Join the beta

No. 1 · The UK comic checker

Know exactly
what you've got.

It names the comic when it's sure. When it isn't, it says so and asks. It flags the keys, spots UK pence copies, buzzes through a box in Hunt Mode, and keeps your collection on your iPhone.

Join the beta See Hunt Mode

iPhone test versionNo accountNo signal needed

The Mint Menace, in a mint suit with a gold 12p corner box on his chest, holds up his phone, goggles glowing.
Let's find out.
No guessing.
Mint Menace No. 1

The Long Box.

Six panels, one loft, and a box nobody has opened in forty years. Every character and every comic in it is invented.

Mint Menace#1 The Long Box
Panel 1. In a loft, a woman kneels by a box of old comics, holding one up, puzzled. Caption: "Every loft has one: a box of old comics nobody has opened in forty years." The woman: "Dad's old comics... which ones actually matter?" Panel 2. A mint scan line bursts from her phone and the Mint Menace springs up beside the box, pointing at it. SHWIPP! The Menace: "Let's find out. No guessing." Panel 3. Close-up: the phone's scanner locks onto the comic's corners while the Mint Menace, his round goggles down, watches the scan. Caption: "It finds the edges, straightens the cover..." SCAN! Caption: "...and reads it: barcode, issue, date, price, creators." Panel 4. The phone's result card, drawn large: Galaxy Rangers number 12, a pence copy badge and a key issue star. The woman and the Mint Menace grin. The woman: "What does it say?" The Menace: "Galaxy Rangers No. 12. A UK pence copy!" The screen reads Pence copy, Key issue. "That star? First appearance of Captain Comet!" Panel 5. The woman sorts comics into a neat pile while the Mint Menace ticks them off on the phone's list. Caption: "Add it to My Comics: your grade, what you paid, and one tap to see what copies really sold for." The Menace: "I don't make up prices. I show you real sales." Panel 6. The Mint Menace faces the reader with a thumbs-up; behind him the woman holds the box of old comics and smiles. The Menace: "Not sure about one? I'll say so, and show you why." Footer: Mint Menace, a menace to guesswork. Join the beta at mintmenace.com.

The Long Box is in the app too: it opens once when the app is first used, and from the scan screen.

Read it panel by panel
Read the strip as text
  1. In a loft, a woman kneels by a box of old comics, holding one up, puzzled. Caption: "Every loft has one: a box of old comics nobody has opened in forty years." The woman: "Dad's old comics... which ones actually matter?"
  2. A mint scan line bursts from her phone and the Mint Menace springs up beside the box, pointing at it. SHWIPP! The Menace: "Let's find out. No guessing."
  3. Close-up: the phone's scanner locks onto the comic's corners while the Mint Menace, his round goggles down, watches the scan. Caption: "It finds the edges, straightens the cover..." SCAN! Caption: "...and reads it: barcode, issue, date, price, creators."
  4. The phone's result card, drawn large: Galaxy Rangers number 12, a pence copy badge and a key issue star. The woman and the Mint Menace grin. The woman: "What does it say?" The Menace: "Galaxy Rangers No. 12. A UK pence copy!" The screen reads Pence copy, Key issue. "That star? First appearance of Captain Comet!"
  5. The woman sorts comics into a neat pile while the Mint Menace ticks them off on the phone's list. Caption: "Add it to My Comics: your grade, what you paid, and one tap to see what copies really sold for." The Menace: "I don't make up prices. I show you real sales."
  6. The Mint Menace faces the reader with a thumbs-up; behind him the woman holds the box of old comics and smiles. The Menace: "Not sure about one? I'll say so, and show you why." Footer: Mint Menace, a menace to guesswork. Join the beta at mintmenace.com.

Panel 1 of 6
Hunt Mode

Flick through a box.
It buzzes.

Point your phone at a box of comics and flick through. Mint Menace buzzes the moment it spots a key issue, a comic missing from one of your runs, a character just announced for film or TV, or one you already own. No photos, no typing, no signal needed. It's made for comic marts, back-issue bins and that box in the loft.

Last hunt

  • KEY ISSUE!

    A first appearance, a first origin or a first death, with the reason and its source on the card.

  • WANTED!

