The museum galleries will be closed on November 25, 26, and 27, 2021 in observance of the holiday. The Reading Room will also be closed Wednesday, November 24th.

BICLM will again be partnering with CXC for their comics art and animation festival. We’ll be hosting Talk & Teach events, guest speakers Brian Walker and Patrick McDonnell, a reception with time to view the exhibits, and an Open House in the reading room featuring original art. Details are available in Events on our website. 

Due to the OSU policy of requiring masks for all while indoors regardless of vaccination status, we are requiring that our guests wear masks when using our facilities. Forgot your mask? Please ask for one at the the desk.

The Dog Show: Two Centuries of Canine Cartoons promises to be an entertaining and enlightening exhibit for visitors of all ages. It documents the fascination that cartoonists have had with our furry friends. Beginning with political cartoons from the 19th century and moving through to 21st century creations like  Dav Pilkey’s Dog Man, over one hundred different characters are showcased. Also on display is Into the Swamp: The Social and Political Satire of Walt Kelly’s Pogo and Treasures from the Collection of the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum. Reservations are recommended.

The Lucy Shelton Caswell Reading Room is scheduling limited research appointments, Monday-Friday. For more information, please see the Visiting the Reading Room page. To request an appointment, please email cartoons@osu.edu. For research and reproduction services, please email us cartoons@osu.edu or call 614-292-0538.

As 2019 reaches its close, we want to extend our deepest thanks to everyone who has visited us this year, donated materials, or provided financial gifts that help us continue our operations. As patrons and donors, you are an essential part of our mission to inspire the study and appreciation of cartoon and comics art by collecting, preserving and making materials accessible for research, teaching, exhibitions, and educational programming. We would not be able to do this important work without your support!

Year in Review

2019 brought over 9,000 visitors through our galleries!

From April through October, we featured two unique exhibits: Ohio State professor Jared Gardner curated Drawing Blood: Comics and Medicine which traced the relationship between cartoon art and medicine from the 18^th century through today. Founding Curator Lucy Shelton Caswell and Pulitzer-Prize winning political cartoonist Ann Telnaes co-curated Front Line: Editorial Cartoonists and the First Amendment which examined free speech through historical works as well as contemporary works by members of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists. In early November, we opened Ladies First: A Century of Women’s Innovations in Comics and Cartoon Art which will remain on display in the Robinson Gallery until May 3, 2020. This exhibit, curated by Caitlin McGurk and Ohio State PhD candidate Rachel Miller, ushers in the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment and calls attention to the transformative work of women artists in the field of cartooning then and now. Drawn to Presidents: Portraits and Satiric Drawings by Drew Friedman, a survey of the political portraits from Friedman’s impressive career, is currently on display in our Friends of the Libraries Gallery through February 9, 2020.

Throughout the year, we hosted and cosponsored a wide array of exciting events and educational programs:

* An intimate workshop with cartoonist Carol Tyler on the healing potential of comics

* An artist talk by graphic novelist Leila Abderazaq

* A presentation about Shojo manga by Dr. Frenchy Lunning

* A partnership with the Ohio Union Activities Board to host the first-ever Ohio State student Comic-con

* The Will Eisner Week Comics Studies Forum featuring Dr. Kate Polack and three Ohio State graduate students presenting their research on various aspects of comics.

* A two-day Continuing Education Workshop for French teachers on using bande dessinée in the classroom.

* A celebration of Barbara Shermund and women New Yorker cartoonists by Liza Donnelly

* A discussion with Goosebumps creator and Ohio State alum R.L. Stine about his career and his new graphic novel series

* A conversation about cartoons and the first amendment with attorney Floyd Abrams and Lucy Caswell.

* A conversation between illustrator C.F. Payne and Drew Friedman about Friedman’s portraits and satiric drawings of U.S. presidents.

Finally, in September we celebrated our 5^th anniversary of partnering with Cartoon Crossroads Columbus (CXC) and SÕL-CON for an annual city-wide comics festival. This year the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists held their annual convention in conjunction with the festival as well. Dog Man and Captain Underpants author Dav Pilkey brought thousands of young readers to campus for a sold-out event at the Wexner Center for the Arts. BICLM’s sponsored guest for 2019, Ho Che Anderson, gave our visitors a glimpse into his process of creating the ground-breaking graphic biography, King, about Martin Luther King, Jr. This year’s festival also saw the first launch of two new focused programming tracts that ran throughout the weekend: workshops and readings for kids, and LGBTQ-centered panel discussions.

Over the past year, we welcomed more than 800 researchers to our reading room to use our collections, including two Lucy Shelton Caswell Research Award recipients, Dr. Susan Kirtley and Frank Santoro.

We encourage everyone to check out our blog and follow us on social media, where we regularly post about some of the amazing acquisitions we receive. Donors were particularly generous during this past year, and we could not be more excited about the artwork, publications, papers, and other materials we added to our permanent collection.

In March, we expanded our staff with the addition of Anne Drozd, our first Museum Coordinator! Anne oversees our museum exhibitions and educational programming.

Looking Ahead

In 2020, we are excited to host the traveling exhibition Making Faces: Portraits by John Kascht from February 15 through May 3. And, if you are reading this letter, you’re among the first to know about two exciting new exhibits opening in the summer of 2020: an exhibition of Walt Kelly’s beloved Pogo, curated by Lucy Shelton Caswell and Jenny Robb, and a fun exploration of beloved cartoon dogs from throughout comics history, curated by Brian Walker. In conjunction with the cartoon dogs exhibit, we are proud to be collaborating for the first time with OSU’s Urban Arts Space gallery on an exhibition of Mutts creator Patrick McDonnell’s comics-inspired paintings. We are also thrilled to share that our exhibit Tell Me a Story Where the Bad Girl Wins: The Life and Art of Barbara Shermund, will be on display at the Decorative Arts Center of Ohio from January 25 through April 26, 2020.

