Marvel Chipping
“Marvel chipping” is a production flaw whose origin is still
highly debated to this day. The flaw bears the name “Marvel” because it can be
seen most frequently on Silver Age Marvel books (although not restricted to
Marvel books).
The most widely accepted cause of “Marvel Chipping” is due
to a dull blade trimming the book. Instead of making a clean cut, the blade
still made the cut…but due to the increased surface area of the blade also
pushed down on the right edge of the book causing the early stages of chips to
form. Some experts also blame poor paper quality. The explanation is that the
book gets flaky on the edges over time as oxygen break down the fibers of the
paper. Marvel chipping is a defect that is actually not limited to the
production time period; rather it originates there only to get progressively
worse as time goes on. “Marvel Chipping” is commonly found on such books as
Amazing Fantasy #15 and Fantastic Four #48.
On the below image of Amazing Fantasy #15, you can see severe Marvel Chipping along the right edge of the cover.
