‘It will blow their minds’: Art Museum showcases comic themed exhibit

Comics are a time honored tradition, and are notorious for dramatic plot lines and bright pictures:  some have become art icons that will last a lifetime. The University of Oregon’s Jordan Schnizter Museum of Art became part of the comic legacy  when it launched its exhibition ‘Aliens, Monsters, and Madmen: The Art of EC Comics’ on Friday May 13.

“‘Aliens, Monsters, and Madmen: The Art of EC Comics’ is one of the largest exhibitions of original comic art ever held in an accredited art-museum, and the largest ever devoted to the EC publishing company,” said curator Ben Saunders.

While most comic books focus on mystical creatures and crime fighting superheroes, EC is different in that it zeroes in on heavier issues such as politics.

“This is a show about a turning point in popular culture, when comics took a major step forward as an art form, and when the forces of reaction tried to push them back.  It’s a story about creative, commercialism, and censorship,” Ben said.

However, the views were not always welcome in the 1950’s-1960’s when they were in circulation, causing them to become censored, and eventually took them out of publication.

“They were primarily active in the 1950s, and were closed down as the result of a wave of anti-comics hysteria that gripped the nation in the early 1950s.  MAD survived by becoming a magazine and avoiding the censors; it is still in print more than sixty years later.  All the other EC titles were cancelled between 1954 and 1956,” Ben added.

Ben has been collecting for the exhibit since 2010.

“I began trying to track down art for the show back in 2010. A show on this scale involves a massive amount of work by dozens of people, not just the curator.  The curator comes up with and pitches the project and does the research and selects the images and comes up with an internal logic for the show, and then approaches lenders with the idea and secures the loans – as well as writing all the labels for the walls and organizing programming for the duration of the show (guest lectures, etc),” the English professor explained.

Once up the stairs, guests were treated to a comic book wonderland with the walls that were covered in framed covers from the past issues of EC comics along with timelines on the wall documenting the history of the publication.

Ben said: “EC was the most aesthetically radically and politically daring mainstream comic book company of the last one hundred years – publisher of such titles as Tales From The Crypt, Weird Science, Shock SuspenStories and a satirical comic called MAD”.

The artwork is known for its distinctive drawings.

Ben added: “Publisher Bill Gaines was very different from most other comics publishers of the era in that he allowed his artists to sign their work and encouraged them to work in their own styles.  He also paid well, and on time.  Consequently, he attracted the best talents,” Saunders added.

From students to elderly comic fans, the exhibit had something for everyone – especially the super fans who have been reading comic books for a long time.

“I’m super nerdy, I’ve read comics for most of my life”, said junior Theater major Hannah Rice.

One of the things that was most striking to the junior was that the book decided to confront social controversy early on by putting a black character as the center of the story.

“So far ‘Judgement Day’ blew my mind. It  happened before a lot of the civil rights movements started gaining traction so I think it’s super badass that they did that.”

The artwork even sparked an interest in people who have not been heavy comic book readers until recently.

“I’m only just breaking into the comic book form of media because I have money to spend on it now,” said sophomore Theater Art major Mackenzie Utz.

A neat feature of the set up were the immersion actors dressed up in makeup and costumes .  The witches read out stories, similar to those in the EC issues.

Not only did the artwork bring people into the land of author William Gaines, it also inspired the Theater Arts majors to add some variety into their acting.

“Honestly I would say the main character in the comic ‘I Hate Fairyland’.  Her contorted facial expressions and shall I say ‘vocabulary choices’ are very fun. I’m working to become a voice actor so often when I’ll read comic books I’ll often try and read them in a variety of voices,” Mackenzie added.

Overall, the exhibit showcased a mix of art and culture, something that Oregon represents well. For comic book fans and others who are just beginning, it showcased a historic piece of creativity.

“It will blow their minds,” Ben said.