Q-Collection

The Q-Collection Comic Book Preservation Project was created in 2001 to rescue and preserve key comic books published from the 1930s to the 1960s. This preservation project was developed and the comic books assembled, in the small town of Quincy, Massachussets (U.S.). As a result, this "Quincy" collection is referred to as the Q-Collection.

Key comic books include the first issue of a series, the first appearance of an important new character within a series, the revising of an existing character for a new comic book age, or the origin issue of an important character.

The Noble American Born Art Form[edit]

In a 1993 speech at the “Diamond Comics Seminar,” the American writer Harlan Ellison referred to comic books as the “noble American born art form.’^[1]. From its inception in the 1930s, this comic book art form has now spread throughout the world, igniting interest about western culture among the world’s young. Sadly, these comics treasures are endangered as the original comic books printed between the 1930s and the 1960s are rapidly deteriorating. The acidic pulp paper on which they were printed will, inevitably, cause this part of American heritage and culture to self-destruct.

Why Bother To Preserve Comic Books[edit]

When asked why it’s important to preserve the books, Sindall said, “It’s a stimulant to the imagination. You don’t think that Spielberg and others that, things just popped into their head. Here you have stimulants to the future. People in the future will mine these like mining gold.” “This is the last opportunity to preserve these before they’re gone.”^[2].^[3]^[4]

Early Warnings of Comic Books Deteriorating[edit]

In 1989, the comic book historian Ernest Gerber wrote:

"The worst enemy to comics books is ignorance and procrastination. First we refuse to face established facts, then when the collector finds out about them, he figures that there is no rush to store the comics properly, and eventually, he’ll get to it. Friends, the clock keeps ticking and cannot be reversed – the clock keeps ticking and cannot be reversed – lives of perishable pulps can be easily extended for many generations – if you want them to be."^[5]

The Hazards of Slabbing Comic Books[edit]

Slabbing (encasing graded comic books in plastic) actually traps oxygen in the plastic case, which allows the acidic pulp paper to continue to deteriorate.(5)

The Q-Collection gives readers a first-hand look at the comics in their original form that has been preserved and protected.

(5) Comic Book Heroics: Mensan Leads Effort to Preserve Key American Comics by Michael Hill, Ph.D. | Illustrated by Joyce Farmer, The Mensa Bulletin, The Magazine of American Mensa, February 16, 2016, No. 592, pages 26 to 29

The Failure of Cellulose Acetate Lamination[edit]

Laminating deteriorating documents is an old idea that proved unsuccessful in the past due to the use of cellulose acetate as a lamination material. (6) Everything changed with the introduction of heat-treated, UV-resistant, long-life Mylar laminating pouches.

(6) Guidelines for the Care of Works on Paper with Cellulose Acetate Lamination, Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institute, Marit Muson (editor), Funded by the Getty Grant Program.

The Acute Problem of Preserving Artifacts[edit]

Preservation is a challenge for any artifact, but the problem is acute with comic books, which are traditionally printed on cheap paper that disintegrates in a span of decades.(7)

The laminate melts right into the fibers of the comic, sealing the pages while also keeping them supple enough to be flipped.

This preservation method reduces the market value of the comics, but increases the odds that they’ll stick around and be read in the future, which is exactly what Sindall wants.

(7) Boston Sunday Globe, Ideas, Brainiac, Comic Book Forever, by Kevin Hartnett, July 21, 2013

The Library of Congress’ Five Year $1.6 Million Dollar Preservation Project[edit]

The company Preservation Technologies has developed a revolutionary process to save paper, including comic books. The process earned the firm a five-year contract from the Library of Congress to save about 100,000 comic books, including Superman and Spider-Man, as well as not-so-super characters such as Richie Rich.(8)

"Comic books are a challenging type of material," said Mark Sweeney, chief of the preservation reformatting division at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., which houses the largest comic book collection in the United States. Because comics are printed on highly acidic wood pulp paper, similar to newspapers, even the utmost of care won't arrest their eventual decay, he said, and other preservation methods don't work well for comics."

