Finding Aid to the Dan O’Neill Comic Art Archive
Bancroft Library staff
The Bancroft Library
2016
The Bancroft Library
University of California
Berkeley, CA 94720-6000
bancref@library.berkeley.edu
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
The Bancroft Library
Title: Dan O’Neill comic art archive
creator:
O'Neill, Dan
Identifier/Call Number: BANC PIC 2013.022
Physical Description:
approximately 2000 items
in 9 oversize boxes, 13 oversize folders (ca. 2,000 items), 1 envelope and 1 frame + 1 box (correspondence)
: chiefly ink drawings, some color
; various sizes
Date (inclusive): approximately 1963-2010
Abstract: This collection constitutes the entirety of Dan O'Neill's personal collection of his work that remained in his possession
as of 2012. The majority of items are original drawings, numbering 1,517, for the Odd Bodkins comic strip, which ran from
1964 through 1970.
Physical Location: Many of the Bancroft Library collections are stored offsite and advance notice may be required for use. For current information
on the location of these materials, please consult the library's online catalog.
Content Description
This collection constitutes the entirety of Dan O'Neill's personal collection of his work that remained in his possession
as of 2012. The majority of items are original drawings, numbering 1,517, for the Odd Bodkins comic strip, which ran from
1964 through 1970. Some later Odd Bodkins sketches are also present. Also includes approximately 170 drawings and several
prints representing his strip titled "O'Neill" (1980-1985); a small amount of material related to the comic books "Mickey
Mouse Meets the Air Pirates" (aka "Air Pirates Funnies no. 1") and "Dan O'Neill's Comics"; drawings, prints, mockups and other
material pertaining to The Log of the Irish Navy, The Collective Unconscience of Odd Bodkins and other publications; posters
promoting support of the Mouse Liberation Front and O'Neill's legal battles with Disney; miscellaneous sketches and prints;
18 drawings by other artists collected by O'Neill (e.g. Crabman, David H. Pierce, Jim Cornelius, Fred Rhoads, Shary Flenniken,
Campbell, R.L. Crabb and Gary King); and copies of 2 publications by O'Neill: Big yellow drawing book and Buy this book of
Odd bodkins. Also includes 7 undated sketchbooks containing drawings, poems and other writings; and a series of illustrated
love letters written by O'Neill to Denise Sporer in the summer of 1973.
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research. Negatives available by appointment only.
Conditions Governing Use
Some materials in these collections may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). In addition, the reproduction
of some materials may be restricted by terms of University of California gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions,
privacy and publicity rights, licensing and trademarks. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond
that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be
commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.
All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from, or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the
Head of Public Services, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley 94720-6000. See: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/reference/permissions.html.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Dan O'Neill comic art archive, BANC PIC 2013.022, The Bancroft Library, University of California,
Berkeley.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The Dan O'Neill Comic Art Archive was purchased from Dan O'Neill, via Bolerium Books, in 2013.
Biographical Note
Born April 21, 1942. Underground cartoonist; creator of Odd Bodkins comic strip; co-founder of Air Pirates comics collective;
central figure in well-publicized protracted lawsuit by the Walt Disney Company prompted by the Air Pirates' parodies of Mickey
Mouse and other Disney characters.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Cartoons
Comics
Sketchbooks
Love letters
Drawings
Mickey Mouse (Fictitious character) -- Parodies, imitations, etc.
O'Neill, Dan
AX_box 1, folders 1-36
Love letters from Dan O’Neill to Denise Marie Sporer,
1973
Physical Description:
36 letters
AX_box 1, folder 1
Publications containing comics of Dan O’Neill,
1983-1986
Physical Description:
2 items
Scope and Content
Includes issue of San Francisco Chronicle Sunday Punch (August 21, 1983) illustrated by O’Neill and R. Crumb; and ballot pertaining
to the U.S. Forest Services logging and herbicide spraying practices (1986).
