Heat/Cold Pressing
Fixable – Heat pressing uses controlled high temperatures and pressure to flatten ripples, bends, and minor creases in a comic book’s paper, while cold pressing achieves a similar flattening effect through sustained mechanical pressure alone, without the risk of heat-related color fading or brittle paper.
Avengers #1
Atomic Comics #1 (01/46)
Fixable
Non-color Breaking Creases
Fixable – Non-color breaking creases are surface indentations or bends in the paper that have not cracked the ink or removed pigment, making them prime candidates for successful removal through pressing.
Fixable
Folds/Bends
Fixable – Bends are soft, gradual curvatures in the paper that have not snapped the fibers or broken color, making them typically fully correctable through the pressing process.
Action Comics #40
All American Comics #84
Fixable
Moisture Rippling / waviness
Fixable – Ripples and waviness are texture defects caused by moisture exposure or humidity that result in an uneven, distorted paper surface, which is highly treatable through professional humidification and pressing.
Fixable
Embossing
Fixable – Embossing are subtle indentations left on the surface of a comic, often from objects resting on the book or pressure from nearby stacked comics.
Wow Comics #40 (01/46)
Wow Comics #40 (01/46)
Fixable
Finger Bends
Fixable – Finger Bends are small, sharply defined, localized impressions—often circular or pointed—caused by an impact that can be treated with targeted heat and pressure application.
Fixable
Spine curl
Fixable – A spine curl (or spine roll/curve) is a common binding defect in paperbacks where the spine loses its straight shape and bends concave or convex, often caused by folding the cover back while reading, humidity changes, or uneven glue application.
Air Fighter Fall #8
Atomic Comics #1 (01/46)
Fixable
Butter Flying/Flare
Fixable – “Floating” or “winged” appearance of the pages or cover of the book.
Fixable
Heavy Creasing
Fixable – Warped books are comics that exhibit an overall distorted or twisted shape, often due to improper storage, uneven pressure, or environmental changes, and are addressed by re-humidification and controlled, long-term pressing.
Master Comics (01/46)
Jungle Comics #91 (07/47)
Fixable
Spine Misalignment
Fixable – A defect where the text block is not properly centered or aligned within the cover, causing the spine to appear slanted, crooked, or twisted
Fixable
Spine Ticks
Fixable – Small, usually horizontal, stress creases or folds on a book’s spine—commonly caused by opening or mishandling—that often breaks the ink color, resulting in a tiny, white, linear damage mark.
Star Wars (Marvel-07/77)
Not Fixable
Color breaking creases
Not Fixable
Writing
Not Fixable
Tears
Not Fixable
Rusty staples
testimonials
I purchased a large collection of comics off eBay included was a copy of Batman #635 I’m thinking Bam! That’s a 50$ book on eBay easy. On closer inspection I noticed some former moisture problem with this book because it had a distinct rippled feeling when running my thumb and index finger on the bottom of the book and I’m thinking Damn! This book might be worth between $5 or $10 in its current state. I was at the buffalo comic con early spring I met Darren after digging thru some of his bulk comic boxes. I have collected Comics for about 50 years and although I have never had a book pressed or encapsulated I figured it might be time to give this low cost Batman 635 a shot at pressing. Darren was nothing but patient in explaining the process he was willing to meet me in a convenient location for pick up of the book. He told me it would be around a 2 week turn around time and texted me while book was in process. Like clockwork 2 weeks from the date he picked up the book it was ready and the only thing better than his customer service was the quality of his work. Book is spotless and looks newsstand fresh. I plan on using Pressing-Needs again soon. If you have books that would benefit from a press Darren is a great choice and highly recommend by me.
Kevin anstett
Kevin stole some of my thunder with his thoughtful testimonial. When I need advice on any issue regarding comics, I turn to Darren — and I recommend anyone reading this do the same. Over the last few years, I’ve sold off much of my collection. Recently I decided the time was right to part with a stack of Bronze Age titles, and asked Darren to recommend which books should be slabbed and which would benefit from pressing and cleaning. He did his usual careful evaluation, pared out the books he knew he could improve and set to work. Darren is meticulous in his attention to detail, and I counted on many of the books jumping from borderline to slab-worthy. The results met my high expectations; then again, I had no doubts. Integrity is a quality that’s fallen out of fashion in our culture, one that now prizes above all the tally of backs stepped on in the race to fill our pockets. In that sense, Darren is as anomalous as a brief Buffalo winter. He’s a businessman with integrity to spare. Trust his encyclopedic knowledge of the world of comics, depend on his passion for seeing books reach the height of their potential and — bottom line — count on the quality of his work. You won’t be disappointed.
John Kirk
I’ve been sitting on my copies of The Brave and the Bold Nos. 28, 29, and 30 for over thirty years. When the time came to sell my comic book collection I turned to Pressing Matters, LLC to see if we could optimize my chances of getting a decent return on my investment. I am very happy to say that I received great offers on all three books, well beyond my imagination. When the books were completed at Pressing Matters, I never would have believed they were the same books, in fact, they looked far and away better than when I first acquired them. If you have any comic books you are hoping to sell, and their condition in not as you would like, absolutely send them to Pressing Matters, LLC. You won’t be disappointed and you’ll be very glad you did.
