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.