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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 Marvel may refer to: Business * Marvel Entertainment, an American entertainment company ** Marvel Comics, the primary imprint of Marvel Entertainment ** Marvel Universe, a fictional shared universe ** Marvel Music, an imprint of Marvel Comics * ...
comic books' letter pages. His career in comics began in 1977 when he, together with his brother
Jan Mullaney Jan, JaN or JAN may refer to: Acronyms * Jackson, Mississippi (Amtrak station), US, Amtrak station code JAN * Jackson-Evers International Airport, Mississippi, US, IATA code * Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), a Syrian militant group * Japanese Article Numb ...
as well as
Don McGregor Donald Francis McGregor (born June 15, 1945) is an American comic book writer best known for his work for Marvel Comics; he is the author of one of the first graphic novels. Early life Don McGregor was born in Providence, Rhode Island, where he ...
and
Paul Gulacy Paul Gulacy (; born August 15, 1953) is an American comics artist best known for his work for DC Comics and Marvel Comics, and for drawing one of the first graphic novels, Eclipse Enterprises' 1978 '' Sabre: Slow Fade of an Endangered Species'', ...
, launched the publishing company
Eclipse Comics Eclipse Comics was an American comic book publisher, one of several independent publishers during the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1978, it published the first graphic novel intended for the newly created comic book specialty store market. It was ...
, famous for publishing the
graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...
''
Sabre A sabre ( French: ˆsabÊ or saber in American English) is a type of backsword with a curved blade associated with the light cavalry of the early modern and Napoleonic periods. Originally associated with Central European cavalry such as th ...
''. 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 DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...
and
Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
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 Milton Arthur Paul Caniff (; February 28, 1907 – April 3, 1988) was an American cartoonist famous for the ''Terry and the Pirates'' and ''Steve Canyon'' comic strips. Biography Caniff was born in Hillsboro, Ohio. He was an Eagle Scout and a r ...
's comic strip '' Terry and the Pirates'' to the public. Mullaney and Canwell launched the ''Library of American Comics'' in summer 2007, beginning publication of a definitive collection ''
The Complete Terry and the Pirates ''The Complete Terry and The Pirates'' is a collection of the American comic strip, ''Terry and the Pirates.'' The strip was authored by Milton Caniff and originally appeared in newspapers between 1934 and 1946 by the Chicago Tribune Syndicate wi ...
''.


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 Tribune Content Agency (TCA) is a syndication company owned by Tribune Publishing. TCA had previously been known as the Chicago Tribune Syndicate, the Chicago Tribune New York News Syndicate (CTNYNS), Tribune Company Syndicate, and Tribune Media S ...
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.


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 ''Steve Canyon'' and ''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.


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

*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

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. Unfortunately, however, LoAC discontinued publishing many of the titles before being complete.


