Finally--Comics!

Hola, English Department, Anne from Special Collections here for another installment of "cool stuff in Special Collections to use in research and teaching." The Comics Collection in Special Collections is a little different from other libraries' comics collections. Though there is an emphasis on self-published and small press titles in our modest collection, there isn't really any specific focus topic or type. There's a comics something for everyone--fantasy, manga, horror, humor, romance, adventure, superhero, DIY, feminist, "grand space opera" comics, comics on phonics (yes phonics), fairy tale comics, erotica comics, robot comics, terrible mid-1990s educational comics, Japanese comics, Canadian comics, Mexican comics--you get the picture. More generally, the Comics Collection fits under our broad collecting area of "literature intersecting with art." Besides comics, this includes our delightful Edward Gorey Collection, our sexy Donna Barr Collection, and the gorgeous Janus Press Collection, just to name a few. And though we haven't been able to attend Comic-con for the past couple of years and are not currently building the collection actively, we have been able to make a couple of recent acquisitions in this area--a full run of Spiegelman's Raw, for instance.

So if questions of visual literature, reading strategy, or linearity are nagging at you, come peruse the Comics Collection for some answers! Stop by during our open hours* to check out these fantastic resources.

*The Dreaded Furloughs (if not a comics title, at least a bad band name?) will be affecting the department's (and the library's) service schedule--but alas, we don't yet know what exactly that means. As soon as we DO know anything, it'll be posted on our website, k?

Image from The Perils of Mr. Comics, written by Liz Schiller and drawn by Donna Barr at the "San Diego Comic-Con Street Theatre," 1995.