A proposed exhibit...

The whole idea behind COMplexICS is to get you all fattened up with comics knowledge and enthusiasm, and then get you to go to this: a proposed, all-out interactive exhibit (ostensibly at the Portland Art Museum). It would happen on FREE COMIC BOOK DAY, which in 2009 is Saturday, May 2. There would be live music, local foods, tons of comic art and paraphenelia on the walls, and all over the place there would be gigantic magnetic whiteboards, big ol' dry erase markers, and magnetic stick on speech balloons and caption boxes so you could create your own comics on a grand scale. Oh, did I mention it would be FREE to the public? Sounds kinda cool, no? Here's some artist's renderings.

A timeline for The Code

In 1954, a horrible thing happened that set the development of U.S. comics back about 30 years behind the rest of the world: The Comics Code Authority was established. In response to a nation-wide wave of paranoia about comic books turning kids into delinquents, the Code acted as a censor board to keep the content of comic books pure. Here's a brief timeline showing how it came to be.