Mid-Missouri Comics Collective

1904

• October 4: Lester Dent is born in La Plata, Missouri. He would later go on to be an influential pulp writer for the character Doc Savage. The character had a big impact on the superhero genre, including Superman and Batman.

1906

• As a boy, Walt Disney lives in Marceline Missouri from 1906-1911, and then moves to Kansas City.

1914

• A Kewpie appears in Columbia High School’s year book the Cresset in a dedication to the basketball team. Columbia High School (Later called Hickman High School.) adopts the Kewpie as their school mascot. (The Kewpie was created in 1909 by former Missouri Ozarks resident Rose O’Neill.)

1920

• V.T. Hamlin attends the University of Missouri for a semester. He later becomes the creator of the comic strip Alley Oop in 1933.

1926

• May 11: Washington Evening Star cartoonist Clifford K. Berryman gives a talk at Journalism Week about “The Origin, Development, and Influence of Cartoons.”
  The talk is later published (with illustrations) in June as a University of Missouri bulletin (vol. 27, no. 22).

1947

• (Probably 1947 or 1948) Cartoonist Chester Gould visited Columbia, and his daughter Jean, a Stephens College student, took him out to Ernie’s Diner. Owner Ernie Lewis gave Gould a “chopped cow” and Gould liked it so much he worked it into one of his Dick Tracy comics. Lewis later wrote Gould to see about getting the original strip and he got back an oversize original drawing of Tracy commenting on the burgers that hangs in the diner to this day: “To Ernie and his delicious chopped cow! Yum Yum!”

1948

• Mort Walker graduates from the University of Missouri with a A.B. in Arts and Science. He later creates the comic strip Beetle Baily in 1950, and Hi and Lois in 1954.
• July: New Heroic Comics #49 published, containing a story about Bill Jackson Jr. According to the Michigan State University comic archives: “Jackson is an African American boy scout in Columbia, Missouri, who rescued children from a burning house on Oct. 10, probably in 1945.”

1949

• May 3-7: Milton Caniff speaks at MU’s Journalism Week.

1952

• September: Miss Mizzou introduced as a character in Milton Caniff’s comic Steve Canyon.
• October: Bek Stiner, Milton Caniff’s model for Miss Mizzou visits during homecoming.

1953

• Local cartoonist Bill Hume publishes Babysan: a private look at the Japanese occupation and When We Get Back Home with writer John Annarino.

1956

• Local cartoonist Bill Hume publishes the book Babysan’s World - the Hume’ N Slant on Japan.
• MU Journalism fraternity Sigma Delta Chi starts publishing an annual Miss Mizzou calendar based on the Milton Caniff character.

1958

• The Columbia Chamber of Commerce wants to name a new road “Caniff Boulevard,” after comic artist Milton Caniff. After some resistance from Columbia, the name is eventually thrown out in favor of “Providence Road.”

1960

• Local cartoonist Bill Hume publishes Anchors are heavy with writer John Annarino.

1962

• Jack Bender graduates with a masters degree in art and journalism from the University of Missouri. Jack later assists Dave Graue with the comic strip Alley Oop in 1990, and he takes the full art chores a year later.

1963

• Frank Stack starts teaching art at the University of Missouri Columbia. Over the years he teaches painting, drawing, watercolor, printmaking and comic art.

1964

• July: Biljo White launches Batmania, a fanzine for Batman fans. It is noted as probably the first fanzine devoted exclusively to one character.

1967

• Fall: Steve Gerber graduates at the University of Missouri (he attended the Columbia campus for a semester). He later creates Howard the Duck in 1973 . The last name of Howard the Duck’s companion Bevery Switzler came from the Switzler Hall building on MU campus.

1970

• MU student Thomas G. Belt writes a masters thesis: Elements of style in the cartoons of Gahan Wilson.

1973

• Glen Brewer opens Rock Bottom Books and Comics on 7th street in Columbia.

1976

• May - In the Justice League of America #130, Bob Rodi of Columbia Mo. has a letter printed. He would later go on to become a writer for Marvel & DC comics.
• Artist Robert Waldmire draws a large detailed Columbia themed poster. (A copy of the poster is still up at 9th Street Deli.)

