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The Library of American Comics
Parent companyCurrently:
2021–present
Clover Press
Previously:
2007–2021
IDW Publishing
StatusActive
Founded2007
FounderDean Mullaney
Bruce Canwell
Country of originUnited States
Headquarters locationSan Diego, California
DistributionDiamond Book Distributors[1][2]
Penguin Random House
Key peopleDean Mullaney (Creative Director)
Lorraine Turner (Art Director)
Bruce Canwell (Associate Director)
Kurtis Findlay (Online Communications Coordinator)
Publication typesBooks
Fiction genresAmerican comic strips
ImprintsEuroComics
Official websitelibraryofamericancomics.com

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

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Background

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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

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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

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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

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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.[5]

Key people

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  • Dean Mullaney, Creative Director, founder and editor
  • Bruce Canwell, associate director, co-founder and editor
  • Lorraine Turner, Art Director
  • Kurtis Findlay, Online Communications Coordinator, editor

Publications

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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.

Main article: List of The Library of American Comics publications

Format

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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

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Nominations

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Eisner Award nominations

Harvey Award nominations

Awards

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Eisner Awards[22][23]

Harvey Awards[24]

  • 2012 – "Best biographical, historical or journalistic presentation" – Genius, Isolated: The Life and Art of Alex Toth

Imprints

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Publications of EuroComics

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Main article: List of EuroComics publications

Recognition

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Harvey Award

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Nominations

  • 2015 — "Best American Edition of Foreign Material" — Corto Maltese: Under the Sign of the Capricon by Hugo Pratt[25]
  • 2016 — "Best American Edition of Foreign Material" — Corto Maltese: Beyond the Windy Isles by Hugo Pratt[26]
  • 2018 — "Best European Book" — Flight of the Raven by Jean-Pierre Gibrat[27]
  • 2019 — "Best European Book" — Corto Maltese by Hugo Pratt[28]

Eisner Award

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Nominations

References

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  1. ^ "IDW Becomes Premier Publisher". IDW Publishing. March 18, 2010. Archived from the original on October 5, 2018.
  2. ^ "IDW Publishing Signs Distribution Deal With Penguin Random House". IDW Media Holdings. September 13, 2016. Archived from the original on March 20, 2017.
  3. ^ Mullaney, Jan; Mullaney, Dean (August 1978). "A Word from the Publisher". Sabre: Slow Fade of an Endangered Species. Eclipse Enterprises. p. 1 (unnumbered).
  4. ^ a b "Compelling and Timeless: An Interview With Dean Mullaney". Diamondcomics.com. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
  5. ^ a b Johnston, Rich (16 April 2018). "Bruce Canwell on the Library of American Comics". Bleedingcool.com. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
  6. ^ "Dean Mullaney on IDW's Library of American Comics". Newsarama.com. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
  7. ^ Dueben, Alex (October 26, 2011). "Chuck Jones and the Future of the Library of American Comics". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 2021-04-06.
  8. ^ Valdivieso, Melanie (2021-02-03). Preserving Comic Strip History - For Better or For Worse (YouTube video). US: Near Mint Condition. Retrieved 2021-04-05.
  9. ^ "Library of American Comics and EuroComics Moving from IDW to Clover Press". icv2.com. Retrieved 2021-12-08.
  10. ^ "Library of American Comics Teams w/ Clover Press". www.dailycartoonist.com. 7 December 2021. Retrieved 2021-12-08.
  11. ^ "Nominees Announced For 2012 Eisner Awards". Comic Book Resources. April 4, 2012. Retrieved 2019-09-05.
  12. ^ "2013 Eisner Award Nominees Announced". Comic Book Resources. April 16, 2013. Retrieved 2019-09-05.
  13. ^ Wheeler, Andrew (July 26, 2014). "2014 Eisner Awards: Full List Of Winners And Nominees". Comics Alliance. Retrieved 2019-09-05.
  14. ^ a b https://www.newsarama.com/25142-2015-eisner-awards-winners-full-list.html Archived 2017-01-29 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 2019-09-05
  15. ^ https://www.newsarama.com/28916-2016-eisner-award-nominations.html Archived 2019-01-17 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 2019-09-05
  16. ^ a b https://www.newsarama.com/39672-2018-eisner-awards-nominations.html Archived 2018-04-29 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 2019-09-05
  17. ^ "2008 Harvey Award nominees announced". Comic Book Resources. June 18, 2008. Retrieved 2019-08-28.
  18. ^ https://www.newsarama.com/3227-2009-harvey-nominees-named.html Archived 2019-08-27 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 2019-08-28
  19. ^ https://www.newsarama.com/5611-2010-harvey-awards-nominees-announced.html Archived 2016-03-06 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 2019-08-28
  20. ^ Esposito, Joey (5 July 2011). "Harvey Awards 2011 Nominees". IGN. Retrieved 2019-08-28.
  21. ^ Gardner, Alan (July 3, 2012). "The 2012 Harvey Award Nominees are…". The Daily Cartoonist.
  22. ^ "2000s". Comic-Con International: San Diego. 2 December 2012.
  23. ^ "2010-Present". Comic-Con International: San Diego. 2 December 2012.
  24. ^ "Previous Winners". Harvey Awards. 5 October 2018.
  25. ^ McMillan, Graeme (July 14, 2015). "2015 Harvey Award Nominees Announced". The Hollywood Reporter.
  26. ^ https://www.newsarama.com/29977-2016-harvey-awards-nominees-announced.html Archived 2019-07-13 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 2019-08-28
  27. ^ https://www.newsarama.com/41301-2018-harvey-awards-nominees.html Archived 2019-08-27 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 2019-08-28
  28. ^ MacDonald, Heidi (August 14, 2019). "2019 Harvey Awards nominations announced". ComicsBeat. Retrieved 2019-08-28.
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