Grading consists of having a comic book evaluated by an independent third-party organization, which gives it a grade on a scale of 0.5 to 10 then encapsulates it in a sealed shell (the “slab”). CGC (founded in 2000) largely dominates the market with more than 20 million certified parts; PSA launched its own comic grading service on July 14, 2025; CBCS, the third historic player launched in 2014, was closed by its parent company Collectors on April 17, 2026 for the benefit of PSA. A graded and well-graded comic book almost always sells for more than an equivalent ungraded copy, because the grade removes uncertainty about the condition of the book.
To grade a comic book means to entrust your copy to a specialized laboratory which will examine it from every angle – corners, spine, staples, cover colors, page alignment – then give it a numerical grade recognized throughout the world. This rating then becomes public, searchable data, comparable from one sale to another, which completely changes the way a comic is traded on the secondary market.
The principle is nothing new in the world of collectibles — coins and playing cards have been graded for decades — but its application to comic books is more recent and continues to evolve rapidly. The year 2026 also marks a major turning point for this sector: the arrival of PSA on the comic book market, the closure of CBCS and the explosion of volumes submitted to CGC have redistributed the cards between the three big names in the sector in the space of a few months.
This guide explains how comic grading works from A to Z: its history, the grading scale, the meaning of the different labels, the concrete process of a submission, reading the census (population report), and the real impact of the grade on the resale value of a copy.
The origins of comic grading: from visual estimation to standardized certification
Before the year 2000, the condition of a comic book was negotiated almost exclusively by eye and trust. A seller announced "Near Mint", a buyer negotiated downward by pointing out an invisible fold in the photos, and two theoretically identical copies could exchange for prices of up to three times depending on the reputation of the seller and the subjectivity of the buyer. There was no neutral authority capable of deciding, and large conventions and comic book fairs regularly saw disputes over the veracity of a “Very Fine/Near Mint” advertised on a box.
It is in this context that Certified Guaranty Company (CGC) was founded in 2000, with the explicit mission of providing professional, unbiased and reproducible assessment of the condition of comic books. Steve Borock, a recognized expert in the field, becomes the first principal grader and the public face of this new discipline. The central idea of CGC is simple but radical for the time: several independent graders examine each copy separately, without knowing the opinions of the others, then a consensus is reached to arrive at a final grade on a numerical scale. The comic is then sealed in a transparent and inert polymer shell, immediately identifiable by its label (the “label”) indicating the title, number, publisher, publication date and of course the note.
This approach changed the very nature of the collectible comic book market. An example graded CGC 9.6 is no longer subject to interpretation: its grade can be verified online via its certification number, its physical condition is frozen in time by the sealed shell, and its grading history joins a public database. Since its creation, CGC has certified more than 20 million items in all categories (comics, cards, video games, magazines, concert posters), which today makes it the most used third-party grading service in the world for comic books, well ahead of its historical competitors.
For almost fifteen years, CGC operated almost alone in this niche market, until the arrival in 2014 of Comic Book Certification Service (CBCS), founded by Dr. Michael Bornstein, his son Alec, and... Steve Borock himself, who had in the meantime left the presidency of CGC to launch a direct competitor. CBCS positioned itself as an alternative with additional services (notably a separate “Verified Signature” system), before being acquired by Beckett Media in 2018 and moving its operations from Nevada to Texas. The landscape remained generally stable – CGC dominant, CBCS challenger – until the upheavals of 2025-2026 detailed later in this article.
The 10-point rating scale: what each grade means
Comic grading is based on a standardized scale ranging from 0.5 (Poor) to 10.0 (Gem Mint), with intermediate levels in increments of 0.5 then, at the top of the scale, in increments of 0.1 or 0.2 to refine the distinction between the very best copies. This fine granularity at the top of the scale is not cosmetic: it has a direct impact on the value, a CGC 9.8 being able to negotiate several times the price of a CGC 9.4 on a key number, while the visual difference between the two is sometimes almost imperceptible to the naked eye.
