1979 in comics

Events

January

• January 6: The first episode of Pat Mills and Joe Colquhoun's Charley's War is prepublished in Battle Picture Weekly and will run until October 1986.
• January 17: In Il Male, the demented space adventurer Joe Galaxy makes his debut in a two-strip story by Massimo Mattioli.
• January 24: In issue #330 The Mighty World of Marvel, changes its name to Marvel Comic.
• January 28: In Il giornalino, Una tequila señor by Giuliano Longhi and Renato Polese marks the debut of the West Angels, a trio of easy-going bounty-hunters.
• 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

• February 20: Kees Kousemaker and his wife Evelien publish Wordt Vervolgd. Stripleksikon der Lage Landen, the follow-up to their earlier comics encyclopaedia Strip voor Strip.
• February 22: In Spirou, the first chapter of the Yoko Tsuno story La lumiere d’Ixo, by Roger Leloup, is published.
• February 26: In Pif Gadget, Les Robinsons de la Terre by Roger Lécureux and Alfonso Font makes its debut.
• First issue of Cliff, by Luciano Secchi; the series, a sort of Italian version of Hulk, lasts just 16 numbers.

  March

• March 6: In Tintin, the first chapter of the Alix story L' Enfant Grec by Jacques Martin, is published.
• March 7: In the TV show SuperGulp, Bonvi's Marzolino Tarantola makes his debut.
• March 23 : In Tintin the first chapter of the Ric Hochet story Le Fantome de l’alchimiste by André-Paul Duchâteau and Tibet is published.
• March 28: Corrier Boy changes its headline in Corrier Boy serie music and furtherly reduces the comics’ space.
• 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

• April 9: The first episode of Vahan Shirvanian's No Comment is published.
• April 15: The final episode of The Captain and the Kids is published. Originally drawn by Rudolph Dirks, it was continued by his son John Dirks since 1962.
• Kid Colt Outlaw, with issue #225, canceled by Marvel.
• 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

• May 5: David Sutherland introduces Dennis' pet pig Rasher in Dennis the Menace and Gnasher.
• May 15: In Tintin, the first chapter of the Jonathan story Douniacha, il y a longtemps... by Cosey is published.
• May 19: A statue of Suske en Wiske, designed by René Rosseel, is revealed at the Antwerp Zoo.
• 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

• June 6: In Tintin, the first chapter of the Thorgal story Les Trois Vieillards du pays d'Aran, by Jean Van Hamme and Grzegorz Rosiński is published.
• June 17: The final episode of the weekly political-satirical gag comic spin-off of Jean Tabary's Iznogoud is printed in the Sunday newspaper Journal du Dimanche.
• June 21: In Spirou, the first chapter of the Spirou & Fantasio story Des haricots partout by Jean Claude Fournier is published.
• 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

• DC Special Series #17 — DC Special Series returns after it had gone on hiatus in Fall 1978.

  July

• World of Krypton – #1 of 3, by DC Comics. The first official limited series, this three-issue "mini-series" was originally slated for Showcase #104-106 to coincide with the premiere of Superman: The Movie. The storyline was rescheduled for Showcase #110-112 when the film's release date was delayed; but ultimately, Showcase was cancelled after issue #104. Finally, the material is revised and released as a limited series by Paul Kupperberg and Howard Chaykin.
• 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

• September: The Indian comics magazine Target is launched. Inside the first issue, Ajit Ninan's detective comic Detective Moochhwala makes its debut.
• September 9: For Better or For Worse, by Lynn Johnston, debuts, distributed by Universal Press Syndicate.
• September 17: Jaap Vegter receives the Stripschapprijs.
• All-Out War #1: a new war title in the Dollar Comics format is launched by DC Comics with a September/October cover date.
• The Best of DC #1: a reprint anthology title in the digest format is launched by DC Comics with a September/October cover date.
• "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

• October 1: Hergé's Tintin and Snowy receive a statue in Uccle.
• January 6: The final episode of Kees Stip and Nico Visscher's newspaper gag-a-day comic In de Wolken is published.
• October 6: In The Louisville Times, the first episode of Don Rosa’s Captain Kentucky is published.
• October 21: In Il Giornalino, the first chapter of Gargantua e Pantagruel, Dino Battaglia’s comics adaptation of Gargantua and Pantagruel, is published.
• Action Comics #500: 68-pages, "The Life Story of Superman," by Martin Pasko, Curt Swan, and Frank Chiaramonte.
• Star*Reach, with issue #18, publishes its final issue.
• Time Warp #1: a new science-fiction anthology in the Dollar Comics format is launched by DC Comics with an October/November cover date.
• 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

• December 21: In VSD, the first chapter of Le magot des Dalton by Morris and Vicq is published. Vicq succeeds the late Goscinny as Lucky Luke’s writer.
• 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.