Underground Heroes: New York Transit in Comics. Jodi Shapiro. New York: New York Transit Museum. June 21, 2018-March
17, 2019. https://www.nytransitmuseum.org/
(all photographs are courtesy of the Museum and images of the exhibit are by Filip Wolack)
Though the New York Transit Museum may not be
an immediately obvious location for a comics exhibition, it is currently home
to one that looks at the way that New York City transit has been represented in
comics through the years. Highlighting works going back to the 1880’s, the
exhibition includes many types of comics, including political cartoons,
superhero comic books from major publishers, and sequential art that was
created specifically for the MTA Arts & Design, which is a program of the
Metropolitan Transportation Authority to commission art for the area’s
transportation systems.
Much of the exhibit is in the form of
reproductions mounted on foam core, but this is far from all that is on
display. There are dozens of individual comic book issues to show specific
examples of the New York City transit trains and stations across the years,
including very recent examples such as 2017 issues of Marvel’s The Unbelievable Gwenpool that show
creatures in MTA stations. Though Marvel and DC are very well-represented in
the exhibit, as might be expected, other publishers and artists are not
overlooked. Jodi Shapiro, the Associate Curator at the Museum and the curator
of this exhibition, notes that “the show required that we include as many
different styles of art and storytelling as possible, and we wanted to feature
diversity in both characters and creators. The most important thing was to have
good and compelling work that would draw people to visit the exhibit. The show
has a whole range of material from the straight-ahead superhero stories, to
some very abstract conceptual work. There are some pieces that have a lot of
text, and some that are wordless. Some work is very traditional, and some is
highly experimental.” Comics experts will find plenty of works that they
immediately recognize. An issue of Will Eisner’s The Spirit from 1951 is on hand to show how Eisner incorporated the
local trains into his own work, and an example of Dave Berg’s satirical “The
Lighter Side...” comic strip for MAD
Magazine that focuses on commuting is included in a section focused on
commuter woes. But there are also enough unusual items that most visitors will
probably find works they have not seen before. In fact, Concetta Bencivenga,
Director of the Museum pointed out that many of the artists featured in the
exhibit had told museum staff that their works have never been featured in a curated
show before.
The exhibition does a good job of representing
a diversity of types of comics and of authors, but there is an unsurprising
focus on creators who lived and worked in New York City. Original artwork by
some well-known artists are on display, including a piece by Jillian Tamaki
that was commissioned by MTA Arts & Design, drawings of New York City
subway stations by Julia Wertz, and comic strips created by Stan Mack. This
brings a local flavor to the exhibit that is particularly fitting, given its
location, and highlights the way that local artists have been influenced by the
same public transportation system that all New Yorkers use on a regular basis.
In addition to paying particular attention to local creators, the exhibit also
looked within the Museum’s existing collections for content as well. Shapiro
said that “The Transit Museum’s archives are vast, and our job is to make it
publicly accessible, so we wanted to include works of [art] from our
collection, including materials from Amelia Opdyke Jones. She had a long career
in comics and in illustration, but the most recognizable work she created as a
staff artist for the Transit Authority was called the Subway Sun, a courtesy
campaign that was developed to be posted in buses and subway cars.” Beyond her
work for public transportation, Jones was the creator of the syndicated comic
strip “The Young Idear.” Including pieces by artists who may be primarily known
as comics creators gives local visitors a chance to understand artwork that
they may have seen on their commute in a different way and also offers comics
experts a chance to see works by established comics artists that they may not
have previously considered.
In curating the exhibit, Shapiro did extensive
research and worked closely with comics creators and experts alike. She also
had the materials reviewed by two comics experts, Karen Green, who is the
Curator of Comics and Cartoons and a librarian at Columbia University, and
Charles Brownstein, who is the Executive Director of the Comic Book Legal
Defense Fund (CBLDF). While the content in the exhibit is interesting and
well-researched, unfortunately, the labels on the items do not always include
sufficient details to allow visitors to easily find copies of the works on
display if they wanted to further examine them. For example, many labels only
have the name, author and year, without month or issue number available. It
would have been nice if there was a bit more information about each item on
display, perhaps even including additional analysis. Overall though, this is a
minor quibble given the breadth of content that is on display.
Though the exhibit is only one part in a museum
with many different exhibits, it includes over one hundred pieces in total and
represents works from more than 120 artists. It is an interesting look at how
comics and transit have intersected over the years and it will likely have you
noticing public transit in comics in a whole new way. Originally, the exhibit
was scheduled to close on January 6, 2019, but it has been extended until March
17, 2019, in part because they are hoping to have more visitors from the comics
community see it before it closes. The museum is hosting a range of programs to
complement the exhibition, featuring Shapiro, comic artists, scholars, and
experts.
Carli Spina
(This
review was written for the International Journal of Comic Art 20:2, but this
version appears on the IJOCA website on December 14, 2018,
while the exhibit is still open for viewing.)
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Newspaper Comics Council ad campaign, 1962 [Walt Kelly (left) holding a Pogo strip]
New York Transit Museum NYCTA Photo Unit
Collection
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Newspaper Comics Council ad campaign, 1962 [Milt Caniff (right) holding a Steve Canyon strip]
New York Transit Museum NYCTA Photo Unit
Collection
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The Vault of Horror No. 30, 1950
Art by Johnny Craig
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Platform, 2015
Jillian Tamaki
New York Transit Museum Collection
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Walt McDougall, 1893
San
Francisco Academy of Comic Art Collection,
The Ohio State University Billy
Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum
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Little Sammy Sneeze, April 23. 1905
Winsor McCay, 1905
San
Francisco Academy of Comic Art Collection,
The Ohio State University Billy
Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum
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“Quarantine the Gumbug!”, 1948
Amelia Opdyke Jones
New York Transit Museum
William J. Jones Collection
Gift of William J. Jones and Margaritta J.
Friday
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Excerpt from Minimum Wage, 2014
Bob Fingerman
Courtesy of the artist
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Excerpt from The Red Hook, 2016
Dean Haspiel
Courtesy of the artist
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Excerpt from The System, 1995,
2014
Peter Kuper
Courtesy of the artist
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Frank Moser, c. 1920s
Collection of Mark Newgarden
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Harry Hershfield, 1930
Collection of Mark Newgarden
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“190th/181st Sts.”, 2016
Julia Wertz
Courtesy of the artist
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“Shadow Play”, 2012
Bill Griffith
Courtesy of the artist
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“In The Soul Crush”, 1909
Art Young
Flagler Museum Archives
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“Keep Your Feet Off The Seat!”,
1949
Amelia Opdyke Jones
New York Transit Museum
William J. Jones Collection
Gift of William J. Jones and Margaritta J.
Friday
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“Our Omnibusses” , 1881
Frederick Burr Opper
Flagler Museum Archives
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“The Streets of New York”, 1884
Frederick Burr Opper
Flagler Museum Archives
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“Too Elevated Altogether”, 1880
Frederick Burr Opper
Flagler Museum Archives
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“Watch Out!”, 1944
Alfred Andriola
New York Transit Museum Collection
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