Is this a married cover? 2 2

[CarlNicholson]

I recently bought this copy of green lantern 87. Everything looked good at first until I noticed how much whiter the cover is compared to the actual pages. And since this is a white cover that surprises me. I have never came across a married cover so I don’t know what to look for. Any insight would be appreciated! 

[theCapraAegagrus]

Top staple could be sus, but that bottom staple looks too perfect to me.

You have to consider the paper quality difference between the cover and the interior pages. The interior was always an off-white color to begin with.

Based on my amateur analysis, I would say that this is not married. Hopefully some more experience individuals will chime in.

[silverseeker]

From the fading in some of the red areas of the cover I suspect it was exposed to sunlight at some time, and this may have toasted some of the first interior pages more than the cover itself.

The splash page appears to be more tan than the centerfold, which would support this theory.

I agree with @Angel of Death and think that the cover is not married...

Edited April 16, 2021 by silverseeker
Minor tweak.

[steveinthecity]

@CarlNicholson Check the staple posts/holes at the centerfold to look for any odd wear or discoloration that might indicate the staples were removed or replaced at some point.  Also, is the edge wear on all sides of the comic consistent between the cover and interior pages?

[PovertyRow]

I agree with the general assessment - looks fine to me.

[The Lions Den]

[James J Johnson]

On 4/16/2021 at 1:23 PM, The Lions Den said:

[comicginger1789]

Interior page colouring is affected by storing conditions. Temperature and that sort of thing and it affects pages more than the cover because the covers were glossy, pages not so much. Plus (and not that it has happened on your book) but one could dry clean a white book to look really sharp. Looks fine to me as well!

[William-James88]

Married covers are really rare for that era to the point where you can assume it's not married. 

Aside form that, difference in colour between cover and inner pages is not indicative of it being married since the cover is made from different paper than the inner pages. Depending on certain environmental conditions of where it was stored, you could end up with this result.

[James J Johnson]

On 4/23/2021 at 7:21 AM, William-James88 said:

Married covers are really rare for that era to the point where you can assume it's not married. 

Aside form that, difference in colour between cover and inner pages is not indicative of it being married since the cover is made from different paper than the inner pages. Depending on certain environmental conditions of where it was stored, you could end up with this result.

Not that rare anymore. There are quite literally thousands of replica covers for comics from every era readily available on ebay, being sold by at least a dozen sellers with over 100 listings each, some with many more than that and notes indicating that they can whip you up one that you can buy on ebay if you need a page or cover from a speicif comic not listed among their replicas. 

[William-James88]

5 hours ago, James J Johnson said:

Not that rare anymore. There are quite literally thousands of replica covers for comics from every era readily available on ebay, being sold by at least a dozen sellers with over 100 listings each, some with many more than that and notes indicating that they can whip you up one that you can buy on ebay if you need a page or cover from a speicif comic not listed among their replicas. 

But do the replica covers lead to married books? I would assume almost all bronze age books and on to still have their covers affixed. Golden age, especially when there was only 1 staple, is another story.

[James J Johnson]

1 minute ago, William-James88 said:

But do the replica covers lead to married books? I would assume almost all bronze age books and on to still have their covers affixed. Golden age, especially when there was only 1 staple, is another story.

The replica covers and replica pages are the cosmetic remedy for coverless books. Most sellers market them for that strategy. Not to deceive anyone or stick another cover over the original one, but as a cosmetic remedy for a coverless copy or one missing a page. 

I've seen coverless copies with a married replica cover offered on occasion on ebay,and yes, with the original staples opened, removed, and replaced once the repica cover was wrapped around the coverless. affixing the replica cover to the whole, now a "complete copy", but still technically a coverless with an added replica cover.