The collection of the International Museum of Cartoon Art, which has not had a public presence in six years, is moving to the Ohio State University Cartoon Research Library. The addition of the IMCA collection, which consists of some 200,000 pieces, will make the Cartoon Research Library the largest collection of original cartoon art (what it calls comic strip, comic book, editorial, animation, graphic novel, and several other categories of art) in the world.  Cartoon Research Library held approximately 250,000 pieces of original art prior to the IMCA deal.  

The IMCA was founded by Mort Walker in 1973 in Greenwich, Connecticut, moved to Rye, New York, and eventually ended up on Boca Raton, Florida in 1996.  But in 2002, after several major donors were unable to fulfill pledges, the Boca facility was forced to close.  

The Cartoon Research Library is planning to provide increased space to display its expanded collection, including a new gallery named for Mort Walker.  

On a much smaller scale, the Cartoon Research Library also received a very important collection last month from the estate of King Features EIC Jay Kennedy (see “Jay Kennedy RIP”).  Kennedy bequeathed his 9500 piece underground comic collection, generally acknowledged to be the best in the world, to the Library.