Category archive History
Posted by Josh on March 2, 2012
To commemorate the 70th anniversary of the creation of Thomas Hart Benton’s Year of Peril series, the controversial paintings from World War II will be exhibited at the State Historical Society of Missouri in its gallery at Ellis Library from March 3 through mid-August.
This priceless collection of eight, large, war propaganda paintings created by Benton at the outset of the U.S. involvement in WWII will be on display as well as editorial cartoons and war posters created by other artists in 1942.
More information and a slide show of the paintings can be found at Mizzou Wire.
Posted in: History
Posted by Josh on October 31, 2008
24 Hour Comics Day 2008 was a huge success. We had a record turnout of 16 participants and most stayed the entire 24 hours. Thanks to everyone who came and made the event so much fun.
I also want to take a moment to thank our sponsors! Thanks to the Columbia Art League for letting us use their classroom space and thanks to Nick-N-Willy’s Pizza for the cheap food. 24 Hour Comics Day wouldn’t have been possible without their support.
As a follow-up, I’ve linked to all the publicity, comics and photos I could find from the event. I’ve also included Vimeo and YouTube links to some video interviews. I wish I could have gotten everyone interviewed, but I wanted to draw some comics myself! If you’ve got something to add, let me know and I’ll include it too.
The comics:
Photos:
Videos:
Press coverage:
Posted in: 24 Hour Comics Day, Events, History, Photos, Publicity
Posted by Winter on August 2, 2008
Jerry Smith, a former writer for MU campus humor magazine Missouri Showme, recently wrote an article in the St. Charles Journal about the magazine. Apparently he’s compiled a 28,000 word history of Missouri Showme that will be housed at the MU University Archives in the future.
Smith also mentions that the MU University Archives are working to put digital copies of Missouri Showme online so people can view the issues on the web. With rare early comics from former MU grads like Mort Walker, this should be an important online collection when it’s complete.
Posted in: History
Posted by Winter on March 20, 2008
The pulp hero Doc Savage is 75 years old this year. Mid-Missouri blogger Mercurie has written a post all about the character:
Doc Savage #1 was dated March 1933 and went on sale on February 15, 1933. This means that whether one goes by the magazine’s cover date or when it hit the newsstands, Doc Savage has entered his 75th year of existence. Regardless of which date one relies upon as Doc’s official “birthday,” it would seem to be reason to celebrate. Doc Savage was not only one of the most successful pulp characters with his own magazine, but he also proved to be one of the most influential as well.
Doc Savage was mainly written by Mid-Missourian Lester Dent, who was born in La Plata Missouri lived there for a great deal of his life. The character had a big impact on the superhero genre, including Superman and Batman.
Posted in: History
Posted by Josh on February 25, 2008
Mizzou Magazine has a slide show of comics that appeared from the 1920s-60s in Missouri Showme, a MU student-created magazine. You can also find them in the Spring 2008 issue.
Posted in: History
Posted by Winter on February 13, 2008
Comic writer Steve Gerber passed away last Sunday, February 10th. He had been ill for a while and was battling pulmonary fibrosis which is a lung condition.
I’m covering this here on this blog because he graduated from the University of Missouri. He was born in St. Louis, and attended the University of Missouri-St. Louis for most of college and finished off his bachelors degree by attending the University of Missouri-Columbia for the Fall 1967 semester. According to his myspace page, he majored in Broadcasting as an undergrad. Gerber later went back to St. Louis University for a graduate degree in Speech-Communications.
Of course he later went on to write many notable comic books for both big and small publishers. He is probably best known for his creation of Howard the Duck in 1973. Gerber commented about Howard’s popularity in a Columbia Missourian story that ran on May 6, 1977. “People like the weirdness of the duck,” he said. “He won’t take bull from anyone, and he doesn’t have any superpowers.” The newspaper story also notes that he named Howard the Duck’s companion Bevery Switzler after the Switzler Hall building on the University of Missouri-Columbia campus.
The Star Clipper comic store in St. Louis has a blog post about his death as well. They’re going to be sending a condolence card to his mother who still lives in St. Louis, and if you want to add anything to the card, feel free to drop them a line or comment on their blog.
Update: Fellow mid-Missourian Mercurie has an in depth blog post about his passing.
Second update: The comics reporter has organized a page with links to Gerber tributes.
Posted in: History
Posted by Winter on January 19, 2008
Walt Disney will be brought back to life next Wednesday for a speaking engagement. On January 23rd at 6:30 pm, the Kansas City Public Library will host An Evening with Walt Disney. Local historian Dr. Bill Worley will play Disney in character, and probably will talk about Disney’s experiences in Kansas City. The event is free, but reservations are recommended. The event is in association with the interactive Once Upon a Time fairy tale exhibit on display at the central library.
By the way, did you know that we’ve had two local people write books about Disney over the years? Dan Viets wrote one in 1992 and Steven Watts also wrote one in 2001.
Posted in: History
Posted by Winter on October 31, 2007
St. Louis cartoonist/teacher DB Dowd has a blog post about Washington University’s new Modern Graphic History Library. The library is being launched through a series of events November 16th and 17th.
The library’s mission statement:
The Modern Graphic History Library acquires and preserves distinguished works of modern illustration and pictorial graphic culture to promote sustained academic consideration of those materials. The collection includes artists’ working materials, sketches and finished artworks—from book, magazine, and advertising illustration to graphic novels, comics, poster design, pictorial information design, and animation.
Posted in: History
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