Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / Aug. 23, 2003, edition 1 / Page 31
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QJlir UaiUj (Tar Heel Comic books swing into UNC, U.S. pop culture BY BRIAN MILLIKIN SENIOR WRITER They’re invading movie theaters with web slingers, X-heroes and an unjolly green giant. They’re attack ing televisions with Saturday car toons and hit series like “Smallville.” And now they’re swinging into the library with a superhero’s salvo. Comic books are back in a big way, if they were ever gone, at UNC’s Rare Book Collection in Wilson Library’. On July 16, the library received some 26,000 comics weighing more than two tons from local alumnus Dan Breen. The library has built toward a strong pop culture presence. “But I’ve been concerned for a number of years that the one literary format we’ve been missing is comic books,” said Charles McNamara, curator of the Rare Book Collection. “For quite a few' years I’ve been hoping someone would come forward with a gift, and when Mr. Breen did I was quite excited.” The collection’s library relies almost entirely on gifts, and Breen's is a serious gift, one of the largest donations the library ever has received. Breen proposed the donation, which contains comics and publicity art dating from 1980, in April. Breen devoted 10 w’eeks to preparing it all, a task he describes as daunting but necessary to close the book on his collecting career. “I had done it for close to 20 years, I’m pushing 60, and if I was going to have an opportunity it was time now to put it aside and focus on other things," he said. “I’m pushing that time of life when accumulating things is less attrac tive than giving them away; hence the 26,000 comics to UNC.” Breen’s ties to UNC are made of steel. He moved from Manhattan to Chapel Hill in 1975 for graduate school, after which he worked at the Rare Book Collection for a number of years. He even set up a Department of English scholar ship in his parents’ name. After leaving the University, he moved a few’ hundred yards and took over Rosemary Street's Second Foundation Bookstore, the comic book shop he owned for 20 years until last November. B SEA TWIN SET sllß —t k~J ZmU FULLSET 5168 v u If# queen set sibb : j WBmT m KING SET s:9B . -- ’ ££ mm TWIN MATTRESS ?ik I t Si ' Compare at 5399 j Bjrd 11 H ' (j I Ilf FULLSET S3OB . ■■■■■jm QUEEN SET $328 All futons come with an 8" thick futon mattress. tg| TWIN mattpf<;<; Sfflltj UsA 1 nR■ A A r2J22523 ! Bnn 9 in f^'s coupon to get a _ * HIM- u iFMßODimonyi phM TKMPUftPEDIC I*l IU M queen set $398 1 *>Sssupalieving ■Hv m teno '■ I with a set purchase of $ 150 or more. !?■*; .A Swedish mattresses and pillows B HRESS Offer valid thru 09-01 -03 while supples last (20"x54') % j ” NMA ’ 1 l " m s: J Store Hours: M-F JO-9, Sat JO-7, Sun J 2-6 CHAPEL HILL DURHAM 5446 New Hope Commons Dr. (Next to Wal-Mart) 919-489-8440 DURHAM j&flEf ia* Dr (Across from ■f . W f U J §9 Jf HBf ®*f f ® M . Y . fl 2330WalnutSt (Across from BJ's Warehouse) 919-233-7611 1 ’ t J £ ff I ~ J garner Hf I ff■ f flff M y V A w A BMM hM M RALEIGH CAPITAL BLVD - 3®, A' /fi'/ J?C, gfifll .S.'.m'i i .ipitcil Bhd iNextr, Michael's) RALEIGH SPRING FOREST 910 Spring Forest Rd. So. (Next to Men's Warehouse) 9-873-0008 lllllimiliHHHHl^^l^^lHlHillillllllHllllHllll^^lill^l RALEIGH-GLENWOOD 6812 Glenwood Ave. (Just South of Millbrook) 919-787-9655 DTH/BRIAN CASSELLA A small number of the 26,000 new comic books are displayed in Wilson Library. UNC alumnus Dan Breen made the large donation in July. The comic book industry has been on a roller coaster in that time, having declined for decades and hit ting bottom when an early-’9os boom crippled stores. Investors began buying comics like stocks, devaluing them in the process. Stores closed, comic makers went bankrupt; it all nearly capsized. But now a resurgence has occurred, and comics are gaining in popularity, if in relatively minor movements. “It still is not anything like it was 10 years ago,” Breen said. “Unit sales figures are still some thing like 50 percent of w hat they were in the early ’9os, and that pales in comparison to their popu larity during the war years, 1935 to ’55, when million-selling issues were commonplace if not unusual.” It’s unclear if the ne w populari ty is tied to recent major films or something else. “The times are pretty odd; a lot of people are los ing jobs,” said Anne Allison, chair woman of Duke University’s Department of Cultural Anthropology. “Maybe when things are so uneven in everyday life, maybe that’s when people crave these superheroes who are larger than life.” The books are becoming popu lar with academics as well, and it’s Welcome Back not just at UNC. Edwin and Terry Murray, lifelong collectors and Duke alumni, recently donated an even larger collection of 50,000 books to their alma mater, though the material mostly predates Breen’s. McNamara predicted