Printing Error or Color Fade? 0

[Ron C.]

Here is one book that I disagree with CGC's interpretation.... Love and Rockets #1 Fifth Printing.  There is not a great sample size since these are two of the only three books on the CGC census, but here are two of them.

One copy is missing only the yellow ink with the exception of the very right edge. The other colors are not faded, only missing the yellow. The greens become blue, the reds become pink, the purples become brown and yet the blues stay rich and even (especially around the blue glove on the right side where the color change should be the most dramatic).

Any opinions?

[Tony S]

This is completely  missing yellow. It is not color fade. 

[Deadpoolica]

Not faded imo either

[James J Johnson]

On ‎12‎/‎21‎/‎2019 at 4:20 PM, Tony S said:

This is completely  missing yellow. It is not color fade. 

Tony, if the yellow is completely missing, where did the yellow come from on the right edge of the book; in the background slatted wall and the price?

That presence of yellow on the right edge is probably the main reason why CGC deemed it faded and not a "missing yellow plate" printing error.

[The Lions Den]

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Tony S]

On 12/23/2019 at 4:49 PM, James J Johnson said:

Tony, if the yellow is completely missing, where did the yellow come from on the right edge of the book; in the background slatted wall and the price?

That presence of yellow on the right edge is probably the main reason why CGC deemed it faded and not a "missing yellow plate" printing error.

It is one tiny spot of yellow. The rest of the yellow isn't faded, it's just flat out not there. It's white instead of yellow. Look at the issue number, cover price or even the boarder around the title LOVE.  It is white. Not faded yellow.  Also you look at the pictures and you can see where the missing yellow has affected other areas - like flesh tones on the Caucasian and brown skinned women.   Which are pink'ish (Caucasian) and purple (Brown) in hue. Yellow is NEEDED to make the correct colors. The Yellow is missing - not fading.  Finally, Red is a color that fades pretty quickly with exposure to light. There might be some very minor fading to the reds (gloves, woman's dress) but it is pretty minor. 

So IDK why one tiny spot got some yellow while every other yellow area of the book got none and clearly some areas where yellow would go into the mix got none.  It's an odd printing error.  Maybe it ran out of yellow that exact issue. Maybe something wrong with the printing plate. But it Ain't fading for certain. If the book were mine I'd email customer service with the pics, these comments and ask that a grader review. If all that is otherwise wrong with the book is a few "lite spine stresses" the book should be graded higher along with the printing defect (printed without yellow ink/ran out of yellow ink) noted. 

Edited December 27, 2019 by Tony S

[James J Johnson]

1 hour ago, Tony S said:

It is one tiny spot of yellow. The rest of the yellow isn't faded, it's just flat out not there. It's white instead of yellow. Look at the issue number, cover price or even the boarder around the title LOVE.  It is white. Not faded yellow.  Also you look at the pictures and you can see where the missing yellow has affected other areas - like flesh tones on the Caucasian and brown skinned women.   Which are pink'ish (Caucasian) and purple (Brown) in hue. Yellow is NEEDED to make the correct colors. The Yellow is missing - not fading.  Finally, Red is a color that fades pretty quickly with exposure to light. There might be some very minor fading to the reds (gloves, woman's dress) but it is pretty minor. 

So IDK why one tiny spot got some yellow while every other yellow area of the book got none and clearly some areas where yellow would go into the mix got none.  It's an odd printing error.  Maybe it ran out of yellow that exact issue. Maybe something wrong with the printing plate. But it Ain't fading for certain. If the book were mine I'd email customer service with the pics, these comments and ask that a grader review. If all that is otherwise wrong with the book is a few "lite spine stresses" the book should be graded higher along with the printing defect (printed without yellow ink/ran out of yellow ink) noted. 

For the most part, aside from the right end, the slatted wall looks to be a very pale yellow in color, not white. I still have to side with CGC on the issue of fade rather than color variance due to issues non-related to fade. Of course, I don't have the benefit of viewing it raw, and in my hands so I'm at a distinct disadvantage. But from what I can observe and based on my former comments, IMO CGC already made the right call.

