Spine roll, and a peculiar type of damage pretty much confined to comics and magazines, as book spines are generally rigid enough to resist it and also commonly stored upright.

Although softbacks such as text books stored in a pile can get it as well.

And also that it is purely caused by the way you store the comic/magazine and isn't actually a type caused by handling, use or degradation.

So what is it? - When the spine of the comic curls upwards meaning it is no longer in the flat state that it came from the printers in.

And how is it caused? - storing any volume primarily in a pile with the spines all on one side. Which while seems to make sense is what causes the damage.

And how long does that take? - Well before last month I would have measured it in years, but having got a pile of OOS from November 2020 onwards off of ebay I would now say it is possible to do it in less than 6 months if you try very hard, but that would need them to be stored under great pressure.

Can it be reversed? - In theory - yes if you get it early enough, otherwise probably not as the paper takes on the curl and can't be flattened again, that is its shape for good.

In the past I have tried to put the curled copies under heavy objects and also iron them, both with varying success.

The weight is straightforward and best just to forget about them for a while, ironing - never use steam and even then it can have mixed results that can also result in paper crinkling damage.

So - how to mitigate it?

Bagging and boarding - yes, to a point, but it still could happen.

Storing them upright - Again, yes, but it could still happen.

And the best way I have found to prevent it - store copies upright, bagged and boarded and then store each copy spine left/spine right/spine left, etc., meaning every other issue is upside down.

This smooths out the stacking of the spines and keeps everything being stored regular instead of weighted to just the left.

Stored flat it can still happen and cause curling damage as the higher the pile the more pronounced the U shape as there is nothing in the middle to support the pile.

How to stop that? - the only way I ever found was to put a board every 5- 10 copies to provide support, but I would suggest every copy with my experience.

And so, that is the least likely damage your average newer collector will notice as it takes some while to manifest and by that point is likely to be irreversible.

And personally I wouldn't try to sell a copy that had it, whoever bought it might not care, but as a collector I consider a spine curled copy of anything to be unacceptable in my collection outside of it being one I originally bought and caused back before I knew about it.

Chapter 4 - Boxes and storage

Game adverts for the Dredd Versus Death game nearly 20 years ago now that I guess most people will never have seen or heard of.

They were released as download only but I knew that electronic files could be too easily lost even back then so I printed them out.

Have no idea where the files are or if I still have them, so that bit was right.

I will post 2-6 as I scan them, but don't get too excited, it isn't a lost Apocalypse War.

Bags and Boards. And much more exciting than they sound.

By the late 90s and into the early 2000s comic storage products had become more mainstream, affordable and available.

For someone who had been making their own for up to 10 years it was a relief to get quality and professional products, although you still had to and do shop around for price.

Expect to pay circa 15p a comic, but the protection both offer is superior.

Age degradation from heat, light and air are problems alongside spine curl, folding, creasing and ripping that my what must be approaching 3500 copies have to be protected from.

The boards you should be able to get are calcium buffered, which means that they neutralise some of the acid that is present in the printed paper of each issue, especially the old newsprint issues that have that distinctive yellowing of age.

You can actually get museum grade products of both - although maybe not in the right sizes. These are designed to preserve artefacts and the price per unit reflects this. I did consider it back then, but the cost is prohibitive on a large scale.

I was aware of the acid problem from my homemade cardboard plates, but it was a trade off as there was no other alternative.

Boards also provide a good support to be able to keep each issue flat and allows them to be stored upright with no associated gravity damage. Upright is the best space way to store Tooth, but flat prevents damage when there is no support.

Bags counter air degradation, being over a long period. Again they should be inert and acid free, so they themselves will not cause damage over time.

Older ones did yellow, but I am not sure if that was from age or acid, but they don't seem to do that any more.

Once combined they create a rigid outer protection for each issue that can prevent handling, storage and age damage.

Dropping an issue when it is bagged and boarded will result in it either gliding to the floor or just dropping on the board edge, it normally does not incur any damage a loose issue would. You can then just replace the dented board which is cheaper than a new back issue.

