Yuki Hibben in VCU's comics archive
The oldest comic book in Virginia Commonwealth University’s Comic Arts Collection is “Histoire de Mr. Crépin,” a rare work from 1837 by the Swiss caricaturist Rodolphe Töpffer, who’s often credited as the creator of the first comic book that same year. Housed in the Special Collections and Archives department of James Branch Cabell Library, the brittle 88-page periodical may not look exactly like the comics we know today, but it does feature illustrations enclosed in panels accompanied by text to convey a sequential narrative.
Töpffer’s proto-comic is only one of the thousands of rare specimens in VCU’s 175,000-item collection, which includes approximately 65,000 comics — from Capt. Marvel to Mr. Natural — in addition to graphic novels, magazines, scholarly journals, fanzines, minicomics, books about comics, and even “Tijuana bibles,” short pornographic comics that often parodied popular comic strips of the day. There’s also one-of-a-kind bric-a-brac. Among the holdings are materials donated by the former secretary of Bill DeBeck, the creator of the classic Depression-era comic strip “Barney Google.” “They have the door to DeBeck’s office in the collection,” marvels Tom De Haven, who used the collection when he taught at VCU. “He painted Barney Google on it. It’s amazing.”
In an email exchange, Yuki Hibben, senior curator and associate professor at VCU Special Collections, recently offered some insight into this cartoon treasure trove, one the largest collections on the East Coast.
Rudolphe Töpffer’s 1837 comic “Histoire de Mr. Crépin”
Richmond magazine: What does the Comic Arts Collection consist of?
Yuki Hibben: In addition to comics and publications related to comics, we collect original works of comic arts and the personal papers of notable figures in the comic arts. Our unique materials generally have ties to VCU and Richmond. For example, we have over 230 works of original artwork by the award-winning illustrator and VCU alumnus Charles Vess. His work includes illustrations for “Spider-Man,” “Swamp Thing” and Neil Gaiman’s “The Sandman” series, among many other comics and fantasy publications. As far as archival materials, we have the personal papers of the late, great Dr. M. Thomas Inge, who passed away just last year. An English professor who taught at VCU, Randolph-Macon College and other institutions, Inge was a world-renowned scholar of comics and popular culture. We focus primarily on publications and archival materials that are used for research, teaching and artistic inspiration.
RM: What are some of the rarest, most historically important comics in the collection?
Hibben: That’s a difficult question because we have so many. Examples include “Famous Funnies: A Carnival of Comics” (1933), considered by many to be the first modern American comic book. There’s “All Negro Comics” (1947), the first comic book produced by a Black publisher, writers and illustrators. It features Black superheroes and protagonists. And “It Ain’t Me Babe” (1970), feminist underground “comix” and the first comic book created entirely by women.
RM: What about new comics?
Hibben: The newest titles in our collection are probably from the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards. VCU Libraries serves as the repository for this award and receives hundreds of books each year that won or were nominated for this illustrious award.
RM: How did VCU acquire the collection?
Hibben: The collection started in the 1970s with the donation of materials that belonged to Fred O. Seibel, an editorial cartoonist for the Richmond Times-Dispatch from 1926 to 1968. Dr. M. Thomas Inge, who I mentioned earlier, was teaching in the English department at VCU and championed the expansion of the collection. For several decades, the Comic Arts Collection relied almost entirely on donors such as Dr. Inge and VCU alumnus David Anderson, who donated our copy of “All Negro Comics” and many others to build the collection. We still accept gift books but also have an acquisition fund and are building a Special Collections and Archives endowment to support the future growth and preservation of the Comic Arts and other collections at VCU.
RM: Can you talk about the tireless work that now-retired curator Cindy Jackson did to help build the collection?
Hibben: Cindy Jackson processed comic arts materials for Special Collections and Archives from the 1990s until 2022. She personally reviewed and inventoried tens of thousands of comic books donated to the library and had an intimate knowledge of the collection. Cindy also taught classes visiting Special Collections and Archives about the Comic Arts Collection and participated in events such as the Richmond Indie Comics Expo. She shared her expertise with countless students, scholars and comic artists during her time at VCU and is highly regarded by the comics community.
RM: Who uses the collection?
Hibben: For many years, comics were undervalued in academia, but comics scholarship is really hot right now. We have many students and scholars from VCU and beyond studying and writing about comics. We can learn a lot about history, politics, culture, you name it, from comic books.
The VCU Comic Arts Collection is housed in the Special Collections and Archives department, on the fourth floor of the James Branch Cabell Library on the Monroe Park Campus of VCU. 804-828-1111.
