On 1 September 2017, Taichung Mayor Lin Chia-lung proposed to build a comic museum.

On 13 May 2020, due to disputes over the spacing arrangements of the Central Taiwan Cinema Center, the Ministry of Culture decided to withdraw the museum from the location.

On 23 September 2020, the Ministry of Culture then chose two sites for the proposed site for the comic museum, which were Empire Sugar Factory Taichung Office (Chinese: 帝國製糖廠臺中營業所) and Xinmin Street Railway Warehouses (Chinese: 臺鐵新民街倉庫群).

On 1 April 2023, the Japanese-era Taichung Prison (Chinese: 臺中刑務所) was chosen as the new location for the museum.

The building complex in which the museum will be established was constructed in 1937 during the Japanese rule of Taiwan as a training ground for prison officers to practice judo and kendo.