Abrams ComicArts records, 2009-2017

Summary Information

At a Glance

Call No.:
MS#1845
Bib ID:
12953703 View CLIO record
Creator(s):
Kochman, Charles
Repository:
Rare Book and Manuscript Library
Physical Description:
77 linear feet (24 RSC and 45 flatboxes)
Language(s):
English .
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.

Material is unprocessed. Detailed box list available from repository, but access requires special arrangements. Please contact rbml@columbia.edu for more information. kws 2021-11-17

Boxes 1-24 are located off-site. You will need to request this material at least three business days in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room.

Boxes 25-69 are located on-site.

This collection has no restrictions.

Description

Summary

Most of the materials are related to a particular book project: drafts, proofs, edits, fouls, markups, correspondence, etc. Note that most projects include both regular size and oversize materials.

Book projects found in the collection include: About Dogs; Al Jaffee (Tall Tales); Archie: The Wedding; Art in Time; Art Out of Time; Bad Sex; Bazooka Joe; Becoming Andy Warhol; Captain Marvel (Shazam!); The Carter Family; Cartoon America; Classic Childrens Comics (The Toon Treasury of Classic Children's Comics); Daniel Clowes (The Art of Daniel Clowes); Death by Laughter; Jules Feiffer (Out of Line: the Art of Jules Feiffer); Topps Garbage Pail Kids; Ghetto Klown; The Great American Cereal Book; How to Fake a Moon Landing; Inside Woody Allen; Jack Kirby (Kirby: King of Comics); Jerry Robinson: Ambassador of Comics; Kindred; Krazy Kat and the Art of George Herriman; Legends of the Blues; "M"; Manga Kamishibai; Mars Attacks; Mom's Cancer; My Friend Dahmer; Nat Turner; Heroes of the Negro Leagues; Peanuts character guide; Planet of the Apes; R. Crumb: Heroes of Blues, Jazz, and Country; Secret Identity; Si Lewen's Parade; The Art of the Simon and Kirby Studio; Simpsons (I think this might actually be The Simpsons Futurama Crossover Crisis); Spumco (unpublished Spumco project); Street Corner Kamishibai; The Age of Selfishness; The art of Harvey Kurtzman; The art of Jaime Hernandez; The art of Rube Goldberg; The Horror, The Horror; The Shape of Things; The someday funnies; Thi Bui (The Best We Could Do); Toon treasury; Topps Planet of the apes; Topps Star Trek; Topps Star Wars; Topps Wacky Packages; Trashed; Whatever Happened to the World of Tomorrow; Will Eisner - Champion of the Graphic Novel; Will Eisner - PS Magazine; Wordless Books; Yiddishkeit.

Arrangement

Using the Collection

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.

Material is unprocessed. Detailed box list available from repository, but access requires special arrangements. Please contact rbml@columbia.edu for more information. kws 2021-11-17

Boxes 1-24 are located off-site. You will need to request this material at least three business days in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room.

Boxes 25-69 are located on-site.

This collection has no restrictions.

Terms Governing Use and Reproduction

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.

Preferred Citation

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Abrams ComicArts Records; Box and Folder; Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.

Accruals

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

accn number: Source of acquisition--[source of acquisition]. Method of acquisition--Gift, Purchase, etc; Date of acquisition--date.

About the Finding Aid / Processing Information

Columbia University Libraries, Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Processing Information

Collection-level record describing unprocessed material made public in summer 2018 as part of the Hidden Collections initiative.

In November 2021, materials were removed from the original transfiles and placed in either record storage cartons or oversize boxes. Materials were listed by project; note that most projects include both regular size and oversize materials. Within record storage cartons, file folders were used to separate projects.

Biographical / Historical

Charles Kochman is the editorial director of Abrams ComicArts, and editor of the #1 bestselling Diary of a Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney. Prior to joining ABRAMS in January 2005, Kochman was the first editor of licensed publishing at DC Comics and MAD magazine for twelve years.

In 2008, art book publisher Harry N. Abrams announced a new imprint titled ComicArts, offering titles on comics art history and graphic novels. Although Abrams had periodically published similar books in the past, including Mark Evanier's "Kirby: King of Comics" and the critically acclaimed webcomic "Mom's Cancer" by Brian Fies, the new line suggests an increased focus on the art of comics.

Subject Headings

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.

All links open new windows.

Genre/Form
Comics (Graphic works) CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Name
Abrams ComicArts CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Subject
Comic books, strips, etc CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Editors CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Graphic novels CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID