This Summer, Columbia University hosted two rare sessions to tour their Comic, Cartoon, and Graphic Novel Collection in the Rare Book & Manuscript Library. Karen Green, the university’s Curator for Comics and Cartoons, was the guide for both sessions on June 23 & August 3, 2023 which featured dozens of unique items telling the history of comics & graphic novels.
Within the 20,000 item collection, a limited number of participants were able to get a close-up look at some of the oldest and rarest pieces: a 1766 cartoon from King’s College students, one of the earliest colored pages from a “Hogan’s Alley” comic strip, the “first sitcom” Jiggs and Maggie (featuring the inspiration for ‘the angry wife holding a rolling pin’), a 1944 comic book featuring a Joe Simon & Jack Kirby cover, and so much more!
Karen Green went through each item across six tables with great detail, going through the origin of the Comics Code Authority, Marvel Entertainment going public in 1991, the story of Bob Kane (co-creator of Batman), Bill Finger, and Jerry Robinson (whose sketches of Batman & Robin were on display), and even the process of conservation… along with other interesting highlights such as early comics by women, a collection of international art (including a leporello / accordion book), an original art page of a Superman comic, and the rise of “underground comics”.
These tours were companion events to Karen’s preceding public lectures on comics & graphic novels and lasted roughly one hour. She has been Columbia University’s curator since 2005 and has previously judged for the Eisner Awards and the Pulitzer Prize in Editorial Cartooning. For more information on the university’s summer experiences, click here.
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