This collection is located on-site.
This collection has no restrictions.
A teaching collection of original comic art, much of which sheds light on various historical styles or techniques. Accompanied by several comic books. Materials includes daily newspaper strip art, Sunday newspaper strip art, single-panel cartoons, comic book pages, and related comics material, such as printing plates and ephemera.
Series I: Fred Fox and Roger Armstrong comic strip art, 1950-1961, undated
Fred Fox was an American writer and cartoonist, born as Frederick Louis Fox in New York. He was involved in the creation of Charlie Plumb's 'Ella Cinders' strip for the Metropolitan Newspaper Service since the 1920s. He took over the writing of the strip anonymously in 1940 and assumed complete control between 1945 and 1961, leaving the artwork during the final year of his tenure to Roger Armstrong.
This long run of the long-running comic strip "Ella Cinders" (1925-1961) is by writer Fred Fox and artist Roger Armstrong, and represents the closing years of the strip. The main character, Ella, was modeled on silent film actress Colleen Moore, and retained her 1920s look while other characters reflected the period in which they were drawn. Also included are 31 "tryout" strips for a never-syndicated strip "Perilous Pauline" which indicate potential editorial changes. Both strips manifest frequent use of almost pristine Zip-A-Tone, a material used to add texture to simple line art.
"Roger Armstrong and Fred Fox Ella Cinders and Perilous Pauline Daily Comic Strip Original Art Group (United Feature Syndicate, 1950-1961). This massive group lot features 343 Ella Cinders dailies that span a decade. Also included in this lot are 31 Perilous Pauline try-out strips, for an astounding total of 374 strips in all. Each daily has an approximate image area of 19" x 5.5", and they average in Very Good condition. Auction: 7201 Lot: 92010" (from auction description)
Fred Fox (author), Roger Armstrong (illustrator). Gift of Gregory Benton, 2017.
Series II: Ghetto Brother, 2014
Six pages from the graphic novel Ghetto Brother, written by Julian Voloj and drawn by Claudi Ahlering. These pages are from a graphic novel about Benny Melendez, who was a major gang leader in the 1970s (and the inspiration for the charismatic leader in the film "The Warriors"), and who later discovered his Jewish heritage. The pages focus primarily on NYC in the 1970s and on religion.
Gift of Julian Voloj and Claudi Ahlering (the creators), 2019.
Series III: Art Young, 1890s-1930s
Series consists of original art and cartoons created by Art Young (1866-1943), a cartoonist and illustrator, best known for his Socialist viewpoint. He illustrated political cartoons for magazines such as The Metropolitan Magazine, The Masses, New Masses, Life, Liberator (1977-1924), Good Morning (1919-1921), New Yorker, The Nation, etc. The political cartoons cover topics such as the Broadway Theatre and Actors Equity, capitalism, the Brooklyn Rapid Transit, political corruption, the economy, family planning, working class dignity, immigration, and more. Also included is a caricature drawing of Boris Bakhmeteff, Brander Matthews, and Arturo Giovannitt.
Series IV: General Comic Art, 1884-2016
Series consists of original art, sketches, pencil and ink drawings, newspaper strips, cartoons, and comic book pages, dating from 1884 to 2016.
Series V: Printed Matter, 1908-1969
Series includes printed comic books, ephemera, musical programs, sheet musics, tabloid comic, and books, dating from 1908 to 1969.
Series VI: Printing Plates and Blocks, 1920s, 1992
Series consists of printing plates and blocks related to comics.
Rbml Advance Appointment
This collection is located on-site.
This collection has no restrictions.
Reproductions may be made for research purposes. The RBML maintains ownership of the physical material only. Copyright remains with the creator and his/her heirs. The responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Comic Art Collection; Box and Folder; Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.
Edwina Dumm papers, Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.
Jerry Robinson papers, Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.
R. Robert Pollak Comic Art collection, Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.
Mort Meskin Art collection, Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.
Materials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. Contact rbml@columbia.edu for more information.
2015-2016-M009. Purchase, 2015.
2015-2016-M157. Purchase, 2016. Date of acquisition--5/26/2016.
2016-2017-M112. Purchase, 2017. Date of acquisition--1/23/2017.
2017-2018-M001. Gift of Gregory Benton, 2017
2018-2019-M059. Purchase from Swann Galleries, Periodyssey, Heritage Auctions, 2018.
2018-2019-M141. Purchase from Heritage Auctions; Gift of Douglas D. Vogel (V.T. Hamlin Alley Oop), 2019. Accessioned 2019 March.
2019-2020-M028. Purchase from Heritage Auctions, 2019
2019-2020-M073. Gift of Mitchell Berger, 2019.
2019-2020-M074. Purchase from eBay, 2019.
2019-2020-M122. Purchase from Heritage Auctions, 2019
2019-2020-M135. Purchase from Heritage Auctions, 2020.
2019-2020-M136. Gift of Julian Voloj, 2019.
2021-2022-M062. Gift/Purchase, 2021
2021-2022-M084. Gift of Annie Koyama, 2021.
2021-2022-M115. Gift of Scott Kraynak, 2022.
2021-2022-M139. Purchase and Gift of Karen Green, 2022.
2021-2022-M155. Purchase from Heritage Auctions, 2022.
2022-2023-M002. Purchase, 2022
2022-2023-M089. Gift of Karen Green, 2023.
2022-2023-M098. Gift of Rick Meyerowitz, 2023.
2023-2024-M021; 2023-2024-M022. Opper: Gift of Jim Vadeboncoeur Jr., 2023; 2 Fullers donated by Karen Green, 2023.
2023-2024-M103. Gift of Karen Green and Warren Bernard, 2024.
2023-2024-M104. Purchased by Michelle Chesner, 2024.
Columbia University Libraries, Rare Book and Manuscript Library
Collection-level record describing unprocessed material made public in summer 2018 as part of the Hidden Collections initiative.
Inventoried by a student worker under the supervision of Karen L. Green, 2023. Processed and finding aid created by Yingwen Huang, 2024.
The collecting of materials in the Comic art collection began in 2015 by Curator Karen Green. Items often come from donors, artists, and purchases from various sources such as Heritage, Swann Galleries, Periodyssey, eBay, etc. This is a growing collection.
The subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches for other collections at Columbia University, through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, and through ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives.
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