We are looking forward to 2020 and participating in Ohio State’s sesquicentennial celebrations!

Happy New Year!

Jenny Robb, Wendy Pflug, Caitlin McGurk, Susan Liberator, Marilyn Scott, Kay Clopton, Anne Drozd and Kristy Arter

Don’t forget to join us this Saturday for this special event featuring an artist-led gallery tour, presentation, book signing and refreshments to celebrate the opening of our new exhibition “Drawn to Presidents”.

The events in the 2019 YA VIENEN LOS MUERTOS/HERE COME THE DEAD celebration are presented to  engage and examine different customs from around the Americas that contribute to the celebration of this holiday. Día de los Muertos is both a time of thoughtful remembrance and joyful revelry. See the OSU Día de los Muertos Event Schedule for 2019 for details.

Join us on Wednesday, March 20th at 4pm in the Will Eisner Seminar room for a lecture on manga by Professor Frenchy Lunning. Free and open to the public.

Join us for the 2nd annual Will Eisner Week Comic Studies Forum and hear from comics scholars on their most recent work in the field.  Featuring Kate Polak who will present “Displacing the Memorial: Holocaust Comics in Conversation with Memory.” FREE and open to the public in the Will Eisner Seminar Room.

Join us on Thursday, February 7th at 6:30pm for a program and reception celebrating Barbara Shermund, the subject of our current exhibit, Tell Me A Story Where The Bad Girl Wins: The Life and Art of Barbara Shermund, on display through March 31st. Presentation by New Yorker cartoonist and resident cartoonist of CBS News, Liza Donnelly, on cartoonists who are women who have worked at The New Yorker. Introduction by Dr. Judith Yaross Lee, author of Defining New Yorker Humor. Opening remarks by Amanda Gormley, art collector and niece of Barbara Shermund.

Our two new exhibitions, Tales from la Vida: Latinx Comics and Tell Me a Story Where the Bad Girl Wins: The Life and Art of Barbara Shermund, are now open Tuesday through Sunday from 1:00-5:00 pm through March 31, 2019. Admission is free. Closed Mondays and holidays. Before your visit, see Hours for all closings. 

Join us from 4:00-7:30 PM for the opening reception and celebration of our new exhibit, Artistically MAD: Seven Decades of Satire. Program features MAD editor Bill Morrison on the future of MAD, panel discussion on collecting MAD with Brian Walker, Glenn Bray, and Grant Geissman, and drawing demo and talk with legendary MAD cartoonist Sergio Aragones! Light refreshments, cash-only bar, and time to explore the exhibit!  FREE  and open to the public.

Joyce Farmer, recognized as a pioneer in underground comix, will be in conversation with Tom Spurgeon at 6 PM on Tuesday, April 17 and Luli Penna, Brazilian illustrator and cartoonist , will be presenting at 4 PM on Thursday, April 19. Both events are FREE and take place in the Will Eisner Seminar room.

MAD magazine and contemporary alternative comics are the subjects of two unique new exhibits opening in November at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum. Artistically MAD: Seven Decades of Satire and Koyama and Friends: Publishing, Patronage, and the New Alternative Press will be on view from May 5-October 21, 2018. Join us for the Opening Reception and Celebration on Saturday, May 5th from 4 – 7:30pm for Artistically MAD: Seven Decades of Satire! featuring presentations by legendary MAD cartoonist Sergio Aragonés, collectors Glenn Bray and Grant Geissman, exhibit curator Brian Walker, and MAD editor Bill Morrison. FREE and open to the public. SAVE THE DATE: Friday, September 28, 2018 – Exhibit celebration with Annie Koyama as part of Cartoon Crossroads Columbus festival.

“Anime Pilgrimage” is a startling new spiritual phenomenon that is taking place throughout Japan. Visiting anime or comic book (manga) related places is called “pilgrimage to the holy land” (seichi junrei) among contemporary anime fans. In “Rethinking What’s Sacred About ‘Ano Hana’ Anime Pilgrimage”, Professor MacWiliams will look at how this new form of pilgrimage is developing in a traditional sacred area, Chichibu in Saitama prefecture. 

Continue reading →

Join us March 27th from 5:30-7:00 PM as cartoonists Khalil Bendib, Eric Garcia, Alberto Ledesma will discuss their work surrounding the topic of immigration, in conjunction with our current exhibit, Looking Backward, Looking Forward: U.S. Immigration in Cartoons and Comics. The galleries will have extended hours and will be open until 5:30 pm and from 7:00-7:30 pm after the panel discussion.

In honor of Will Eisner Week, visiting scholars Roy T. Cook and Mark Fertig will be joined by local presenters in a symposium devoted to recent comics scholarship.

Visit our newest exhibitions, Looking Backward, Looking Forward: U.S. Immigration in Cartoons and Comics and Cartoon Couture on view through April 22, 2018. Galleries are open Tuesday-Sunday, 1-5 pm.

Join us Saturday, November 4th for the opening of Looking Backward, Looking Forward: U.S. Immigration in Cartoons and Comics and enjoy light refreshments and family activities at the OSU Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) celebration. This reception will follow a day of events and a procession, all FREE and open to the public!

COMING SOON! Cartoon Crossroads Columbus (CXC) is a multi-faceted, yearly festival celebrating comics and cartooning, the city of Columbus and cartoonists worldwide. Visit them on Facebook  too!