An American student was delighted to find a collection of rare comics, some dating back to the 1800s, amongst thousands of publications she catalogued at Dundee University.
Hailey Austin, 24, unearthed comic gems including Punch magazine, first issues of rare DC and Marvel comics, and drafts and proofs of early DC Thomson comics amongst the materials donated to the university’s archives.
The PhD student from Colorado, said that the mammoth task of cataloguing the majority of the collections took over three months, but she would happily do it all over again because of the value these comics hold.
She added: “The university houses a huge collection. They are not only historically significant, but invaluable for students and enthusiasts, especially those studying comics here in Dundee.
“We have Punch comics from 1895 donated by the late Stephanie Wolfe Murray – the pioneering female publisher who founded Canongate.
“These sit alongside thousands of DC comics donated to the university by famous Scottish comics writer Grant Morrison. We also have a sizeable amount of comics scripts, a unique resource.”
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Not content with creating the detailed online catalogue for the huge collection, Miss Austin also led the creation of Chronicle: The Archive and Museum Anthology.
This is a 40-page comic telling 13 different stories behind the donations and inspired by the comics collections in the archives as well as the large collection of original comics art in the university’s Museum Services.
She added: “Naturally, being a comics PhD student, my first thought was to create a free comic that would highlight exactly what the university’s Archives and Museum Services have to offer.
“There are 19 contributors, including students and even someone who donated into the collection.
“Calum Laird was an editor at DC Thomson and he donated his Commando scripts. These are amazingly valuable to comics students as they are integral to the creative process and are tough to get your hands on.
“His daughter, Catriona, then created the art to tell the story of the life of a Commando script.”
Chronicle: The Archive and Museum Anthology will be launched to the public at 5pm on Thursday, October 18 at the Dundee Comics Creative Space, part of the University’s Festival of the Future.
The artists and writers involved in the comic include Hailey Austin, Elliot Balson, Zu Dominiak, Katriona Gillon, Matthew Gow, Eve Greenwood, Olivia Hicks, Rebecca Horner, Calum Laird, Catriona Laird, Norrie Millar, Nicole Munogee, Chris Murray, Golnar Nabizadeh, David Robertson, Megan Sinclair, Faye Stacey, Letty Wilson, and Adina Ziebart.
Those interested in hearing more about the collection and the stories behind it can book a free ticket to attend the launch at:
https://www.dundee.ac.uk/futurefest/programme/2018/18-10-18—comicsopolis.php
