Library of Congress and DC Entertainment Celebrate 80 Years of Superman

Live Interview Featuring Legendary Paul Levitz and Dan Jurgens

The Library of Congress will celebrate the 1000th issue of seminal DC comic book series Action Comics, a commemoration of 80 years of Superman, with a live interview featuring DC legends on Thursday, March 29. Former publisher and president of DC, Paul Levitz, will join famed DC writer and artist Dan Jurgens, known for his work on the Superman series and the pop culture phenomenon “The Death of Superman,” for a conversation about the history of superhero comics, the writers and artists who create comics and the legacy of DC’s iconic Superman character. The event coincides with Awesome Con, which will be held at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center beginning March 30.

Levitz and Jurgens will be interviewed by creator Michael Cavna, of the Eisner-nominated “Comic Riffs” column for The Washington Post. A question-and-answer session and book signing will follow.

The event will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 29, in the Coolidge Auditorium on the ground floor of the Library’s Thomas Jefferson Building, 10 First Street S.E., Washington, D.C. The event is free, but tickets are required. Visit this event-ticketing site [ https://www.eventbrite.com/e/dc-comics-and-the-library-of-congress-celebrate-80-years-of-superman-tickets-44039358908] for more information and to secure your ticket.

The event also will be livestreamed on the Library’s YouTube site at youtube.com/libraryofcongress. Follow the conversation on Twitter at @librarycongress and #LibraryofAwesome.

Guests will preview of Action Comics #1000, which features the DC debut of acclaimed writer Brian Michael Bendis, art by DC publisher and artist Jim Lee and stories from Superman writer Peter J. Tomasi, artist Pat Gleason and artist Dan Jurgens. Selected materials from the Library’s comic book and comic art collections will also be on display during the event.

Media wishing to schedule pre-event interviews may specify interest with their RSVP, due by Wednesday, March 28. Additional details will follow.

In 2017, the Library welcomed visitors to explore “Library of Awesome,”[https://www.loc.gov/item/prn-17-063/library-of-congress-to-celebrate-the-world-of-comics/2017-05-26/] a pop-up display of more than 100 iconic comic-book issues of today’s most popular characters. The collections of the Library of Congress include nearly 140,000 comic books dating back to the 1930s.

DC Entertainment will publish a new hardcover book, “Action Comics: 80 Years of Superman,” this spring as part of the celebration of the 1,000th issue of Action Comics—the longest continually published comic book of its kind in history, the series that introduced Superman to the world and the title that launched the superhero genre.

This “Library of Awesome” event is made possible by gifts to the Library of Congress Fund. Those interested in supporting free programs at the Library can contact devofc@loc.gov.

The Serial and Government Publications Division maintains one of the most extensive newspaper collections in the world. It is exceptionally strong in United States newspapers, with 9,000 titles covering the past three centuries. With over 25,000 non-U.S. titles, it is the largest collection of overseas newspapers in the world. Beyond its newspaper holdings, the division also has extensive collections of current periodicals, comic books and government publications. The comic-book collection is available for research use by scholars, collectors and other researchers in the Newspaper and Current Periodical Reading Room. For more information, visit https://www.loc.gov/rr/news/comics.html.

DC Entertainment, home to iconic brands DC (Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, The Flash), Vertigo (Sandman, Fables) and MAD, is the creative division charged with strategically integrating its content across Warner Bros. Publishing thousands of comic books, graphic novels and magazines each year, DC Entertainment is one of the largest English-language publishers of comics in the world.

The Library of Congress is the world’s largest library, offering access to the creative record of the United States—and extensive materials from around the world—both on-site and online. It is the main research arm of the U.S. Congress and the home of the U.S. Copyright Office. Explore collections, reference services and other programs and plan a visit at loc.gov, access the official site for U.S. federal legislative information at congress.gov, and register creative works of authorship at copyright.gov.

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