January •
January 9: In
Charles M. Schulz'
Peanuts Snoopy starts walking on his hind legs. •
January 21: The first issue of the British comics magazine
The Beezer comes out. It will be syndicated until 21 August 1993. •
January 26: The
Uncle Scrooge story
Land Beneath the Ground!, by
Carl Barks is first printed, alongside Barks'
Three Un-Ducks in ''
Walt Disney's comics and stories''.
February •
Romano Scarpa, already appreciated as cartoonist, begins his career as
Disney writer with
Shellfish Motives (
Paperino e i gamberi in salmì). •
February 2: • In
Carl Barks'
Uncle Scrooge story
The Second-Richest Duck Flintheart Glomgold makes his debut. • In
Spirou the
Lucky Luke story
Rails on the prairie by
René Goscinny and
Morris is concluded. This marks the first time Luke sings his
signature song: ''I'm a poor lonesome cowboy''. •
February 18: The first issue of the British comics magazine
Express Weekly comes out and will run until 1960. • The final issue of the Belgian children's magazine
Bimbo is published. • In
Walt Disney’s comics and stories, the story
Secret resolutions by
Carl Barks first appears in print.
March • First issue of
Showcase (
DC comics)
April •
April 14: The final episode of
Gene Deitch's ''Terr'ble Thompson'' is published. • In
Charles M. Schulz'
Peanuts Charlie Brown gets his kite stuck in a tree. This will become a
running gag in the series. • Cancellation of
Apache Kid, with issue #19, Atlas. • In Italy, the
Donald Duck story
Paperino Don Chisciotte (
Duck Quixote), by
Guido Martina (script) and
Pier Lorenzo de Vita (drawings), a parody of
Don Quixote set in modern California, with
Donald Duck in the
title role and
Goofy as
Sancho Panza is published. After
Mickey Mouse’s Hell, it is the second retelling by Martina of a literary masterpiece with the Disney characters. • In
Albi d’oro,
Witch Hazel makes her debut in the Italian Disney comics with
Paperino e l’aspirapolvere fatato (The magic vacuum) by
Carlo Chendi and
Luciano Bottaro (
Mondadori). • First issue of ''Rama, l'apache'' by
Andrea Lavezzolo and Virgilio Muzzi (Dardo).
May •
May 17: In
Spirou, first chapter of
Le Gorille a Mauvaise Mine by
Andrè Franquin (retitled
Le Gorille a Bonne Mine for the album edition.) •
World of fantasy, a bi-monthly publication debuts for
Atlas Comics. Among the artists on the book are
Werner Roth and
Dick Ayers. • In
Valiant,
Jacques Flash by
Roger Lecareux and Pierre Le Guen, a journalist-detective with the power of invisibility, makes his début.
June •
June 10: In the Italian Disney magazine
Topolino, in the story
Topolino e la Grande Impresa di Lascia o t’Accoppo, by
Guido Martina and
Giovan Battista Carpi Mickey Mouse and
Uncle Scrooge appear in the same story, which is an unusual situation, since characters from these two universes rarely overlap in Disney comic stories.
July • In
Detective Comics #233
Batwoman makes her debut. • In the
Uncle Scrooge story
The Cat Box by
Carl Barks,
Little Helper makes his debut.
September •
September: In the 29th issue of
Mad Magazine, a gap-toothed character who'd previously appeared as a tiny face on the cover of issue 21 in March, is given the name
Alfred E. Neuman. •
September 1: In
Het Parool,
Piet Wijn's
Frank, De Vliegende Hollander is cancelled after a year, to make place for the comeback of Pieter J. Kuhn's
Kapitein Rob. •
September 10:
David Wright and Peter Meriton's
Carol Day makes its debut. •
September 20:
Maurice Tillieux'
Gil Jourdan makes its debut. •
Bill Ritchie's
Baby Crockett makes its debut. •
September 21: The
Nero story
De IJzeren Kolonel by
Marc Sleen is first published in the newspapers. Halfway the story the major antagonist of the series,
Ricardo, makes his debut.
October •
October 24: The first episode of
Jules Feiffer's
Sick, Sick, Sick (later retitled
Feiffer) is published in
The Village Voice. •
Showcase #4 (
National Periodical Publications) — First appearance of a revamped
Flash ushers in the
Silver Age of Comic Books.
November •
November 1: The final issue of the Belgian comics magazine
Risque-Tout is published. •
November 8: In
Spirou, the first chapter of
Le Nid des Marsupilamis, by
André Franquin is serialized. •
November 18:
Frank Giacoia's
Johnny Reb and Billy Yank makes its debut. It will run until 24 May 1959. • First issue of
House of secrets (
DC comics)
December •
December:
Mad becomes a two-monthly black-and-white magazine with
Al Feldstein and
William M. Gaines as new chief editors and publishers.The magazine's enduring mascot
Alfred E. Neuman appears on the cover for the first time, designed by
Norman Mingo. •
Quality Comics ceases operations; many of the company's characters and title trademarks sold to
National Periodical Publications, which chooses to keep only four series running:
Blackhawk,
G.I. Combat,
Heart Throbs, and
Robin Hood Tales. • Cancellation of the American comics magazine
Panic. • The final issue of the Belgian comics magazine
Heroïc Albums is published. • In the
Uncle Scrooge story
Back To Long Ago!, by
Carl Barks, 16th-century ancestors of
Scrooge McDuck and
Donald Duck are introduced. In the following years, this narrative device will be widely imitated by other Disney authors.
Specific date unknown •
Maurice Tillieux discontinues his detective series
Félix in Héroïc-Albums. •
Oğuz Aral creates the
Hayk Mammer comics series. • Haaken Christensen discontinues
Brumle. • Turkish comics artist Ratip Tahir Burak is jailed after making an editorial cartoon warning against government censorship. • The first episode of
Charles M. Schulz'
Young Pillars is published. It will run until 1965. • In the French magazine
Valiant, the little Indian Cha’pa and his friend, the imaginary animal Group-Group, by Jean Ollivier and Ramon Monzon, and the couple of amateur detectives Richard and Charlie, by
Jean Tabary, make their debut. •
Fredric Wertham's
Seduction of the Innocent and the
United States Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency hearings continue to negatively affect the comics marketplace.
Ace Comics,
Avon Comics,
EC Comics,
Key Publications (Aragon Magazines, Gillmor Magazines, Medal Comics, Media Publications, S. P. M. Publications, Stanmor Publications, and Timor Publications),
Mainline Publications,
Nedor Comics (Standard, Better, and Thrilling), and
Quality Comics all cease publishing, though EC continues to publish
Mad magazine (and Nedor is succeeded by the short-lived
Pines Comics). The Canadian publisher
Superior Publishers Limited also goes defunct. • The
Tintin story
The Calculus Affair, by
Hergé and the
Blake & Mortimer album
The Yellow "M" by
Edgar P. Jacobs, previously published as serials, are released as comics albums. • The album
Lucky Luke contre Phil Defer by
Morris is first released. • The
Spirou et Fantasio album
Le Dictateur et le Champignon (
The Dictator and the Mushroom) by
André Franquin first appears in album form. • The
Little Archie series is launched, with
Bob Bolling as main writer an artist. The series will run until 1983. ==Births==