Bob Fingerman Papers, 1975-2005

Summary Information

At a Glance

Arrangement

Arrangement

Arranged in four series.

• Series I: Published
• Series II: Beg the Question
• Series III: Minimum Wage
• Series IV: Other Artists

Description

Summary

Written drafts, process drawings, and proofs for some of his longer-form works, including the comic he's best known for, Minimum wage, as well as original comic strip art from his own collection. These papers are part of a larger project to collect representative materials from the New York City comics scene.

• Series I: Published

• Series II: Beg the Question

• Series III: Minimum Wage

• Series IV: Other Artists

Using the Collection

Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Restrictions on Access

You will need to make an appointment in advance to use this collection material in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room. You can schedule an appointment once you've submitted your request through your Special Collections Research Account.

The following box are located off-site: Boxes 1 and 2. You will need to request this material from the Rare Book and Manuscript Library at least three business days in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room.

This collection has no restrictions.

Terms Governing Use and Reproduction

Single photocopies 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.

Preferred Citation

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Bob Fingerman Papers; Box and Folder; Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.

Accrual

Accruals expected

Materials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. Contact rbml@columbia.edu for more information.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

2017.2018.M030: Source of acquisition--Curator: Karen Green. Method of acquisition--Purchase; Date of acquisition--1/23/2017.

About the Finding Aid / Processing Information

Columbia University Libraries, Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Processing Information

Papers processed, ptl 8/30/2017.

Revision Description

2017-09-01 File created.

2019-05-20 EAD was imported spring 2019 as part of the ArchivesSpace Phase II migration.

Subject Headings

The subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches at Columbia University through the Archival Collections Portal and through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, as well as ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives.

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Genre/Form

Subject

History / Biographical Note

Biographical / Historical

Bob Fingerman is a Queens-born cartoonist, illustrator, and writer whose career began while he was still a student at SVA, making comics for his teacher Harvey Kurtzman's children's comics anthology, Nuts!.

Best known for his comic series Minimum Wage (Fantagraphics Books), as well as the graphic novel White Like She (Fantagraphics), Fingerman has made a substantial reputation in the world of comic art.

In 1984, while still in attendance at New York's School of Visual Arts, he produced work for Harvey Kurtzman (the creator of Mad magazine and Playboy's "Little Annie Fanny" as well as the recently collected Humbug) on the young readers anthology NUTS! Fingerman also created a series of parodies for the European market, which ran in such periodicals as France's L'Echo Des Savanes and Spain's El Vibora.

Fingerman produced work for a wide variety of venues: kiddy satire, men's magazines, and science fiction. His work appeared in Cracked; Screw; Penthouse; Heavy Metal; National Lampoon; High Times; The Village Voice; and Business Week.

Focusing on comics, he worked on the The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, as well as Dark Horse Comics and DC Comics' Vertigo imprint.

In 1993 Fingerman produced his first graphic novel, White Like She, a satire about a middle-aged black man whose brain is transplanted into the head of a white teenage girl.

His semi-autobiographical series Minimum Wage, was later reworked as the graphic novel, Beg the Question (Fantagraphics Books).

Fingerman produced a vampire novel, Bottomfeeder (M Press), in 2007, as well as a novella, Connective Tissue (Fantagraphics, May 2009). From the Ashes (IDW), featuring Bob and his wife Michele adrift in post-apocalyptic NYC. In 2010 the collected edition of From the Ashes was published, and second novel"Pariah".