Research by Subject: Comic Arts: Museums, Exhibits and National Collections

National Collections and Museums

Comic-Con Museum
Located in Balboa Park, the Comic-Con Museum is now open!
Ohio State University Cartoon Library and Museum
"The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum's primary mission is to develop a comprehensive research collection documenting American printed cartoon art, to organize the materials, and to provide access to these resources. The scope of the collection includes: editorial cartoons, comic strips, comic books, graphic novels, sports cartoons, and magazine cartoons." Located in Columbus, Ohio
Cartoon Art Museum
"From editorial cartoons to comic books, graphic novels to anime, Sunday funnies to Saturday morning cartoons, the Cartoon Art Museum has something for everyone. Located downtown in San Francisco's Yerba Buena cultural district, the museum is home to over 6,000 pieces of original and cartoon and animation art, a comprehensive research library, and five galleries of exhibition space." Located in San Francisco, CA
Museum of Illustration (MoCCA Gallery) by the Society of Illustrators
Our Museum of Illustration was established in 1981. We offer year-round themed exhibits, art education programs and annual juried competitions. Our Permanent Collection houses 2,500 pieces that are cataloged for scholarly use and displayed periodically. In 2012, we created the MoCCA Gallery with a focus on curated exhibits of comic and cartoon art. Located in New York.
Charles M. Schultz Museum
The mission of the Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center is to preserve, display, and interpret the art of Charles M. Schulz. The Museum will carry out this mission through exhibits and programming that: 1) Illustrate the scope of Schulz’s multi-faceted career, 2) Communicate the stories, inspirations, and influences of Charles M. Schulz, 3) Celebrate the life of Charles M. Schulz and the Peanuts characters, and 4) Build an understanding of cartoonists and cartoon art. Located in Santa Rosa, CA.

Bowling Green State University Comics Collection This collection is located at the Bowling Green State University's Browne Popular Culture Library. From their website: "The Allen and John Saunders Collection (1909-1986), which is extremely comprehensive and complete, consists mostly of materials related to Allen Saunders' career as a comic strip writer from the years, 1936-1986. These materials reflect his work on the following comic strips: Big Chief Wahoo/Steve Roper/Mike Nomad (1936-1986+), Apple Mary/Mary Worth's Family/Mary Worth (1940-1986+), Dateline: Danger! (1968-1974), and Kerry Drake (1943-1983). One of the most unique aspects of this collection is the original artwork and extensive proof sheets related to these strips. The collection also includes publicity materials and clippings from national newspapers, as well as spin-offs such as scripts for a television show, comic books, and sheet music inspired by these comic strips. Along with other related professional materials they provide an excellent window to the workings of the daily "continuity strip," a form in which Saunders was considered to have excelled."
Columbia University Archival Collections
Library of Congress Comic Book Collection "The largest collection of comics books in the United States is housed in the Serial and Government Publications Division. The collection includes U.S. and foreign comic books - over 5,000 titles in all, totaling more than 100,000 issues. Primarily composed of the original print books, the collection includes color microfiche of a handful of the early comic books (such as Wonder Woman, Superman, and Action Comics) and special reprints. Although the collection is most comprehensive from 1950, scattered issues from numerous titles date back to the 1930s. A small number of comic books make up the Underground Comic Book collection of titles "recommended for mature readers." The Library acquires comic books published and distributed in the United States almost exclusively through copyright deposit. Titles are added to the collection on the basis of quality of text and graphic depiction; significance of the artist, writer, or publisher; originality of story or main character; the title's popularity as reflected in circulation statistics or media attention; representation of new ideas or social trends; or availability through copyright."
Michigan State University Comic Arts Collection "The Comic Art Collection holds over 200,000 items. Most of these items are comic books, but also included are over 1,000 books of collected newspaper comic strips, and several thousand books and periodicals about comics. Although some archival material and a few dozen pieces of original comic book and comic strip art are held, the focus of the collection is on published work, in an effort to present a complete picture of what the audience has seen over the years of the twentieth century. Local students and advanced scholars from around the world find this collection to be the primary library resource for the study of U.S. comic book publications."
University of Florida Comics Collection "The Comics Collection draws from the University of Florida's strengths in graphic texts, including comics the Suzy Covey Comic Book Collection in Special Collections as well as serials like Punch and Fun from Special Collections."
Virginia Commonwealth University Comic Arts Collection "The VCU Libraries' Comic Arts Collection, housed in Special Collections and Archives, consists of over 100,000 items, including over 40,000 comic books along with graphic novels, editorial cartoons, comic strips, memorabilia, comic journals, fanzines and a broad array of reference materials. In addition to the growing, comprehensive collections for the study of comic arts, VCU Libraries is the repository for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards Archives."
University of South Carolina
University of Wyoming The American Heritage Center holds a number of Comic Book Industry Collections, including the Stan Lee Papers, the Mort Weisinger papers, the Harold Straubing papers, and the Michael Maltese papers.

