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Guides · 7 articles
Bags, boards, boxes, humidity, and how to pack a slab so it arrives the way it left.
Care
Keep comics cool, dry, dark and flat or upright with support: bag and board every raw book with acid-free materials, store them in archival boxes away from exterior walls, floors, sunlight and heat sources, and aim for a stable temperature around 18–21 °C and relative humidity around 40–50 %. Slabs need the same environment; the case protects against handling, not against heat, humidity or ultraviolet light.
Updated Sep 14, 2026
Care
A bag protects a comic from dirt and handling; a board keeps it flat and, if it is acid-free and buffered, absorbs acid. Bags come in Golden, Silver, Current (Modern) and magazine sizes to match how comic dimensions have shrunk over the decades, and in three materials: polypropylene and polyethylene (cheap, replace every few years) and Mylar (polyester, archival, lasts decades). Buy the size that matches the book's era and use boards labelled acid-free.
Updated Sep 14, 2026
Care
Put the slab in a bag, sandwich it between two pieces of rigid cardboard or foam larger than the case, wrap it in bubble wrap, and place it in a sturdy box with at least 5 cm (2 inches) of padding on every side so it cannot move. Ship with tracking and full-value insurance, require a signature for anything valuable, and never let the slab touch the outside walls of the box. The case protects the comic; the packaging has to protect the case.
Updated Sep 14, 2026
Care
Bag and board each comic, sandwich the stack between two pieces of rigid cardboard larger than the books, tape the sandwich so nothing can shift, and put it in a box or rigid mailer with padding so the sandwich cannot bend or move. Never ship a raw comic in a plain envelope, and never let the corners of the books reach the edge of the package. Use tracking, and insure anything worth more than the postage.
Updated Sep 14, 2026
Care
Wipe the outside of the case with a soft microfibre cloth, dry or very slightly dampened with water. For stubborn marks, a small amount of plastic-safe cleaner on the cloth, not on the case. Never use solvents, alcohol, ammonia-based glass cleaner or abrasive pads, which cloud the acrylic, and never let liquid reach the seam or the label window. Scratches cannot be polished out safely; a badly scuffed case is a reholder job.
Updated Sep 14, 2026
Care
Cool, dry and stable: a temperature around 18–21 °C (65–70 °F) and relative humidity around 40–50 %, with as little daily swing as possible. Below about 35 % paper becomes brittle; above about 55–60 % mould and foxing become a risk. Heat is the accelerator for every kind of paper decay, so a stable 20 °C beats a room that cycles between 15 °C and 28 °C.
Updated Sep 14, 2026
Care
Display slabs out of direct sunlight and away from heat, in stands or frames that support the case without pressure on it, and rotate what is on display so no single book spends years under light. Use UV-filtering acrylic or glass in front of anything on a wall. The case does not stop ultraviolet light from fading the cover, and a shelf above a radiator or in a sunny window will do more harm in a year than decades of box storage.
Updated Sep 14, 2026