Here is the complete correspondence between numerical grade and appellation, as used by grading organizations:
- 0.5 — Poor:comic severely damaged, detached pages, split spine, often incomplete.
- 1.0 — Fair:Multiple major defects but complete copy.
- 1.5 to 1.8 — Fair/Good, Good Minus:significant wear, deep creases, rounded corners.
- 2.0 to 3.0 — Good:possible to read but defects visible on all cover pages.
- 3.5 to 4.5 — Very Good:moderate wear, some creases and small tears without missing.
- 5.0 to 6.5 — Fine:Clean copy with slight signs of handling, cover gloss partially preserved.
- 7.0 to 8.5 — Very Fine:very good general condition, minor defects only detectable on close examination.
- 9.0 to 9.4 — Near Mint:almost perfect copy, cover gloss intact, clean corners.
- 9.6 to 9.8 — Near Mint+/Near Mint-Mint:practically undetectable defects, reserved for examples from well-preserved piles.
- 9.9 — Mint:only one minor defect tolerated, extremely rare on old prints.
- 10.0 — Gem Mint:absolute perfection, grade almost non-existent on comics before the 1990s due to the printing and distribution methods of the time.
What differentiates one grade from another is not a single criterion but a set of cumulative observations: the intensity and uniformity of the cover gloss, the presence of "color breaking" on the folds (a fold which breaks the ink layer is penalized more heavily than a fold which only marks the paper), the alignment of the staples, the condition of the spine (spine ticks, spine rolls), the sharpness of the corners, the yellowing or not of the interior pages, and the absence of stains, odors or traces of humidity. An experienced grader examines each copy for several minutes under calibrated lighting, often using a magnifying glass, before proposing his grade — which is then compared with that of one or more other graders to reach a consensus.
Labels: Universal, Signature Series, Qualified, Restored
Beyond the numerical rating, the color of the label applied to the shell transmits information that is just as decisive for the value. At CGC, four major families of labels coexist, and their hierarchy of value is well known to collectors:
- Universal (blue label):no particular defects reported beyond those taken into account in the note itself. It is the standard label, the most sought after, the one which serves as a price reference.
- Signature Series (yellow label):certifies that a signature (author, designer, actor, etc.) was affixed under the direct supervision of a CGC witness during an official event. A signature authenticated in this way can add a significant premium to the value of a copy, particularly if the signer is directly linked to the creation of the character or number.
- Qualified (green label):indicates a specific defect which is deliberately not included in the calculation of the overall score, and which CGC describes in black and white on the label itself. Typical cases include a signature not authenticated by CGC (a Stan Lee autographed in a convention without an official witness, for example), a detached page but still present in the copy, a major original manufacturing defect (bad trimming, printing error), or even a price sticker not removed.
- Restored (purple label):indicates that a restoration has been detected — color retouch, paper repair, staple replacement. A restored copy systematically trades for less than an unrestored copy of the same apparent grade, the difference being up to 50 to 80% on the most sought-after key issues, because the market values above all the original integrity of the paper and ink.
The general value hierarchy therefore follows this descending order: Universal Blue and Signature Series Yellow at the top (at comparable value, the signature bonus depending on the signatory), followed by the Qualified Green copies, then the Restored Purple copies clearly behind. Understanding this hierarchy is essential before buying a slabbed comic: two copies displaying the same numerical rating can be worth very different amounts depending on the color of the label.
The press & clean: improve without restoring
Before submitting a comic for grading, many collectors hire a “pressing” (and possibly dry cleaning) service to improve the appearance of the copy without pushing it into the restored category. Pressing involves correcting defects that do not break the color layer — bumps, light creases, spine undulations, indentations — without adding or removing material from the book. It is a process considered non-restorative: it adds nothing, removes nothing, and involves no disassembly, heat, or harsh chemicals. The often accompanying dry cleaning is intended to remove surface dirt, particularly in the white areas of the cover most susceptible to yellowing and markings. CGC offers this service directly before grading, which allows a copy to be pressed and then graded in a single submission.
