Over 250,000 comic books published in the United States since 1935
are included in this collection, which is the largest cataloged
library collection of comic books. All are listed in
the MSU Libraries' online catalog system.
Cooperation with a commercial firm and with amateur microfilmers has resulted in the filming of
several thousand of the rarest superhero comic books from the
early 1940s, and these films, some in color, are available for
use in the Special Collections reading room. Estimation is
difficult, but the collection is probably at about the sixty percent
mark toward being able to provide a reading copy of every U.S. comic
book. The collection is definitely not limited to the more
"collectible" superhero and adventure genres. From the beginning
the emphasis has been to include all kinds of comic books. This list of
subject headings will hint at the generic scope of the collection:
Genres of Comics
