New Iconic Comic Strip Exhibit at BCAE Makes Every Day Like Sunday

When John Read opted to call his show, “One Fine Sunday in the Funny Pages,” he wasn’t generalizing. All of the comic strips contained therein—and there are over 130 of them—were published on April 11, 2010.

“Folks are aware of the 22 to 24 comics published in their local Sunday paper, but not the 100-some-odd others getting published elsewhere,” Read, 54, said over the phone from his Mississippi home earlier this week. “I wanted this to be a snapshot of what’s available in newspapers across the country on a given Sunday.”

Still, at the onset, his vision was a fair bit more humble than what he ended up with. Actually, Read hadn’t even daydreamed about curating a traveling exhibit of iconic comic strips. Initially, as the publisher of a cartooning industry ‘zine called “Stay Tooned,” (a labor of love he refers to as “the illegitimate step-child of ‘Cartoonist PROfiles’,” because he started it only after the publisher of that magazine, Jud Hurd, died in 2005), Read was toying with the idea of a cartoon-themed museum somewhere down south. But, as is often the gist of many a Sunday comic strip, life is full of unforeseen complications and surprises.

The Best Laid plans…

“Based on advice I got from a few people I know and trust it became apparent that putting together a show of some sort would be the best way to get started,” he said. “But I was fairly naïve. I hadn’t thought about how it was going to take an awful lot of square footage to display all this work. The other revelation was, in talking to museums I thought for sure would be interested in a project like this, I realized that they schedule everything several years in advance. I hadn’t prepared for that at all.”

As it stands now, “One Fine Day in the Funny Pages,” which will be on display at the through May 29, is set to continue touring until the beginning of 2012. But when Read began talking to museums in late 2009, many expressed enthusiasm about running the show--sometime in 2013. Problem was, he’d only gotten the material on loan for about a year. And even though he’d been warned that keeping track of that many cartoon artists would be like ‘trying to herd squirrels,’ he’d amassed about twice as much material than the original 60 to 75 strips he’d initially planned for.

Read’s determination and willingness to work around cracks in the system (this is cartooning we’re talking about, after all) has lead to some unusual circumstances. For instance, the show made its premiere in a vacant retail mall space that had previously been a jewelry store. Since then, it’s hung in a VFW hall, a student union… and now it’s in an Adult Education facility (albeit a very sophisticated one with an unusually keen eye for art). Read has had to custom trim the exhibit in each city it’s visited due to its size, taking into account which comics would be most familiar to each city depending on what specific syndicated strips the local papers carried, which cartoonists might be in attendance, variety of styles and so forth.

“For the Festival of Cartoon Art at Ohio State, I could only use about half of what we’ve got,” he said, recalling a particularly arduous trimming job. “The display at the BCAE is actually the first time I’ve truly been able to hang up the entire thing. To finally see it the way it’s meant to be hung is incredibly gratifying. I have to say, it’s a wonderful and unprecedented body of work.”

A Welcome Surprise Guest

From “Brenda Starr” to “Cathy” to “Garfield,” “Family Circus,” “Marmaduke” and “Doonesbury,” the exhibit is extensive and pretty much accounts for all the strips—new and old—hitting major market daily papers at the time Read began cobbling it together. He says it fills every inch of available wall-space throughout both floors of the BCAE building.

But somehow, Boston made room for one more: internationally syndicated Boston Globe editorial cartoonist Dan Wasserman’s work was added by the BCAE as means to celebrate one of our own.

Although he’s not a “funny pages” cartoonist per say, Wasserman is mighty pleased to be included.

“I feel at home,” he said, calling from the Globe offices. “I’ve participated in other group shows over the years and have also hung a few solo exhibits. As far as being an editorial cartoonist hanging with the comic strips? I’m not too terribly concerned about making delineations like that… we’re often mining the same material.”

Nostalgia Makes It Personal

Read is aware that the show speaks to people largely with its nostalgia factor; many patrons are surprised to see that some of the strips are still being regularly produced. And while for him, the value of the presentation has more to do with the artwork itself and the craft of cartooning, he’s excited about reaching people in such a deeply personal way.

Wasserman agrees.

“The funny pages provide a ritual that lots and lots of people grew up with,” he said. “I admire John’s vision. At a time when newspapers are faltering, this is a wonderful nod to that deep-rooted association so many of us have. Furthermore, the show is impressive simply because it’s so big. We’re used to seeing these images in little boxes on the page and they appear to keep shrinking all the time… but the sheer size of them up on the wall is striking.”

Read has dispensed with his idea about a comic museum in the wake of managing this show. He’s not exactly sure what’s next, although he said the idea of an editorial cartoon exhibit seems like a logical progression… guess we’ll just have to Stay Tooned.

“One Fine Sunday in the Funny Pages” will be displayed at the BCAE from May 2 - 29. The exhibit is free and open to the public Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Check in at the BCAE’s front desk.

Not only will the original artwork don the walls of the BCAE during the month of May, but the BCAE will be hosting a free reception on Sunday, May 29 (the last day of the exhibit) from 2 - 4 p.m., providing the general public with a once-in-a-lifetime chance to mingle with many of the famed cartoonists whose original work is exhibited. RSVP is required by visiting www.bcae.org or calling (617) 267-4430.

To honor the exhibit and comic fans alike, the BCAE will be offering several comic-inspired classes throughout the month of May for those looking to take their interest one step further: “Creating a Comic Strip,” “Cartoon Drawing Workshop: Make Them Laugh With Your Pen,” and “Comic Book Art Workshop.” Please visit www.bcae.org for more information.