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Posted by: Megan Halsband
It’s February, Valentine’s Day is around the corner, and love is in the air! Typically you might not think of “romance” and “comics” together – but in the 1940s and 1950s as superhero popularity waned, romance reigned. And it was all started by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby in Young Romance no. 1 (Sept-Oct. 1947). …
Posted in: Comic Books, Holidays
Posted by: Megan Halsband
Happy New Year!...For the first time since 1999 we celebrate Public Domain Day here in the United States - on January 1, 2019, content published in 1923 in the US enters the public domain!
Posted in: Digitized Newspapers, Holidays
Posted by: Megan Halsband
The Cherokee Nation became the first Native American tribe with a tribal newspaper, the Cherokee Phoenix. The Serial & Government Publications Division holds a number of original issues of the Cherokee Phoenix, first published on February 21, 1828. The newspaper was printed “partly with English, and partly with Cherokee print; and all matter which is common …
Posted in: Comic Books, Native American History, Newspapers, Web Archives
Posted by: Megan Halsband
Whether you are a comics fan or not, chances are you have heard of Stan Lee. His larger than life personality and dedication to the fans are some of the many things that people are remembering in the wake of his passing this week at age 95. Lee, Marvel’s “Chairman Emeritus,” unofficial ambassador, and alliteration …
Posted in: Comic Books, Jewish American History
Posted by: Megan Halsband
Inspired by the true detective and mystery pulp fiction magazines from the early 20th century, such as Black Mask, Detective Story, and G-Men, crime comics were one of the most popular genres of the Golden Age during the 1940s and 1950s. But public fascination with crime dates back even earlier with publications such as The …
Posted in: Comic Books, Crime, Let's Talk Comics, Pulp Fiction
Posted by: Megan Halsband
Legendary artist Marie Severin passed away a few weeks ago, and I wanted to take a moment to share some of her works that are available at the Library of Congress and highlight her decades-long career in the comic book industry. Marie began working as a colorist for EC (Entertaining Comics) in the 1950’s and …
Posted in: Biography, Comic Books, Women's History
Posted by: Megan Halsband
For me, the end of the summer has become a time of year when I get to work extensively with our independent comic materials in the Small Press Expo Collection. Every year since 2011, staff from the Library of Congress have attended the Small Press Expo, a festival dedicated to celebrating all things indie comics, …
Posted in: Comic Books, Web Archives, Web Comics
Posted by: Megan Halsband
Could a picture be worth more than a thousand words? For anyone trying to find an elusive photograph, illustration, or comic in a historic newspaper – the answer might be yes! Searching for these types of images is dramatically easier thanks to digitization efforts, such as the National Digital Newspaper Program, which makes millions of …
Posted in: Digitized Newspapers
Posted by: Megan Halsband
Before comic books, people read comics in their local newspapers such as Little Nemo, Mutt and Jeff, and the Yellow Kid. Read more about these early comics in the collections of the Newspaper and Current Periodical Reading Room.
Posted in: Comic Books, Newspaper Comic Strips, Newspapers