    A comic missing from one of your runs. It knows your runs because it knows your collection.

  • ON SCREEN!

    A character who first appeared in this comic has been announced for a film or a TV series.

  • GOT IT

    Already in My Comics. Saves buying the same book twice at a mart.

Only comics it is sure of are flagged; the rest go by without a word. Hunt Mode needs iOS 16 and an iPhone XS or later.

Hunt Mode, on page 2

In this example box of eight invented comics, four make the phone buzz: Tales from the Spinner Rack No. 1 (Key issue: First appearance of the Mint Menace); Moonshot Monthly No. 3 (On screen: Nova Pike: announced for a TV series); Tales from the Spinner Rack No. 7 (Wanted: Missing from your Spinner Rack run); Albion Weekly No. 412 (Got it: Already in My Comics).

It never bluffs

Sure, or it asks.

Scan any cover and Mint Menace names the comic when it's sure. When it isn't, it says so and shows you the likely ones to pick from, instead of handing you a confident wrong answer. Batter this cover and watch for the moment it stops being sure.

0 71486 01234 1 No.112p OCT 1978
  • TitleRead
  • BarcodeRead
  • Issue numberNo. 1
  • Price box12p
  • Cover dateOct 1978

Tales from the Spinner Rack, No. 1

OCT 1978 · ISSUE 1 OF 38 · PRICE BOX: 12p

SurePence copyKey: first appearance

The barcode and the issue number agree.

Which one is it?

TALES FROM THE SPINNER RACK · THE NUMBER IS TORN OFF

Not sure

The series is clear, the issue is not. Pick the cover that matches yours, or scan again with the corner box in view.

  • No. 1Oct 1978 · the first appearance
  • No. 11Aug 1979
  • No. 17Feb 1980 · dual priced

How it reads a cover, and all seven verdicts, on page 3

Keys with receipts

The reason,
not just a badge.

First appearances, origins and deaths, each shown with where the fact comes from. The run it belongs to, the lead story, and who wrote and drew it come with it.

The records come from public databases and can have gaps. Where there is no record, the card says nothing rather than something made up. And it never prints a value: real sales are one tap away instead.

Key issues, on page 4

Mint Menace

Keys with receipts

Tales from the Spinner Rack
No. 1 · Oct 1978 · 12p

Key
First appearance
Who
The Mint Menace
Source
The catalogue
Run
Issue 1 of 38
Lead story
The Case of the Sticky Twelve
Price box
Pence copy
Value
Not estimated
Real sales
eBay UK, sold

Thank you for not guessing

UK pence copies

The 12p in the corner.

It reads the price box and tells you whether you're holding a UK pence copy, a US copy or a dual-priced one. Same comic, same week, a smaller run printed for the newsagent's spinner rack, and easy to mislabel. Pick a cover to read its box.

The short history of pence copies, on page 9

Screen Alert

Your comic,
their next film.

When a character who first appeared in a comic you own is announced for a film or TV series, Mint Menace tells you, with the source.

It checks your collection on your phone, so nothing about it leaves your hands. One alert, the comic named, the project named, and where the news came from. The example here is invented, down to the character.

Screen Alert, on page 5

Signing lists

Know who
to queue for.

Going to a convention? Mint Menace tells you which guests made comics you own, and lists exactly which ones to bring. It covers MCM London, Thought Bubble, LICAF and Day of Dredd, plus NYCC and L.A. Comic Con. Flip a badge.

Guest list checked

MCM London Comic Con

London

2 guests made comics you own

MCM London Comic Con: bring these

  1. Tales from the Spinner Rack No. 1
  2. Tales from the Spinner Rack No. 3
  3. Tales from the Spinner Rack No. 12
  4. Moonshot Monthly No. 3
  5. Moonshot Monthly No. 9