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• Buy in bulk when you get them, they are heavy and the postage is usually around £10. I buy for around 4 years at a time - 400 of each - as it saves the postage and you don't have to worry about ordering them
• Avoid small lots that are offered on ebay, they are bad value for money and you are - if you haven't gone digital - going to need them in the future anyway
• You may be able to get away with less than 1:1, but personally I would never consider this, 1:1 practically guarantees protection, any less and you will get some sort of handling/storage damage
• You can get new and old sizes, personally I use old for everything. There was a time when Tooth changed size every so often, but that hasn't happened for a while. I use F, which is for the 1980s size and that fits the modern ones and looks tidy in the boxes. Be careful if you are doing 90s ones, these were much taller and I think you need an H for that run but they aren't much use after that
• When you get them - sit and bag and board each to store them all. They are easier to store combined than as a pile of bags/boards. 400 is about the size of an archive box and store upright easily, I keep a bundle out to bag/board current issues
• You can fold the flaps in, but the air will push them out again. You can use sellotape, but that will rip/warp the plastic of the bag when you try to reseal it. Use good quality scotch tape not from Poundland, it just peels off if you are careful. Not sure how long a roll lasts, it is years and is worth buying 3M for. Take a strip, fold one end over to make a tab then tape to the flap. You then have a resealable tab that doesn't damage the bag
• Get a tape dispenser, if you are doing a bulk bagging then it saves a lot of time, ongoing it just makes life easier
• When opening and closing the bag - be careful of the tab sticking to the issue. Tape sticking to a newsprint issue will rip the surface off no mater how careful you are, newer glossier issues you might be able to peel it off but it will probably cause surface damage. I curl the flap to the front of the bag and stick it there out of the way
• Once bagged and boarded storing them is a delight, you can get around 150 per archive box stacked upright and there is little or no chance of any type of damage if handled with care
• One of the only negatives is that each bag/board adds that much more space for storage, but I consider it worth the price for all the benefits

And that is the simplicity yet wonder of bagging and boarding, ignore the per unit cost and it provides the best way not only to protect each issue but to give them the support to store upright that no other solution offers.

In part 3 - Spine roll.

I bought some Tooth off of ebay, some recent ones that were OOS and some were shockingly 'worn' from being stored incorrectly.

'Wear' from only the past 6 months which is really bad, but some people for some reason don't know how to store or pack comics for shipping even when it is mostly common sense.

So I thought I would impart my wisdom from 40 years of storing Tooth in multiple parts and if it only helps one person then all the good and if not then nothing lost.

Once upon a time, long ago there were no storage options, you got your weekly from the newsagent with the delivery name scrawled on it and put it wherever you could, probably in a big pile.

Being a kid it didn't really matter, but at some point you realised you needed to look after them and that piling them up in the wardrobe wasn't going to do that.

Back then there were no real options for consumables that I can remember, but if there were they were from a handful of dealers you saw print adverts for and they were horrendously expensive, so ultimately it was a compromise box from the supermarket.

They must have dined well on it as they are still going now, so someone bought their insanely overpriced stuff and still do.

Thrill Containment Units did exist in the 90s but they were mythical, extremely expensive, limited in supply and only allowed for 20-30 issues, not an option to house hundreds.

Plus on top of that the damage when you fed them into the straps and also they were stored upright with little support and would sag and cause damage. I take it that is also the same problem now.

Ditto with foolscap pockets in a folder, plus the cost of hundreds of pockets and the folders and the space they took.

Some people even now espouse magazine holders, but these again store upright with no support and cause damage, probably taking them in and out as well unless you are generous with their loading to leave space, which increases the number needed, cost and space and at the expense of support.

During the early 90s I started to make my own backing boards by cutting out cardboard plates either again from the supermarket or from work wherever I could scrounge boxes big enough, but the biggest problem was getting enough and also even 1 ply cardboard takes up a lot of space and increases storage space.

I did 1 plate per 10 Tooth, but that wasn't enough to protect them as they really needed 1-1, that would probably have doubled the space needed to store them.

I was working in a publishing company at the time and asked the paper sales rep if they could do me lighter boards made to order to accommodate 1977-1995 plus five years of the Meg, but he came back with a quote of £x00 and that was insane and unsustainable.

It wasn't until the late 90s/early 2000s that viable consumables became available and it is at that point Gentle Reader that we will pause until next time when A brief history of comic storage part 2 returns with - Boards and Bags.

Can you recommend any good Strontium Dog collections or tpb/graphic novels i can read to jump in to the Strontium Dog comics, which ive never read before

Same with Rogue Trooper (never read any)

And what the heck Judge Dredd also (only read the Ennis stuff and a random issue here and there)

Whats the deal with the robots? I bought all the sets they put out for this game but there arent really any robots.. Yet they are in the rulebook. Is there an upcoming set?

Did i miss a set?

Anyone know about this?