In recent years, Portland State has gained a reputation as an up-and-coming university, focusing on specialized programs and diverse opportunities to enhance the educational and research value of the university.
In the last month, that reputation was upped again. No, we’re not talking about the university’s much-ballyhooed $25 million sustainability grant–we’re talking about comic books.
This past term, PSU’s Branford P. Millar Library received two collections of the complete works of Dark Horse Comics, the nation’s third-largest comics publisher after perennial mainstays Marvel and DC Comics. The donation comes from PSU alumni Mike Richardson, Dark Horse’s co-founder and president, and Neil Hankerson, vice-president of the company.
But what, aside from bolstering the collection of works in the campus library, is the point of PSU housing the 22-year history of Dark Horse comics?
The collection won’t be there solely for the entertainment of students. Apart from the browsing collection available for public perusal, the library’s Special Collections department will keep a separate archive for scholarly research.
While some may balk at the academic validity of studying comics, university professors across the country have been analyzing and critiquing graphic novels in various academic forms for years.
To its credit, Portland State offers not only an English course on graphic novels, but also several other classes throughout disciplines exploring the various critical, artistic and cultural interpretations and meanings of the medium.
For example, Art Spiegelman’s non-fiction works Maus and Maus II are critical examinations of the Holocaust, with Jews and Nazis characterized as mice and cats, respectively. Another example, Marjane Satrapi’s autobiographical Persepolis, chronicles a young girl’s experiences growing up in the midst of the 1979 Iranian revolution.
Both Spiegelman and Satrapi’s works are often taught for their unique takes on their respective subject matter.
Comics are not just the 10-cent pulp adventures they started out as, either: Whether fiction or non-fiction, the literary value of the medium has developed over the past decade, with rich, complex narratives such as Dark Horse’s own Concrete, an existentialist series about a man transplanted into a body of stone by aliens.
In short, the more academic studies of graphic novels there are, the more it legitimizes the medium.
Notably, the works in Dark Horse’s donated collection also include all available foreign language editions, ensuring that PSU’s diverse community will be able to enjoy and utilize the resources the collection will offer.
The collection is also the first archival attempt of its kind and is ongoing, meaning the university will continue receiving copies of every future Dark Horse release.
Perhaps the most important aspect of Richardson and Hankerson’s generous donation, though, is the increased legitimacy Dark Horse’s donation brings both to the Millar Library and to all of Portland State.
That Dark Horse chose PSU to be the recipient of their complete collection over, say, the Multnomah County library system or the Portland city archives, is further proof of PSU’s status as a growing leader in the Portland community, whether for its research or academia.
With any luck, the Dark Horse donation will prove to be just one of a number of new community partnerships and projects in the future, as well as yet another impetus across campus to continually push PSU’s already burgeoning reputation.
Dark Horse, the Vanguard salutes you.