Peek in the Stacks: united states

The cover of Margaret Brundage’s Weird Tales: Satan’s Palimpsest  greets the reader with a nude blonde, seemingly excited to invite the bat-like Satan into her boudoir. Similarly, Margaret Brundage’s Weird Tales: Children of the Bat cover greets the reader with another nude blonde—this one half-bat with breasts and chained by another bat, who seems to be half-human as well. Through the covers' portrayal of hyper-sexualized, imprisoned women and bats as their captors, the Weird Tales pulp art combines both the scariness and seduction of the Gothic monster, which represents the Other in U.S. culture. 

Written by Frank Robbins, Batman issue number 400, Challenge of the Man-Bat¹, was published in June of 1970 after a paradigmatic shift in U.S. comics censorship history. Challenge of the Man-Bat was published a decade and a half after the creation of The Comics Code Authority in 1954, which regulated or censored comic book content.

World War II stands as a memorable chapter in human history, forever altering the course of nations and leaving a permanent impact on the world. As a step towards the great sacrifice and collective effort of the United States, rationing became a necessary initiative. Special Collections & Archives houses multiple collections related to the events that occurred during World War II. Specifically, the World War II Rationing Collection, the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor Collection and Corporal Raymond Marshall Collection all have items related to rationing during WWII.

The Hassina and Deeptha Leelarathna Photographic Collection is an invaluable historical archive that offers a glimpse into the lives of two Sri Lankan immigrants who made significant contributions to the Sri Lankan community in the United States.