Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum (BICLM) houses the world’s largest collection of materials related to cartoons and comics, including original art, books, magazines, journals, comic books, archival materials, and newspaper comic strip pages and clippings.
In this video, Curator Jenny Robb gives a brief overview of the museum.
Mission
Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum’s mission is to develop a comprehensive research collection documenting American printed cartoon art, to organize the materials, and to provide access to these resources. The scope of the collection includes:
- Editorial cartoons
- Comic strips
- Comic books
- Graphic novels
- Sports cartoons
- Magazine cartoons
Animation materials are not, in general, collected.
Holdings
Current holdings include more than:
- 300,000 original cartoons
- 45,000 books
- 67,000 serials and comic books
- 6,300 boxes of archival materials
- 2.5 million comic strip clippings
Collections
- Unique collections of original art and manuscript materials including among others, the Nick Anderson Collection, the Jim Borgman Collection, the Eldon Dedini Collection, the Edwina Dumm Collection, the Will Eisner Collection, the Woody Gelman Collection of Winsor McCay cartoons, the Walt Kelly Collection, the Toni Mendez Collection, and the Bill Watterson Deposit Collection
- International Museum of Cartoon Art Collection containing more than 200,000 original cartoons. The collection was acquired in the summer of 2008 from the museum which was founded by Beetle Bailey creator Mort Walker
- San Francisco Academy of Comic Art Collection, acquired from its director, Bill Blackbeard, in 1998. This gives the library the largest collection of newspaper comic strip tear sheets and clippings in the world. Search the on-line finding aid at Guide to the San Francisco Academy of Comic Art Collection
- Jay Kennedy Collection of more than 9,500 underground comic books, one of the most extensive in the world
- Archival professional records including the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists, National Cartoonists Society, Newspaper Features Council, and Cartoonists Guild
- Biographical registry of cartoonists containing files for more than 5,000 cartoonists and clipping files organized by cartoon-related subjects
- Extensive collection of Japanese comics known as manga. Visit the Ohio State University Libraries manga blog.
Programs
As a University Libraries location, BICLM promotes the study and appreciation of cartoon art by sponsoring a variety of educational programs and publications.
- Exhibitions
- Catalogs
- Lectures
- Seminars
- Panel discussions
- Workshops and conferences
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Cartoon Crossroads Columbus is a multi-day event, held annually to raise awareness and celebrate the craft of cartooning. This event attracts participants from around the world to BICLM.