Musical satire and government officials clash in Tom Lehrer Discovers Australia (and vice versa), Johnny Eusoof's winning entry in the 2026 Jurgen Comics Contest. 

The Jurgen Comics Contest challenges students to choose a specific historical incident of art suppression or censorship and create the cover for a comic book telling the story of the event. The contest's banned art theme is inspired by the events and issues surrounding James Branch Cabell’s ribald and satirical fantasy Jurgen: A Comedy of Justice. Cabell is the namesake of VCU’s Monroe Park Campus library. 

"Art censorship is a rich and complex subject for an artist to consider," said Digital Outreach and Special Projects Librarian and contest manager Alice Campbell. "It's a little different from pure freedom-of-speech questions, because society thinks of art as a special form of human expression. Art's unique power to stir emotions and to persuade have caused some to view artworks as uniquely dangerous–and therefore important to regulate. The Jurgen Comics Contest asks, 'Does Art have that power? Does it come with great responsibilities? Who will decide?'"

This year's winners:

• Johnny Eusoof won the 2026 Grand Prize of $1,000 with “Tom Lehrer Discovers Australia (and vice versa).”  In 1960 an Australian government official sent police to musical satirist Tom Lehrer's live show in Adelaide. Despite the attempted intimidation, Lehrer played the songs the official deemed "in poor taste" anyway. Eusoof is a Communication Arts major who says, "I’m always studying the work of the greats like [Jack] Kirby and trying to emulate what makes his art so good."

"Drawing comics is a way to bend reality and in the case of this comic book cover, greatly dramatize it," explained Eusoof. "Tom Lehrer bangs away at his concert piano as a pack of officers rush toward him. I wanted to communicate through exaggerated poses and facial expressions, making it visually apparent who the villains are in this story." 

Other honorees in the 2026 contest:

• Zora Weir-Gertzog, a Biology and Communication Arts major concentrating in scientific illustration, received the Artistry prize ($250) for “A Classroom Game of Cat and Maus.” The graphic novel Maus: A Survivor's Tale was banned in McMinn County, TN, in 2022. "In creating this piece, I challenged myself to work in a style inspired by Art Spiegelman, employing halftones and heavy hatching while preserving some of my own painterly qualities … I wanted to throw the viewer directly into the scene, as if they were at risk of censorship too."
• The Storytelling award ($250) went to Keegan Mason for “Skin.” Mason's cover art focuses on the time when the Virginia State Board of Censors censored or banned all films created by Black director/producer Oscar Micheaux's Lincoln Motion Picture Company. "I had the idea to show [that racism was a systemic issue] in the piece by including a crowd of KKK members (the most famous face of oppression/systemic racism) but amongst the crowd were the silhouettes of well known comic book icons," said the artist. Mason is a cinema student whose free time is often spent doodling or working on comics.
• Devin Smith's “Under Literature's Light” won the Research award ($250) for a cover exploring the first U.S. Supreme Court case concerned with the removal of books from public middle and high school libraries. Smith describes this artwork as "a surreal retelling of the case, Island Trees School v. Pico. As Steven Pico fights for the books that shaped him in his most formative years, he starts to unravel what it means to be human and what it means to understand art and its impacts," said Smith. "I found inspiration in the stories and incorporated those themes … especially with the iconography." Smith studies Communication Arts.

Three entries received Honorable Mention: Sophie Nave for "Heavy Metal Defenders;" Nikki DiSalvo for "The Hays Code;"  and Jana Simmons for "Pachuco."

An exhibit of these award-winning artworks is on display on the first floor of Cabell Library. Winning entries and honorable mentions are published in VCU Scholars Compass alongside winners from previous contests. mages from 2026 Jurgen Comics Contest submissions will be exhibited on the Cabell Screen–the 25-feet screen on the exterior north facade of Cabell Library–throughout the month of April. 

A colorful comic book-inspired booklet will highlight the award winners and celebrate the unique artistry of comic book cover design. 

Now in its fifth year, the Jurgen Comics Contest is an annual student competition. By challenging students to investigate and relate historic controversies through comic art, VCU Libraries asserts the value of comics as a medium of expression and social commentary and as a subject for study and preservation. The contest is sponsored by VCU Libraries with support from donors, including the James Branch Cabell Library Associates. 

Included in the contest design is mentorship of a student editor. The 2025-26 student editor is Minuet Curry, a Kinetic Imaging student with an interest in animation. Curry designed the Jurgen Comics Contest final publication that celebrates the winners. They also helped manage contest outreach and logistics, presenting at information sessions and tabling events. "Every entry was amazing!" exclaimed Curry. "I hope we can continue to inspire the exploration of art censorship's history for many years to come."

“The Jurgen Comics Contest invites students to explore and interpret historical struggles through bold visual storytelling,” said Karen Bjork, head of Digital Libraries and Publishing, the department that manages the contest. “This year’s winners created striking covers that encourage viewers to reflect on moments of suppression and resistance, and consider their continued relevance today.”

Prizes this year were awarded by a panel of judges:  Ingo Taylor, grand prize winner in the 2025 contest; Bizhan Khodabandeh, designer, illustrator, comics artist and faculty in the Richard T. Robertson School of Media and Culture; Mark Jeffries, creative media manager at the VCU Student Media Center; Gabbie Benda, graphic novelist and faculty in VCU School of the Arts; Kelly Alder, illustrator, comic book artist and faculty in VCU School of the Arts; Katie Condon, photographer and digital specialist at VCU Libraries; and Carla-Mae Crookendale, arts research librarian at VCU Libraries.