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Tuesday 1pm - 5pm Wednesday 1pm - 5pm Thursday 1pm - 5pm Friday 1pm - 5pm Saturday 1pm - 5pm Sunday 1pm - 5pm

The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum

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The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum

The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum is the world’s largest collection of American printed cartoon and comics material. cartoons.osu.edu
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We are open to the public, please visit us soon! The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum was established in 1977 at Ohio State University in two converted classrooms in the Journalism Building, with the founding gift of the Milton Caniff Collection. Its collections of original art and manuscripts include the works of Winsor McCay, Will Eisner, Billy Ireland, Walt Kelly, Bill Watterson, Jeff Smi

th, George Herriman, among hundreds of others. The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum is now the largest and most comprehensive academic research facility documenting printed cartoon art! Our current holdings include more than:
45,000 books
67,000 serials (including 29,000 comic books)
450,000 original cartoons
3,000 linear feet of manuscript materials
2.5 million comic strip clippings and newspaper pages

Please visit our website to explore our collection!

06/23/2026

Could it be…a whole new section of Calvin and Hobbes original art?

The Museum Galleries’ new permanent collection exhibition, The Story of Comics, features an expanded section dedicated to Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson.

There are over 40 pieces of Calvin and Hobbes original art on display!

The Museum Galleries are open Tuesday-Sunday from 1:00 pm-5:00 pm. Admission is FREE!

06/09/2026

Acclaimed cartoonist Chris Ware has designed a stunning, limited-edition commemorative print for the The Ohio State University iteration of his exhibit "Life is Complicated," available for purchase now in-person at the Wexner Center Store and by phone. See link below for more details.

The exhibition at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum marks the only U.S. presentation of this collection of Ware’s work and features an immersive, design-driven installation created specifically for Billy Ireland’s gallery, showcasing original drawings, objects and rarely seen materials.

Proceeds of the poster sales benefit the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum.

Available for sale online here: https://wexstore.cloveronline.com/chris-ware-life-is-complicated-commemorative-print-1NCQVE1YKKEGA

06/03/2026

We are thrilled to welcome the Comics Studies Society to Ohio State's campus on June 11-13 for their 2026 conference, "Everything I Know, I Learned From Comics"!

The Comics Studies Society is an interdisciplinary society open to all who share the goals of promoting the critical study of comics, improving comics teaching, and engaging in open and ongoing conversations about the comics world. The 2026 annual conference will focus on pedagogical practices and related topics that broadly explore comics, teaching, and learning.

This year's keynote speakers are cartoonist and educator Tom Hart, and author and assistant professor Joanna Davis-McElligatt. This year's poster is by Ronnie Dukes of DUKEScomics.

To explore the full conference schedule visit https://comicsstudies.org/css-2026

05/19/2026

Congratulations to Raina Telgemeier and our colleagues, Anne Drozd and Jenny Robb for receiving a 2026 Eisner Award nomination for Best Comics-Related Book for their book, Facing Feelings: Inside the World of Raina Telgemeier!!

Facing Feelings: Inside the World of Raina Telgemeier is a companion catalog for the Facing Feelings exhibition that was on display at BICLM in 2023.

We are so proud of Raina, Anne, and Jenny! And we are thrilled that their hard work has been recognized.

And a big thank you to all our staff and student staff who helped make the Facing Feelings exhibition a success!

05/18/2026

Last week, we were delighted to have Chris Ware visit to help with the installation of his upcoming exhibit, Life is Complicated.

Chris Ware and our exhibit team have been working hard to transform the gallery space into an eye-catching and immersive experience for visitors.

You will not want to miss this exhibit!

And join us on Saturday, October 17, 2026 for an in-person event with Chris Ware! More details to come.

Life is Complicated will be on display from May 23, 2026 through January 3, 2027.

The museum galleries will be open Tuesday-Sunday from 1pm-5pm; Closed on Monday. Admission is FREE.

05/15/2026

Summer Saturday workshops kickoff on June 6th with ! Come visit the museum and join the workshop! Register on our website or visit go.osu.edu/summersaturdays.

05/14/2026

We can't wait for you to see what we’ve been working on👀

Our exhibit team has been working hard on installing our new permanent collections exhibition, The Story of Comics!

Drawn from the collections of the Billly Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum, The Story of Comics explores comics as an art form, how they work and how they are made, and how they reflect and shape the world around us.

This is an expanded redesign of our permanent collection gallery and is unlike anything we have done before.

This permanent collection exhibition will open on Saturday, May 23, 2026!

The Museum Galleries are open Tuesday-Sunday from 1pm-5pm; Closed on Monday. Admission is FREE.

04/28/2026

The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum will reopen to the public on Saturday, May 23, unveiling a newly designed museum experience that invites visitors to explore the art, history and cultural impact of comics in new and engaging ways.

Headlining the reopening is a major international exhibition, Life is Complicated, by acclaimed cartoonist and designer Chris Ware, on view until January 3, 2027. The exhibition marks the only U.S. presentation of this collection of Ware’s work and features an immersive, design-driven installation created specifically for Billy Ireland’s gallery, showcasing original drawings, objects and rarely seen materials.

Read more on the blog:
https://library.osu.edu/site/cartoons/2026/04/28/billy-ireland-cartoon-library-museum-reopens-may-23/

04/23/2026

A big thank you to Grace Ellis for leading BICLM’s Girl Scout’s Day workshop earlier this month!

The Girl Scouts got to learn how to develop stories and characters, and create a four-panel comic strip. This all helped them to earn their Comic Artist Badge!

Photos by Emma Halm.

04/10/2026

We had so much fun last month during Mini-Comics Day!

Thank you to everybody who attended. We hope you enjoyed expressing your creativity through mini-comics.

And a big thank you to our Museum Educator, Rebecca Richardson, for putting this together!

Address

1813 N. High Street
Columbus, OH
43210

Opening Hours

Tuesday	1pm - 5pm
Wednesday	1pm - 5pm
Thursday	1pm - 5pm
Friday	1pm - 5pm
Saturday	1pm - 5pm
Sunday	1pm - 5pm

Telephone

+16142920538

Website

http://cartoons.osu.edu/

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