BB-Gun Posted March 19, 2014 Author Share Posted March 19, 2014 (edited) A few years ago, King Features Syndicate decided to divest themselves of their archives. The archive contained well over 1 million syndicate proof sheets. Syndicate proof sheets are the photographic camera ready copies that they send to individual subscribing newspapers. Half were donated to Ohio State University the rest to Michigan State University. We did the formal appraisal. This is what a proof sheet looks like and a picture of the archives as organized by MSU. This has now made it possible for publishers to reprint so many of the features that were nearly impossible to compile and without the prohibitive burden of having to clean up each and every page. This is what has made the publishing of so many titles viable in recent years. I didn't know this story. I had seen an earlier collection at MSU but never Ohio State. A private collector donated a huge number of Sunday and daily strips, I believe. Jerry Bails donated his microfilm to MSU. There were also a large number of comics that reprinted the popular strips. When I asked for Timely comics, I was given fiche and a reader. I heard that the Caniff collection went to OSU. Is that correct? Bowling Green University also has a collection as well as Missouri but don't remember where. Other sites? The comic art museum in San Francisco was kind of small but they had some nifty art by Crumb. I could give you a litany of institutions that have collections. In my former career I developed a product for archival storage and as such dealt with most of the large institutions in the US. Highlights: Yes, Caniff was an alumni and donated his collection to Ohio State. As a prominent member of the National Cartoonist Society, he encouraged others to do the same. The Woody Gelman collection with numerous works by Winsor McCay followed. In the early seventies, the value of comic art was appreciating so it became worthwhile to donate material. Syracuse was one of the most aggressive and landed, The Street and Smith Archives, Hal Foster's collection, including the first Prince Valiant as well as the Courvoiser animation collection. Early Orphan Annies are scarce because Harold Gray donated the majority of his collection to Boston University. The Library of Congress has a great collection with the Art Wood Collection. The NY Public Library has a great collection. Columbia has a nice collection Princeton University has the Philip Gordon Wylie collection. I could go on. I wish I had known about the comic collections in NYC. I used to visit the city often when I worked across the river and lived in Orange County. However, I did get a library card for the industrial library and read some early editions of the Electrical Experimenter. I found two covers by Schomburg there, one which I already owned and another which I didn't. The magazines were in really poor condition and I wondered about their archive efforts and storage conditions Please list other universities that have comic book or strip collections. Edited March 19, 2014 by BB-Gun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe AllStar Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 Ohio State received a huge donation from Bill Blackbeard who was THE SOURCE for newspaper tear sheets for many years. He compiled clippings from newspapers across the country for decades. The problem was in the reproduction as said previously, from fiche or copy they required a tremendous amount of time to clean up in order to prepare them for adequate production. Ohio State has built a state of the art facility however, it will take a LONG time for them to deal with what they already have in the queue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe AllStar Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 A few years ago, King Features Syndicate decided to divest themselves of their archives. The archive contained well over 1 million syndicate proof sheets. Syndicate proof sheets are the photographic camera ready copies that they send to individual subscribing newspapers. Half were donated to Ohio State University the rest to Michigan State University. We did the formal appraisal. This is what a proof sheet looks like and a picture of the archives as organized by MSU. This has now made it possible for publishers to reprint so many of the features that were nearly impossible to compile and without the prohibitive burden of having to clean up each and every page. This is what has made the publishing of so many titles viable in recent years. I didn't know this story. I had seen an earlier collection at MSU but never Ohio State. A private collector donated a huge number of Sunday and daily strips, I believe. Jerry Bails donated his microfilm to MSU. There were also a large number of comics that reprinted the popular strips. When I asked for Timely comics, I was given fiche and a reader. I heard that the Caniff collection went to OSU. Is that correct? Bowling Green University also has a collection as well as Missouri