Founded on a grant from Bay Area cartoon legend Charles M Schultz of Peanuts fame, this bold museum isn't afraid of the dark, political or racy – cases in point: R Crumb drawings from the '70s and a retrospective of political cartoons from the Economist by Kevin 'Kal' Kallaugher. Lectures and openings are rare opportunities to mingle with comic legends, Pixar Studios heads and obsessive collectors.
Introducing this place to comic fans would be an insult: of course you recognize John Romita's amazing Spiderman cover drawings and you were probably raised on Edward Gorey's Gashlycrumb Tinies, starting with 'A is for Amy who fell down the stairs/B is for Basil assaulted by bears…' But even fans will learn something from lectures about 1930s efforts to unionize overworked women animators and shows on underground cartoonist legends like Spain Rodriguez and Trina Robbins.