search articles:     from the issue of May 4, 2006         Librarian takes aim at comics niche  BY TROY FEDDERSON, UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS A stroll by four shelves in the quiet of the Love North basement is enough to make Richie Graham smile.     COMICS COLLECTION - Richie Graham, digital learning librarian/assistant professor for University Libraries, is expanding the libraries' graphic novel and comic book collection. Photo by Troy Fedderson, University Communications. Those shelves - with gaps reflecting items on loan - hold the majority of the University Libraries' graphic novel and comic book collection. They are also home to Graham's research focus, a direction the digital learning librarian/assistant professor sought when he joined the University Libraries two years ago. "When I was hired here as a librarian in 2004, I noticed the collection was lacking in graphic novels and comic books," said Graham, a 2000 UNL graduate. "Really there was just a handful of items taking up a few inches of the shelves when I got here." When Graham proposed his research area - something required of university librarians - he met an initial wave of skepticism. However, through his own investigation Graham showed that comics and graphic novels are a popular and growing research area. Comic-related archives at Ohio State and Michigan State rate best nationwide, while the University of Florida is establishing an extensive collection. "A lot of people look at this and think it is pop culture, easily dismissed and not worthy of academic study," Graham said. "But, I've been able to persuade those people." His weapons in the discussion include works that go beyond the stereotypical superhero genre. A small sampling of Graham's more persuasive comics include "Palestine," in which journalist Joe Sacco presents accounts of Middle Eastern events in comic form; "Maus I" and "Maus II" in which Art Spiegelman writes about his father's survival in Nazi concentration camps; "Suspended in Language," a comic-book history of physicist Neils Bohr's life and discoveries by Jim Ottaviani and Leland Purvis; and "Persepolis," a two-volume memoir by Marjane Satrapi about growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. "We've also bought some superhero comics," Graham said. "But, many of those have deeper literary things going on and work well in an academic environment." Among the superhero selections is "Squadron Supreme." The Marvel series from the mid-1990s marked the beginning of a deconstructionist movement that swept through the comic book industry. Squadron Supreme also has local importance as Bob Hall, a Lincoln resident, illustrated the series. The collection also includes digital versions of popular comic series. Graham has a comic book collection of his own, which he now uses for research. He started collecting while growing up in Nebraska City. "Comic books totally captured my imagination," Graham said. "My buddies and I would divide up who would buy what and we would share them. I collected the Avengers, Iron Man and Dr. Strange." While savoring the story lines, the books also provided an influence that has paid dividends for a librarian. "Comic books instilled in me the love of reading," Graham said. "My wanting to reading James Joyce, Virginia Wolfe, Mary Shelley, William Faulkner and other authors today is something I owe to when I was a kid and bought Dr. Strange comic books. "Comics were my gateway to literacy." Graham continued to collect while earning a bachelor's degree at UNL, but the hobby ended as he prepared for marriage and pursued his first master's at the University of Iowa. Comics surfaced again while Graham worked on his second master's at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. "I wanted to get back into skateboarding, but my wife convinced me that I would end up killing myself," Graham said. "So, I thought it was time to get back into comic books." In instructional design courses at Corpus Christi, Graham bandied about the idea of teaching through comic books. That idea grew at UNL. While expanding the university collection through annual funds, Graham has also melded the idea of comic books as education into liasion work with UNL's Visual Literacy program. He has presented papers on graphic novel topics and being a librarian collecting comic books at national and international conferences, and is working to create an academic, online journal dedicated to comic scholarship. "This is not about making UNL the premier comic book university," Graham said. "We are doing this to provide a resource. And to show that we are a cutting edge university that takes this seriously." He also hopes to wrap the collection into more UNL courses. "I love to talk comics with anyone," Graham said. "Especially on how to incorporate this into curriculum across campus." And, for Graham, the collection also serves one important need. "The library right now is vying to be a place people go to," Graham said. "Kids use the Internet and Google so much that it's hard to get them into the library. But, when we have a collection like this, something that is being used, it is wonderful to see." GO TO: ISSUE OF MAY 4 NEWS HEADLINES FOR MAY 4 Librarian takes aim at comics niche Campus hosts officials from Zambia May 15-19 Griesen to address graduates Groundbreaking ceremony for quilt center is May 12 Love Library participates in free comic day Elderquest program examines reality of aging FROM THE ARCHIVES Landscape architecture program attracts students for fall semester UCARE student adds multicultural touch to Lied Center marketing UNITE POWWOW 732435S35876X