Is a cartoon library worth $10 million? You bet it is, if consider the history and the joy it contains.
The Cartoon Library at Ohio State University is a one place to start your cartoon preservation and collection research. Heaven knows archivists know about preservation of printed, and other, materials – and while heaven might look fondly upon archivists, it tests them mightily to see if they are worthy of persisting on such a quixotic journey. Talk about a dream job – a Cartoon Archivist. As Mark Twain apocryphally advised writers: make ’em laugh and make ’em cry. That’s good cartooning (and librarianship) in a nutshell.
And possibly just worth the long journey to Columbus, Ohio: Bill Watterson (Calvin & Hobbes) and Richard Thompson (Cul de Sac) will appear on the same stage in the Spring 2014 at Ohio State. Wowsers!