1990 in comics


Notable events of 1990 in comics.

Events

Year overall

  • New Century Comics, Disney Comics, Millennium Publications, MU Press, Tundra Publishing, Valiant Comics, Drawn & Quarterly, and the French publisher L'Association, all enter the marketplace.
  • The "Days of Future Present" storyline, the sequel to "Days of Future Past," appears in the annuals of Fantastic Four, New Mutants, X-Factor and X-Men.
  • Time Inc. and Warner Communications, parent of DC Comics, merge under the name Time Warner.

    January

  • January 7: In the Disney comics magazine Topolino, the first chapter of The Search for the Zodiac Stone!: An Epic Yarn of Mice and Ducks!, written by Bruno Sarda and drawn by Massimo De Vita and Franco Valussi, appears in print for the first time. The story, in 12 chapters, is considered the longest Disney comic ever published and its issue lasts the whole year. It involves all the principal characters of the Donald and Mckey universes and sees the debut of Paperinik’s nemesis Spectrus.
  • January 19: in Spriou, first episode of Spirou à Moscou, by Tome and Janry.
  • January 21: in Topolino, the first of the Racconti intorno al fuoco, by Rodolfo Cimino and Giorgio Cavzrzano, is the published; they are romantic tales, set in the Nineteenth-century America, told by Grandma Duck but unrelated to the duck universe.
  • Baby Blues debuts.
  • Charles M. Schulz is named Commandeur des Arts et Lettres.
  • Dinosaurs for Hire is cancelled by Eternity Comics with issue #9.
  • 1st known artwork by Dale Keown for Marvel Comics, published in Nth Man #9.

    February

  • The last issue of Damage Control vol. 2 is published.
  • With issue #6, Police Academy is cancelled.

    March

  • March 16: Jan Bucquoy launches the Belgian weekly magazine Dol/Belge, which is so outrageous in slandering media celebrities, the Belgian royal family, the Pope, politicians and other high officials that within a few weeks issues are confiscated and stores refuse to sell copies. Bucquoy then transforms it into a genuine comics magazine featuring reprints of his older porn parodies. The magazine will last merely a year.
  • Elektra Lives Again is published by Epic Comics, written and drawn by Frank Miller.
  • The last issue of Strikeforce: Morituri: Electric Undertow is published, thereby ending the series as a whole.
  • Le raid infernal, by Jean Michel Charlier and Colin Wilson, sixth chapter of La jeunesse de Blueberry; first chapter of the Great Locomotive Chase saga.

    April

  • April 6: The unfinished Blake and Mortimer story, The 3 Formulas of Professor Sato: Mortimer vs. Mortimer, made before Edgar P. Jacobs' death, is published posthumously, completed by Bob de Moor.

    June

  • With issue 9, The Destroyer v1 is cancelled.

    July

  • Fright Night is canceled by Now Comics with issue #22.
  • The New Warriors v1 #1 is released.
  • 2000AD spin-off Revolver hits newsagents, with the seminal storyline Rogan Gosh.
  • Shade the Changing Man is revamped by DC imprint Vertigo.

    August

  • August 31: Scott McCloud draws the first comic strip drawn in 24 hours. In 2004 this will become an annual event.
  • Yoshito Usui launches his series Crayon Shin-chan.
  • Animal Man #26: "Deus Ex Machina," writer Grant Morrison's final issue of Animal Man.
  • Secret Origins is canceled by DC with issue #50.
  • Spider-Man #1, the start of the "Torment" storyline, marked Todd McFarlane's first major outing on a series as a writer/artist. The issue would become the best selling comic book so far and be the first major step to the rise of the superstar creators and the formation of Image Comics.

    September

  • Nth Man: The Ultimate Ninja is canceled by Marvel with issue #16.
  • Terminator is canceled by NOW Comics with issue #17.

    October

  • October 13: During the Stripdagen in Breda, the Netherlands, Henk Kuijpers receives the Stripschapprijs. Joost Swarte receives the Jaarprijs voor Bijzondere Verdienste.
  • Swamp Thing #100: Double-sized issue, "Tales of Eden," by Doug Wheeler, Kelley Jones, and Pat Broderick.
  • The Huntress v1 is canceled by DC with issue #19.
  • Ultima fermata l’incubo by Alfredo Castelli, Tiziano Sclavi and Giovanni Freghieri ; first team-up between two Bonelli heroes.

    November

  • Marvel's "X-Tinction Agenda" crossover begins in the pages of Uncanny X-Men, X-Factor, and New Mutants.

    December

  • Fantastic Four #347 – A temporary lineup introduced, consisting of the Hulk, Spider-Man, Wolverine, and Ghost Rider.
  • Wendy the Good Little Witch, with issue #97, canceled by Harvey Comics.
  • The Real Ghostbusters is canceled by Now Comics with issue #28.

    Specific date unknown

  • The first issue of the Belgian satirical comics and cartoons magazine Ubu-Pan is published.

    Deaths

January