1986 in comics


Notable events of 1986 in comics.

Events and publications

Year overall

  • Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, a four-issue limited series written and drawn by Frank Miller and published by DC Comics, debuts. It reintroduces Batman to the general public as the psychologically dark character of his original 1930s conception, and helps to usher in an era of "grim and gritty" superheroes from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s.
  • Watchmen, a twelve-issue limited series written by Alan Moore, illustrated by Dave Gibbons and published by DC Comics, debuts. To date, Watchmen remains the only graphic novel to win a Hugo Award, and is also the only graphic novel to appear on Time's 2005 list of "the 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to the present."
  • The first volume of Maus, written and drawn by Art Spiegelman debuts. Maus is a biography, presented in comics form, of Spiegelman's father, Vladek Spiegelman, a survivor of the Nazi Holocaust. Spiegelman was awarded a 1992 Pulitzer Prize Special Award for Maus shortly after its completion in 1991.
  • A plethora of new independent publishers enter the comics arena, including ACE Comics, Adventure Publications, Apple Comics, Crystal Publications, Dark Horse Comics, Eternity Comics, Fantagor Press, Gladstone Comics, Malibu Comics, Pied Piper Comics, Silverwolf Comics, Slave Labor Graphics, Solson Publications, and Spotlight Comics. Conversely, Lodestone Comics and Sirius Comics/New Sirius Productions go out of business.
  • The Man of Steel, a six-issue comic book limited series written and penciled by John Byrne, inked by Dick Giordano and published by DC Comics, debuts. The mini-series is designed to revamp the Superman mythos, using the history-altering effects of Crisis on Infinite Earths as an explanation for numerous changes to previous continuity.
  • The "Born Again" story arc runs in Marvel Comics' Daredevil, written by Frank Miller and drawn by David Mazzucchelli.
  • The "Mutant Massacre" crossover storyline runs through Marvel Comics in the fall. It primarily involves the superhero teams the X-Men, X-Factor, and the New Mutants. Power Pack, Thor, and Daredevil cross over for an issue in their own titles.
  • Captain Confederacy, created by Will Shetterly and Vince Stone, debuts, published by SteelDragon Press. It will run 12 issues.
  • DC publishes Heroes Against Hunger starring Superman and Batman, an all-star benefit book for African famine relief and recovery.
  • Marvel Super Special, with issue #41, about Howard the Duck, is cancelled by Marvel Comics.
  • André Franquin and Jean-François Moyersoen establish Marsu Productions.

    January

  • January 20: The final episode of Marten Toonder's Tom Poes is published. Olivier B. Bommel marries Annemarie Doddeltje, while Tom Poes leaves and roams the Earth.
  • With issue #323, DC cancels World's Finest Comics.

    February

  • The French publisher Delcourt enters the marketplace, cancelling the comics magazine Charlie Mensuel and merging its contents with Pilote magazine.
  • With issue #329, DC cancels Wonder Woman.
  • With issue #152, Marvel cancels The Defenders.
  • With issue #75, Marvel cancels ROM.
  • With issue #34, Marvel cancels Epic Illustrated.

    March

  • March 3: The first episode of Jim Davis' U.S. Acres is published. It will run until 1989.
  • March 22: British comic magazine The Beano organizes a publicity stunt, where in the latest episode of Dennis the Menace and Gnasher Dennis' dog Gnasher suddenly disappears. Over the next two months, his absence is used to intrigue readers and make them wonder about the dog's whereabouts. The mystery receives remarkable media attention. On 5 May, Gnasher returns.
  • March 22 - 13 April: The first annual comics festival of Knokke, Belgium, is organized.
  • Wonder Man #1 one-shot, by David Michelinie, Kerry Gammill, and Vince Colletta; published by Marvel Comics.
  • Broadside, a comic strip by Jeff Bacon, begins appearing in the ''Navy Times.''

    April

  • April 1: In Tintin, the Ric Hochet story Les Messagers du Trepas, by André-Paul Duchâteau and Tibet, is serialized.
  • April 16: A special benefit night is organized, in the presence of countless Belgian comic artists, to promote and receive funding for a comic museum devoted to Belgian comics. The action is successful and greenlighted from 24 April on, in 1989 resulting in the opening of the Belgian Comic Strip Center in Brussels.
  • April 10: Metalzoic, by Pat Mills and Kevin O'Neill, published by DC Comics.
  • The Enchanted Apples of Oz, First Graphic Novel #5, by Eric Shanower.
  • With issue #106, Archie Comics cancels Archie's TV Laugh-Out.
  • With issue #71, DC Comics cancels The Best of DC
  • Daniel Clowes's Lloyd Llewellyn makes its debut.

