A huge donation brought over 180,000 comics to the University of South Carolina. The collection includes many rare comics from both Marvel and DC, including the first issue of Avengers by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.
According to the University of South Carolina's website, the generous donation was made by Gary Watson, a lifelong comic collector from Ohio who has been collecting comics since 1958. It took two trips to Ohio, each with two 26-foot-long moving trucks, to move the entire collection.
“This is the work of a committed, lifelong collector. We could have never amassed a collection like this on our own," Associate Dean of Special Collections at University Libraries, Elizabeth Sudduth said in a statement. "We are so grateful to Gary for entrusting his amazing collection with the Irvin Department.”
Some of the collection will be featured in USC’s Special Collections Display at the Thomas Cooper Library starting on August 29.
Members of the Irvin Department of Rare Books and Special Collections have been tasked with going through and inspecting each item of the collection. Irvin Department cataloger and comics fan David Shay said, "Comics are really reflective of American interests and anxieties, so we can learn about sociology, psychology, history, politics, sports and even technology through them."
Featured in the collection is Avengers #1, the comic that first introduced the team of Iron Man, Ant Man, the Hulk, Thor and the Wasp. Lee and Kirby's Avengers #1 debuted in 1968.
Other rare additions to the donated collection include Star Trek #1 and The Brave and the Bold #28, which first introduced the Justice League of America. First appearances of the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, the Hulk, Spider-Man and many more are also feature in the collection.