The Library of Congress has recently received a gift of a variety of memorabilia, collectibles, and concept art. All of the items features childhood characters and figures like Captain America, G.I. Joe, and Mickey Mouse. There are even first comic strip editions of the character Yellow Kid, known as an origin for the term Yellow Journalism.
This collection, donated by a comics distributor Steve Geppi, is currently being shown to the public. Geppi’s main purpose for the donation and hope for the show is that they will elevate comic books and pop culture. The curator at the Library of Congress comments about the exhibition, saying that the show makes the items “accessible to visitors who might not think of the Library of Congress as a venue for pop culture.”
This article to me is a newsworthy topic due to this donation being a big part of American history. All of the items have a part in what was influencing or possibly continuing to influence in American culture. Each item also has a story behind it, which people can learn about and learn how it became big in pop culture.
The lead for this story is really long in my opinion and stuffed with a lot of information into it. There is information that pertains to the donator, Steve Geppi, about who he is and his museum that closed which I believe doesn’t need to be there. The Geppi information could have been moved to a new paragraph or to the graph with Geppi’s quote. With the length of this lead, it kind of loses the hype that the story title gives the reader.
I believe that the writer had a point of view with what items he decided to cover in his article. All of the items that he wrote about were great and well written, with interesting details behind each one. But with choosing these ones, Gustines has a point of view with his own personal interests choosing them.
I enjoyed this article, mainly because memorabilia and comic book collectibles remind me of my brother. This article is a good mix of promoting the exhibit and giving the reader historical background on items. Also, this article promotes the thought of the Library of Congress should have these items.
The lead says there were only 37 items (of 3,000) on display, and without knowing how the 37 were chosen, it’s hard to say if there’s a selection bias. The items in the story do seem to focus on “originals” and firsts, but that could be true of all 37.
The writer does make a choice on the lead, going more “newsy” than feature.