[Foley]

@Ron C. What does the back cover look like on the "faded" copy?

[Ron C.]

8 hours ago, Foley said:

@Ron C. What does the back cover look like on the "faded" copy?

Here is the back cover with normal yellow tones. I can see why CGC believes it to be fade, but the colors don't make sense that way (to me).

[Lazyboy]

11 hours ago, James J Johnson said:

For the most part, aside from the right end, the slatted wall looks to be a very pale yellow in color, not white. I still have to side with CGC on the issue of fade rather than color variance due to issues non-related to fade. Of course, I don't have the benefit of viewing it raw, and in my hands so I'm at a distinct disadvantage. But from what I can observe and based on my former comments, IMO CGC already made the right call.

There is literally zero chance that yellow was properly printed on that cover and removed by fading.

[Tempus Fugit]

1 hour ago, Lazyboy said:

There is literally zero chance that yellow was properly printed on that cover and removed by fading.

I respectfully disagree.

It could easily have been sitting in a lineup of books with just the right edge covered, or in a bag with a sticker masking the remaining yellow spot.

It seems very unlikely that the yellow ran out at exactly line of the spine when the front and back cover were printed laid open in one pass.

 

[Lazyboy]

35 minutes ago, Tempus Fugit said:

I respectfully disagree.

It could easily have been sitting in a lineup of books with just the right edge covered, or in a bag with a sticker masking the remaining yellow spot.

It seems very unlikely that the yellow ran out at exactly line of the spine when the front and back cover were printed laid open in one pass.

 

Then why is only the yellow affected? How can the magenta possibly still be there when the yellow is completely gone? How can the blue be unaffected by what it would take to completely remove any trace of yellow (except the little edge strip)?

[James J Johnson]

2 hours ago, Lazyboy said:

Then why is only the yellow affected? How can the magenta possibly still be there when the yellow is completely gone? How can the blue be unaffected by what it would take to completely remove any trace of yellow (except the little edge strip)?

That would depend totally upon the type of light source and the susceptibility of the inks, and the way they react or don't react to that particular frequency of light.

 

[James J Johnson]

3 hours ago, Tempus Fugit said:

I respectfully disagree.

It could easily have been sitting in a lineup of books with just the right edge covered, or in a bag with a sticker masking the remaining yellow spot.

It seems very unlikely that the yellow ran out at exactly line of the spine when the front and back cover were printed laid open in one pass.

 

As evidenced by the price at the upper right side also having yellow coloration.

[James J Johnson]

3 hours ago, Tempus Fugit said:

It seems very unlikely that the yellow ran out at exactly line of the spine when the front and back cover were printed laid open in one pass.

This

[BlowUpTheMoon]

Here's a good example of yellow missing in the top left corner.  Didn't happen on all copies, obviously.

 

[Tony S]

5 hours ago, Tempus Fugit said:

I respectfully disagree.

It could easily have been sitting in a lineup of books with just the right edge covered, or in a bag with a sticker masking the remaining yellow spot.

It seems very unlikely that the yellow ran out at exactly line of the spine when the front and back cover were printed laid open in one pass.

 

It seems equally unlikely that the  YELLOW cover issue number, the cover price, the tracing around the "LOVE" in the title, the women's gauntlet, belt and jewelry all faded to WHITE AS BONE.  It's unlikely ONLY the yellow in the Caucasian and Brown flesh tones completely disappeared from light fading, leaving behind pink and purple. 

After seeing the back cover and looking at the Red gloves, I think both things have gone on. The yellow ink ran out or was not applied in places during the printing of the cover. And there is some fading. 

As for the idea that somehow the yellow ink could not just have ran out during the printing of that cover, that's incorrect. Am I the only one here with an inkjet printer that ran out of a color half way through a picture or graphic? When the ink runs out, it's run out. It's not like the ink cares that only 1/2 of the image is done and somehow stretches a bit further. 

[Ron C.]

This book was printed with a run of what? 100-200?  500?  It is the 5th printing from Fantagraphics Books and there are 3 copies on the CGC census (two are mine). I think someone ran out of yellow ink for this copy in one part.

Edited December 28, 2019 by Ron C.