A comic is an issue with a spine that breaks as soon as you press it open, and with color that shifts in the light. The price of an early number sits in that untouched state. In the overview Security for collectors, comics sit with paper, the few expensive issues also with small, liquid value.

What breaks without a thief

Acid from old paper, adhesive remains from price stickers, a rubber band around a stack, cellar damp, attic heat. You store them upright, in sleeves made for issues, dark and dry. An issue you open flat "carefully" to read the page is a read issue afterward.

When someone comes

Boxes are heavy and uninteresting to many offenders. A single issue in a rigid sleeve with a visible grade is the opposite: small and with a price. These issues lie in the safe, not on the stack by the door. You secure long boxes in the cellar against water from below. A pallet is often enough against a puddle.

The folder

Publisher, number, year, condition in your words plus the grade, if a firm has graded the issue. Receipt for the expensive numbers. A photo of the cover and of the first page, so that a dispute about "the same issue" has a picture.