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Have comics gotten skinnier?

mphilmphil Posts: 448
in Comics Talk Community - The On Topic Forum
I've been collecting more silver age DC recently and have noticed they don't fit into my standard sized bags. Is this just a silver age DC thing or have comics gotten skinnier? Any interesting history behind why that is?
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  • WetRatsWetRats Posts: 6,314
    Yes.

    There at least three different sizes of bags.
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  • nweathingtonnweathington Posts: 6,747
    mphil said:

    I've been collecting more silver age DC recently and have noticed they don't fit into my standard sized bags. Is this just a silver age DC thing or have comics gotten skinnier? Any interesting history behind why that is?

    Modern comics are about a .25" thinner than Silver Age books, which are themselves about a .5" thinner and .125" shorter than Golden Age books—though trim size could vary from printer to printer in the Golden Age, especially during paper shortages.

    The current trim size is 6.625" x 10.25". The changes are basically the result of changes in printing technology and paper (rolls and sheets) sizes, and trying to maximize the number of pages per sheet or roll. Not very interesting really.
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  • SolitaireRoseSolitaireRose Posts: 1,445
    They are skinnier and have fewer pages. In the Golden age, comics were 64 pages, then in the 50's, they shrunk down to 32 pages with a lot of 52 and 48 pagers in the interim. The other thing is that the paper they use now is better, but thinner...so they seem even smaller.

    I often wonder what would have happened if they would have started adding more ads instead of getting rid of pages in the late 40's...would comics be like GQ and other magazines?
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  • playdohsrepublicplaydohsrepublic Posts: 1,377
    WetRats said:

    nweathington said:

    The current trim size is 6.625" x 10.25". The changes are basically the result of changes in printing technology and paper (rolls and sheets) sizes, and trying to maximize the number of pages per sheet or roll. Not very interesting really.

    Not very interesting?

    Not very interesting?

    What kind of a nerd are you?

    If there's obscure, specialized information to be discovered and shared, it's by God interesting!

    Sheesh.

    :D
    When you can't decide between "agree" or "lol" just go with "awesome."
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  • WetRatsWetRats Posts: 6,314
    Speaking of which, have I talked about nerdorphins yet?

    Nerdorphins are brain chemicals released when one is given the opportunity to expound upon one of one's areas of interest/knowledge.

    A nerdorphin rush is often followed by the word "actually".
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  • nweathingtonnweathington Posts: 6,747
    edited April 2015
    WetRats said:

    nweathington said:

    The current trim size is 6.625" x 10.25". The changes are basically the result of changes in printing technology and paper (rolls and sheets) sizes, and trying to maximize the number of pages per sheet or roll. Not very interesting really.

    Not very interesting?

    Not very interesting?

    What kind of a nerd are you?

    If there's obscure, specialized information to be discovered and shared, it's by God interesting!

    Sheesh.

    :D
    Well, I can't really get more specific than that. I don't know all the specific changes and when exactly they were made. I just know that as technology has improved, most types of printing presses have been able to use larger sheets and longer rolls of paper, and it's changed the calculations of how to maximize the number of comic book pages—which aren't an officially standardized size and require different trimming settings than typical print jobs—per sheet/roll.

    Comic book artwork live areas—the part of the page which are inside the bleed areas (the areas that allow for a misplaced trim)—have always been done at a 2:3 ratio, regardless of printed page size.
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  • WetRatsWetRats Posts: 6,314
    nweathington said:

    WetRats said:

    nweathington said:

    The current trim size is 6.625" x 10.25". The changes are basically the result of changes in printing technology and paper (rolls and sheets) sizes, and trying to maximize the number of pages per sheet or roll. Not very interesting really.

    Not very interesting?

    Not very interesting?

    What kind of a nerd are you?

    If there's obscure, specialized information to be discovered and shared, it's by God interesting!

    Sheesh.

    :D
    Well, I can't really get more specific than that. I don't know all the specific changes and when exactly they were made. I just know that as technology has improved, most types of printing presses have been able to use larger sheets and longer rolls of paper, and it's changed the calculations of how to maximize the number of comic book pages—which aren't an officially standardized size and require different trimming settings than typical print jobs—per sheet/roll.

    Comic book artwork live areas—the part of the page which are inside the bleed areas (the areas that allow for a misplaced trim)—have always been done at a 2:3 ratio, regardless of printed page size.
    How could you think that wasn't interesting?

    Particularly to printing nerd me?

    And...

    ACTUALLY, some of the opposite has been happening, too. Newspapers, especially, have been going to narrower and narrower rolls of paper to save money. The days of being able to hide behind a newspaper while staking out s suspect are long over.
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  • nweathingtonnweathington Posts: 6,747
    WetRats said:

    ACTUALLY, some of the opposite has been happening, too. Newspapers, especially, have been going to narrower and narrower rolls of paper to save money. The days of being able to hide behind a newspaper while staking out s suspect are long over.

    I witnessed that first-hand while working for a newspaper. We shrunk twice during the last four or five years I was there. Unfolded, the second cut was about 2/3 the width of the paper when I started. We went from seven/eight columns to five/six columns. I actually liked the narrower width as far as sitting at the desk and reading, but when you also dropped the number of pages, it felt rather insubstantial. Not even good for swatting flies.
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  • WetRatsWetRats Posts: 6,314
    nweathington said:

    WetRats said:

    ACTUALLY, some of the opposite has been happening, too. Newspapers, especially, have been going to narrower and narrower rolls of paper to save money. The days of being able to hide behind a newspaper while staking out s suspect are long over.

    I witnessed that first-hand while working for a newspaper. We shrunk twice during the last four or five years I was there. Unfolded, the second cut was about 2/3 the width of the paper when I started. We went from seven/eight columns to five/six columns. I actually liked the narrower width as far as sitting at the desk and reading, but when you also dropped the number of pages, it felt rather insubstantial. Not even good for swatting flies.
    Yep.

    I don't know what bird owners do nowadays.
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  • mphilmphil Posts: 448
    Thanks for the info everyone! I'll have to order some silver age sized bags and boards then.
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  • dubbat138dubbat138 Posts: 3,200
    No idea about skinner. But noticed while reading the Gerber Howard the duck run that most of the early issues have 17 pages of story. 17 pages! Was this standard for Marvel back then?
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