So this year my wife really out did herself and spoiled me rotten for my birthday. She doesn’t know much about the comic hobby, but purchased one of my personal grails for me! The book is Detective Comics 359 - First App & Origin of Babs Batgirl!
I am over the moon to have this in my collection! The copy she purchased me is a CGC 0.5. It presents well above that grade, but I believe automatically incurred the low grade due to a missing centerfold. This is where my question comes into play: What is a centerfold? Is it a detachable poster? A back up story? The notes claim that it affects the story so I’m not sure if on one side of the centerfold there are panels or not?
If anyone can shed some light on this issue I’d be very greatful as all the googling I have done has not yielded many results.
Wow congrats and happy birthday! Centerfold in this case would refer to the inner most pages at the center where you can see the staples. Would have panels like the other story pages. In cases where it’s a poster or something, it’ll be referred to as a pinup.
It’s just the middle page(s), which in this case some of the interior story panels were on that page.
That’s why it’s incomplete. If it didn’t effect the story and was just a poster or insert, then It would have gotten a green label and the grade would be higher.
Thank you for the answers! I’m curious as to why the label doesn’t state that specific pages are missing? I’ve seen other labels that state specific pages are missing.
My Batman 181 has the centerfold. It’s literally the center fold of pages. They often put one mini poster sized image on the two pages. In the case of my 181 it’s the cover image.
Pages are actually called folds, there are four pages per fold. The center most fold is the centerfold.
Incomplete books can get a green label if they’re high enough grades. A green label just means CGC is ignoring a defect and grading the book as if the defect isn’t there. Its common with Batman 181 missing the pinup and Hulk 181 missing the value stamp. In both cases they’re incomplete and a blue 0.5 can be requested. I’ve even seen incomplete blue 1.0s in cases where the book was otherwise super high grade.
Ya’ll are being helpful! I saw the subject title and just wanted to come here and crack a joke like, “What is a centerfold? The best part of the magazine! Hey-O!”
So after finding out what a centerfold means in comics (I honestly thought it was a mini poster or advertisment) thanks to the great members of CHU I was able to do some research and determine what the missing panels are:
Important panels but there is still plenty of Batgirl in the book for including her origin. Now for a potentially dumb question though: Do I dare buy a a cheap fascimilie copy and substitute the middle pages? Would it still be considered 0.5 and incomplete or complete but married?
I think it’s only considered married if it comes from the same book, as In another original copy.
What I would recommend is look for a coverless copy, or another incomplete/damaged copy which the centerfold is still in decent shape, and marry them together. Just carefully bend back the staples and insert the center page.
It might take a while to find one of these…but you should be able to get it at a decent price. Then if you want send that in for grading. I know the pages being married will get noted on the label, but I think it will get a blue label and a “real” grade as technically it would have all original parts from the original print.
That’s all good too, but nothing wrong with her finding a deal on a 99% complete copy and him looking forward to the challenge of seeking out the final piece. You don’t even need to grade it, just keep it free and enjoy reading the completed copy and satisfaction in teamwork/mission accomplished.
I’m just pointing out the options if he chooses to have it encapsulated after marriage.
Oh yes sir I agree, my curiosity just got the better of me and I had to know what the pages actually contained.
It was meant to be satirical or rhetorical, but obviously I would never EVER put modern fax pages in a classic book, especially a book like this! Hahaha
A guy I watch on YouTube has a Superman 1 complete with a reproduction cover. That is something I may entertain if I found a coverless copy of Batman 121 or something.