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 *2012 **"Best Archival Collection/Project - Strips" — ''Flash Gordon & Jungle Jim, Vol. 1 '' **"Best Archival Collection/Project - Strips" — ''Tarpe Mills' Miss Fury - Sensational Sundays 1944-1949'' **"Best Comics-Related Book" — ''Caniff: A Visual Biography'' **"Best Comics-Related Book" — ''Genius Isolated: The Life and Art of Alex Toth'' **"Best Publication Design" — ''Genius Isolated: The Life and Art of Alex Toth'' *2013 ** "Best Archival Collection/Project - Strips" — ''Flash Gordon & Jungle Jim, Vol. 2 '' ** "Best Archival Collection/Project - Strips" — ''Percy Crosby's Skippy Daily Comics, Vol. 1'' * 2014 — "Best Archival Collection/Project - Strips" — ''Percy Crosby's Skippy Daily Comics, Vol. 2 * 2015 — "Best Comics-Related Book" — ''What Fools These Mortals Be: The Story of Puck''https://www.newsarama.com/25142-2015-eisner-awards-winners-full-list.html Retrieved 2019-09-05 *2016 ** "Best Archival Collection/Project - Strips" — ''Beyond Mars'' by
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and
Lee Elias Lee Elias (May 21, 1920 – April 8, 1998) was a British-American comics artist. He was best known for his work on the ''Black Cat'' comic book published by Harvey Comics in the 1940s. Biography Emigrating to the United States from Manchester ...
** "Best Comics-Related Book" — ''King of the Comics: One Hundred Years of King Features Syndicate'' ** "Best Publication Design" — ''King of the Comics: One Hundred Years of King Features Syndicate'' * 2018 — "Best Archival Collection/Project - Strips — '' Star Wars: The Complete Classic Newspaper Comics Vol. 1''https://www.newsarama.com/39672-2018-eisner-awards-nominations.html Retrieved 2019-09-05 Harvey Award nominations * 2008 — "Best Domestic Reprint Project" — ''
The Complete Terry and the Pirates ''The Complete Terry and The Pirates'' is a collection of the American comic strip, ''Terry and the Pirates.'' The strip was authored by Milton Caniff and originally appeared in newspapers between 1934 and 1946 by the Chicago Tribune Syndicate wi ...
'' *2009 ** "Best Biographical, Historical or Journalistic Presentation" — ''Scorchy Smith and the Art of Noel Sickles'' ** "Best Domestic Reprint Project" — ''
The Complete Terry and the Pirates ''The Complete Terry and The Pirates'' is a collection of the American comic strip, ''Terry and the Pirates.'' The strip was authored by Milton Caniff and originally appeared in newspapers between 1934 and 1946 by the Chicago Tribune Syndicate wi ...
'' ** "Best Domestic Reprint Project" — ''Scorchy Smith and the Art of Noel Sickles'' * 2010 — "Best Domestic Reprint Project" — '' Rip Kirby'' * 2011 — "Best Domestic Reprint Project" — '' Li'l Abner: The Complete Dailies & Color Sundays'' * 2012 — "Best Domestic Reprint Project" — ''Flash Gordon & Jungle Jim''


Awards

Eisner Awards * 2008 – "Best Archival Collection" – '' The Complete Terry and the Pirates - Vol. 1'' * 2010 – "Best Archival Collection" – '' Bloom County: The Complete Library - Vol. 1'' * 2011 – "Best Archival Collection" – ''Archie Dailies Vol. 1'' * 2014 – "Best Archival Collection" – '' Tarzan: The Complete Russ Manning Newspaper Strips Vol. 1'' * 2014 – "Best comics related book" – ''Genius, Illustrated: The Life and Art of Alex Toth'' * 2014 – "Best publication design" – ''Genius, Illustrated: The Life and Art of Alex Toth'' * 2015 – "Best comics related book" – ''Genius, Animated: The Cartoon Art of Alex Toth'' * 2019 – "Best Archival Collection/Project - Strips" – '' Star Wars: The Complete Classic Newspaper Comics - Vol. 3" Harvey Awards * 2012 – "Best biographical, historical or journalistic presentation" – ''Genius, Isolated: The Life and Art of Alex Toth''


Imprints


Publications of EuroComics


Recognition


Harvey Award

Nominations *2015 — "Best American Edition of Foreign Material" — ''Corto Maltese: Under the Sign of the Capricon'' by
Hugo Pratt Ugo Eugenio Prat, better known as Hugo Pratt (15 June 1927 – 20 August 1995), was an Italian comic book creator who was known for combining strong storytelling with extensive historical research on works such as ''Corto Maltese''. He was ind ...
*2016 — "Best American Edition of Foreign Material" — ''Corto Maltese: Beyond the Windy Isles'' by Hugo Pratt *2018 — "Best European Book" — ''Flight of the Raven'' by Jean-Pierre Gibrat *2019 — "Best European Book" — ''Corto Maltese'' by Hugo Pratt


Eisner Award

Nominations * 2015 - " Best U.S. Edition of International Material" - ''Corto Maltese: Under the Sign of the Capricon'',
Hugo Pratt Ugo Eugenio Prat, better known as Hugo Pratt (15 June 1927 – 20 August 1995), was an Italian comic book creator who was known for combining strong storytelling with extensive historical research on works such as ''Corto Maltese''. He was ind ...
* 2018 **"Best U.S. Edition of International Material" - ''Flight of the raven'' by Jean-Paul Gibrat **"Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (interior art) - Jean Paul Gibrat, ''Flight of the Raven''


References


External links


Library of American Comics - Official websiteThe Library of American Comics - Official YouTube channelThe Library of American Comics & EuroComics - Official podcast- Official website - An imprint of ''The Library of American Comics''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Library Of American Comics Book publishing companies based in California American companies established in 2007 Comic book publishing companies of the United States Disney comics publishers