Works on loan from Stephen Fishler and Vincent Zurzolo are included in the special exhibition “Faster Than a Speeding Bullet: The Art of the Superhero” at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at the University of Oregon.

“Faster Than a Speeding Bullet: The Art of the Superhero” is on view in the museum’s Coeta and Donald Barker Gallery through January 3, 2010. Featuring rare and valuable works by some of the most admired artists in the history of superhero comics, gathered from private collections from across the country, the exhibition provides visitors the opportunity to view rarely seen original art.

The covers for “The Amazing Spider-Man #301,” “Luke Cage, Power Man #47,” “World’s Finest #247,” and “Black Panther #1” are included in the loans from Vincent Zurzolo of Metropoliscomics.com.  The dynamic cover of “Luke Cage, Power Man #47,” features the first African-American superhero to have his own comic title and was drawn by the legendary artist Gil Kane.  The cover of “World’s Finest #247,” was published in 1977 and features a famous and disturbing image of Superman giving a Nazi salute.

Zurzolo, a New York City native, began selling comics on the streets of Manhattan’s Financial District after earning his degree in marketing from St. John’s University. He is currently the COO of Metropolis Collectibles, the world’s largest dealership of vintage comic books, with its gallery location on Broadway in the Union Square area of Manhattan. He is also the COO of ComicConnect.com, an online auction site for vintage comic books, co-founder of the Big Apple Comic Convention in New York City, and the host of the online radio show Comic Zone Radio, where he has interviewed many legends of the comic book world.
Loans from the collection of Stephen Fishler include the covers of the comic books “Ghost Rider #8,” “Flash #123,” “Fantastic Four #74,” “The Amazing Spider-Man #65,” “Jimmy Olsen #102” and the Alex Ross Kingdom Come cover for “Overtstreet Fan” magazine #14.

Fishler founded Metropolis Collectibles in 1984 and grew the company into the world’s largest vintage collectible business.  He is considered one of the nation’s leading experts on collectibles, and has appeared on numerous television shows including “Good Morning America,” “Entertainment Tonight” and “The Today Show.” He graduated from Baruch College with a degree in Marketing in 1990.

Guest-curated by Ben Saunders, a professor of English at the University of Oregon, “Faster Than A Speeding Bullet” explores the imaginative world of some of the most compelling fantasy figures to emerge from twentieth-century popular culture — the superheroes of American comic books. Consisting primarily of “original art” — the large-sized pen-and-ink pages from which comic books are printed — it also includes painted cover images alongside a handful of private commissions.

The exhibition features over 150 pages of superhero comic art from the 1940s to the present, including several complete stories and key works by many major creators in the industry, including Neal Adams, C. C. Beck, John Buscema, Gene Colan, Steve Ditko, Will Eisner, Bill Everett, Lou Fine, Ramona Fradon, Dave Gibbons, Don Heck, Carmine Infantino, J. G. Jones, Gil Kane, Jack Kirby, Joe Kubert, Mort Meskin, Frank Miller, George Perez, H. G. Peter, Mac Raboy, Alex Ross, Marie Severin, Bill Sienkiewicz, Matt Wagner and many more.

“Understanding Superheroes,” a two-day conference taking place at the University of Oregon on Friday, October 23 and Saturday, October 24, will feature panel discussion and keynote speakers including Kurt Busiek, Danny Fingeroth, Charles Hatfield, Henry Jenkins, Matt Fraction and Gail Simone.

The catalog for “Faster than a Speeding Bullet,” is available for $19.95 at Precious Cargo: The Museum Store and The Duck Store. In addition to reproductions of artwork from the exhibition, the catalog includes essays by Ben Saunders, Diana Schultz, Michael T. Gilbert, Charles Hatfield and Rebecca Wanzo, as well as biographies of the major artists.

About the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art:
The University of Oregon's Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art is a premier Pacific Northwest visual arts center for exhibitions and collections of historic and contemporary art based in a major university setting. The JSMA features significant collections galleries devoted to art from China, Japan, Korea, America and elsewhere as well as changing exhibition galleries.  The JSMA is one of six museums in Oregon accredited by the American Association of Museums.

The Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art is located on the University of Oregon campus at 1430 Johnson Lane. Museum hours are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesdays and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays through Sundays. Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for senior citizens. Free admission is given to ages 18 and under, JSMA members, college students with ID, and University of Oregon faculty, staff and students. For information, contact the JSMA, 541-346-3027. The exhibition is on view at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art through January 3, 2010

About the University of Oregon:
The University of Oregon is a world-class teaching and research institution and Oregon's flagship public university. The UO is a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU), an organization made up of 62 of the leading public and private research institutions in the United States and Canada. Membership in the AAU is by invitation only. The University of Oregon is one of only two AAU members in the Pacific Northwest.
Contact: Debbie Williamson-Smith, 541-346-0942, debbiews@uoregon.edu
Erick Hoffman, 541-346-3162, erickh@uoregon.edu
Link: Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, http://jsma.uoregon.edu