1979 in comics

Events

January

• The final Asterix story written by René Goscinny, Asterix in Belgium, drawn by Albert Uderzo is published. It also ran in Le Monde as a serial.

February

• First issue of Cliff, by Luciano Secchi; the series, a sort of Italian version of Hulk, lasts just 16 numbers.

March

• IPC Magazines launches Tornado, a short-lived weekly British comic published for 22 issues.The Human Fly, with issue #19, is cancelled by Marvel.
• In Metal hurlant, Exterminator 17, by Jean-Pierre Dionnet and Enki Bilal is first published.

April

• The reprint title Marvel Triple Action, with issue #47, is cancelled by Marvel.La nuit des rapaces, first Jeremiah’s album by Herman Huppen.
• First issue of the magazine Maxmagnus.

May

• Frank Miller takes over from Gene Colan as regular penciler on Daredevil with issue #158.
• Vince Colletta resigns as art director of DC Comics.Rawhide Kid, with issue #135, canceled by Marvel.Captain Marvel, with issue #62, cancelled by Marvel.Howard the Duck, with issue #31, canceled by Marvel.Black Panther, with issue #15, cancelled by Marvel.
• In Il mago, ''Piombo di mancia'' by Vittorio Giardino; debut of the Bolognese private eye Sam Pezzo.

June

• First issue of Il Paperino d’oro, published by Mondadori; reprints of the classic stories by Carl Barks.
• In Alterlinus, La lunga notte, by Sergio Toppi, first episode of the series Sharaz-de, inspired by One Thousand and One Nights.
• In Super Goofy, The Day a Knight Was Born, by Del Connel and Pete Alvarado; debut of the Mighty Knight, Middle-age version of Super Goofy.Cico story, by Guido Nolitta and Gallieno Ferri; first album fully dedicated to the Zagor’s Mexican partner.
• In Italy, first issue of Storie blu, anthological magazine of sci-fi and erotic comics.

Summer

July

• With issue #24, Marvel cancels Godzilla, King of the Monsters.La resa dei conti, by Magnus, last episode of La compagnia della forca.
• In Marvel Two-in-one 53, the story arc Project Pegasus begins.July 25: Marvel UK publishes the final weekly issue of Marvel Comic.July 26: In the German magazine Zack, the parody Western series Silas Finn by the Italian authors Tiziano Sclavi and Giorgio Cavazzano is published.

August

• With issue #70, Marvel publishes the final issue of The Tomb of Dracula, ending writer Marv Wolfman and artist Gene Colan's uninterrupted six-year run on the title.
• In the story Mister No va alla guerra, by Guido Nolitta and Gallieno Ferri, the true name of the character is revealed.
• In Pif Gadget, debut of two adventure series: Ayak, by Jean Ollivier and Eduardo Teixeira Coelho, set in the Klondike Gold rush, with an arctic wolf as protagonist, and Marine fille de pirate by Francois Corteggiani and Pierre Tranchand.August 19: in Topolino, Topolino e l’enigma di Mu, by Massimo De Vita; debut of Prof. Zachary Zapotec.
• August 25: IPC Magazines merged two comic books 2000 AD and Starlord and Tornado into "2000 AD and Tornado".

September

• "The Proteus Saga", by Chris Claremont and John Byrne, begins in Uncanny X-Men #125.Marvel Comic, with issue #353, becomes a monthly title and is renamed Marvel Superheroes. The Invaders, with issue #41, is cancelled by Marvel.
• The first edition of the Helsinki Comics Festival is organized in Helsinki, Finland.Calibro 45, by Ennio and Vladimiro Missaglia ; first album of the short-lived western series Judas,
• In the fall issue of Co-Evolution Quarterly, Robert Crumb's one-shot comic A Short History of America is printed.

October

• With issue #28, Marvel cancels John Carter, Warlord of Mars.
• In the Argentine magazine El pendulo the first episode of the series Las puertitas del senor Lopez, by Carlos Trillo and Horacio Altuna is published.

December

• The final issue of the Dutch adult comics magazine Gummi/De Ballooen is published.
• In Linus, the first strip of Sergio Staino’s Bobo appears.

Specific date unknown

• Due to weak sales numbers from 1978, during the course of the year Marvel Comics cancels a number of ongoing titles: Black Panther; Captain Marvel; Godzilla, King of the Monsters; Howard the Duck; The Human Fly; The Invaders; John Carter, Warlord of Mars; Kid Colt Outlaw; Marvel Triple Action; and Rawhide Kid.
• The "Demon in a Bottle" storyline, by David Michelinie, Bob Layton, and John Romita, Jr., runs through Iron Man.Alien: The Illustrated Story, a comics adaptation of Alien, by Archie Goodwin and Walt Simonson, published by Heavy Metal.
• In Turnhout, Belgium the first edition of the Stripgids Festival is organized by Jan Smet.
• Belgian comic artist Morris is knighted in the Order of Leopold II.
• Comic artist Gary Panter publishes the Rozz Tox Manifesto, in which he encourages counterculture artists to infiltrate the mainstream media.

Births

March

November

Deaths

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Specific date unknown

• Garrett Price, American comics artist, cartoonist and illustrator, dies at age 81 or 82.
• Carlos Laffond, Spanish comics artist, dies at age 49 or 50.

Conventions

Awards

[Eagle Awards]

First issues by title

DC Comics

Marvel Comics

Independent titles

Initial appearances by character name

DC Comics

Marvel Comics

• * Aurora
• * Northstar
• * Sasquatch
• * Shaman
• * SnowbirdBlack Cat, in The Amazing Spider-Man #194Dire Wraith, in Rom #1Followers of the Light, in Shogun Warriors #1Justin Hammer, in Iron Man #120H.E.R.B.I.E., in Fantastic Four #209Kroton (Cyberman), in Doctor Who Weekly #5 Cassie Lang, in Marvel Premiere #47Scott Lang, in The Avengers #181; as Ant-Man in Marvel Premiere #47Lady Lotus, in Invaders #37Night Raven, in Hulk Comic #1 Quasar, in The Incredible Hulk #234Proteus, in Uncanny X-Men #125Rom, in Rom: Spaceknight #1Schizoid Man, in Spectacular Spider-Man #36Shadow King, in Uncanny X-Men #117 Screaming Mimi, in Marvel Two-in-One #54Vampiro, in The Mighty Thor #290 War Machine, in Iron Man #118Debra Whitman, in The Amazing Spider-Man #196Mariko Yashida, in Uncanny X-Men #118