but don't remember where. Other sites? The comic art museum in San Francisco was kind of small but they had some nifty art by Crumb. I could give you a litany of institutions that have collections. In my former career I developed a product for archival storage and as such dealt with most of the large institutions in the US. Highlights: Yes, Caniff was an alumni and donated his collection to Ohio State. As a prominent member of the National Cartoonist Society, he encouraged others to do the same. The Woody Gelman collection with numerous works by Winsor McCay followed. In the early seventies, the value of comic art was appreciating so it became worthwhile to donate material. Syracuse was one of the most aggressive and landed, The Street and Smith Archives, Hal Foster's collection, including the first Prince Valiant as well as the Courvoiser animation collection. Early Orphan Annies are scarce because Harold Gray donated the majority of his collection to Boston University. The Library of Congress has a great collection with the Art Wood Collection. The NY Public Library has a great collection. Columbia has a nice collection Princeton University has the Philip Gordon Wylie collection. I could go on. I wish I had known about the comic collections in NYC. I used to visit the city often when I worked across the river and lived in Orange County. However, I did get a library card for the industrial library and read some early editions of the Electrical Experimenter. I found two covers by Schomburg there, one which I already owned and another which I didn't. The magazines were in really poor condition and I wondered about their archive efforts and storage conditions Please list other universities that have comic book or strip collections. As you are from NJ : Fairleigh Dickinson University has and had the collection of Harry Chesler, the comic book pioneer. Unfortunately, as is often the case, due to financial distress in maintaining collections such as this, they began to de accession works. They sold several great pulp covers, works by Raboy and other historic works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe AllStar Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 A few years ago, King Features Syndicate decided to divest themselves of their archives. The archive contained well over 1 million syndicate proof sheets. Syndicate proof sheets are the photographic camera ready copies that they send to individual subscribing newspapers. Half were donated to Ohio State University the rest to Michigan State University. We did the formal appraisal. This is what a proof sheet looks like and a picture of the archives as organized by MSU. This has now made it possible for publishers to reprint so many of the features that were nearly impossible to compile and without the prohibitive burden of having to clean up each and every page. This is what has made the publishing of so many titles viable in recent years. I didn't know this story. I had seen an earlier collection at MSU but never Ohio State. A private collector donated a huge number of Sunday and daily strips, I believe. Jerry Bails donated his microfilm to MSU. There were also a large number of comics that reprinted the popular strips. When I asked for Timely comics, I was given fiche and a reader. I heard that the Caniff collection went to OSU. Is that correct? Bowling Green University also has a collection as well as Missouri but don't remember where. Other sites? The comic art museum in San Francisco was kind of small but they had some nifty art by Crumb. I could give you a litany of institutions that have collections. In my former career I developed a product for archival storage and as such dealt with most of the large institutions in the US. Highlights: Yes, Caniff was an alumni and donated his collection to Ohio State. As a prominent member of the National Cartoonist Society, he encouraged others to do the same. The Woody Gelman collection with numerous works by Winsor McCay followed. In the early seventies, the value of comic art was appreciating so it became worthwhile to donate material. Syracuse was one of the most aggressive and landed, The Street and Smith Archives, Hal Foster's collection, including the first Prince Valiant as well as the Courvoiser animation collection. Early Orphan Annies are scarce because Harold Gray donated the majority of his collection to Boston University. The Library of Congress has a great collection with the Art Wood Collection. The NY Public Library has a great collection. Columbia has a nice collection Princeton University has the Philip Gordon Wylie collection. I could go on. I wish I had known about the comic collections in NYC. I used to visit the city often when I worked across the river and lived in Orange County. However, I did get a library card for the industrial library and read some early editions of the Electrical Experimenter. I found two covers by Schomburg there, one which I already owned and another which I didn't. The magazines were in really poor condition