"Our chemist predicts that the treatment will make the average book last between 300 and 800 years," said Ken Harris, preservation projects director for the Library of Congress.

Untreated, books degrade and become brittle in 50 to 100 years, he said, "but we can avoid that now." "One reason this process is catching on throughout the world and is so popular with the Library of Congress is because it's so cost-effective," Harris said. He estimated that books can be deacidified for about $16 each.

(8) Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Cranberry Firm uses revolutionary process to preserve precious paper, by Jill Cueni-Cohen, Sunday, November 21, 2004, updated Thursday May 24, 2018

The Q-Collection Advisory Committee[edit]

The Q-Collection was begun in 2001 with the help of a restoration specialist who was the project’s first advisor and dropped out in 2006. The second advisor joined the project in 2002. By 2007 the Q-Collection Advisory Committee included 25 top comic book professionals in 18 countries.

1. Amane Chu Yi Min (pen name: JDC Amane) (Singapore)

2. Robert Beerbohm (Nebraska, USA)

3. John Philip Borger, Esq. (Minnesota, USA)

4. Dr. Tim Bollinger (New Zealand)

5. Harlan Jay Ellison (California, USA)

6. Professor William H. Foster (Connecticut, USA)

7. Dr. Michael Hill (Australia)

8. Usman Ali Khan (India)

9. Chris Launder (Canada)

10. Professor John A Lent, Ph.D. (Pennsylvania, USA)

11. Antonius "Toni" Masdiono (Indonesia)

12. Andy Mason (South Africa)

13. Professor Fusami Ogi (Japan)

14. Igor Prassel (Slovenia)

15. Scott Preston (Oregon, USA)

16. Dave Reeder (Dubai, UAE)

17. Trina Robbins (California, USA)

18. Charles "Chuck" Rozanski (Colorado, USA)

19. Dez Skinn (England, UK)

20. Professor Waldomiro Vergueiro (Brazil)

21. Richard Williams (Wales, UK)

22. Dr. Wendy Siuyi Wong (Hong Kong)

23. Hugo Yonzon (Philippines)

24. Steve Younis (Australia)

25. Dr. Mikhail Zlatkovsky (Russian Federation)

The Comic Book Binders[edit]

There are 72 3-ring binders in the Q-Collection. Originally the comic book binders were to be tri-wood binders that would open like a book and close up like a box. That design proved too cumbersome and too expensive. The temporary 3-ring binders were of such good quality that they are now the permanent Q-Collection binders.

For additional protection and to unify the Q-Collection custom-made binder sleeve were decided upon. Those sleeves, currently in production, use bronze sheet metal for stability and longevity. Etched into the front, top and spine are the words Q-COLLECTION COMIC BOOKS, 2001 – 2018, and the binder number such as 5 of 72.

Numbering the binder sleeves from 1 to 72 ensures that the collection is never broken up.

Possible Donation Destinations of the Q-Collection[edit]

The Q-Collection was intended to be a nonprofit donation. That has recently changed for a variety of reasons.

Possible donation locations included the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC, The Library of Congress also in Washington DC, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Comic Art Museum in China, or one of several suggested universities.

One by one those donation locations were eliminated for a variety of reasons.

1. Universities: Universities are located in non-vacation locations. This means that the average person my not take their vacation to universities located in Wisconsin, or Michigan, or Boston and the like. Plus, most universities restrict access to their collection to those affiliated with the university or those who have been given special access permission.

2. The Comic Art Museum in China: This was a poor choice for a donation location. Few outside of China would ever get to see the Q-Collection. Donations ultimately become the property of the Chinese government.

3. The Smithsonian Institute suggested that the Library of Congress would be a more appropriate destination for the Q-Collection.

4. The Library of Congress began collecting comic books in 1950. Half of the Q-Collection were printed after that date, which means that the LoC already owns half the comic books in the collection. There is no reason to provide them with duplicates.

