The Library of American Comics explained

Parent:Currently:
2021–present
Clover Press
Previously:
2007–2021
IDW Publishing
Status:Active
Founded:2007
Founder:Dean Mullaney
Bruce Canwell
Country:United States
Headquarters:San Diego, California
Distribution:Diamond Book Distributors[1] [2]
Penguin Random House
Keypeople:Dean Mullaney (Creative Director)
Lorraine Turner (Art Director)
Bruce Canwell (Associate Director)
Kurtis Findlay (Online Communications Coordinator)
Publications:Books
Genre:American comic strips
Imprints:EuroComics

Library of American Comics (abbreviated as LoAC) is an American publisher of classic American comic strips collections and comic history books, founded by Dean Mullaney and Bruce Canwell in 2007.

History

Background

Dean Mullaney, the founder of the Library of American Comics, developed his interest for comics in his early youth and by the 1970s he was a so-called letterhack, regularly sending in letters of comment to the Marvel comic books' letter pages. His career in comics began in 1977 when he, together with his brother Jan Mullaney[3] as well as Don McGregor and Paul Gulacy, launched the publishing company Eclipse Comics,[4] famous for publishing the graphic novel Sabre. After some time at Eclipse Comics, Mullaney left the comics industry.

In 2006, Mullaney was thinking about making a return to comics, and he found an online article about Sabre written by Bruce Canwell, a former DC Comics and Marvel Comics employee. The article mentioned that Canwell remembered Mullaney as a once frequent letter writer to the Marvel comic books' reader pages which he read growing up, just as Canwell himself was. Mullaney contacted Canwell, and after discussing their future plans, they realized that their visions and ideas were aligned. They discussed going into business together, with the initial goal of bringing a complete hardcover collection of Milton Caniff's comic strip Terry and the Pirates to the public.[5]

Mullaney and Canwell launched the Library of American Comics in summer 2007, beginning publication of a definitive collection The Complete Terry and the Pirates.[6]

Findlay joins

While writing as an animation blogger, Kurtis Findlay discovered a comic strip he had never heard of: "Crawford", created by the famous animator Chuck Jones. When Findlay checked the copyright status of the strip, he was connected by a worker of Tribune Media Services to Dean Mullaney of LoAC. When Findlay approached LoAC with the proposal of publishing a book about the strip, he learned that Mullaney was a fan of Chuck Jones' works; Mullaney was enthusiastic about Findlay's book idea, and Chuck Jones: The Dream That Never Was was eventually published by LoAC in December 2011.

Since then, Findlay has become the company's Online Communications Coordinator as well as editor for the For Better or For Worse collection published by LoAC.[7] [8]

New partnership

From 2022, LoAC and EuroComics switched publisher to Clover Press. An agreement with IDW Publishing remains to continue publishing the ongoing series of For Better or For Worse.

The first new LoAC title to be published through the Clover Press partnership will be the enhanced reprint series Terry and the Pirates: The Master Collection in early 2022.[9] [10]

Company organization

LoAC create their output of books independently from their partner company Clover Press (previously IDW Publishing), but they share distribution network, printing facilities, and logistics with the partner company.

The team at LoAC is editorially fully responsible for book design, selection of content, essays, and production. Most research, compilation of supplemental material and feature texts, and original writing for the company's biographical books are done in-house, although occasionally there is also some freelance material.

Key people

Publications

The goal of all Library of American Comics collections is to preserve classic American newspaper comics in definitive archival editions. Each frames a comic-strip series with informative essays to provide historical context, both in relation to other comic strips and to the historical events of their time.[4] Unfortunately, however, LoAC discontinued publishing many of the titles before being complete.

See main article: List of The Library of American Comics publications.

Format

All the books The Library of American Comics publish are hardcover, with sewn binding; the majority also come with a dust jacket and sewn linen bookmark. Book size and reproduction color depend on each series.

Recognition

Nominations

Eisner Award nominations

Harvey Award nominations

Awards

Eisner Awards[22] [23]

Harvey Awards[24]

Imprints

Publications of EuroComics

See main article: List of EuroComics publications.