1980

• MU student Larry Dorrell writes a masters thesis: Comic Books and Circulation in a Public Junior High School Library.
• Cartoon voice actor Mel Blanc speaks on MU campus.

1981

• Scholarly Article: Junior High School media director Larry Dorrell & MU prof. Ed Carroll write Spider-Man at the Library in The School Library Journal 27 (10), 17–19.

1983

• Around this time, Eclipse Comics was publishing in Columbia at 295 Austin Street. Dean Mullaney & Catherine Yronwode ran the business at that time. Later that year they’d move to California.

1984

• September 15: Far Side creator Gary Larson has a signing 9-11 am in the MU bookstore for his new book In the search of the Far side. The next day, the Columbia Tribune has a front page story on his visit.

1985

• University of Minnesota Art History professor Karal Ann Marling publishes the book Tom Benton and his drawings : a biographical essay and a collection of his sketches, studies, and mural cartoons at the local University of Missouri Press.

1987

• October: Kirk Chritton starts writing Dai Kamikaze! He writes issues #4-12. Fellow Columbia artist Rob Davis drew most of the issues (#3 - #6, #8 - #12).

1988

• Spring: Class Comics #1 published, featuring students in professor Frank Stack’s comic art class at MU. Other class collections were published over the years as well.
• April: Kirk Chritton starts the Comics Career Newsletter. The newsletter features how-to tips, industry news, and interviews with creators and editors. The newsletter lasts until January 1992.
• British Comic Art 1730-1830 (exhibition catalog) published by MU Art History Professor Patricia Crown
• 1988-89: Representatives from the Department of Art, the Journalism Library, and Ellis Library meet to discuss creating the MU comic art collection.
• “The Comic Book Club” opens downtown at 17 North 9th Street. Having nothing to do with comics, it’s a former theater that was fixed up and converted into a bar for live music and dancing. The theater was fixed up by Gary Grimes, who was part of a local band called “The Comic Book Society” back in the 1960’s & 1970’s. The reformed band played often at the club. In 1991, this location would become The Blue Note.
• Scholarly Article: Stephens College prof. Alan Havig writes Richard F. Outcault’s “Poor Lil’ Mose”: Variations on the Black Stereotype in American Comic Art in The Journal of American Culture 11 (1), 33–41.

1989

• June 23: Kirk Chritton organizes a small comic convention in the young mens department at the JC Penny store in the Columbia Mall. Guests include: Steve Lightle, Rob Davis, Ande Parks, Steve Miller, Mark Runyan, Kelly Bever. The event was coordinated around the release of the Batman movie.

1990

• June 16: Kirk Chritton organizes a small comic convention in the young mens department at the JC Penny store in the Columbia Mall. Guests include: Steve Lightle, Rob Davis, Ande Parks, Steve Miller, Mark Runyan, Kelly Bever. The event was coordinated around the release of the Dick Tracy movie.
• Frank Stack publishes a collection of comics called Dorman’s Doggie.

1991

• March: Scholarly Article: Ruth S. Brent from the Department of Environmental Design at MU writes Nonverbal Design Language in Comics in The Journal of American Culture 14 (1) , 57–61.
• February 1991: MU faculty member Allen Bluedorn donates microform copies of Golden Age era comic books to the MU comic art collection.
• October: Pennsylvania English professor Bruce Kellner publishes the book The Last Dandy, Ralph Barton at the local University of Missouri Press.
• The Edgar E. Martin Collection started in the MU comic art collection. Edgar E. Martin was the creator of the comic strip Boots and Her Buddies.

1992

• June: Local attorney Dan Viets publishes the book Disney in Missouri.
• October 23: During homecoming celebations, a Beetle Baily bronze statue is unveiled in Pocket Park (At Conley and Missouri Ave.) on the MU campus. Grand Marshall. Mort Walker returns to MU campus for the dedication, and also as a William Francis English Scholar-in-Residence.
• Exhibition of comic strip Boots and Her Buddies held at the MU Ellis Library. A catalog prepared for the exhibition by Margaret Howell, special collections librarian, was written by Thomas Harris, Edgar E. Martin’s son in law.
• MU student Michael Shaw writes his masters thesis: Who calls the toons? a q-methodological study of cartoonists’ and readers’. He later goes on to become a cartoonist for the New Yorker.

