This is close to mint with some minor defect.
- A slight stress line by the staples.
- The staples themselves are generally centered clean with no rust.
- Maybe some of the color has chipped or flaked off the cover.
- And again, the cover is flat with no surface wear; inks are bright with high reflectivity and very little fading. And those tricky corners are cut square and sharp with ever so slight blunting permitted.
- You can tell that this comic has been stored properly and looks as new as the day it was printed.
- All stress marks should be almost invisible and bindery tears must be less than 1/16 inch.
- Only the most subtle binding and/or printing defects allowed.
- Cover is fairly well centered and firmly secured to interior pages.
- Paper is supple and like new.
- Spine is tight and flat.
- Unobtrusive date stamps or arrival dates in pencil or ink are acceptable.
- Many pedigree collection comics have a notation on the cover or the interior of the comic and are considered a bonus to collectors as they help prove the provenance of the comic.