Don't make your visit to Heroes, Heartthrobs, and Horrors, The Connecticut Historical Society Museum’s comic book exhibition, your only venture into Connecticut’s comics past! Several other sites throughout the state offer amazing archives and exciting, colorful things to see and experience from the world of comics and comics characters.

From Popeye to Betty Boop, this FREE museum is home to more than 80,000 items, including lunch boxes, wind-ups and other toys, plus literally thousands of other comic strip, cartoon, television and advertising memorabilia personally amassed by Herb and Gloria Barker. A great outing destination for families, this gem also serves as the official museum for the California Raisins™, Gumby™, Celebriducks™, and View-Master®. While there, visit the Barker Animation Art Gallery, and see the world’s largest animation and entertainment art collection. The museum is open to the public Wednesday through Saturday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Located in Cheshire, the Barker Museum can be contacted by calling (203) 699-3822 during museum hours and online at www.barkeranimation.com.

This kid-friendly exhibition features well-known heroes from the past and present, along with authentic memorabilia, activities, and an area for children to become a superhero. Ancient heroes like Hercules and Mercury, to present-day heroes like Superman and the Ninja Turtles, will be showcased. Original artwork, comic books, and action figures are on display from the Illustration House in New York City, the Northeast Children’s Literature Collection of the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center at the University of Connecticut, and private collectors Elias Derby of Northampton, Massachusetts, Tom Palmer, and other comic illustrators. On view through March, 2004. The museum is located at 30 High Street in New Britain. Admission is FREE. For more information call (860) 225-3020.

The Comix Collection at the University of Connecticut’s Thomas J. Dodd Research Center contains incomplete runs of over 70 underground comics titles published in the 1960s through to the present. Notable holdings include Snarf, Yellow Dog, and Gothic Blimp Works, among others. The collection may be viewed Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Saturday from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is Free. For more information, please see www.lib.uconn.edu/DoddCenter/ASC/APC/apcbrochurex.htm.

The collection at Yale University’s Beinecke Library holds over 200 titles and approximately 2,000 individual comic book issues dating from the 1950s through the 70s. This archive is particularly strong in silver-age issues published by DC and Marvel comics, along with significant titles from the California underground movement. To learn more about how to see this collection, see www.library.yale.edu/beinecke/brblhome.htm.

In preparation for the exhibition, CHS collected over Connecticut-made 700 comic books, including the first comic books ever made. The collection also comprises materials related to the merchandising of comic books (such as toys, records, and action figures), as well as original comic book art. Particularly strong in materials which date from the 1930s to the 50s, the collection can be viewed by appointment by calling (860) 236-5621, ext. 236.