Primary Sources: Underground and Independent Comics, Comix, and Graphic Novels

The Library has recently acquired an online archive of Underground and Independent Comics, Comix, and Graphic Novels, described on the publisher’s website as the “first-ever scholarly online collection for researchers and students of adult comic books and graphic novels. This multi-part resource covers the full spectrum of this visual art form, from pre-comics code era works to modern sequential releases from artists the world over.

“From the shocking and explicit work of young artists exploring newfound freedoms to intricate and beautiful designs of aesthetic craftsmanship, the comic book has shown itself to be a medium capable of both the offensive and the sublime. Now users can experience the full range of this offbeat art form by exploring 200,000 pages of original material alongside interviews, commentary, criticism, and other supporting materials.”


Trial: Underground and Independent Comics, Comix, and Graphic Novels (Digital Collection)

Trial: online comic resources

The Library has a trial to the Underground and Independent Comics, Comix, and Graphic Novels digital collection from Alexander Street Press. The trial will run through November 10th, 2018. If the collection is of interest to you, the Library wants to hear from you! Please send your comments and feedback to sreardon@berkeley.edu.

What You’ll Find:

  • Full-text, digitized collection of comics, comix, and graphic novels from the pre-Comics Code era works to modern sequential releases from artists in the US, Canada, France, Italy, Spain, England, Sweden, Norway, Australia, Korea, Japan, and more.
  • Titles like Essex County by Jeff Lemire, From Hell by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell, 120 Days of Simon by Simon Gardenfors, Gen Manhwa by various artists, Werewolves of Montpellier by Jason, and God of Comics: Osamu Tezuka and the Creation of Post-World War II Manga.
  • Selected works from artists such as Alex Toth, Boody Rogers, Fletcher Hanks, Steve Ditko, Joe Kubert, Bill Everett, Joe Simon, and Jack Kirby
  • Series such as Crime Does Not Pay and Mister Mystery.
  • 25,000 pages of interviews, commentary, theory, and criticism from journals, books, and magazines, including The Comics Journal.
  • The Seduction of the Innocent by Dr. Frederick Wertham and the complete transcripts of the senate subcommittee hearings that led to the Comics Code Authority and, inadvertently, the underground comix movement.

The UC Berkeley Library also has temporary trials until November 10th, 2018 for the following digital collections from Alexander Street:

We encourage and appreciate feedback regarding these trial resources. Please email sreardon@berkeley.edu.



Graphic Novels from Belgium, France, Italy, Portugal and Spain

Jacques Prévert n'est pas un poète
Jacques Prévert n’est pas un poète by Bourhis Cailleaux. Marcinelle : Dupuis, 2017.

Here’s a fairly complete list of most of the graphic novels acquired by the Library in the romance languages from southern Europe over the past two years. Some are critical or reference works, and a few English translations have been included as well.

List continues on the library research guide for European Comics & Graphic Novels—>

Fun by Paolo Bacilieri
Fun by Paolo Bacilieri. Bologna : Coconino Press, 2014.

Exhibit: Beyond Tintin and Superman: The Diversity of Global Comics

Image for email for comics exhibitJoin us on Friday, October 14, from 5-7pm in the Morrison Library to celebrate the opening of “Beyond Tintin and Superman: The Diversity of Global Comics.”

Curated by Liladhar Pendse, the exhibit features comics and graphic novels from a dizzying array of cultures, including Egypt, Poland, South Africa, Israel, the Czech Republic, Colombia, and Japan. The materials can be viewed in Doe Library’s Bernice Layne Brown Gallery through March 2017.

The event will feature talks by Ron Turner, founder of the Last Gasp, a book and underground comics publisher and distributor based in San Francisco, and UC Berkeley Art History Lecturer Ivy Mills, Ph.D., who specializes in the visual and literary cultures of Africa and the African diaspora.

To learn more about the exhibit and watch a video on the materials, read our story here.