05 July 2022
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Hand-painted colour for Rupert Annual, 1974
Batman, Rupert the Bear and Minnie the Minx are just some of the much-loved characters to appear in a new University of Dundee exhibition exploring the production process underpinning the creation of comics.
Comics Stripped! opened this week and will be on display at the University’s Tower Foyer Gallery throughout the summer. A celebration of the world of comics, it explores how comics are made and how that process has changed over time.
The exhibition is one of several comics-themed activities taking place in Dundee as part of the Summer (Bash) Streets Festival.
Matthew Jarron, Curator of Museum Services at the University, said, “Dundee is, of course, famous for producing comics and our students at the University have the opportunity of studying comics at both undergraduate and postgraduate level.
“We were keen to explore the process of making comics, much of which has changed completely in recent years thanks to digital technology. As well as some amazing artwork, the exhibition also features fascinating examples of scripts, printing plates, corrections, colour proofs and more.”
This exhibition has been guest-curated by Zu Dominiak, a comics creator and former PhD student at the University, who now teaches comics at De Montfort University in Leicester. While in Dundee, Zu was an intern with the University’s Museum Services and the exhibition also features larger-than-life characters from Inside the Museum, an upcoming comic created by Zu based on the internship.
Zu added, “One of the most incredible things about being an intern at Museum Services was interacting with original comics artwork. There are so many ways in which comics have been produced over the years, and I am very excited to share this insight with the public.”
All the artwork on show comes from the University of Dundee’s Museum Collections. The University holds Scotland’s only public collection of original comics art, featuring both Scottish and international creators.
Comics Stripped! runs until 30 September and is open from 9.30am-6pm on weekdays. Admission is free.
More information about studying Comics at Dundee can be found here.
Text and image courtesy University of Dundee.