    May

  • Green Lantern #200: "Five Billion Years," by Steve Englehart, Joe Staton, and Bruce D. Patterson.
  • The Incredible Hulk #319: Bruce Banner marries Betty Ross.
  • With issue #20, Marvel cancels Micronauts: The New Voyages.

    June

  • June 7: The final episode of Bill Schorr's Conrad is published.
  • With issue #201, DC changes the title of the Green Lantern comic book to The Green Lantern Corps.
  • The Thing, with issue #36, is cancelled by Marvel.

    July

  • July 2: Dick Matena wins the Stripschapprijs. Hans van den Boom receives the P. Hans Frankfurtherprijs.
  • Dark Horse Comics makes its debut as a publisher with the anthology Dark Horse Presents #1.
  • Hawkman Special, by Jenny Blake Isabella, Richard Howell, and Ron Randall.
  • With issue #107, Marvel cancels its Star Wars comic.

    August

  • Aristocratic Xtraterrestrial Time-Traveling Thieves "Micro Series" #1, by Henry Vogel and Mark Propst.

    September

  • Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons and John Higgins' Watchmen is first published.
  • "Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?," a two-part Superman story, appears in Superman #423 and Action Comics #583. Written by Alan Moore, with art by Curt Swan, George Pérez, and Kurt Schaffenberger; published by DC Comics.
  • DC suspends publication of Superman; in 1987 the title relaunches as The Adventures of Superman.
  • DC suspends publication of Action Comics to allow for the publication of John Byrne's The Man of Steel limited series and Byrne's revamp of the Superman character/franchise.
  • With issue #97, DC cancels DC Comics Presents.
  • Power Man and Iron Fist, with issue #125, is cancelled by Marvel.
  • September 27: Warlord, with issue #627, is merged with Victor.

    October

  • October 1: Jean Van Hamme and Grzegorz Rosinski's graphic novel Chninkel starts serialisation in the magazine À Suivre.
  • October 4:
  • * The final episode of Pat Mills and Joe Colquhoun's Charley's War is prepublished in Battle Picture Weekly.
  • * The final The Adventures of Tintin album Tintin and the Alph-Art, which remained unfinished, is published in its sketched-out form.
  • October 18: The Dutch comics store Lambiek in Amsterdam opens their art gallery. The first exhibition centers around the comics magazine RAW. In the following years the store will host several other exhibitions, inviting national and international comics artists over to exhibit their drawings and sign their work. It will make the store internationally famous in comics circles.
  • Marvel Comics launches the New Universe, an imprint created in celebration of Marvel's 25th anniversary. Comics published by New Universe are in a distinctly separate world, fully divorced from the mainstream continuity of the Marvel Universe, consisting of its own continuing characters and stories in a more realistic setting. The New Universe's first titles are Spitfire and The Troubleshooters and Star Brand.
  • Batman #400: 68-page anniversary issue, "Resurrection Night," by Doug Moench and an all-star roster of artists, including Bill Sienkiewicz, John Byrne, George Pérez, Art Adams, and Brian Bolland.
  • L’alba dei morti viventi – by Tiziano Sclavi and Angelo Stano; first album of the Dylan Dog series. Beyond the hero, his two partners and his nemesis make their debut.

    November

  • November 1: The first episode of Gnasher and Gipper, starring Gnasher and his son Gipper, is published in The Beano, drawn by David Sutherland.
  • November 3: Ralph Dunagin and Dana Summers' The Middletons makes its debut.
  • November 29: In a gag of Jan, Jans en de Kinderen by Jan Kruis, the fictional holiday Sint Pannekoek is introduced. This joke will eventually become a real holiday celebration in some parts of The Netherlands.
  • Hergé's widow, Fanny Rodwell, disestablishes Studio Hergé and replaces it a year later by the Hergé Foundation, aka Moulinsart.
  • Marvel's New Universe imprint launches six more titles: D.P. 7, Justice, Kickers, Inc., Mark Hazzard: Merc, Nightmask, and Psi-Force.
  • DC Comics begins publishing "Legends," a crossover storyline that runs through a six-issue, self-titled limited series and various other DC titles published in 1986 and 1987.

    December

  • Blue Devil, with issue #31, is canceled by DC Comics
  • With issue #15, Comico publishes the final issue of Matt Wagner's Mage: The Hero Discovered
  • Amazing High Adventure, with issue #5, publishes its final issue.
  • Chester Brown's Yummy Fur begins professional publication by Vortex Comics