1993

• January: Local writer Kirk Chritton and local artist Mark Runyan start creating Velvet #1-4 for Malibu Comics.
• “Columbia in the year 3000″ comic published by the Ink Club of Columbia Missouri & the Columbia Office of Cultural Affairs. The comic details what several local artists thought it’d be like to live in the year 3000.

1994

• June 24: Red Planet Comics opens at 1103-B Business Loop 70 E.
• Our Cancer Year graphic novel released. It was drawn by Frank Stack.
• The Danger Room closes in its location on 22 South 9th St.
• Jerome Stueart publishes Captain Bly: a cartoon collection. It’s a bound collection of his Maneater comic strips from 1992-1994.

1995

• After six years in business, The Cheshire Cat comic store closes at their North 10th Street location.

1996

• May 31: Gumby’s Pizza opens a chain store in Columbia. The chain, based in Gainesville Florida, took their name from the cartoon character Gumby.

1997

• January 1: Frank Stack publishes the book Naked Glory: The Erotic Art of Frank Stack.
• April 17th: Art Spiegelman speaks on the MU campus.
• May: University of Missouri-Kansas City History professor Miriam Formanek-Brunell edits and publishes The Story of Rose O’Neill: An Autobiography, at the local University of Missouri Press.
• June 26: R & R Collectibles moves to Bernadette Square. The store sells a lot of things, but also carries comics. The store operated in the Biscayne Mall since 1984.
• August: Conjuration, a Sci-Fi convetion takes place in Jefferson City in the first weekend in August. This convention would continue in Columbia Mo. from 1998-2002. In 2003 it’s renamed Konniption, and goes from 2003-2005.

1998

• June: Cartoon Quarterly moves to Columbia when Marion Watson buys the business from a California firm. The business creates a quarterly package of 36 single-panel cartoons to send to newspapers around the country.
• June: St. Louis artist Bryan Loy teaches cartooning to kids at the public library.
• June 6 - August 30: Three Centuries of Comic Art Exhibit at the MU Museum of Art and Archeology. The exhibit gets some press. Aline Kominsky-Crumb lectures on June 7th in conjunction with the exhibit.
• Fall: John Darkow’s cartoons start appearing in the Columbia Daily Tribune.
• Marceline Missouri holds the first annual Toonfest.

1999

• March: Ned Vail teaches comic classes for kids through the Columbia Parks and Recreation.
• June 4: Beetle Baily bronze statue on MU campus is relocated about a block west to its present site beside the University of Missouri Reynolds Alumni Center, close to where The Shack used to be.

2000

• March: Available Jones, an employment service for older adults, opens in Columbia. The name is based off the Lil’ Abner character of the same name that first appeared in 1942.
• August 1: Valhalla’s Gate opens at 901 E. Nifong Blvd. They are a role playing store, but they also offer comics for sale for a few years.
• September 1 - 30: A Beetle Bailey 50th anniversary exhibition is mounted in MU’s Ellis Library.

2001

• Frank Stack retires from teaching art at the University of Missouri Columbia, where he started in 1963.
• October: Jill Thompson makes an appearance at Wal-Mart in Columbia.
• September: MU History Professor Steven Watts publishes a book about Walt Disney called The Magic Kingdom.
• The Danger Room, a downtown comic-book and game-card shop at 126 S. Ninth St. is bought out by Jim Herring and re-named the Cheshire Cat (the name of his former comic store in Columbia).
• Scholarly Article: MU communication prof. Bill Benoit writes A Fantasy Theme Analysis of Political Cartoons on the Clinton-Lewinsky-Starr Affair in Critical Studies in Media Communication; Dec 2001, Vol. 18 Issue 4, page 377.

2002

• October 16: Matt Simmons of Rock Bottom Comics gives a talk about “Comics and Graphic Novels” at the Columbia Public Library.