The submission process: steps, deadlines and choosing the right service
Getting a comic graded follows a fairly similar process regardless of the organization chosen. The copy is first packaged according to precise instructions (rigid cardboard sheet, protective bag, absence of direct tape on the cover), then shipped with a declaration of insured value. A submission form specifies the title, number, publisher and year for each copy of the lot, as well as the desired level of service — because grading organizations systematically offer several levels of deadlines and prices.
At CGC for example, the levels typically range from the most economical – Bulk and Economy, designed for large volumes and with lead times of several months – to the fastest, Walk-Through, reserved for urgent needs with processing within a few working days. In between are the Standard and Express tiers, which offer a time/cost compromise for the majority of common submissions. It is important to keep in mind that these announced deadlines remain estimates and not firm guarantees: during peaks in demand - such as that caused by the arrival of PSA on the comics market in 2025 - actual waiting times can greatly exceed the displayed ranges.
Once received, each comic goes through several stages: verification of authenticity and completeness, examination by the grader(s), entry of bibliographic data, then encapsulation in the sealed case with printing of the label. The copy receives a unique certification number, viewable online, which allows any future buyer to verify that the comic in the shell corresponds to the official registration of the organization - an important point of vigilance on the second-hand market, where cases of fraudulent substitution in damaged and then reconditioned shells have already been documented.
Read the census (population report) to assess rarity in high grade
Each grading organization maintains a public register called a census or population report, which lists, comic by comic and grade by grade, the total number of copies certified to date. This database is one of the most useful tools for assessing the true rarity of an issue in a given condition: a comic of which only two or three copies exist in CGC 9.8 out of several hundred graded copies of all grades indicates a high grade rarity which often justifies a significant price premium, regardless of the rarity of the original print run.
However, two limitations must be kept in mind when consulting a census. First, it only lists copies actually subject to grading - a comic can be extremely rare in general circulation without this being reflected in the census, simply because few owners have had it graded. Then, the same physical copy regraded after pressing, or submitted twice by mistake, may appear several times in the raw figures, which slightly inflates the populations displayed compared to the actual number of distinct copies. The census therefore remains a tool for measuring “graded” scarcity, not absolute scarcity – a nuance that the organizations themselves explicitly point out, specifying that this data is provided for information purposes and should not serve as the sole basis for a purchase or investment decision.
The real impact of grading on resale value
The price difference between two copies of the same issue, graded at different grades, can be spectacular — and the key comics market offers well-documented concrete illustrations of this. Action Comics #1 (1938), Superman's first appearance, is the most telling example: a CGC 9.0 graded copy sold for $3.2 million on eBay in 2014, an amount that held the record for the most expensive comic in the world for nearly seven years. A significantly lower-graded example — the famous “Rocket Copy,” marked with a red rocket stamp affixed by its young owner in the 1930s — nevertheless achieved $3.18 million at Heritage Auctions in January 2022, proof that the provenance and history of an example can sometimes compensate for a lower grade. More recently, a CGC 9.0 copy of this same issue reportedly sold for $15 million during a private sale, a figure which illustrates to what extent the gap between two neighboring grade brackets can represent millions of dollars on the very first issues in the history of comics.
This extreme sensitivity of price to note does not only concern seven-figure pieces: it is true at all levels of the market. On a more accessible key number, going from a Very Fine (around 8.0) to a Near Mint (9.4) or a Near Mint+ (9.6) can be enough to multiply the value by two, three, or even more, particularly when the census reveals that very few copies exist above 9.4 for this specific title. It is precisely this mechanism that pushes collectors to have their most promising pieces graded rather than keeping them in their raw state: the grade transforms a subjective assessment into verifiable market data, which reduces uncertainty for the buyer and therefore allows the seller to capture a confidence premium.
