Cartoon museum gets a boost from Batman

Fake snow clung to the sidewalks and gutters in downtown Pittsburgh on Saturday.

It was left over from filming for “The Dark Knight Rises,” the new Batman movie.

Shooting in the Steel City wrapped last weekend, and by the time I got to town, it was already done for the day.

Other signs of the movie-making process were evident. Some streets still were blocked off as camera booms were packed up. A Gotham Police patrol car and a Gotham taxi cab sat atop a flatbed tow truck parked on Penn Avenue. Two thugs carrying massive, black weapons lurked in an alcove (I’m only assuming those two were from the movie).

But for the most part, it was all over except the traffic jam.

There was, however, still time to check out ToonSeum, Pittsburgh’s museum of comics and cartoon art at 945 Liberty Ave.

Last weekend was the final one for the current exhibit, the very appropriate “Superheroes: Icons and Origins. Joe Wos, founder and executive director of ToonSeum, said the exhibit wasn’t deliberately timed to capitalize on the excitement the filming would bring. Nevertheless, it was excellent timing, given that the Batman shoot was practically right outside the door.

ToonSeum opened two years ago, but it’s already expanding. The small museum occupies a long, narrow storefront for now but will triple in space after it absorbs the neighboring space. Work will begin next month and should be complete in November, said Wos. The expansion will allow for additional exhibitions, a permanent collection display, an area for reading comics and an outdoor courtyard.

ToonSeum was started four years ago as a part of the Pittsburgh Children’s Museum. It struck out on its own so as to not be limited in its subject matter, be it politics or other current events.

The next exhibit will be titled “Sept. 11: Too Soon?”

Wos got it started by donating his personal comics and art to the ToonSeum collection, which now numbers about 4,000 pieces.

A small gift shop at the front greets visitors as they walk in, offering rare graphic novels and collectible toys and oddities.

A life-size statue of Superman in his fists-on-the-hips pose waits just behind the gift shop, and a statue of a web-slinging Spider-Man is at the rear. Animated cartoons play on a ceiling-mounted screen.

Lining the walls are original art galleys from the Golden Age of comics — before and after World War II — on loan from private sources. Any comic-book geek would appreciate it.

Created in the pre-Adobe Illustrator era, artists had to cut and paste word balloons and other elements into each panel, turning them into multilayered collages.

Informative plaques describe the history of the characters, companies, artists and writers of the day, including greats such as Jack Kirby.

The exhibit is also a direct link to a mostly forgotten chapter of American history. It was the glory days of comic books, and circulation was skyrocketing among young boys. But even though those costumed crime fighters were always on the side of good, some politicians mounted witch hunts because they sensed an undercurrent of perversity. Hearings took place on Capitol Hill in 1954 to flush out the subversive comic-book peddlers. It all led to the creation of the Comics Code, an industry effort at self-censorship.

The ToonSeum’s “Super- heroes” exhibition also includes original art from The Bat-Man (as it was spelled in its early days), Hawkman, Wonder Woman (who broke prevailing norms by not being a passive woman), the Hulk, the Mighty Thor and Captain America.

For information, go to toonseum.org.