1931 in comics


Notable events of 1931 in comics.

Events and publications

January

January 7: Kho Wang Gie's comic strip Put On makes its debut and will continue for 30 years.

February

February 26: The first episode of the Mickey Mouse story Boxing champion by Floyd Gottfredson is published, which marks the debut of Gideon Goat.

March

March 23: The first episode of Roland J. Scott's long-running newspaper comic Scott's Scrapbook is published, which will continue up until 1967.

April

April 17: In E.C. Segar's Thimble Theatre Popeye first quotes his classic line: "I yam what I yam an' tha's all I yam."

May

May 3: In E.C. Segar's Thimble Theatre a prototypical version of J. Wellington Wimpy makes his debut.

June

June 26: In E.C. Segar's Thimble Theatre spinach is introduced as the source of Popeye's power.

July

July 8: In a Mickey Mouse comic by Floyd Gottfredson’s, a stray dog eats Mickey Mouse’s ice-cream. This is the first time Pluto makes his debut.

September

September 2: In Le petit Vingtième, first chapter of Tintin in America, by Hergè.

October

October 4: Chester Gould's Dick Tracy makes his debut. It naturally marks the debut of the protagonist, Dick Tracy.October 11: In Dick Tracy the villain Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice makes his debut.October 12: In Dick Tracy his girlfriend Tess Trueheart makes her debut.October 16: In the first narrative of Dick Tracy the father of Tess Trueheart is murdered, which is the first instance of a cold-blooded murder appearing uncensored in a comic strip.

November

November 27: The final issue of the Spanish comics magazine Pinocho is published.

December

December 26: The first episode of the biblical text comic Illustrated Sunday School Lesson is published. It will run until 26 February 1973.

Specific date unknown

  • Edwina Dumm's Alec the Great makes its debut and will run until 1969.
  • Suihō Tagawa's Norakuro makes its debut.
  • The final episode of Doings of the Duffs is published. The last artist to draw it is Buford Tune.
  • Jean Bruller publishes his comic strip Le Mariage de Monsieur Lakonik.
  • Henri Bruneau publishes Zbib et Barnabé.
  • William Ferguson publishes This Curious World.
  • Louis Diamond publishes Mick.
  • Hergé publishes Fred & Mille in Mon Avenir, which will be continued by François Gianolla a year later.
  • Guglielmo Guastaveglia creates early Italian versions of Mickey Mouse and Felix the Cat.
  • Captain Roscoe Fawcett and Bruno Thompson's Screen Oddities, a daily comic about the lives of Hollywood stars, is first published.

Births

April

April 10: Gérald Forton, Belgian-American comic artist,.

August

August 12: Luis Bermejo, Spanish comics artist and illustrator,.

September

September 17: Jean-Claude Carrière, French novelist, actor, screenwriter and comics writer,.September 22: E. Nelson Bridwell, American comic book writer,.

October

October 2: Enzo Facciolo, Italian animator and comics artist,.

Specific date unknown

  • Zoe Skiadaresi, Greek comics artist,.

Deaths

January

January 21: C. W. Kahles, German-American comics artist, dies at age 63 from a heart attack.

May

May 7: Louis De Leeuw, Dutch illustrator, painter, cartoonist, lithographer and comic artist, dies at age 55.May 19: Ralph Barton, American caricaturist, cartoonist and comics artist, commits suicide at age 39. May 28: Guydo, French comics artist, illustrator and novelist, dies at age 62.

June

June 6: Herbert Bird Tourtel, British journalist, poet and comics writer, husband of Mary Tourtel, dies at age 57.

July

July 11: Jean-Louis Forain, aka Louis-Henri Forain, French illustrator, painter and comics artist, dies at age 78.

August

August 25: Marcel Arnac, French novelist, illustrator, comics writer and artist, dies at age 44 in an accident.

September

September 15: Jacques Marie Gaston Onfroy de Bréville, aka Job, French illustrator, caricaturist and painter, dies at age 72.