About Kim A. Munson (author, curator, art historian)
Kim A Munson (MA SFSU) is the editor of the Eisner Award-nominated anthology Comic Art in Museums (University Press of Mississippi press release) the first academic book to explore the evolution of thought about comic art 1930-present as manifested in art exhibitions. A new resident of Jersey City, NJ, Kim is an art historian, author, artist, and curator. She has contributed essays on comic art, museum exhibitions, labor emblems, and other topics to numerous books and journals including The Cambridge Companion to Comics, The Comics of R. Crumb: Underground in the Art Museum, Source: Notes in the History of Art, International Journal of Comic Art, and Places Journal. She was a 2022 Eisner Awards Judge and the curator of Women in Comics (NY, Rome, Napoli), Colleen Doran Illustrates Neil Gaiman (NY, San Diego), and Beautiful Monsters: The Art of Emil Ferris (NY). Her latest books Conversations with Denis Kitchen (newly available) and Conversations with Trina Robbins (Spring 2026) are coming from UPM.
Conversations with denis kitchen is now available. 246 pages, 39 B&W images. https://www.upress.state.ms.us/Books/C/Conversations-with-Denis-Kitchen
Conversations with Denis Kitchen
Newly available from UPM! An in-depth exploration of the multifaceted career of one of the most influential figures in the world of comics. Press Release | Excerpt | Review by Paul Buhle.
An Oddly Compelling Book Launch at the Society of Illustrators, NY
Denis and I talked about his life and career before a packed house at SOI on January 15, 2026. The event included a book signing and a special preview of the Oddly Compelling documentary. Event report on Boing Boing by Ruben Bolling.
Support Kitchen’s upcoming documentary on Kickstarter.
Beautiful Monsters: The Art of Emil Ferris
Two galleries of original art by Emil Ferris were on view at the Society of Illustrators, NY 7/31 - 10/19, featuring a large selection from My Favorite Thing is Monsters Book 2. Forbes | Vulture | SOI Hall of Fame Pix | IJOCA Review
Documentary: Lichtenstein and Comics
Upcoming Books & Events
MOCCA Fest: Saturday March 28, 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM | SVA SPACE TWO
The Jack Kirby Way
Rand Hoppe, Patrick McDonnell, & Roy Schwartz; moderated by Kim Munson
Late in December, the New York City Council approved the naming of the intersection of Essex and Delancey St. as “Jack Kirby Way,” honoring the artist whose influential career spanned the comic book industry’s first five decades and whose creativity gave life to Marvel Comics’ universe of characters. Art historian Kim Munson (Comic Art in Museums) will lead a conversation about Kirby’s legacy with Rand Hoppe, director of the Jack Kirby Museum; Mutts cartoonist Patrick McDonnell, who reflects on Kirby’s impact in his book The Super Hero’s Journey, and Roy Schwartz, who led the effort to name the street and is a board member for the Jack & Roz Kirby Awardshttps://www.moccafest.org/programming
New Book: I am developing Curating Comics for UPM, a follow up to Comic Art in Museums, co-editing with Kate Kelp-Stebbins.
Award Nomination: Conversations with Denis Kitchen is nominated for a Broken Frontier Award in the “Best Book About Comics” category. - Alas, we didn’t win. Congrats to Catlin, well deserved. https://www.brokenfrontier.com/introducing-the-broken-frontier-awards-2025/
Podcast: Denis and Kim on the Graphic Histories podcast with Andre Myette. Episode #158.
Substack: New article about the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art and my book Comic Art in Museums on the Paper Gold substack by Nat Sans: https://natesans.substack.com/p/whither-comic-art
San Diego Comic-Con 2025
Recent Appearances:
Recent Publications
I contributed a chapter on exhibitions to the Cambridge Companion to Comics, edited by Maaheen Ahmed. Ahmed article & podcast. I was honored to be included with such a great list of international scholars.