Webcomics Web Archive from the Library of Congress
This collection focuses on comics created specifically for the web and supplements the Library of Congress’ extensive holdings in both comic books, graphic novels, and original comic art. Webcomics are an increasingly popular format utilized by contemporary creators in the field and often includes material by artists not available elsewhere. Webcomics selected for this collection include award-winning comics (Eisner Awards, Harvey Awards, Eagle Awards, and Shuster Awards) as well as webcomics that have significance in the field due to longevity, reputation, and subject matter. This collection includes work by artists and subjects not traditionally represented in mainstream comics, including women artists and characters, artists and characters of color, LGBTQ+ artists and characters, as well as subjects such as politics, health and human sexuality, and autobiography. The content of these websites is captured as it was originally produced and may include content that is not suitable for all ages.

Rising Up: Depictions of Social Protest in Comics

is an exhibit that will be on display in the SDSU Special Collections & University Archives Gallery, (1st Floor of Love Library) from March - December 2024

Curated by Pamela Jackson, SDSU Comic Arts Librarian and Co-Director of the Center for Comics Studies

Social protest has been a recurring theme in comic books, with many writers and artists using the medium to express their political views and social commentary. The comics on display in this year-long exhibit depict different types of protests on a variety of topics, including bodily autonomy, human and civil rights, racial violence, police brutality, antiwar, government policy, environmental issues, fair labor conditions and living wages, and wealth inequality.

Here is a bibliography of comics that include depictions of social protest. Many of them are on display.

Representations of the Civil Rights Movement and Black Lives Matter in Comics
The Civil Rights Movement in the United States during the 1950s and 1960s was a labor to end discrimination and laws based on racial segregation against African Americans. This exhibit explores both the historic and ongoing struggle for African American political rights, social justice and equality as reflected in graphic narrative. Curated by Pamela Jackson
DemoGRAPHICS: Voices and Visionaries from the SDSU Comic Arts Collection
Sequential art dates back to ancient civilization. Egyptian hieroglyphs, Greek friezes, and Bayeux tapestries all told visual stories through a combination of sequential images and words. As the art form has evolved, it has expanded to reflect our many cultures, histories, and belief systems. Comics as we know them today represent a melting pot of thought that prompts new considerations of old ideas and new understandings of our fellow humans. Comics show us how we can, and should, view history and society through diverse lenses like culture, race, ethnicity, language, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, ableness, and age. SDSU Library is home to over 50,000 comics in all genres and formats. While it would be impossible to uncover every corner of this extraordinary medium in a single exhibit, we invite you to experience as many as possible. DemoGRAPHICS draws upon the Library’s Comic Arts Collection to explore how identity, in its most broadly-defined sense, is cultivated and nurtured in the imagination. Curated by Pamela Jackson and Anna Culbertson (digitized by Pamela Jackson)
The Vote in Words and Pictures
We thought it would be fun to raise awareness about our democratic system by taking a look at some comic books that explore democracy and voting in the United States. Curated by Pamela Jackson
Sound of Comics
This exhibit explores both the variance in depictions and the variance in purposes for sound in comics. The content for this exhibit is divided into three main areas: Music, Sound Effects, and Disability and Sound. Curated by Senior History Major, Grace deVega

flyer for indigenous comics exhibit

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National Collections and Museums

Rising Up: Depictions of Social Protest in Comics