OT - question about possibly faded color on a magazine?
 

HI all. Thanks for any help for those familiar with printing, inks and possible fading. I purchased this magazine recently:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/18487780118...p2047675.l2557

The red, yellow and picture of Bettie don't look faded to me.

Then I came across this:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/37364619221...2Cchnl%3Dmkcid

Which when I did a search seems to be the way the magazine usually appears. Now it has me thinking did the just the blue fade? Or was it somehow printed without the blue? Any help? Thanks in advance.

Variant cover?

I don't know, but can you post more pictures?

Seller states he has a large collection but doesn't attempt to differentiate this particular example from the blue. My vote is badly faded and the seller neglected to disclose it.

Red and yellow tend to fade more quickly than other colors when exposed to light for long periods of time. On your example, they both seem vibrant.

A couple questions:

Has the cover "toned" from the outer edges inward, as is somewhat typical of comics from the same general time period?

Does the magazine smell like an old comic? It's a hard smell to describe; however, I believe you have experience with comics and know the scent. The magazine cover might have a high acid content, which could possibly explain what's going on.

Just took a closer look
 

It is quite strange to me. The cover has a nice glossy sheen to it. As observed by a response - the red and yellow are quite strong as is the image of Bettie. Under 10 power magnification I found a small spot of blue at the bottom right corner and more small spots along the spine. It appears more as if the blue didn't print/didn't print properly than any type of fading problem?

Eric - It does not smell like an old comic and yes, I know what you mean.

Howard,

Not an expert, but yours looks like there is a very slight blue tint to it. If you look down from between the 2 and the 5 in 25 it's almost a line with more a blue tint to the left. But it could just be the scan. My guess when this one ran through the printing the blue ink was almost gone. It does not look like any fading or other 'removal' of it being there previously.

As to the request for more pics, did you happen to see the sale earlier this year from the Bunny Yeager archives? Some very cool stuff!

https://www.estatesales.net/NY/New-W.../12553/2756811

I was thinking as others, that red usually fades/changes the most easily and yellow should have faded too.

But a quick search for images of that issue turned up this one, where the blue is in fact fading to gray around the edges. while red and yellow are fine.

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthoped...inup-533370702