2003

• February 26: Comics creator Biljo White dies in Columbia. He was born in 1929.
• October 10: Comic writer Harvey Pekar is a guest at a showing of his movie American Splendor at the Missouri Theatre. Frank Stack starts an American Splendor art gallery show at Ragtag Cinemacafe the next day.
• Scholarly Article: MU German prof. Brad Prager writes a review of Mikey, Marx und Manitu in The German Quarterly, Vol. 76, No. 3 (Summer, 2003), pp. 363-364

2004

• April 19: APOP Records opens at 807 Locust St. They carry some comics and zines. They are around for a couple of years, then close.
• July 19: Tom Strong, the owner of The Antiquarium comic store in Jeff City, dies in a house fire. The store closes and sits idle for almost a year.
• Cartoonist Don Lomax (non-local) creates a book Burlington Route: Tower Cartoonist. The book seems to be designed by local Brueggenjohann/Reese, Inc.
• Scholarly Article: MU Communication prof. Bill Benoit writes Political Cartoons on the Catholic Church Sexual Abuse Scandal and presents it at the National Communication Association convention on Nov. 11th.
• MU student Sheila Rose Browning writes a masters thesis: Pretty little girl warriors : a study of images of femininity in Japanese Sailor Moon comics.

2005

• February 4: The Antiquarium comic store in Jeff City reopens when part time employee Lance Salmons purchases the store.
• May: Mid Missouri Comics Collective starts meeting monthly. They start an email list with local comics news.
• October 1: The Columbia Art League offers Comic Books & Illustrations with Sandra Keeney for kids ages 10-14.
• Scholarly Article: English grad student Jason Koo writes The Comic Book Artist Confronts Harvey Pekar in Gulf Coast 17.1, pages 177-80.

2006

• January: Quinlan Keep comic shop opens.
• May 10: Margret A. Howell dies. She was instrumental in starting the MU comic collection at the MU Libraries.
• August: How to Read Comics class offered by the MU department of Art and Archeology. Instructor Mary Salzman.
• September 14: Dan Piraro gives a lecture at MU and at a public school. During his presentation he demonstrates blindfolded cartooning.
• September 25: MU professor Charley Seavey has a podcast with comic creators John Gallagher & Jimmy Gownley.
• October 7-8: 24 hour comics day event held at Quinlan Keep.
• October 7: Mad Magazine editor Joe Raiola gives a talk in Columbia to the Missouri Association of School Librarians
• October: No Coast Collective Infoshop opens. They have a reading library containing books, zines, and comics. They also have space for group meetings, bands, and art shows. They close in September of 2007.
• October: A censorship debate starts in Marshall Missouri when a resident tries to have the public library remove the graphic novels Fun Home and Blankets. The books were removed while a materials selection policy was drafted. This story gets a lot of attention from the press. The matter is not resolved until March 2007.
• November 10: Crumb shown at the Missouri Theatre, with Director Terry Zwigoff doing a Q&A afterward.
• November: Stephens College instructor William Helvey releases the documentary: Against the Grain-Frank Stack, Contemporary Artist.
• December 25: The New Adventures of Jesus: The Second Coming graphic novel published by Frank Stack.

2007

• January: The Graphic Novel class offered by the MU department of Art and Archeology. Instructor Mary Salzman.
• March 14: The censorship debate in Marshall Missouri from October 2006 ends when the public library adopts a new collections policy and both graphic novels in question are returned to the shelf.
• June 2nd - October 19th: Daniel Fitzpatrick: Artist/Cartoonist exhibit at the State Historical Society of Missouri on MU campus.
• August: The Graphic Novel and/as Contemporary Fiction class offered by the MU department of English. Instructor: Andrew Hoberek.
• September 28: Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane speaks at Jesse Auditorium.
• October 4: Former resident Heather Roberson gives a lecture at the Peace Nook about her new graphic novel Macedonia. She met her co-author Harvey Pekar while he was visiting Columbia in October 2003.
• October 20-21: 24 hour comics day event held at Quinlan Keep comic shop.
• October 31: Quinlan Keep comic shop closes.
• November 2: Jorge Cham, author of PhD Comics gives a lecture at MU.
• November 13: Frank Stack gives a lecture at the Columbia Public Library.
• Scholarly Article: MU geography prof. Soren Larsen writes Captain Canuck, audience response, and the project of Canadian nationalism in Social & Cultural Geography, Volume 8, Issue 5 October 2007 , pages 735 - 753.

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