William E. Blake Collection of True Life Era Comics
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William E. Blake Collection of True Life Era Comics
In 2001 Dr. William E. Blake, Professor Emeritus of History at Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, donated his collection of 1940's true life comics to the Special Collections and Archives of the university's Cabell Library.
Dr. Blake's childhood interest in history and current events led him to collect this type of comic book between 1941 and 1949. There are over 300 rare comic books and memorabilia in the collection from the Golden Age of comic book publishing. Included are such titles as "True Comics," "Real Heroes,""Real Life Comics," "1946 True Comics Calendar," and many over comics of this genre. Included also are over 80 issues of "Classics Comics." An especially valuable part of the collection is memorabilia, including a "Little Orphan Annie Decoder Pin," a certificate and a decoder of "The Supermen of America Club," and a badge, decoder, and certificate from the "Junior Justice Society of America."
There is one non-true life comic book in the collection that is very unique - a 1940 World's Fair edition of Detectiive Comics, with Superman, Batman, and Robin standing in front of the Trilon and Perisphere, the symbols of the 1939-1940 World's Fair.
The Collection website names all of the pieces in the collection, shows a number of the comics' front covers, contains an article about "True Comics" by Dr. Blake, and pictures the memorabilia. Dr. Blake was Professor of European history at VCU from 1965 till his retirement in 1992.
