In the Stacks

I don’t recall when and where I learned that some copies of RELUCTANT SADIST had made their way into a university’s library archive, maybe it was back in the 1990s, but I felt surprised and even a bit of pride. Back in the 1980s, when I was first creating my comix, it was part of an “underground” scene and not generally accepted by mainstream or academic culture. I’m not an academic, don’t have a formal four year degree, so I don’t think about how culture is studied on that level. There has been a sea change in how popular and underground culture is now being appreciated and researched in colleges and universities. It’s easy for big movies, books, comics to be added to a collection, but how does some hand-made, self-published comix or zine get noticed and acquired? And why does it matter?

I’ll attempt to answer the second question first. Having your comix or zine, included in a university library will make it easier for it to be potentially studied and referenced as part of a research paper that is reflecting on our culture as a whole. Researchers see how individual comix/books/movies/music fit in and connect to other works of art in other eras and cultures. They try to understand trends and movements of where our society has been and where it might be going. Archiving materials preserves them in their original form as that provides information as well. So, if your comix is part of one of those collections, it means that a tiny part of your creative history will survive you past when you are gone. Maybe it’s a bit of an ego trip, but that appeals to me. I’m also curious to know how the work I did in the 1980s fits into the big picture.

How does a university library or archive notice and acquire materials? I don’t know the formal process and I’m sure it is different from one institution to another, so I’ll stick to relaying my own case. There were two courses of entry that my comix have taken to an academic archive; donated in as part of a private collection and direct donation. Currently, I know of three American Universities that have copies of RS (from the original 1980s run) in their collections; Iowa State University, Michigan State University, and Washington State University (detailed information and links below). I spent some time surfing the web and checking out many other collections, and found this useful list of “Zine Libraries” on the Barnard College website incase you want to get started looking to see if your own work is collected.

The second way my work has been acquired by these academic libraries has been through direct donation. I have reached out to these three universities and offered to donate a copy of RS #8 and two out of the three accepted. The third is in the process of moving their entire collection in a new building and have halted all donations for a couple of years. I’m open to donating to other academic libraries and archives, so if you know of one, or work for one, please contact me.

Now, if any professional archivist or librarian happens to read this post and would like to add to it or correct any information I’m presenting; please do. I’m just accounting for my experience and don’t want to misrepresent anything.

Here are the universities that have Reluctant Sadist in their collections:

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Iowa State University
Special Collections Department
MS 636
Underground Comix Collection, 1947-2007
https://findingaids.lib.iastate.edu/spcl/manuscripts/MS636.html

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Michigan State University Libraries
Special Collections Division
Reading Room Index to the Comic Art Collection

“Relkin” to “Relvas”
https://comics.lib.msu.edu/rri/rrri/relk.htm

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Washington State University Libraries, Manuscripts, Archives and Special Collections
Lynn R. Hansen Underground Comics Collection

http://ntserver1.wsulibs.wsu.edu/masc/finders/sc003_2.htm

Keep smiling,
OK HW