Smart Business Magazine, April 2015

FEATURE UNIQUELY COLUMBUS Uniquely Columbus is a monthly feature in Smart Business Columbus that takes an in depth look at the people places and things that give Columbus its identity To suggest a unique subject f or us to explore contact Associate Editor Jayne Gest at jgest@ sbnonline com D id you know the worlds largest collection of cartoon and comic materials are housed in Columbus The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library Museum part of The Ohio State University library system has been building its collection of original art and manuscripts primarily through gifts in kind since 1977 The scope of the collection includes editorial cartoons comic strips comic books graphic novels sports cartoons and magazine cartoons The library and museum has gone through several name changes along the way The current name was established in 2009 through a lead gift of 7 million from the Elizabeth Ireland Graves Foundation The funds went to a renovation of Sullivant Hall where the library and museum moved in 2013 The old facility was 6800 square feet Now the library and museum has approximately 30000 square feet We had completely outgrown our space and we also had problems with visibility with people being able to find us Literally finding our front door was a challenge says Curator Jenny Robb The first year in the new facility Robb says they had 15763 visitors to the museum and 1288 reading room patrons We all consume cartoons and comics We all read them in one form or another whether its in the newspaper in comic books in graphic novels or whether we see them online she says And cartoons like other forms of mass communication reflect whats going on in our society and they also have an impact on whats going on in our society We think its important to preserve these materials so that they can be studied and also so they can be enjoyed by future generations BILLY IRELAND CARTOON LIBRARY MUSEUM A REFLECTION OF THE WORLD U N I Q U E L Y C O L U M B U S For more about the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library Museum www cartoons osu edu facebook com TheBillyIrelandCartoonLibraryAndMuseum @ CartoonLibrary 14 Smart Business Columbus April 2015 A look at the past and present through cartoons and comics IMAGE CREDITS Background Richard Felton Outcault Around the World with the Yellow Kid The Yellow Kid invades Germany 1897 International Museum of Cartoon Art Collection This is a painting of the comic strip called Hogans Alley featuring the Yellow Kid Milton Caniff Terry and the Pirates Oct 17 1943 Milton Caniff Collection Milton Caniff Steve Canyon March 19 1950 Milton Caniff Collection Milton Caniff Aesop Up To Date October 1925 Milton Caniff Collection Winsor McCay Little Nemo in Slumberland Oct 29 1905 Los Angeles Times San Francisco Academy of Comic Art Collection Bill Watterson Explorers The Indispensable Calvin and Hobbes 1992 Bill Watterson Deposit Collection Matsumoto Akira Reiji Aoi Hanabira Blue Petals Tokyo Showa Manga Shuppansha 1958 Miss Lasko Gross Self Portrait July 30 2010