Custom Comic Mylar Bags
Custom comic mylar bags from 100 — clear archival polyester sleeves in 2 or 4 mil, sized to each comic age, with a fold-over flap and a printed header card or band carrying your shop or show.
Paper from 1962 does not get a second chance
- Film
- Archival polyester (mylar) film, 2 mil or 4 mil, acid-free, no plasticizers
- Sizes
- Current, silver age, golden age, magazine; custom cuts for treasury and digest
- Flap
- 1½ inch fold-over, plain or resealable strip on the flap
Get a price for Comic Mylar Bags
Send the size and quantity — we reply the same working day with a price, a dieline and a date. Artwork optional at this stage.
- Free dielineThe flat drawing comes with the quote, before you commit.
- Proof before pressNothing is printed until you have seen it laid on the dieline.
- Die kept for reordersTooling is paid once. Every reorder skips straight to press.
- Quoted in four marketsUS, UK, Canada and Australia, in the delivery currency.
Why polyester, and why not polypropylene
The cheap comic bag is polypropylene. It is clear and fine for a week but it clouds, goes brittle and lets moisture through over years. Biaxially oriented polyester (the generic name for mylar) is stable for decades, resists tearing and holds its clarity, which is why graded and slabbed books are sleeved in it. It costs more per bag and it is the only film we offer on this page.
Gauge and the four comic sizes
| Current / modern | 6¾ × 10½ inches; books from about 1990 on |
|---|---|
| Regular / silver age | 7¼ × 10½ inches; 1960s to 1980s |
| Golden age | 7¾ × 10½ inches; 1940s and 1950s |
| Magazine | 8¾ × 11¼ inches; magazine-format comics and treasury editions |
2 mil is the shop standard for sleeving stock; 4 mil is stiff enough to stand a book on edge and is the collector grade.
Flap, seal and the board behind the book
- A 1½ inch fold-over flap, left plain or with a resealable adhesive strip on the flap, never on the bag body.
- Welded side and bottom seams with a slight radius at the corners so the sleeve does not split when a board is slid in.
- Sized to take an acid-free backing board; we supply boards cut to each size if you want the pair.
- A top opening wide enough for gloved hands at a convention table.
Printing the header, not the bag
Collectors want the sleeve itself clear and unprinted, so the brand goes on a header card folded over the pack of fifty, or on a paper band. We print the header in full color with the size, gauge and count in a fixed panel, and the rest is your shop, show or publisher. A publisher that ships a variant cover in a sleeve uses the same bag with a small printed insert card behind the book. Our other barrier bags in the mylar range are for food and are a different film build.
Who orders these
Comic shops that sleeve every new release before it goes on the wall; convention dealers who need a thousand sleeves a show; publishers and crowdfunding campaigns shipping a signed or variant edition; and archives and libraries that want an inert sleeve for a bound periodical. Packs are 50 or 100 to a header; cartons hold 1,000.
Comic Mylar Bags — specification
The rows that are specific to this build first, then what applies to every job we run. Anything not listed is a question, not a limit — send the brief.
This build
- Film
- Archival polyester (mylar) film, 2 mil or 4 mil, acid-free, no plasticizers
- Sizes
- Current, silver age, golden age, magazine; custom cuts for treasury and digest
- Flap
- 1½ inch fold-over, plain or resealable strip on the flap
- Seams
- Welded sides and bottom, radiused corners
- Branding
- Printed header card or paper band per pack of 50 or 100
- Boards
- Matching acid-free backing boards, optional
- Minimum
- 100 bags per size
On every job
- Print process
- Flexo in up to ten colors on the outer film, or digital for short runs and changing artwork.
- Color
- A white underprint carries normal color on metalized or clear film. Without it, every color takes on what is beneath it.
- Tolerance
- Bag width plus or minus 2 mm, length plus or minus 3 mm. Film stretches, so a barcode is verified on a filled bag.
