Student discovers rare comics in university archive

Rare early edition comics have been found among thousands being catalogued at a university library.

A copy of Punch magazine – which first made cartoons popular – dating from the 1800s was discovered at the University of Dundee along with rare DC and Marvel comics and early drafts of DC Thomson publications.

American PhD student Hailey Austin made the find while looking through archives.

She said: “They are not only historically significant but invaluable for students and enthusiasts, especially those studying comics here in Dundee.

“We have Punch comics from 1895 donated by the late Stephanie Wolfe Murray – the pioneering female publisher who founded Canongate.

“These sit alongside thousands of DC comics donated to the university by famous Scottish comics writer Grant Morrison.”

Ms Austin, 24, created an online catalogue for the collection and also led the design of a comic telling the story of the collection.

She said: “Naturally being a comics PhD student, my first thought was to create a free comic that would highlight exactly what the university’s Archives and Museum Services have to offer.

“There are 19 contributors, including students and even someone who donated into the collection.

“These are amazingly valuable to comics students as they are integral to the creative process and are tough to get your hands on.”

Advertisement