Teaching · For Teachers

Every issue logged.
Every gap in the run.

A long box of comics is hard to keep straight: which numbers you own, which ones are first printings, what shape they are in. Add each issue. The inventory names the grade, totals value against cost, lists the issues missing from every run and flags the storage that slowly wrecks paper.

Add an issueWhat you get
$19one-time · every device you sign in on
Buy · $19

Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the For Teachers toolkit, $79 for 72 items.

Your issues

The worked example is made up, series and publisher included: issues 1, 2 and 5 of a 1992 run, one a key first appearance in an old bag, one with no board and one a reprint kept in an attic. Values are examples, not quotes. Saved on this device only.

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What you get

Teaching · For Teachers$19

What you finish with
A record per issue: series, publisher, number, cover date, printing, why it matters, grade, page color, graded or raw, bag and the year it went on, where it is kept, cost, estimated value and its source, and five storage checks. Names the grade and the gain or loss; lists every series with the issue numbers missing between the lowest and highest owned; flags old polypropylene bags, missing bags, high grades with no board, attics, stacks, unsourced values and reprinted key issues.
Who it is for
Comic readers and young collectors, their families, and teachers using comics in a reading or art class library.
Format
Browser inventory with a saved record per issue. Prints one issue, the whole collection in a table or a blank sheet; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); exports and imports a file.
Access
$19 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Also in the For Teachers toolkit ($79) and the Teaching Suite pass ($199), and 1 more bundle. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The For Teachers space in Caveat Teaching.
Support
Questions about access, an order or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Pull one run at a time and lay the issues in order.
  2. Add each issue and grade it flat under good light.
  3. Check the indicia for the printing.
  4. Read the missing numbers in the side panel.
  5. Fix the storage flags, oldest bags first.

Add an issue

Grades

The 10-point comic grading scale, in shortGradeNameWhat you see9.8Near Mint/MintFlat, glossy, sharp corners9.4Near MintA tiny flaw or two8.0Very FineLight wear, minor spine stress6.0FineVisible wear, small creases4.0Very GoodWorn, rolled spine, still complete2.0GoodHeavy wear, small tearsThe 10-point comic grading scale, in short9.8Name: Near Mint/MintWhat you see: Flat, glossy, sharp corners9.4Name: Near MintWhat you see: A tiny flaw or two8.0Name: Very FineWhat you see: Light wear, minor spine stress6.0Name: FineWhat you see: Visible wear, small creases4.0Name: Very GoodWhat you see: Worn, rolled spine, still complete2.0Name: GoodWhat you see: Heavy wear, small tears
The same scale runs from 0.5 Poor to 10.0 Gem Mint. Grading services seal a graded book in a hard case with its grade and page color.

Mylar or polypropylene

Polypropylene bags are cheap and clear but not archival: they give off gases and grow cloudy, so collectors change them every few years. Mylar, a polyester film, is stiffer and stable for decades. Either needs an acid-free board behind the comic.

For a classroom library

A shared comics shelf lasts longer when it is logged: students can grade what comes back, spot missing issues in a series and practice careful handling. Read copies can be loose; anything valuable stays bagged and boarded.

Sources

  1. Overstreet, R. M. The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide and The Overstreet Guide to Grading Comics, current editions. Gemstone Publishing.
  2. Certified Guaranty Company (CGC). Comic grading scale and page quality definitions (cgccomics.com).
  3. Library of Congress. Care, handling and storage of paper and of comic books (loc.gov/preservation).
  4. Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. Using Graphic Novels in Education (cbldf.org).

The worked example is made up, including the series and publisher, and the values are examples, not appraisals. Nothing you type is sent to Caveat. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.