Lee's Comics, founded in 1982 is Northern California's leading comic book dealer.
Visit our locations in Mountain View and San Mateo, or online

Lee's Comics Mountain View Location.

Jim Steranko Meets Michael Chabon.
One of the many great Lee's Comics in store events featuring the biggest names in comics.

Rare comics! New items daily!

Lee Meets Lee! Excelsior!

Does ordering online get you down?

Ordering online can often be a tricky business, especially with collectibles such as vintage comics, which are highly specialized items. It takes years to lean all the ins and outs. As a matter of fact, the education of the collector never stops. That's why I believe that you need a dealer that you can rely on to guide you through rough waters.

It is a sad and unfortunate fact that there are many unscrupulous operators out there that seek to take advantage of the collector. Some of these tricksters are as easy to spot as a three-dollar bill, but others are much more sophisticated. Some are very well established and prosperous. Even the savviest collector can fall prey to them. Ebay cannot police them all. The smart collector needs to find trustworthy dealers.

Over-grading. It’s a sad fact that the majority of dealers over-grade their comics. Many otherwise honest dealers do this. It is the #1 scourge of the industry, in my opinion. Since there is a dramatic difference in the value of vintage books in each grade, it is an almost overwhelming impulse on the part of the dealer to try to maximize their price by fudging the grade upwards. At Lee’s Comics, we grade the comic strictly and accurately first, and then value it, rather than to grade the book with one eye on the price guide. I train my grading assistants to be strict, and to grade the book without regard for the value. Only after we grade the book do we assign the value. You get the grade you pay for at Lee’s Comics. A quick review of our feedback will verify this fact. This fact alone will save you 50% or more in cost when dealing with us in comparison to most other dealers out there, and that is the #1 reason to buy old comics from us. The “deal” you were offered on an overgraded comic is no deal at all. My suggestion: Do business only with dealers who grade strictly. Those that over-grade, do not deserve your business. They have betrayed your trust from the start.

Restoration: We’ve seen many dealers knowingly sell books that have had restoration work done on them without disclosing it to the customer. This practice helped lead to the rise of the CGC, the 3rd party grading and encapsulation service. The most common form of restoration is touch up to a break in color at the spine. The most common tool used is a felt tip marker. This was done quite commonly in the days before the CGC. It is found on some otherwise very valuable books, and it drastically reduces their value! There are many other, more advanced restoration techniques, such as paper replacement, cleaning, and re-glossing. It’s easy to spot if you know what to look for, and are looking closely. We are very good at spotting restoration. All books we sell are completely un-restored unless noted. All books are first prints unless noted. You get the real deal here. Never do business with dealers who knowingly sell books with undisclosed restoration.

Bad Photos. The best way to show a book on ebay is with a full-size scan, front and back from a high quality flat bed scanner. You should see the edges of the comic. The image should not be altered or color managed. Unfortunately, we have seen every kind of trick. We have seen pictures lightened, and flaws diminished or erased. We have also seen low quality photos used to hide flaws, or even efforts made to try to disguise 2nd printings or outright fakes. It’s a jungle out there. You need a guide. You can buy raw, un-graded books from Lee’s Comics with the same confidence that you would buy graded CGC books. Lee’s Comics gives you the real deal. Don’t buy books unless you see a full size, high quality scan.

High shipping fees. Many dealers pad out their profit by charging excessive shipping fees. At Lee’s Comics we are not looking to make a profit from shipping. We estimate the costs as close as we can. Sometimes we underestimate, and we ship the item, and eat the extra cost. If we over-estimate and our cost of shipping winds up being more than $2 less than what you paid, we will gladly refund the overage. Avoid dealers that seek to gouge you on shipping.

No returns. Many dealers will not take an item back if you are not happy with it, so there is a real fear of getting trapped. We vehemently disagree with the no-return policies, and urge you not to do business with those that have one! Here is our policy: If for any reason you are not delighted with your purchase, you can return it for a prompt and courteous refund. We have been selling on ebay for 9 years now, and have had this policy in effect since day one. Our standards must be fairly high because we have had a total of 3 items returned. If they won’t take returns, don’t buy!

Bad Feedback. I buy items on ebay just like you do. When I’m choosing who to purchase from, I avoid people that have a number of negative feedback ratings. I worry that I might wind up being one of those people that get a bad experience from that seller. Personally I would rather pay a bit more if need be to buy from a person with outstanding feedback, than to buy from a person with a lot of negatives. I hope you agree with me on this. That’s why I encourage you to examine our feedback before ordering. Our feedback rating is the best way to verify all the points about Lee’s Comics that I have made in this buying guide. Don’t trust your hard earned money to dealers with bad feedback.

Regards,
Your friend in comics.

Lee Hester
President
Lee’s Comics of California

This is how you'll feel after you order from Lee's Comics!

GOOD TIMES!

We are pleased to have had a long association with the great Alex Ross.
Seen here: Lee, Paul Dini, Chip Kidd, Alex Ross and James from HFA at Lee's Comics.
Dini and Ross have appeared here 5 times!

Lee and his wife Connie with Alex Ross at Alex’s fabulous Halloween House-party. Ross is the Boss!

Here is the latest fine art print that Alex Ross produced for a Lee's Comics in-store event.
Ross has produced 3 prints, and he also created the Lee's Comics logo.

This is from our first Ross-Dini singing, for Superman: Peace on Earth.

Jim Lee (On the left) with Brandon Choi (on right), Lee in center.

Here’s a few of the nice folks that came to see Lee at Lee’s

Brian Bendis, David Mack, James Hudnall, Greg Horn…Before they were all famous.

David Mack produced this print for his third appearance. We love you, David Mack!

Lee with Peter Bagge and Dan Clowes. Hateball tour 1993.

Here’s a special print with self portraits of Clowes and 8 other prominent alternative artists.
It was made a decade later for a special in-store event.

Simpson’s Comics artist Bill Morrison.

Xenozoic Tales artist Mark Schultz.

Schultz produced this wonderful print for the event.

Grant Morrison and Jill Thompson.

One of the many live remote broadcasts at Lee’s Comics with radio station KFJC. Seen here, future super-star Hannah Hester!

Here’s the awesome print that the legendary artist Jim Steranko produced
for his in-store meeting with Michael Chabon.
Steranko will always be tops in our book!