It’s money well needed with the addition of the International Museum of Cartoon Art collection that was announced in May, the OSU research library now has about 450,000 items.

Syracuse’s collection of original cartoon art is among the most comprehensive in America. It includes original work by approximately 173 artists (more than 20,000 items) and comprises more than 1,000 linear feet of material. Spanning the course of the 20th century, it includes both serial and editorial cartoons. Among the serial cartoonists represented are: Bud Fisher, whose Mutt and Jeff was the earliest

successful daily comic strip; Mort Walker, whose Beetle Bailey anticipated the changing notions of American masculinity and militarism during the Cold War; Hal Foster, whose lavishly illustrated Prince Valiant elevated the artistic ambitions of the genre; and Morrie Turner whose Wee Pals was the first comic strip to chronicle the lives of racial and ethnic minorities in American life. The editorial and political cartoonists represented in the collection include: William Gropper, whose leftist political cartoons in the Daily Worker raised working class consciousness during World War II; F.O. Alexander, whose everyman alter-ego “Joe Doakes” experienced the turbulence of the 1960s in the pages of the Philadelphia Bulletin; and Carey Orr, whose editorial cartoons appeared in the Chicago Tribune for nearly fifty years straight.

Hat tip: E&P

Harvey Comics was founded in 1941 by Alfred Harvey (1913-1994), with a digest-sized comic book called Pocket Comics that put the company on the map with their line-up of superheroes that included The Black Cat. Various artists and writers who eventually achieved greater success elsewhere got their start at Harvey, including Jack Kirby, Joe Simon and Jim Steranko. By the end of the 1940s, Harvey transitioned to publishing comic books featuring popular comic strips of the day that included Joe Palooka, Dick Tracy, Blondie, Mutt & Jeff and Sad Sack. By the 1950s, romance and horror titles came into the mix.

An inspired bit of licensing in 1952 led to the 1957 purchase of Casper and several other animated cartoon characters created by Paramount Pictures’ Famous Studios, with Baby Huey, Buzzy the Crow, Herman & Katnip and Little Audrey among them. The enormous popularity of these characters spelled the end of the other genres at Harvey, and the company became solely a producer of children’s comics during that era.

Various newly created characters, such as Richie Rich, Little Dot and Little Lotta, followed the same house style to become a group affectionately known as the “Harvey World,” Though various ownership changes have occurred since the original Harvey shut its doors in 1982, the characters have never ceased to be influential, with hit movies like Richie Rich (1994), starring Macaulay Culkin, or Casper (1995), starring Christina Ricci, or the current five-volume series of Harvey Comics Classics published by Dark Horse Comics.

This exhibition runs through November 30, 2008, and features artwork by Warren Kremer, Ernie Col’on, Sid Couchey, Howard Post, Fred Rhoads, Ham Fisher, Dom Sileo, Marty Taras, and many more.

Gould, who lived in Woodstock for much of his life, started drawing the Dick Tracy comic in 1931 and continued to do it for 46 years. At its peak, the comic strip was published in 600 newspapers, Johnson said.

The privately funded museum, which opened in 1991, had been struggling financially for a couple of years.

“It’s quite a loss for the community,” Johnson said of the closing. “It’s such a nice concentration of history. It’s 60 years of the art of a genius.”

Some of the artwork and memorabilia will remain at the Old Courthouse Arts Center where the museum was located. Other items will be donated the McHenry County Historical Society and other museums. About 300 pieces will be photographed and made available to the public via an online exhibit in the near future, according to an article in the Northwest Herald.

The Gaylord Herald Times has posted several photos that it took when it toured the museum earlier this spring.

Visitors will get to peek into the creative process of cartooning masters such as Harold Gray of “Little Orphan Annie” fame, through displays of original one of a kind art, ink stains and all. Over 35 original pieces of art will be on display in the ToonSeum gallery, located at the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh.

“We are excited to present an exhibit featuring children in cartoons. In many ways, it is a celebration of the unique collaboration between the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh and the ToonSeum,” says Joe Wos, ToonSeum executive director. “We couldn’t think of a more fitting way to help celebrate their 25th birthday.”

The exhibit runs through August 3, 2008

But Walker, in an interview today with E&P, also finds the merger bittersweet. “I was devastated that the deal with the Empire State Building fell through,” recalled the King Features Syndicate cartoonist. “We spent a lot of time and money on design and staff, and we were ready to go.”

Regarding the Cartoon Research Library,

“It’s a wonderful place,” he told E&P. “And the merger makes it the largest cartoon-art collection in the world.”

IMCA’s collection consists original drawings from all genres of cartoon art (comic strips, comic books, animation, editorial, advertising, sport, caricature, greeting cards, graphic novels, and illustrations), display figures, toys and collectibles, and works on film and tape, CDs, and DVDs.

IMCA was established in 1973 by Mort Walker, the creative force behind Beetle Bailey, as the first museum dedicated to collecting and exhibiting cartoons. The museum opened in 1974 in a converted mansion in Greenwich, Connecticut. Two years later, the museum relocated to a renovated castle in Rye Brook, New York, where the collection was displayed until 1992. At that time the city of Boca Raton, Florida invited the museum to construct a 52,000 square foot facility as part of an effort to attract cultural institutions to Palm Beach County. The museum was a very popular attraction with highly acclaimed exhibits, events and functions for the public. It was still paying off the cost of its construction when two of its financial backers went bankrupt creating a $5 million loss and causing the museum to close.

Lucy Shelton Caswell, professor and curator of the Cartoon Research Library, said that efforts are already underway to increase its space necessary to receive the additional art.

“We are honored that the IMCA’s board has placed its treasures in our care. It is critical that we have state-of-the-art gallery space to display IMCA’s collection appropriately. A gallery in the new facility will be named in honor of IMCA founder Mort Walker.

The Carton Research Library already boasts of an impressive collection. Currently the library has 250,000 original cartoons, 34,500 books, 51,000 serial titles, 2,800 linear feet of manuscript materials, and 2.5 million comic strip clippings and tear sheets.

More news as it develops.

» Webcomic PhD (Piled Higher and Deeper) has partnered with the AfterCollege network to post career and job information to its comic subscribers.

» Tom Richmond reviews Axiotron’s Modbook vs. Cintiq 12 WX for those who draw directly into the computer.

» E&P mentions that Ticonderoga Cartoon Museum in upstate New York is 4 years old and is run by Stan Burdick, a cartoonist himself.

» The Boondocks creator Aaron McGruder was on the campus of Ohio State University doing his usual outspoken stuff.

» Keith Knight will be at the Schulz Museum on May 18.

The exhibition includes his depictions of Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton. While Herblock was generally unsympathetic to Republican presidents, Democrats such as Lyndon Johnson, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton did not escape his wrath. He consistently attacked any president he felt was insensitive to the “underdog.” The show offers a rare opportunity for visitors to see how one of America’s greatest political cartoonists viewed the American presidency for much of the 20th century.

The exhibit runs through November.