The downside is that grading has a cost and a time limit, and not all comics are worth submitting. A common copy, minted in several hundred thousand units and available in abundance in its raw state, will generally not gain enough value after grading to cover the costs involved — unless it achieves an exceptionally high grade on an otherwise sought-after issue.
2026: the great upheaval of comics grading
The comic grading sector is currently going through the most significant transformation in its history since the creation of CGC in 2000. On July 14, 2025, PSA – previously focused on playing cards and sports – officially launched its own grading service for comic books and magazines, using the same 10-point scale logic with decimal increments as its competitors. This entry of a player with a reputation and a massive customer base from the world of trading cards immediately increased the volumes submitted throughout the sector.
Nine months later, on March 24, 2026, a twist: Collectors, the parent company which owns both PSA and – since its acquisition of Beckett Media – CBCS, announces the pure and simple closure of CBCS for comic grading. The submission deadline has been set for April 17, 2026; all orders received before this deadline were processed normally, but no new submissions have been accepted since. Collectors' reasoning is that of strategic consolidation: rather than having two competing brands coexist under the same parent company, the company chose to concentrate its entire comics activity on the PSA brand, leaving CGC as the only major competitor facing it. Good news for holders of comics already graded by CBCS: the CBCS population report remains accessible online, which allows you to continue to check the history and census data of copies already certified under this brand, even if no new copies will be added.
This rapid upheaval had a direct collateral effect on deadlines throughout the sector: the increased demand linked to the arrival of PSA, combined with the disappearance of an alternative, caused a notable congestion in the submission queues among the remaining organizations in spring 2026, with service adjustments announced in response to this peak in volume. For a collector who plans to have a comic graded today, the practical consequence is twofold: it is advisable to check the deadlines announced at the time of submission rather than relying on generic figures found online, and it becomes more relevant than ever to compare the levels of service (economic versus express) according to the real urgency of the need, knowing that periods of high traffic can significantly lengthen waiting times on the lowest priority levels.
Buying guide: choose wisely before submitting a comic for grading
Grading a comic takes time, money and involves temporarily parting with the copy — sometimes for several months. Here are the concrete points to check before getting started:
- First check the current rating of the raw number:Before investing in a quote, consult recent sales for that title and issue to estimate whether the potential for added value after grading justifies the cost and time. Our free estimator on/free-estimate/calculates a low/mid/high range from actual eBay sales in thirty seconds.
- Consult the census before adjusting your expectations:if an issue already has several dozen copies in 9.8 at CGC, aiming for this grade is not exceptional; if, on the other hand, no copy exists above 9.4, a very good rough copy has a significantly higher premium potential.
- Decide on pressing before, not after:a press & clean carried out before submission can save half a point or even a full point in grade on a copy presenting mainly defects not linked to color (light creases, undulations). Once sealed, it is too late to press without breaking the shell and losing the original certification.
- Never hide a restoration:trying to hide a color retouch or a paper repair almost never works against experienced graders, and the risk of seeing the copy reclassified as a Restored label after the fact weighs more heavily on market confidence than assuming it from the start.
- Choose the service level according to the real emergency, not by reflex:a batch of common comics intended for medium-term resale has no reason to pay the extra for an express service; reserves quick releases for high-value parts or specific timing needs (e.g. auction).
- Ensures shipment at its real value:the declaration of value in the event of loss or damage in transit must reflect the estimated market value of the item, not its original purchase price which may be much lower than its current price.
- Systematically check the certification number of a slab before purchase:any already graded copy purchased second-hand must be checked via the online search tool of the organization concerned, in order to confirm that the information displayed (title, number, grade, label) corresponds exactly to the physical copy offered.
- Centralize monitoring of your collection:Once your comics are graded, keeping accurate track of each piece's certification number, grade, and label makes future resale and insurance claims much easier. Our app/application-collection-comics/allows you to record this information directly in the digital inventory of your collection.