AX_box 1, folder 2
Promotional pamphlet for Odd Bodkins; related original Odd Bodkins drawings,
1964
Physical Description:
3 items
(1 pamphlet and 2 drawings.)
AX_box 1, folder 3
Original color drawings,
undated
Physical Description:
2 drawings
Scope and Content
Subjects include Mickey Mouse; Gerald Ford and Richard Nixon (mock-up cover for Dan O’Neill’s ReActionary Comics and Dumb
Stories).
AX_box 1, folder 4
O’Neill comic strips,
1980
Physical Description:
3 drawings
AX_box 1, folder 5
O’Neill comic strips,
1981
Physical Description:
33 drawings
AX_box 1, folder 6
O’Neill comic strips,
1982
Physical Description:
39 items
(37 drawings and 2 prints.)
AX_box 1, folder 7
O’Neill comic strips,
1983
Physical Description:
38 items
(35 drawings and 3 prints.)
AX_box 1, folder 8
O’Neill comic strips,
1984
Physical Description:
45 items
(44 drawings and 1 print.)
AX_box 1, folder 9
O’Neill comic strips,
1985
Physical Description:
19 items
(17 drawings and 2 prints.)
AX_box 1, folder 10
O’Neill comic strips,
undated
Physical Description:
8 items
(6 drawings and 2 prints.)
AX_box 1, folder 11
Velox order forms for drawings for San Francisco Chronicle comic strips,
undated
Physical Description:
13 items
AX_box 1, folder 12
Mounted Odd Bodkins strip,
undated
Physical Description:
1 drawing
Scope and Content
Gift of Peter Sussman, 2013.
AX_box 2, folder 1
Copies of two publications: Big Yellow Drawing Book and Buy This Book of Odd Bodkins,
undated
Physical Description:
2 items
AX_box 2, folder 2
Volume 1. Sketchbook,
undated
Physical Description:
1 item
AX_box 2, folder 3
Loose/laid in material from volume 1,
undated
Physical Description:
1 folder
AX_box 2, folder 4
Volume 2. Sketchbook,
undated
Physical Description:
1 item
AX_box 2, folder 5
Loose/laid in material from volume 2,
undated
Physical Description:
1 folder
AX_box 2, folder 6
Volume 3. Sketchbook,
undated
Physical Description:
1 item
AX_box 2, folder 7
Loose/laid in material from volume 3,
undated
Physical Description:
1 folder
AX_box 2, folder 8
Volume 4. Sketchbook,
undated
Physical Description:
1 item
AX_box 2, folder 9
Volume 5. Sketchbook,
undated
Physical Description:
1 item
AX_box 2, folder 10
Volume 6. Sketchbook,
undated
Physical Description:
1 item
AX_box 2, folder 11
Volume 7. Sketchbook,
undated
Physical Description:
1 item
AX_box 2, folder 12
Loose/laid in material from volume 7,
undated
Physical Description:
1 folder
AX_box 2, folder 13
Metal printing plates for Odd Bodkins strips,
undated
Physical Description:
3 items
B_box 1, folder 1
Bucky Bug printing plate,
1970
Physical Description:
1 item
B_box 1, folder 2
Multiple copies of Odd Bodkins cartoon strip reproduction,
1969
Physical Description:
2 prints
B_box 1, folder 3
Multiple copies of Odd Bodkins poster,
undated
Physical Description:
2 prints
B_box 1, folder 4
Multiple copies of covers for publication The Collective Unconscience of Odd Bodkins,
undated
Physical Description:
4 items
B_box 1, folder 5
Multiple copies of Mouse Liberation Front (MLF) posters,
undated
Physical Description:
24 prints
B_box 1, folder 6
Original sketches and comic strip drawings by various artists,
1972-2010
Physical Description:
18 drawings
Scope and Content
Artists include Crabman, David H. Pierce, Jim Cornelius, Fred Rhoads, Shary Flenniken, Campbell and R.L. Crabb, among others.
