'Pain' Ends as Massive Cartoon Cargo Arrives in Ohio

By: Dave Astor When a trio of big trucks rumbled from Connecticut to Ohio this summer, their cargo contained more than a century of cartoon history. That three-part load was the International Museum of Cartoon Art (IMCA) collection of 200,000 comics, editorial cartoons, and other items. These pieces were joining the Ohio State University Cartoon Research Library (CRL), which has 250,000 cartoon originals and many other visual artifacts of its own.

Together, they comprise what might be the world's largest cartoon repository.

"It's been a wonderful feeling to unpack boxes and see what's inside," says CRL Curator/Ohio State Professor Lucy Shelton Caswell, noting that one big highlight is an 1897 original of R.F. Outcault's "Hogan's Alley" ? the Yellow Kid-starring feature considered the first modern newspaper comic.

IMCA founder/"Beetle Bailey" creator Mort Walker is relieved the collection finally has a permanent home. "I'm happy that Lucy and the library are in charge of it," he tells E&P. "I've seen how lovingly they treat their own collection. And there's a prestigious university behind them."

While he loves the IMCA collection, Walker says it finally became too much to deal with. After opening in Greenwich, Conn., in 1974 (three years before Caswell founded CRL), IMCA moved to Rye Brook, N.Y. (1976-1992); then Boca Raton, Fla. (1996-2002); and then into storage. "The museum got to be a real pain, and a real expense," says the King Features cartoonist. "I spent about $2 million of my own money on it. And we got lousy treatment from Boca Raton."

Walker, 85, do- nated the collection to CRL, which paid the shipping charges.

Caswell says there'll be a summer 2009 exhibit of IMCA highlights (and a Walker appearance) at Ohio State. After that, the hope is for a permanent gallery to showcase the collection. And CRL's name may expand to become the Cartoon Research Library and Museum.