A Marvel of a Collection

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Pieces come to Special Collections in many ways: some are donated or bequeathed by alumni or collectors; others are purchased. But the library’s Comic Book Collection is unique, and not just because of the eye-catching artwork. It is the only collection that was started by undergraduates.

In the early 1970s, a student named Juan Cole (WCAS75) contacted Special Collections curator Russell Maylone and offered to donate his collection of more than 1,000 Marvel comic books. “In those days, when students were capable of anything and everything, accepting a collection begun by students seemed like a good thing,” says Maylone.

Another student who became involved in the collection, Walter “Wally” Podrazik (C74), wrote to Stan Lee, the publisher of Marvel Comics, and invited him to Northwestern. Lee, who usually commanded substantial speaking fees, agreed to fly in for free to officially dedicate the collection. Since then, the comics in the collection have attracted generations of students. And the comics themselves — dating back to the late 1930s and featuring names such as Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four and Captain Marvel — have become valuable collectibles. Adam Beechen (J90), now a television writer in Los Angeles, remembers spending Saturday mornings at Deering poring over classic comics. “I remember being thrilled that there was a place I could go to read the comics I could never, ever afford to buy as back issues, like early issues of the X-Men.”

Fast forward 10 years. Beechen, who had since built up a collection of some 10,000 comics, realized that if he kept collecting at his current rate, “I’d soon be paying more rent for storage lockers than for my own apartment.” So he decided to donate some of his comics to Special Collections. “I figured that if my comics could bring some current under-grad a pleasant Saturday morning, or some comics scholar a piece of information that wouldn’t be gained otherwise, that was better than getting pennies on the dollar from some comics dealer.”

In the past few years, Beechen has sent about 500 comics to Northwestern, and he expects to keep up that pace in the years to come. “Someday, my entire collection might reside inside the walls of Deering,” he says. “I can’t think of many better places for it.” — E.C.B.