Background
Left: The comics depict everyday life in the Navy. Right: Schatell used a commercially available scrapbook for his comics.
Norman Schatell was an artist who, during his naval enlistment in World War II, documented his experiences while serving in the U.S., Australia, and the Philippines in series of comics. The comics he drew follow the life of a young sailor and his comrades as they perform their daily duties, complain about those in charge, daydream about women, and live through the numerous situations they find themselves in.
In 2013, the album Schatell made during his time in Australia was conserved in advance of digitization to expand research access to this unusual and exceptional personal account produced by a veteran.
Condition
Schatell used commercially available scrapbooks for his comics, which he drew on separate pieces of paper and adhered to the thick album leaves on both sides. The album arrived in the conservation lab as loose sheets, each 11.75" by 9.75". The album leaves had various stains and discoloration and was very brittle, with lots of breaks, tears, losses, and some delamination along the edges and corners.
The comics themselves were in good condition overall, except that the adhesive used to attach them to the album leaves was beginning to fail and they would detach if handled further. The treatment objective was to stabilize the album for digitization through minor mending and followed by encapsulation in polyester sleeves.
Left: A folded corner of a comic. Right: The corner unfolded.
Large breaks and tears in both the comics and the album leaves were mended with Japanese tissue pre-coated with a mixture of thermoplastic conservation adhesives and set in place with a tacking iron (i.e., heat-set tissue). Folded-over edges and corners were carefully opened to lie flat again with a Teflon spatula.
Left: A broken corner of a comic. Center: The broken corner mended with heat-set Japanese tissue. Right: Using a heated teflon spatula to reactivate the adhesive on pre-made heat-set tissue to mend a tear.
The front and back covers and each album leaf was numbered lightly in pencil and then placed individually into polyester L-sleeves. Each sleeve was trimmed to size and welded on three sides. The last side was left open to avoid a completely sealed environment.
Creative Encapsulation Solutions
Ultrasonic welder used to spot weld around irregular contour of album leaf with edge losses.
Album leaves with irregular edges due to losses were spot welded to follow the contour of the loss and so prevent movement of the leaf within the sleeve.
One double-sized comic had been folded in half and then adhered to the album leaf. To allow the comic to be unfolded for viewing without having to take the entire leaf out of the sleeve, the polyester film was cut around the comic to create a flap that could be lifted so that the comic could be opened. The flap edge was welded to create a bead that allows for easy gripping.
Left: One full-spread comic, folded in half by Schatell to fit in the scrapbook. Right: A flap was cut in the polyester sleeve to allow access to the folded comic without having to remove the album leaf from the polyester sleeve.
One oversized comic towards the end of the book was not adhered to an album leaf at all, but was a loose sheet folded into three. For this comic, a thinner film of polyester was used for encapsulation. To avoid three layers (polyester, paper, polyester) in the folds, a narrow strip of the film was removed in the area of the fold from one side of the polyester encapsulation.
Left: This oversized comic was loose (not adhered to any album leaf) and folded into three. Right: A thinner polyester film was used to encapsulate this comic.
Conclusion
Polyester encapsulation enables easier, safer handling of the leaves, and the creative encapsulation solutions eliminate the need to remove any leaves from the polyester sleeve to view the oversized, folded comics. Keeping the oversized comics folded as they were folded by Schatell maintained the album's length and width dimensions and allowed the entire album to be rehoused in a custom clamshell box. Corrugated board inserts were placed between every seven leaves to provide additional support and allow easier removal of the stack from the box.
Author:
Allison Brewer, 2013 Conservation Volunteer, Conservation Division
Editor:
Mary Oey, Preservation Specialist - Education, Conservation Division
Acknowledgements:
Yasmeen Khan, Senior Book Conservator, Conservation Division