Vera Lindqvist, artist
Dai Prothero, writer

Guest list checked

Thought Bubble

Harrogate

2 guests made comics you own

Thought Bubble: bring these

  1. Tales from the Spinner Rack No. 7
  2. Tales from the Spinner Rack No. 12
  3. Night Bus No. 2

Ola Mensah, cover artist
Jess Carrow, writer and artist

Guest list checked

LICAF

Kendal

2 guests made comics you own

LICAF: bring these

  1. Night Bus No. 2
  2. Tales from the Spinner Rack No. 1
  3. Tales from the Spinner Rack No. 3

Jess Carrow, writer and artist
Vera Lindqvist, artist

Guest list checked

Day of Dredd

Forbidden Planet, UK-wide

1 guest made comics you own

Day of Dredd: bring these

  1. Albion Weekly No. 412
  2. Albion Weekly No. 420

Tom Brightwater, artist

Guest list checked

New York Comic Con

New York

2 guests made comics you own

New York Comic Con: bring these

  1. Moonshot Monthly No. 3
  2. Moonshot Monthly No. 9
  3. Tales from the Spinner Rack No. 7

Dai Prothero, writer
Ola Mensah, cover artist

Guest list checked

L.A. Comic Con

Los Angeles

1 guest made comics you own

L.A. Comic Con: bring these

  1. Tales from the Spinner Rack No. 1
  2. Tales from the Spinner Rack No. 12

Vera Lindqvist, artist

An example with an invented collection and invented creators. The conventions are the real ones the app covers; in the app the guests come from each convention's official guest page. Signing lists, on page 6.

My Comics

Your long boxes,
on shelves.

Shelves by publisher, one search across everything, your runs at a glance, signed copies with how the signature is backed, what you've read and your own star rating. This collection is an invented example. Search it.

Try:

18 comics

Spinner Rack Comics 11

Moonshot Press 3

Albion 3

Thameside 1

Tales from the Spinner Rack No. 1

1978 · VG 4.0 · £3 paid

Pence copyKey

First appearance of the Mint Menace

Your rating: 5 of 5

By Vera Lindqvist, Dai Prothero · Read · Dad's loft box

Tales from the Spinner Rack · 11 of 38 · next gap No. 4

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22
  23. 23
  24. 24
  25. 25
  26. 26
  27. 27
  28. 28
  29. 29
  30. 30
  31. 31
  32. 32
  33. 33
  34. 34
  35. 35
  36. 36
  37. 37
  38. 38

Made in your browser from the example above. Nothing is sent anywhere.

My Comics, on page 7

The Mint Menace, thumbs up.
Private by design

No account.
No tracking.

Your comics stay
on your phone.

  • No account. Nothing to sign up for, nothing to log in to, nothing that knows who you are.
  • No tracking. No analytics, no crash reporting, no advertising identifiers. The app sends nothing about you or your scans.
  • The catalogue lives on your phone. Half a million comics in 132 MB, so it works in a loft, a basement or a marquee with no signal.
  • Your collection never leaves it. Screen Alert and the signing lists check your collection on the phone. Export it to a spreadsheet whenever you like, and it goes only where you send it.

The privacy policy, on page 12

The catalogue, by the numbers

Half a million comics.
In your pocket.

506,422comics in the catalogue, on your phone
220,485covers and printings on record
8,052issues with key facts, each with its source
5,531publishers, US and UK

Figures from the app's catalogue as of 2 October 2026. They change with each catalogue refresh. The app reads the price box on any cover, recorded variant or not.

Join the beta

Be one of the
first to try it.

A working test version runs on iPhone today. Leave your email and you'll get an invite as places open, and one note when each new feature lands.

Occasional emails, only when there is something to say. Unsubscribe with one tap.

Letters page

Straight answers.

A reader asks

Does it tell me what my comics are worth?

The Menace replies

No, and it will not pretend to. There is no free source of sale prices the app may show, so it links you to recent eBay UK sold listings for the issue instead. Price guidance in pounds, built from real UK sale records, is on the what's coming list, and it launches only when it is real.

A reader asks

Does my photo go anywhere?

The Menace replies

No. The cover is read on your phone. Your collection and scan history stay on the phone too. Nothing is shared unless you export it yourself, and there is no account.

A reader asks

What if it names the wrong issue?

The Menace replies

It only names a comic when it is sure, and shows why. When it is not sure it asks, with the likely ones to pick from. When it still gets one wrong, email hello@mintmenace.com with the title and issue and what it said.

A reader asks

Which iPhones does it run on?

The Menace replies

It is iPhone only for now. Hunt Mode needs iOS 16 and an iPhone XS or later. There is no Android version yet.

The full letters page, on page 11