New exhibit: "Superheroes in Court! Lawyers, Law and Comic Books"

Lawyers have played both fictional and real-life roles in the 80-year history of the comic book industry. Their story is told in an exhibition, “Superheroes in Court! Lawyers, Law and Comic Books,” now on display in the Yale Law School’s Lillian Goldman Law Library.

The guest curator for the exhibition is Mark S. Zaid, Esq., a Washington, D.C. attorney who specializes in national security law. Much like his comic-book heroes, Zaid has an alter-ego as a comic book collector and dealer. He is also an advisor to the Overstreet Comic Book Price & Grading Guides and a co-founder of the Comic Book Collecting Association.

Almost all of the items on display come from Zaid’s personal collection. The comics covers show Superman on trial for murder, and one of the earliest comic books to feature a lawyer on the cover (“Mr. District Attorney”, 1942). Other items document the legal battle over rights to Superman, efforts to censor comic books in the 1950s, and copyright issues.

The exhibition is on display Sept. 6 to Dec. 16, 2010, in the Rare Book Exhibition Gallery, located on Level L2 of the Lillian Goldman Law Library in the Yale Law School (127 Wall St., New Haven CT). The exhibition is open to the public. Highlights of the exhibition will appear in installments here in the Yale Law Library Rare Books Blog.

In addition, Mark Zaid will give an exhibition talk on Sept. 30 at 1:00pm in the Yale Law School.

Action Comics no. 359 (Feb. 1968).

Personal collection of Mark S. Zaid, Esq.