5. The Victoria and Albert Museum purchased a private collection of 17,000 comic books in 1990. When the Q-Collection offered to give the V&A museum these 275 key American comic books to them back in 2011 the museum director declined it stating that the museum did not have sufficient space for those comic books. When a new director was appointed in 2018 the offer was resubmitted. That submission received no response after one month. At that time the V&A Museum was notified that the offer was being withdrawn.

The Future of the Q-Collection[edit]

Members of the Q-Collection Advisory Committee have suggested that the Q-Collection be given to Sotherby’s (9) to be put up for auction in the fall of 2018. The reasoning is that the bidders are likely to include libraries, museums and universities. So the Q-Collection may end up where it was originally intended to go.

Any proceeds would go to the founder of the Q-Collection project who funded 100% of the costs involved. The founder also put in thousands of hours of work to get the project up and running and completed. Any auction amount received would be only a small portion of the investment made during those 17 years.

Supporting Statements From Members of the Q-Collection Advisory Committee[edit]

We have received an almost endless number of supporting statements from around the world for the Q-Collection project. Here are a few of those:

   Harlan Ellison:    (USA)   "The Q-Collection Project is of enormous importance. The participants have found a wonderful method of preserving this part of our cultural heritage. Until this project was begun time was affecting these fragile comics. The special comic book binders are now time capsules to the future. High praise should be given to those involved in this preservation project."

   Professor William Foster:    (USA)   "Saving these incredible relics of the past is such important work. It is ironic that just as comic books are finally being recognized by society at large as remarkable markers of popular culture and American history, it's almost too late. I am proud to be a part of this effort."

   Doctor Michael Hill:    (Australia)   "In a world in which comic books have been treated for far too long as consumables and ephemera the Q-Collection Comic Book Preservation Project represents a significant plan to preserve key items of these as popular culture artifacts. This project also provides physical protection against the transitory status of comic books by means of coating, wrapping and encasement in protective materials that will ensure defense against their decay. The selection and acquisition of these rare comic books that have become classics of popular culture, their preservation treatment, deposit and safekeeping and subsequent availability for reading and research by future generations has my support and deserves backing by business benefactors, patrons of popular culture and by an appropriate public collection institution."

   Usman Ali Khan:    (India)   "Comics are just not books for having fun only in fact it can be a key for Learning, it represent the culture of some Country. Around my environment in last 3rd decade there was a huge community and group of people who loved Comics, but in recent years when technology grown up very rapidly craze of comics world goes down. and people usually spends their time on Internet and Television So a huge step was required to overcome from this problem and Q-Collection Project is a way to preserve Comic World and helps in making back interest of people in Comics."

   Chris Launder - Project Advisor since 2002:    (Canada)   "I joined the Q-Project in it's 2nd year back in 2002. At that point a lot of the project was mostly ideas about wanting to preserve the comics. I immediately recognized the need for such a project and wanted to come on board. Why the need? Comics have been an important medium in many aspects throughout their history. In the early 1900's the characters were used to advertise everything from shoes to gum to gas. As time went on they influenced other mediums such as other literature, radio, TV and now film. Such an important part of our culture needs to be saved in its’ original format for future generations to learn from."

   Professor John A Lent:    (USA)   "You are assembling a fine crew with Trina, Michael, and Igor on board. I will send you one or two Asian and African individuals soon for your consideration. Keep up the great work. John."

   Antonius "Toni" Masdiono:    (Indonesia)   "Comics have come a long way, maybe from the beginning of our modern culture. It has also evolved over many, many centuries to find its contemporary styles, and is still evolving today. This project is a stepping stone in comic evolution."

   PROFESSOR FUSAMI OGI:    (Japan)   "In the last decade, in a global sense, comics scholarship has developed incredibly. Comics studies no longer holds a minor position and Comics is no longer trash culture. Comics which have been created are a crucial part of our culture and should be preserved forever. It is a great pleasure for me to advise in Q-Collection Comic Book Preservation Project from outside the US."

