In San rrancisco
Comics academy established
SAN FRANCISCO (LAT) —
The two-story, 12-room house in
the quiet San Francisco
residential neighborhood is the
only place in America devoted to
the study, collection and
preservation of the comic strip.
It’s also the home of Barbara
and Bill Blackbeard.
Blackbeard, 45, pulp magazine
writer and lifelong comic strip
fan, founded the San Francisco
Academy of Comic Art four years
ago.
“It was something someone
had to do,” said Blackbeard, who
happens to be clean shaven—and
bald.
“This is the first time that the
78-year-old art form has been
isolated for study.
“And it’s only fitting the first
permanent study center for
comic strips should be
established in the city where it all
started.”
The first comic strip ever
published was James Swin
nerton’s “Little Bears,” a series
that began appearing weekly in
1893 in the San Francisco
examiner, Blackbeard said.
There have been at least
10,000 different comic strips in
this country alone since Swin
nerton launched the art form,” he
said.
“Some lasted only a few weeks,
others continued uninterrupted
for half a century or more.
The Academy of Comic Art has
a good start—more than 100
complete works so far, clipped
from old newspapers and filed.
On file in Blackbeard’s home
are all of Windsor McCay’s
“Little Nemo” comic strips, for
example. The cartoon appeared
in newspapers from 1905 through
1913, then reappeared from 1922
through 1926.
All of “Polly and Her Pals,”
“Prince Valiant,” “Flash Gor
don,” “Dick Tracy,” “Tarzan,”
“Little Orphan Annie,”
“Gasoline Alley” and “Harold
Teen” are there, too.
Only slightly less complete are
the files on “Buster Brown,”
“Happy Hooligan,” “The Kat
zenjammer Kids,” “Mickey
Mouse” and "Buck Rogers.”
Blackbeard, his wife and a
dozen other comic strip addicts—
mostly middle-aged men and
women—spend hours each week
clipping cartoons from old
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.144 5371
newspapers with razor or
scissors.
The Blackbeards’ home is
jammed from floor to ceiling with
bound newspapers, with cabinets
filled with comic strips, with
books and with other material
related to comics.
There’s barely room for the
couple’s bed, stove and
refrigerator. The bathroom is the
only room in the house that does
not double as academy space.
“We can’t use the bathroom,”
explained Blackbeard, “because
of possible moisture damage
when we shower.”
Blackbeard and his wife sold
their car, most of their furniture
and eliminated all unnecessary
expenses to launch the academy.
The comic strip is a reflection
of the times and mores of the
American people.
“Sociologists find a wealth of
materia] in the art form, so do
historians and those interested in
the inherent artistic values of
comic strips,” he said.
“Few have assessed the role
comic strips have played in
American life, in literature and
the arts.
“There’s a great deal of in
terrelation between literature
and comic strips. Many comics
are spinoffs from popular fiction ;
many works of fiction can be
traced directly to comic strips.”
Blackbeard is a walking en
cyclopedia on comics. He knows
the day many strips began, the
history and development of story
lines.
He opened a file of strips from a
series by E.C. Segar first known
as the "Thimble Theater.”
Familiar characters appear—
Olive Oyl, Sappo. But Popeye
didn’t come along until “Thimble
Theater” had been going 10
years.
“Popeye became so popular
that Segar renamed the strip
after him,” said Blackbeard.
“First time Popeye shows up in
the comic strip is Jan. 17, 1929.”
Rill Blackbeard displays his collection of comic strips.
Great variety of classics, jazz, and folk
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