About These Books

Comic Art in Museums, edited by Kim Munson. 2020 Eisner nominee for Best Scholarly Book.

The Cambridge Companion to Comics. Edited by Maaheen Ahmed. This book presents comics as a multifaceted prism, generating productive and insightful dialogues with the most salient issues concerning the humanities at large. It consists of three sections: Forms maps the most significant comics forms, including material formats and techniques. Readings brings together a selection of tools to equip readers with a critical understanding of comics. Uses examines the roles accorded to comics in museums, galleries, and education.

Lucas: His Hollywood Legacy is the first collection to bring a sustained scholarly perspective to the iconic filmmaker and his legacy beyond the Star Wars films. Edited by Richard Ravalli, this volume analyzes Lucas's overall contribution and importance to the film industry, diving deep into his use and development of modern special effects technologies, the history of his Skywalker Ranch production facilities, and more. With clearly written and enlightening critiques by experts consulting rare collections and archival materials, this book is an original and robust project that sets the standard for historical and cultural studies of Lucas. My chapter “George Lucas in Museums” focuses on the Lucasfilm archives and Lucasfilm exhibits from 1988 to the present.

Routledge Handbook of the Secret Origins of Comics Studies. Edited by Randy Duncan and Matthew J. Smith. Identifies the pioneers of Comics Studies and their accomplishments. My chapter: “Forming a Visual Canon: Comics in Museums” is about pioneering curator/scholars and how they advanced comic art in museums. [Routledge, 2017]. Review in Inks.

The Comics of R. Crumb: Underground in the Art Museum. Edited by Daniel Worden. My contribution is “Viewing Crumb: Circles of Influence in the Art Museum.” The essay discusses Crumb’s popularity with curators and some of the current controversies surrounding his work, the different ways Crumb has been represented in exhibitions (such as High & Low, Masters of American Comics, and Genesis Illustrated), and Crumb’s influence on contemporary feminist artists for better or worse, specifically on the work of Trina Robbins, Margaret Harrison, and Rebecca Warren (2020, University Press of Mississippi). Review: Studies in American Humor (pdf) | IJOCA V23:2 Fall/Winter 2020 by John A. Lent, 580-581.

Critical Insights Series: the American Comic Book. Edited by Joseph Michael Sommers. Scholarly approaches to different aspects of comics. my chapters: Hiding the Forbidden Fruit: Comics Censorship in the US and From the Margins to the Mainstream: Independent Comics Find Their Voice. [Salem Press, 2014] Review: Charleston Hub (pdf).

Icons of the American Comic Book from Captain America to Wonder Woman. Edited by Randy Duncan and Matthew J. Smith. 2 volume set with encyclopedia-style entries about famous characters and their creators. my entry is on Blade in comics and film. [Greenwood Press, 2013]

Eisner Nominee - Comics Through Time. Edited by M. Keith Booker. 4 volume encyclopedia style set, my entries are on Mort Walker and on Beetle Bailey. [2014, ABC-Clio/Greenwood Press].

Exhibit Catalogs from Neurotic Raven

On Reflection: The Art of Margaret Harrison. Art historical analysis of the life and work of the British activist artist Margaret Harrison. Overview of trends & techniques in her work, her continuing use of the Captain America character, an in-depth discussion of her prize-winning painting The Last Gaze, her family background & activism. Many pages of exclusive photos! Image Detail: “Captain America 2,” 1999. Watercolor on paper by Margaret Harrison.

Available on Amazon. Barnes & Noble, and through Ingram (for wholesale booksellers).ISBN #'s: Hardback: 9780996314503 | Softcover: 9780996314510.

Dual Views: Labor Landmarks of San Francisco was on view at the Special Collections Gallery, SFSU Library, 3/19-8/7, 2015. Wendy Crittenden & Tom Griscom photographed sites of importance to the labor movement in their contrasting styles in an effort to situate the current tech boom within the economic cycles of the past. In collaboration with the Labor Archives & Research Center (SFSU). Curation & exhibit catalog by Kim. [out of print] | “The Fight for San Francisco,” Places Journal. 3/23/15 (includes extensive slide show) | “Best City Reads of the Week,” CityLab. 3/28/15. | “Dual Views: Tom Griscom & Wendy Crittenden Premiere in San Francisco,” Nashville Arts. Image Details: Red’s Java by Tom Griscom; the Lusty Lady by Wendy Crittenden.

Header image: Installation view of Dual Views: Labor Landmarks of San Francisco - Photography by Tom Griscom and Wendy Crittenden, April 2015, San Francisco State University Library. Photo: Tom Griscom.

Featured Essays & Links:

“The Fight for San Francisco,” Places Journal. 3/23/15

“Colleen Doran Illustrates Neil Gaiman.” Source: Notes in the History of Art, V 43, #2, Winter 2024.

“Comix from the Cosmos: Interview with Barbara “Willy” Mendes.” IJOCA V 22, #2, (Fall/Winter 2020), pages 284-335.

“How the French Kickstarted the Acceptance of Comics as an Art Form in the US: the Books and Exhibitions of Maurice Horn.” IJOCA V 18, #2 (Fall/Winter 2016). [PDF/academia.edu]

2020 Eisner Judge

More about Comics:

“A Collaborative Journey: Malcolm Whyte, Troubador Press, and Cartoon Art Museum, San Francisco.” IJOCA V 18, #2 (Fall/Winter 2016). [PDF/academia.edu]

“Revisiting the Comic Art Show.” International Journal of Comic Art Vol. 14, No. 2, Fall 2012 [PDF on academia.edu | slideshare]

“Beyond High & Low: How Comics and Museums Learned to Co-Exist.” IJOCA Vol. 11, No. 2, Fall 2009. [PDF/academia.edu | slideshare]

“Maurice Horn: A Memorial.” International Journal of Comic Art Vol 25, No 1, Spring 2023. Pgs 504-509.

Extra Inks Exhibition Review: Tales from the Vault: 40 Years, 40 Stories, an anniversary show at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Museum & Library (2017).

Popular posts on the art icons comics blog: Al Capp & Charles Schulz: Clash of the Titans (2010) | Jack Kirby's Collages & the Sublime (2009).

More about Margaret Harrison:

“Censorship & Superbodies: The Creative Odyssey of Margaret Harrison.” IJOCA, Vol. 13, No. 2, Fall 2011 [PDF/academia.edu]Short Story:

Short Story:

The Great Pretender on Vistas and Byways, an SFSU Alumni magazine.

Labor History Essays:

Evolution of an Emblem: the Arm & Hammer [PDF/academia.edu | slideshare].

100 Years Hand-in-Hand: a Brief History of the AFL-CIO Logo [PDF/academia.edu | slideshare]

Union Label History. Slide deck from keynote talk AFL/CIO National Convention, Pittsburgh, 2009. [PDF | slideshare]