   Igor Prassel:    (Slovenia)   "It was about time that a serious historical preservation project in the field of comic art - I see it as a Cinematheque for comic books - got started. Even if the main objective of the project is to preserve comic books from the 1930's to 1960's for the Smithsonian Institute reading collection, I hope it will not deal only with American comic books, but with time will spread into an international collection."

   Scott Preston:    (USA)   "All my life I've collected comics and marveled at the comic book characters & their heroic exploits. When I read what John planned to do with the Q-Collection I immediately supported his preservation efforts. I have always felt that certain comic issues must be saved for posterity. Although the generations since the 1930s have had endless comics to collect and enjoy, future generations may never get to see the original comics that began this worldwide phenomenon. John has given his all in this endeavor to save these treasures. The Q-Collection Comic Book Preservation Project is one of the noblest causes I've ever known - not just within the field of comic books but for posterity in itself."

   Trina Robbins:    (USA)   "The preservation of comic books of major historical importance is an excellent and necessary project, and I'm happy to be of any help. Trina Robbins"

   Dez Skinn:    (UK)   "It is a frightening fact that the ever-dwindling number of key moments in the uniquely US creation of comic books are being hoarded away as future investments or permanently "slabbed" in sealed sleeves of Barex, a highly gas-impermeable plastic polymer. No other medium which had such an impact on the entire entertainment media and had such a profound inspiration on several generations of filmmakers, writers and artists would be treated in this cavalier fashion. At a time when no others seem to care, thanks to the efforts of Q-Collectables alone, researchers and historians will be able to read these key issues and appreciate the roots of a phenomenon for many, many years to come. This is a worthy goal which should embraced by all.".

   Richard Williams:    (UK)   "I believe that the Q-Project is of the utmost importance in preserving key comic books for individuals to read for generations to come. Imagine being given the opportunity to hold and read rare comics from American history that usually reside in the clutches of wealthy collectors and investors? It is wonderful to finally be able to read and enjoy these historic key comic books without the need for white gloves or a pair of tweezers."

   Hugo Yonzon:    (Philippines)   "These boxed comics are like windows to the culture of a nation. The storytelling, the balloons, the actions, the design of characters, and all those elements speak much not just about comics only but about the world immediately outside of it. That is why the Q-Project is a milestone endeavor. Consider its rich collection as evidences of a civilization like those found in the diggings of ancient temples. People of tomorrow can learn much from the treasures of the Q-Project."

   Steve Younis:    (Australia)   "Far from the 'funny pages' they were once considered, comic books are a viable and important medium for both art and storytelling. They can be an important tool for reading in early childhood, and the efforts of the Q-Collection is a must for future generations to understand the history and value held within their pages."

References[edit]

↑ Harlan Ellison (1993). "noble American born art form". Diamond Comics Dialogue Magazine. Kilimanjaro Corporation. 1993.
↑ Concord Journal. Vol. 89, No. 12: A-2. June 11, 2015. Missing or empty |title= (help)
↑ Schwan, Henry (12 June 2015). "Helping to preserve 'golden age of comics'". Wicked Local Concord. Retrieved 2015-11-22.
↑ Albert, Aaron. "Key Issue Definition". about.com. Retrieved 2015-11-22.
↑ The Photo-Journal Guide to Comic Books. Vol. 1: A-13. Missing or empty |title= (help)

(1) Q-Collection Comic Book Preservation Project: The Threat to the “Noble American Art Form”

International Journal of Comic Art, Vol. 14, No. 2, Fall 2012, pages 437 to 445

(2) Diamond Comics Dialogue Magazine, Kilimanjaro Corporation, 1993. <http:harlanellison.com/text/comcspeh.htm>

(3) Concord Journal, Thursday, Vol. 89, No. 12, June 11, 2015, page A-2

(4) The Photo-Journal Guide to Comic Books: Volume One, Gerber Publishing Company, Inc., Page A-13