TechDock

Comic Books & Resources

GRADING COMICS

The grading used by TechDock is the system introduced in the Overstreet Comic Book Grading Guide, 1st ed (1992).  This system consists of three parts.

The first part is a verbal grade for overall condition, giving the collector an instant idea of the comic's condition:

MT - Mint                Nearly perfect in every way.

NM - Near Mint       Beautiful, with only minor imperfections.

VF - Very Fine         An excellent copy with great eye appeal.

FN - Fine                 An exceptional copy with average eye appeal.

VG - Very Good       An average used comic book.

GD - Good               A complete book with substantial wear.

FR - Fair                 Heavy wear, may be missing part of a cover.

PR - Poor                 Extreme wear, missing pages or covers.

The second part is a numeric value ranging from 1 to 100.  A range corresponds to the verbal grade, but the numeric value can give a more precise assessment of the comic's condition within that grade.

98 - 100   MT

90 - 97    NM

75 - 89    VF

55 - 74    FN

35 - 54    VG

15 - 34    GD

5 - 14      FR

1 - 4        PR

The third part is a numeric value ranging from 1 to 10 called the Overstreet Whiteness Level, or OWL.  This value assesses the quality and color of the interior comic pages.

10        White

8 - 9    Off-White

5 - 7    Tan

1 - 4    Brown

0        Brittle

The three values taken together provide the grade for a comic book.  For example, a comic might have a grade of FN (70/9), indicating that it is Fine with a numeric value of 70, and an OWL of 9.  Brand new comic books are likely to score around NM (95/10), while Silver Age comics in decent condition (from around the 1960's) are more likely to grade around VG (40/8).