that the rival collections will comple ment one another nicely. The Murray brothers' collection will be available for public use this fall, while the Breen collection will wait for what McNamara said could be a year or two. The books must be properly preserved, then extensively catalogued, but McNamara is taking great care. “I think there’s a strong scholar ly interest in comics,” McNamara said. “They tell us about contem porary American culture and pub lications, and culturally, the work of the artist is important; there’s great interest in that.” "Things we think of as being common as dirt turn out not to be 20 or 30 years down the road,” Breen said of comic books’ endur ing value. “Whatever anyone might think of them, characters like Superman and Batman are icons, recognized all over the world.” Contact the AdE Editor at artsde.sk@unc.edu. Police enforce substance laws Peers might assure you that it’s OK to obtain alcohol while underage using a fake ID or that of a friend because it is unlikely that you will be caught and that even if you are caught, the punishment is merely a slap on the wrist. Friends some times pass on tales of pot parties in residence halls and imply that enforcement of laws against ille gal drugs is virtually nonexistent. However, that is no longer true. Police officers are required to make an arrest w’hen they observe a misdemeanor. Bartenders and bouncers are required to confis cate any fake IDs and turn them over to law enforcement. So on any typical party night in Chapel Hill, if you are strolling with a beer in hand or smoking pot or trying to get into a bar with a fake ID or simply sitting in your residence hall room in possession of beer or pot, you can and will be arrested. Upon being convicted of many alcohol-related offenses, you will lose your driver’s license for at least one year. Family Weekend 2(1113 October 3-5,2003 Attention All Students. .. Don’t miss the fun! Invite your family to capture the feeling of Carolina! You have been talking about life at Carolina... now it’s time for your family to join in and capture the feeling! Invite them for an action packed Family Weekend 2003. They can expenence life the Tar Heel way with good food, foot ball, field hockey, soccer, variety shows and musicals, historic walks and fun _ . , , runs, art exhibits and family visits & lots more. This is a weekend to wander, OUillwmllig rur explore, discuss, learn, laugh, reminisce, relax and unwind Carolina style. Everyone! Some lucky mom or dad will win a free in state semester’s tuition for their stu UNC vs. UVA footbai dent at the Carolina Parents Association Annual Meeting, to be held Saturdav. hockey, socce. October 4that 9:3oam. Parent seminars Participants must register online at Parents Office website at UNC-Chapel Hill Show Choir http://parents.unc.edu Continue to check the website for further informa Clef Hangers & Loreleis tion and updates. Parents and students may contact the Parents Office Company Carolina Theatre with further questions at parents@unc.edu or by phone, 919-962-8304. Family Brunch • Student: sibling games CAROLINA PARENTS OFFICE SATURDAY, AUGUST 23, 2003 || ? wngyunm W**' HVv <|grML m DOROTHY BERNHOLZ STUDENT LEGAL SERVICES Students often are permitted to avoid prosecution either by taking an alcohol education course offered by Student Health Services or by performing community serv ice. However, you will have an arrest record and have the honor of making the crime report pub lished in The Daily Tar Heel. University police are searching more residence hall rooms for drugs and issuing more citations for possession of marijuana. Students found guilty of drug vio lations are placed on drug proba tion and required to attend a sub stance abuse program. More importantly, violations become part of students’ transcripts until they finish a probationary period; 31 they remain part of students’ disci plinary files for 10 years. Upon a report to University police, an officer will visit a resi dence hall room and request per mission to enter. Often, if drugs are found in the room, all students present are charged with posses sion even though they might not have purchased or used the drugs. Students have the right not to give permission or consent to a search. Student Legal Services will pro vide legal advice at no additional cost to students who have paid an activity fee. While we don’t provide in-court representation in criminal cases, our three licensed attorneys assist students in evaluating the seriousness of charges and, where appropriate, advise students on how to seek deferred prosecution and community service. To find out more about the service, check out http:// www.unc.edu/student/orgs/sls or come to Union 222. Contact Dorothy Bemholz at bemholz@email.unc.edu.
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Aug. 23, 2003, edition 1
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