly all books seem to have this lately (last 12 months or so).

What is going on? I thought print quality was supposed to be going UP.

Should we be paying so much money for new books with these defects?

[fantastic_four]

Maybe it's intentional, so that there are less 9.8s to make them more valuable!

[Paladin]

Yep, that's the one. I've reluctantly accepted it as a given.

 

I'll tell ya something weird. When this line first started showing up, I was so ticked I e-mailed Joe Quesada bout it. He told me that they were having a problem with some books being shipped out of this one place. Forget the exact location. He said it should be fixed soon, and for a few months after his reply it was fixed. The line was gone or you could barely see it. After those few months the line returned and has been there ever since.

 

I did tell Quesada in that e-mail that I thought it was pretty bad that we're paying 2-3 bucks for new books and they already have a flaw.

 

This period of Marvel books will just have this characteristic.

[vic6string]

I think it is from the thicker pages (especially the covers) Thinner paper tends to bend, thicker tends to crease. When the books come off the press with those thick covers, I will bet the cover is sticking up in the air, not flat. When you stack the books for shipping, the cover just wrinkles at that spot. It is incredibly annoying. I have seen over 500 copies of Captain America #1, and have only seen maybe 5 copies without the line. The Ultimates is another one that I see it on quite a bit.