and I wondered about their archive efforts and storage conditions Please list other universities that have comic book or strip collections. As you are from NJ : Fairleigh Dickinson University has and had the collection of Harry Chesler, the comic book pioneer. Unfortunately, as is often the case, due to financial distress in maintaining collections such as this, they began to de accession works. They sold several great pulp covers, works by Raboy and other historic works. Here is a link to a piece that came out Of Chesler's collection years ago. Harry Chesler art Star Comics 1937 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe AllStar Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 Open this link, check out the pictures, you will not regret it! Bill Blackbeard Collection Ohio State Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB-Gun Posted March 20, 2014 Author Share Posted March 20, 2014 Open this link, check out the pictures, you will not regret it! Bill Blackbeard Collection Ohio State Yes, it is amazing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
50YrsCollctngCmcs Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 That is unreal. How did one individual deal with that much newsprint in his life. He must have had a big home and I bet he never moved! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
50YrsCollctngCmcs Posted March 20, 2014 Share Posted March 20, 2014 I went onto Wikipedia and read about Bill Blackbeard. He actually moved his collection a number of times. They listed his last address which happens to be around the corner from my brother-in-law in San Francisco. Next time I am up there I'll drive by and take a look and wonder at the wonders that used to be in that house. Just goes to show you never know what treasures are behind four walls! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe AllStar Posted March 23, 2014 Share Posted March 23, 2014 http://library.osu.edu/blogs/cartoons/2014/03/20/new-interview-calvin-hobbes-creator-bill-watterson-and-cul-de-sac-creator-richard-thompson-talk-libraries-comics-and-the-creative-process-with-ohio-state/ Speaking of OSU Check out the new exhibit the great Calvin And Hobbes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB-Gun Posted March 23, 2014 Author Share Posted March 23, 2014 http://library.osu.edu/blogs/cartoons/2014/03/20/new-interview-calvin-hobbes-creator-bill-watterson-and-cul-de-sac-creator-richard-thompson-talk-libraries-comics-and-the-creative-process-with-ohio-state/ Speaking of OSU Check out the new exhibit the great Calvin And Hobbes Thanks, I have wanted to check out the OSU collection for a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe AllStar Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 Library of Congress pulp conservation More in regards to the Lbrary Of Congress and their efforts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB-Gun Posted April 2, 2014 Author Share Posted April 2, 2014 (edited) Supposedly Kneer drew this strip before the Katzenjammer Kids but they were published together in 1914. A very racist Irresistible Rag by the way. Edited April 3, 2014 by BB-Gun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB-Gun Posted April 2, 2014 Author Share Posted April 2, 2014 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB-Gun Posted April 2, 2014 Author Share Posted April 2, 2014 Some pages by C.A.Voight who worked on Sir Prize in Prize and a few other comic book strips. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB-Gun Posted April 2, 2014 Author Share Posted April 2, 2014 and this page works for old movie fans. It features The Durango Kid, Johnny Mack Brown and Linda Darnell who starred as Lolita in Zorro. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB-Gun Posted April 3, 2014 Author Share Posted April 3, 2014 (edited) I forgot to mention Myrna Loy who played the daughter of Fu Manchu, Mrs. Charles in the Thin Man Series and the girl that John Dillinger had to see in "Manhattan Melodrama". Edited April 6, 2014 by BB-Gun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB-Gun Posted April 3, 2014 Author Share Posted April 3, 2014 I found a daily with the evil-eye half whammy but no Sunday. Anyone got a copy of a Sunday Li'l Abner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB-Gun Posted April 3, 2014 Author Share Posted April 3, 2014 Biography and picture from Feature Book 35. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marty Mann Posted April 3, 2014 Share Posted April 3, 2014 The bio and photo were repeated in FEATURE BOOK #41. The bio and photo of Rudolph Dirks are featured in a two page spread in the 50th Anniversary Issue of THE CAPTAIN AND THE KIDS. mm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB-Gun Posted April 4, 2014 Author Share Posted April 4, 2014 Some pages by C.A.Voight who worked on Sir Prize in Prize and a few other comic book strips. Here are a few splash pages with characters that are associated with Voight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