Recognition

Harvey Award

Nominations

Eisner Award

Nominations

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: IDW Becomes Premier Publisher. IDW Publishing. March 18, 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20181005153701/http://www.idwpublishing.com/idw-becomes-premier-publisher/. October 5, 2018.
  2. Web site: IDW Publishing Signs Distribution Deal With Penguin Random House. IDW Media Holdings. September 13, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20170320024404/http://idwmediaholdings.com/idw-publishing-signs-distribution-deal-with-penguin-random-house/. March 20, 2017.
  3. News: Mullaney. Jan. Dean. Mullaney. Dean Mullaney. A Word from the Publisher . . Eclipse Enterprises. August 1978 . 1 (unnumbered).
  4. Web site: Compelling and Timeless: An Interview With Dean Mullaney. Diamondcomics.com. 5 October 2018.
  5. Web site: Bruce Canwell on the Library of American Comics. 16 April 2018. Bleedingcool.com. 5 October 2018. Rich. Johnston.
  6. Web site: Dean Mullaney on IDW's Library of American Comics. Newsarama.com. 5 October 2018.
  7. Web site: Chuck Jones and the Future of the Library of American Comics. Alex. Dueben. October 26, 2011. 2021-04-06. Comic Book Resources.
  8. Valdivieso, Melanie . 2021-02-03 . Preserving Comic Strip History - For Better or For Worse . YouTube video . English . 2021-04-05 . US . Near Mint Condition.
  9. Web site: Library of American Comics and EuroComics Moving from IDW to Clover Press . icv2.com . 2021-12-08.
  10. Web site: Library of American Comics Teams w/ Clover Press . www.dailycartoonist.com . 7 December 2021. 2021-12-08.
  11. Web site: Nominees Announced For 2012 Eisner Awards. Comic Book Resources. April 4, 2012. 2019-09-05.
  12. Web site: 2013 Eisner Award Nominees Announced. April 16, 2013. 2019-09-05. Comic Book Resources.
  13. Web site: 2014 Eisner Awards: Full List Of Winners And Nominees. Comics Alliance. Andrew. Wheeler. July 26, 2014. 2019-09-05.
  14. https://www.newsarama.com/25142-2015-eisner-awards-winners-full-list.html Retrieved 2019-09-05
  15. https://www.newsarama.com/28916-2016-eisner-award-nominations.html Retrieved 2019-09-05
  16. https://www.newsarama.com/39672-2018-eisner-awards-nominations.html Retrieved 2019-09-05
  17. Web site: 2008 Harvey Award nominees announced. June 18, 2008. 2019-08-28. Comic Book Resources.
  18. https://www.newsarama.com/3227-2009-harvey-nominees-named.html Retrieved 2019-08-28
  19. https://www.newsarama.com/5611-2010-harvey-awards-nominees-announced.html Retrieved 2019-08-28
  20. Web site: Harvey Awards 2011 Nominees. 5 July 2011. 2019-08-28. Joey. Esposito. IGN.
  21. Web site: The 2012 Harvey Award Nominees are…. July 3, 2012. The Daily Cartoonist. Alan. Gardner.
  22. Web site: 2000s. 2 December 2012. Comic-Con International: San Diego.
  23. Web site: 2010-Present. 2 December 2012. Comic-Con International: San Diego.
  24. Web site: Previous Winners. 5 October 2018. Harvey Awards.
  25. Web site: 2015 Harvey Award Nominees Announced. Graeme. McMillan. . July 14, 2015.
  26. https://www.newsarama.com/29977-2016-harvey-awards-nominees-announced.html Retrieved 2019-08-28
  27. https://www.newsarama.com/41301-2018-harvey-awards-nominees.html Retrieved 2019-08-28
  28. Web site: 2019 Harvey Awards nominations announced. Heidi. MacDonald. August 14, 2019. ComicsBeat. 2019-08-28.

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