Comic Books, Special Collections, and the Academic Library

Brian Flota is a humanities librarian at the rank of associate professor in the Libraries at James Madison University. In this position he has collaborated with Special Collections and faculty in the English Department to develop a collection of Black comic books, poetry, and prose. He co-edited the essay collection The Politics of Post-9/11 Music with Joseph P. Fisher (2011) and is the author of A Survey of Multicultural San Francisco Bay Literature, 1955-1979 (2009). He has also produced scholarship on comics and pulp magazine collections in libraries, Ishmael Reed, Richard Pryor, and the Beat Generation.  Kate Morris is head of special collections, assistant professor rank, within the digital scholarship and distinctive collections department at James Madison University. She provides leadership for the special collections team, and works to acquire and develop collections that document the history of the central Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and the history of JMU. She works with faculty to integrate primary sources into coursework and to acquire rare and unique collections, including a growing collection of comics, that support the curriculum.

• DedicationAcknowledgements  Introduction: Approaches to Comics Stewardship: Making the Case for Academic Library Special CollectionsBrian Flota and Kate Morris  Part 1. Why Should Your Institution Collect Comics?Chapter 1: Collecting Comics: Transcending Barriers and Building CommunityYuki Hibben, Andrea Kohashi, and Cindy Jackson  Chapter 2: The Scarcity of Comic Books in American Research LibrariesKelli Hansen  Chapter 3: Digital Comics and Critical Librarianship: What, Why and How: A Perspective from the UKThomas Gebhart  Chapter 4: Creating an Entry Point for Minicomics in an Academic LibraryPaul Hanna  Chapter 5: “It’s the Most Revolutionary Text There Is”: Teaching Critical Visual Literacy with Native American, First Nations, and Indigenous Graphic NovelsJennifer Bowers, Katherine Crowe, and Peggy Keeran  Chapter 6: “More Deadly than the Atom Bomb!”: Anti-Drug Messaging and the Comics Code in 1971Jessica Nickrand and Nick Borger  Chapter 7: The Silent Voice of the Australian Comic Book: Understanding the Importance of Collecting Locally Produced Comic BooksDaniel Wee  Part 2. Your Library Collects or Wants to Collect Comics. Now What?Chapter 8: Bibliography, Print Culture, and What to Do with Comic Books in a Rare Books LibraryMichael C. Weisenburg  Chapter 9: The Alain Van Passen Collection: A Unique Collection That Offers Unique OpportunitiesPaul Buschmann and Beatrijs Goegebuer  Chapter 10: Processing Legacy Comic Book Collections in a Special Collections LibraryJordan Jancosek  Chapter 11: Across the Panels: Non-MARC Metadata for Comic StripsAnnamarie C. Klose and Wendy Pflug  Chapter 12: Unexpected Wins: Curating Comics and Teaching Manga from the Dark Horse Comics CollectionElsa Loftis and Jon Holt  Part 3. How Do You Engage in Library Instruction and Outreach with Your Comics Collection?Chapter 13: Rescuing and Cataloging Comic Books in the Newspaper Library of Mexico, Hemeroteca Nacional de MÉxicoLaura Nallely HernÁndez Nieto  Chapter 14: Surveying Three Approaches for Cataloging Comic Books CollectionsWendy Pflug  Chapter 15: Mining the Silver Age: Utilizing a Comic Book Collection in Library Instruction and ExhibitsRandi Beem and Marc Bess  Chapter 16: From Obscurity to Relatability: Translating Historical Editorial Cartoons for Today’s AudienceElizabeth Call and Rebekah Walker  Part 4. How Can Comics Be Used as Primary and Secondary Source Material by Students and Faculty?Chapter 17: What About Crowdfunded Comics?Matthew Murray 🦇 and Mara L. Thacker  Chapter 18: The Whole Picture: Using Comics and Graphic Novels to Supplement Primary Source Instruction with LGBTQ ArchivesMeagan May  Chapter 19: The Art of Propaganda: Maoist Lianhuanhua Comics as Historical and Visual SourcesMatthew Wills  Chapter 20: Holy Heroes! Catholic Comic Books in Special CollectionsHenry Handley, Stephanie Shreffler, and Jillian Ewalt  About the Authors