On May 1, 1977, founding curator Lucy Shelton Caswell began work on the Milton Caniff collection, and the institution that would become The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum was born. Join us for a special celebration exactly 40 years later! Exhibit reception and 40th celebration events from 4-7 pm including Curator’s Tour, food and drink, and activities . FREE and open to the public.

In his much-anticipated biography Krazy, Michael Tisserand examines the fascinating role race played in the life and work of Krazy Kat cartoonist George Herriman. FREE presentation for all audiences at the Wex Film/ Video Theater.

Ryan Holmberg is a Visiting Lecturer and Postdoctoral Fellow in the Art, Art History, and Visual Studies program at Duke University. As a freelance art historian and critic, he is a frequent contributor to The Comics Journal, Artforum International, and Art in America. As an editor and translator of manga, he has worked with Breakdown Press, Drawn & Quarterly, Retrofit Comics, PictureBox Inc, and New York Review Comics. His edition of Tezuka Osamu’s The Mysterious Underground Men (PictureBox) won the 2014 Eisner Award for Best U.S. Edition of International Material: Asia. He is also the author of Garo Manga: The First Decade, 1964–1973 (Center for Book Arts, 2010). He is currently working on a book tentatively titled Nuclear Literati, which looks at pro- and anti-nuclear visual culture in Japan between the 1960s and the 1990s.

In celebration of BICLM’s 40th anniversary, the galleries open on Saturday, March 25 with our new exhibitions, Tales from the Vault: 40 Years/40 Stories and Founding Collections: 1977-1987. 

Join us for an evening of free programming to explore this exhibit with project/exhibit founders, political cartoonist Patrick Chappatte and journalist Anne-Frédérique Widmann, painter Ndume Olatushani, a wrongly convicted former death-row inmate imprisoned for 28 years and Piper Kerman, author of Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison. Events include a curators’ tour, catered reception, a multimedia presentation, and Q & A session. 

February 21, 1-2 pm in the Will Eisner Seminar Room (Rm.205) 

Incarcerated youth are a special population not often recognized in a positive light, but with education and great literature, all Is not lost. Please join us in a meaningful discussion about the “Great Stories” programming and collaboration between the Scioto Juvenile Correctional Facility and Delaware County District Library. The presenters will share their expertise working with the Scloto Advisory Board to promote and advocate for relevant and high quality Young Adult literature for children that reflect the cultural differences, experiences, and Issues surrounding diverse readers/learners.

Join us for a reception with food and a tour of the Windows on Death Row exhibition following the program. Continue reading →

The 2016-17 COMPAS Program on Inequality presents, Representations of Inequality. Partnering with the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library, a number of inequality-related cartoons are on display that, despite being many decades old, still speak clearly to the issues of inequality we face today. On view in Bricker Hall throughout January and February.

Your  financial gifts make it possible for us to acquire, catalog and preserve cartoon-related materials; to host educational programming including exhibitions, presentations, and workshops; to create online resources for teachers and researchers; and to make our collection accessible to students, scholars and fans from around the world. Make a Gift to the Cartoon Library and Museum Support Fund|Fund Number 308558

On October 13-14, Cartoon Crossroads Columbus (CXC)  will be on the OSU campus to host a two-day scholarly symposium, peer-to-peer “Talk and Teach” presentations, Cartoon Library & Museum exhibitions, reception and tours, a celebration of excellence and diversity in comics at SOL-CON, a presentation on animation with animator and author John Canemaker, and an evening in conversation with Garry Trudeau and Glen David Gold.

Come explore the rare treasures of one of the largest university manga collections in the world, right here at OSU! Items on display include early Japanese newspaper comics of the 1920s, original art and sketches, comics related to the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, and more. This event is FREE and open to the public and will take place in the Will Eisner Seminar Room.

Kristy Arter has joined our staff as BICLM’s Office Associate. She brings many skills to this position and is an avid fan of comics which makes her ideal for her role. Kristy will be welcoming visitors and guests in the office suite and providing support for the curators in the areas of donor relations, acquisitions, and events, as well as keeping us running smoothly on a daily basis.

The Cartoon Library & Museum and the Wexner Center for the Arts are thrilled to host award-winning author and illustrator Mo Willems in conversation with Hilary Price, the creator behind Rhymes With Orange. Mo will be discussing his life, career, and creative process. Parents, educators, and aspiring children’s book authors won’t want to miss this free event at Mershon Auditorium! Visit the Wexner Center for the Arts website for more information

This collection of original companion essays is your online introduction to the larger questions and contexts of the groundbreaking new exhibit, Good Grief! Children and Comics, at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum. More information and download the PDF

7:00 PM Wexner Center Film/Video Theater

Award-winning cartoonist Gene Luen Yang will discuss the historical portrayals of Asians and Asian Americans in American comics, commonalities between modern comics and traditional Asian art, prominent Asian American cartoonists, and how being an Asian American has shaped his own work in comics. For more information see Events

Friday, 5:30-7:00 pm
Join us for the opening reception of Good Grief!: Children and Comics and Little Nemo: Dream Another Dream at the Cartoon Library & Museum’s Will Eisner Seminar Room.Enjoy light refreshments and view the exhibits.

New Yorker cartoon editor Bob Mankoff will introduce Leah Wolchok’s documentary film, “Very Semi-Serious” at the Wexner Film/Video Theater, March 10, 2016 at 7 pm. A book signing will precede the event from 6:00-7:00 pm in the Wexner lobby (in front of the book store).

Join us on Saturday, February 20, 2016 to celebrate the opening of our new exhibitions, Dedini: The Art of Humor and WORDLESS: The Collection of David A. Beronä . The Opening Events for New Exhibitions will  include two films screenings and the exhibitions’ reception. The films will be shown in the Jean and Charles Schulz Lecture Hall, room 220.

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Join director Steve Martino, VP of 20^th Century Fox Animation, Ralph Millero and Craig Schulz, son of Peanuts creator Charles Schulz for From Strip to Screen: A Panel Discussion on staying true to the legacy of Charles Schulz in The Peanuts Movie. The event takes place in the Barnett Center Collaboratory, 141 Sullivant Hall and is free but you must register. Space is limited, please RSVP Here

Join us November 20th at the Wex Film/Video Theater, 3:30 PM for a FREE screening of The Peanuts Movie for Ohio State students only (with Buck ID). Director Steve Marino, Ohio State graduate and ACCAD alum, will introduce his recent animated 3-D feature based on Charles Schulz’s long-running and beloved comic strip, Peanuts. The screenplay was written by Charles M. Schulz’ son Craig with his grandson Bryan and Cornelius Uliano. Martino has directed such features as Horton Hears a Who! (2008) and Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012) for Blue Sky Studios.

Cosponsored  by Ohio State’s College of Arts and Sciences, Advanced Computing Center for the Arts and Design (ACCAD), Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum, and Wexner Center for the Arts. Special thanks to 20th Century Fox and Blue Sky Studios.

Dana Walrath is the author of the graphic memoir Aliceheimer’s, which chronicles her mother’s dementia and how it provided an unexpected community of help including pirates, space/time travel, and Walrath’s dead father, looming in the branches of the maple trees around her New England farm house. This talk will focus on the power of graphic storytelling to heal and support individual caregivers, to support those with memory loss, and to rewrite the story of how we age globally. Free and open to the public. Visit Dana Walrath|Aliceheimer’s: Comics, Medicine, and Memory for more information.