The press release below made it’s way to my inbox late last night and I really just glossed over it at the time. Upon reading it again in the sobering light of day it actually made my eyebrows shoot up. This sounds like an amazingly fantastic venture. The list of the cartoonists they plan to to archive and make prints from is pretty staggering. Some of the works they are putting together have not been seen in decades so I certainly applaud Rosebud Archives for making these pieces available to today’s comics readers as well as old-time collectors like me. We’ll have more for you as we get more info from Rosebud!
Rosebud Archives, whose goal is to revive and glorify vintage comic and graphic arts, has announced the opening of its website, http://www.rosebudarchives.com. The virtual store and website will specialize in prints, portfolios, posters, greeting cards, and books reprinting the best of comic strips, cartoon art, graphic satire, political cartoons, illustrations, advertising, posters, and magazine covers of the past.
The initial releases of Rosebud Archives include:
– A deluxe portfolio, “The Kraziest Kats,” comprised of 25 Sunday pages (including a previously un-reprinted page) restored to their original newspaper publication versions;
– Gallery-quality prints, available in several sizes, by Winsor McCay, John Held, Jr., Fontaine Fox, Clare Briggs, John T McCutcheon, Rea Irvin, and many other classic cartoonists;
– Books by Gluyas Williams and a portfolio by Eugene Zimmerman (“ZIM”);
– A limited-edition oversized portfolio, “People of Dickens,” by Charles Dana Gibson;
– A stunning color portfolio with unique color photographs of the immortal Marlene Dietrich, unseen for more than 70 years;
– Stationery, greetings cards, and envelopes featuring the artwork of George Herriman, Harrison Cady, Milt Gross, Cliff Sterrett, George McManus, and others.
Rosebud Archives also announced its intention to reprint the work of major graphic artists and cartoonists of German and French magazines of the Art Nouveau and Expressionist periods — Simpliccisimus, Jugend, L’Assiette au Buerre, Fiagro Illustre, Licht und Schatten, Wieland, and others. The initial Rosebud release program features legendary European cartoonists Erich Thony, Ferdinand von Reznicek, and others.
Rosebud Archives co-founders Rick Marschall and Jonathan Barli stated that their mission is “to make great graphic art of the past available to the public and accessible to fans, in quality formats and collectible editions. Comics, cartoons, and other forms of popular culture should be appreciated, collected, and preserved. Rosebud Archives is devoted to celebrating major works as well as forgotten classics of popular culture. State-of-the-art scanning technology, and museum standards of reproduction, will be our commitments.”
Rosebud Archives has fashioned a unique design for its portfolios – secure covers and binding; and “padded” sheets that allow the prints to stay intact or be easily removed for framing. Only archival-grade art papers are used for its prints.
The core of Rosebud Archives’ image bank is the noted collection of Rick Marschall, popular-culture critic and historian. The author of 62 books, he is also the founder of nemo: the classic comics library, Hogan’s Alley, Journal of the Cartoon Arts, and other magazines. Rosebud Archives will draw upon his collection, probably the largest private American archive of comic and cartoon art — comprised of original drawings, complete runs of newspaper comics beginning in 1893, major cartoon and humor magazines (including Puck, Judge, Life, The Masses), and specialty collections including posters, ads, toys and games, post cards and greeting cards, pinbacks, cartoonists’ sketches, and anthologies.
“The vast majority of this material has never been seen since original publication,” said Marschall and Barli. “Rosebud Archives has been established to right that cultural wrong.”