Comic Books (for Serious Research) on Display at U of M Library Through May
For release: May 20, 2003
For press information, contact Gabrielle Maxey

Ghost World. MAD Magazine. Krazy Kat. Tales From The Crypt. These comics and many others can be found on display in the Ned R. McWherter Library at the University of Memphis through the end of May. The exhibit highlights a year-long effort to enhance the comic book holdings at the University.

Under the direction of Dr. Steven Tabachnick, professor and chairman of the English Department, and with support of the Friends of the Libraries, the U of M Libraries are beginning to collect comics, graphic novels, and related works in preparation for doctoral research and other high-level scholarship.

Although comics have been around for more than a century, the serious, book-length art novel is a product of the past 25 years, says Tabachnick, who teaches courses on the graphic novel. "The genre allows literature students and teachers to connect with the wave of visual culture in the form of films, television, magazines and video games that has now become a dominant form of cultural discourse," he said. "I find that I never have to explain to students why they should like these works; they just do, because, owing to the media, they are used to visual art in all of its forms."

Titles recently added include works by Lynda Barry (The Good Times Are Killing Me, 100 Demons), Will Eisner (Last Day in Vietnam, The Spirit), the Hernandez Brothers (Love & Rockets), Scott McCloud (Reinventing Comics), Alan Moore (From Hell, V for Vendetta), Trina Robbins (The Great Women Superheroes), and Chris Ware (Jimmy Corrigan).

Among these works are Pulitzer Prize-winners such as Maus: A Survivor's Tale by Art Spiegelman and The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon. Some are mostly art (Storyteller Without Words by Lynd Ward), while others are largely text (Robert Crumb's Your Vigor For Life Appalls Me), but all contribute to an understanding of our culture and ourselves.

The comics are on display on the library's second floor. Hours of operation during May are 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday through Friday. After May, the comics will be returned to the library's regular collection. For more information, contact Chris Matz, collection development librarian, at 901-678-8244.

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