- Tooling
- Print plates or cylinders per design, kept. There is no cutting die — the bag is formed and sealed rather than cut.
- Food contact
- A food-grade sealing layer against the product, with the inks trapped between layers rather than on the food face.
- Sustainability
- Mono-material PE or PP where the shelf life allows, which recycles as a soft plastic. A foil laminate does not.
- Artwork
- Vector PDF or AI, 3 mm bleed, 4 mm safe area, fonts outlined. We check every file and send a proof before press.
- Dieline
- Supplied free with the quote, before you commit. Yours whether or not you order.
- Sample
- A plain unprinted sample at the finished size on request, for fit and construction.
- Reorders
- Skip the tooling and go straight to press at a lower unit price.
- Lead time
- Quoted with the price against your fill date rather than promised before we have seen the spec.
- Markets
- United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia — priced in the delivery currency, freight included.
Boards and films we build comic mylar bags on
A flexible pack is a stack of films laminated together, and the middle layer is the barrier. The structure is chosen from the shelf life you need and what you want to be able to say about recycling.
PET / PE
A printable outer and a sealing inner. Moisture barrier, modest oxygen barrier. The everyday laminate for dry goods sold quickly.
2-ply, 70–110 micronPET / AL / PE
Aluminum foil in the middle: the strongest barrier against light, oxygen and moisture. Coffee, supplements, anything with a long shelf life.
3-ply, 90–130 micronMetalized PET
A vapor-deposited metal layer. Bright, lighter and cheaper than foil, with a weaker barrier. Most silver and gold bags are this.
2–3 plyMono-material PE
Every layer polyethylene, so the bag recycles as a soft plastic. Less barrier and a slightly softer hand; the sustainable choice where shelf life allows.
100–130 micronMono-material PP
Stiffer and clearer than PE, with better heat resistance. Suits a stand-up pouch that has to hold its shape on a shelf.
90–120 micronKraft-paper laminate
A paper outer over a film barrier. The natural look with a real barrier behind it; the paper takes only a matte, flat print.
Paper 60–80gsm + filmCompostable film
PLA and cellulose structures certified for industrial compost. Lower barrier, higher cost, and no home-compost claim unless the certificate says so.
60–90 micronLDPE mailer film
Co-extruded opaque film for shipping bags: tear- and puncture-resistant, weatherproof, and recyclable where soft plastics are collected.
60–80 micronNot sure which? Say what goes in it and where it is sold — the material follows from that. Our notes on recycled, recyclable and compostable cover which claims each stock can honestly carry.
- 01
Send what you have
A dimension, a photograph beside a ruler, or the product itself. No technical drawing needed — that part is ours.
- 02
We quote and draw
A price, a dieline and a date come back together. If a different build would suit the product better, that is in the reply too.
- 03
Approve the dieline
The flat drawing is yours to check: which panel is the front, where the folds fall, how deep the cavity really is.
- 04
Artwork on the dieline
You place your design on the flat we sent, or we place it for you, and you see a proof before anything goes to press.
- 05
A sample if you want one
A plain unprinted sample at the finished size shows fit and construction — the things a drawing cannot.
- 06
Cut, printed, shipped
The die is cut once and kept, so every reorder skips the tooling and goes straight to press at a lower unit price.
Format
Vector PDF or AI where possible. Raster artwork at 300dpi at final size, in CMYK.
Bleed
3 mm past every trim line, so a fraction of drift on the cutter never leaves a white edge.
Safe area
Keep type and anything important 4 mm inside the cut and away from every fold.
Color
Convert to CMYK before sending. Uncoated stock prints lighter; a spot color is the only exact match.
Fonts
Outline them or supply the files. A missing font substitutes silently and the proof will not match.
Barcodes
On a light, matte, unvarnished patch with the quiet zone clear — a code on gloss fails the scanner.
Not set up that way? Send it anyway — fixing a file is a short conversation, and we check every one before press. Our guide to preparing print files covers each point.
Film is finished in the lacquer and the ink, not with a laminate.
Matte lacquer
A soft, non-reflective face. Hides handling marks and the most-used finish on a premium pouch.
Gloss lacquer
Wet-looking color. Reads cheaper on some categories and exactly right on confectionery.
Spot matte on gloss
A matte shape on a gloss field, or the reverse. The film equivalent of spot UV.
Metalized effects
Print over the metal layer so a color picks up the shimmer, or lay white under it for a normal color.
Registered emboss
A raised texture pressed into the film. Rare, expensive, and unmistakable in the hand.
Kraft-paper face
A paper outer laminated to the barrier. Matte and flat by nature; no varnish needed.
Not sure which suits the shelf it sells from? Say where the product is sold and we suggest one — our notes on specialty finishes show them on real boxes.
Sizing a pouch by what goes in it, not by a bag size: comic mylar bags
Film packs are specified by fill, not by dimensions. Two products of the same weight can need very different bags, because density decides volume — whole coffee beans take far more room than the same weight of powder.
- Fill weight and density
- Give us both, or send the product. We size from the volume it actually occupies, settled.
- Lay-flat width
- Half the circumference of the finished bag. It is the number a converter works to, and we calculate it from your product.
- Headspace
- Enough film above the fill to seal cleanly and for the bag to stand. Too little and the seal traps product; too much and the pack looks underfilled.
- Gusset
- Bottom gusset depth sets how the bag stands; side gussets add volume without width. Both are chosen from the shelf, not the fill.
- Seal width
- 5–8 mm. Wider on liquids and creams, which contaminate a seal, and on anything that will be posted.
- Sample fill
- A plain bag at the finished size, filled from your line, is the only reliable check before print.
Not sure your numbers are right? Send the product dimensions rather than the box dimensions and we work the box out — the full method is in our guide to measuring for a box.
Interactive · five steps · no sign-up
Spec your Comic Mylar Bags
Pick a shape, type a size, choose a film and a finish. The preview on the left redraws as you go, and the spec lands with us exactly as you set it.
Frequently asked questions
Got a question about comic mylar bags? The answers below cover what we get asked most. If yours is not here, send it with a brief, message us on WhatsApp, or call +1 503-461-4788 — we reply the same working day.
What is the difference between a comic mylar bag and a polypropylene comic bag?
Polyester (mylar) stays clear and inert for decades; polypropylene clouds and goes brittle in a few years. Only polyester is archival.
Which comic mylar bag size fits a modern comic?
The current size, 6¾ by 10½ inches. Silver age books need the 7¼ inch width and golden age the 7¾.
Should I choose 2 mil or 4 mil comic mylar bags?
2 mil for sleeving everyday stock and new releases; 4 mil for valuable books, because it stands stiff and resists creasing.
Do comic mylar bags have a resealable flap?
Optionally. The adhesive strip sits on the flap, not the bag body, so a book never touches glue.
Can a comic mylar bag be printed with our shop name?
The sleeve stays clear; your name goes on the header card or band around each pack of 50 or 100.
Do comic mylar bags fit a backing board?
Yes, each size allows for a standard acid-free board behind the book. We supply matching boards if you want them.
Are comic mylar bags acid-free?
Yes. The polyester contains no acid or plasticizers and does not give off gases that stain paper.
Can comic mylar bags be cut for magazines or treasury editions?
Yes. Magazine size is stock; treasury and digest are custom cuts at the same minimum.
How are comic mylar bags packed for a shop?
In packs of 50 or 100 under a folded header card, 1,000 to a carton.
Can a publisher ship a variant cover in a comic mylar bag?
Yes, with a backing board and a small printed insert card; the 4 mil gauge protects the book in a mailer.
How many comic mylar bags can we order per size?
From 100 per size. A shop usually orders the current and silver sizes together.
Same range