Also includes Gary Halgren’s “Man of the World” (1972), “R.L. Crab’s An Ode to Dianne” (1985) and Gary King’s “The Left-Overs”
(1972) and “A Macrobiotic Mind-Fuck” (1972).
B_box 1, folder 7
Material pertaining to publication The Log of the Irish Navy,
1983
Physical Description:
7 items
(2 books, 3 mockups and 2 drawings.)
B_box 1, folder 8
Original drawings promoting Big Yellow Book and fund raising for O’Neill’s legal conflict with Disney,
undated
Physical Description:
9 drawings
B_box 1, folder 9
Original sketches and drawings,
circa 1972-2010?
Physical Description:
15 items
(14 drawings and 1 print)
C_box 1, folder 1-28
Odd Bodkins original comic strip drawings,
circa 1963-1970?
Physical Description:
circa 300 drawings
C_box 2, folder 29-63
Odd Bodkins original comic strip drawings,
circa 1963-1970?
Physical Description:
circa 300 drawings
C_box 3, folder 64-96
Odd Bodkins original comic strip drawings,
circa 1963-1970?
Physical Description:
circa 300 drawings
C_box 4, folder 97-137
Odd Bodkins original comic strip drawings,
circa 1963-1970?
Physical Description:
circa 300 drawings
C_box 5, folder 138-159
Odd Bodkins original comic strip drawings,
circa 1963-1970?
Physical Description:
circa 300 drawings
C_box 6, folder 1
Original drawings and sketches,
undated
Physical Description:
59 drawings
C_box 6, folder 2
Miscellaneous original comic strip drawings,
circa 1976-1977?
Physical Description:
14 items
(13 drawings and 1 print.)
Scope and Content
Includes “The Holy World”, “O’Neill”, “Tales of Oakland”, “South of the Slot”, “Another True Life Adventure of Cub Calloway”
and Bucky Bug character, among others.
C_box 6, folder 3
Original drawings and comic strips,
circa 1980-1984?
Physical Description:
13 drawings
Scope and Content
Includes “Odd Bodkins” (2009), “A Letter Home?” and “When in Doubt Enjoy It”, among others.
C_box 6, folder 4
Promotional item for “End of the Trail” radio show,
undated
Physical Description:
1 drawing
C_box 6, folder 5
Original drawing of Smokey the Bear,
undated
Physical Description:
1 drawing
C_box 6, folder 6
Drawing collaborations between Dan O’Neill, Sheridan Anderson and Gary Hallgren,
undated
Physical Description:
5 drawings
Scope and Content
Comic strips include The Petrified Florist and Towering Inferno, among others.
C_box 6, folder 7
Black and white off-prints of Dan O’Neill’s Comics,
December 1947, November 1949
Physical Description:
13 prints
C_box 6, folder 8
Full color off-prints of Dan O’Neill’s Comics,
undated
Physical Description:
8 prints
C_box 6, folder 9
Multiple copies of poster promoting San Francisco Book Fair,
undated
Physical Description:
41 prints
C_box 6, folder 10
Multiple copies of “Wild Dogs in the Streets” poster satirizing San Francisco Mayor Diane Feinstein and the San Francisco
Police Department,
undated
Physical Description:
2 prints
oversize-folder D 1
Multiple copies of poster reproducing a letter by O’Neill to “Mr. Editor”, promoting the artist’s Odd Bodkins comic strip,
1963?
Physical Description:
5 prints
Scope and Content
Poster also includes reproductions of several strips.
oversize-folder D 2
Multiple copies of four-up color cover runs for issue no. 1 of Mickey Mouse meets the Air Pirates,
1971?
Physical Description:
2 prints
oversize-folder D 3
Original marker drawing, “Anthropoid and the Skunks”, depicting a rock concert,
undated
Physical Description:
1 drawing
frame --FR rack
“Wild Dogs in the Streets” poster,
undated
Physical Description:
1 print
envelope NEG(strip)
35mm negatives reproducing various Dan O’Neill drawings,
undated
Physical Description:
approximately 60 photographs
: film negatives
; film width 35mm
