1949 in comics

Events and publications

Year overall

January

• January 22: Peyo's gag comic Poussy is first published in Le Soir.
• Captain America Comics #70 - Timely Comics
• Human Torch Comics #34 - Timely Comics
• Jughead #1 - Archie Comics

  February

• Lana #4 - Timely Comics
• Marvel Mystery Comics #90 - Timely Comics
• Sub-Mariner Comics #30 - Timely Comics
• Two-Gun Kid #6 - Timely Comics

  March

• Captain America Comics #71 - Timely Comics
• Human Torch Comics #35 - Timely Comics -
• Nipper, by Doug Wright, debuts in the March 12 issue of The Montreal Standard. The weekly comic strip would run until 1980 in magazines distributed across Canada.

  April

• April 9: The final issue of the Italian Disney comics magazine Topolino is published. It becomes a digest instead.
• April 25: First publication of Wally Fawkes' Flook in The Daily Mail.
• Captain America Comics #72 - Timely Comics
• Lana #5 - Timely Comics
• Marvel Mystery Comics #91 - Timely Comics
• Sub-Mariner Comics #31 - Timely Comics
• Two-Gun Kid #7 - Timely Comics
• Venus #4 - Timely Comics

  May

• May 22: First publication of Warren Tufts' Casey Ruggles as a Sunday strip. It will become a daily strip on 19 September.
• The final issue of the Belgian comics magazine Wrill is published.

  June

• Lana #6 - Timely Comics
• Marvel Mystery Comics #92. The final issue under this title; with the next issue it changes title and format to Marvel Tales - Timely Comics
• Sub-Mariner Comics #32 - Timely Comics -
• Two-Gun Kid #8 - Timely Comics
• Venus #5 - Timely Comics
• Western Winners, with issue #5, takes over the numbering of All-Western Winners — Atlas Comics

  July

• July 10: Jules Feiffer's gag comic Clifford, which appeared earlier this year during the spring in Will Eisner's one-shot Kewpies, is now moved to The Spirit comic book magazine as a back cover feature. It will run until 4 March 1951.
• Captain America Comics #73 - Timely Comics -

  August

• August 4: Halfway the prepublication of The Adventures of Tintin story Land of Black Gold in Tintin Hergé leaves to take a 12-week resting vacation in Switzerland, because he suffered from clinical depression. The story won't be continued until 27 October.
• August 13: First publication of Pepo's Condorito.
• Best Love debuts with issue #33, taking over the numbering of Sub-Mariner Comics - Timely Comics
• Big Shot, with issue #104, is cancelled by
• Girls' Love Stories #1 - DC Comics
• Lana #7 - Timely Comics
• Marvel Tales debuts with issue #93, taking over the numbering of Marvel Mystery Comics - Timely Comics
• Two-Gun Kid #9 - Timely Comics
• Venus #6 - Timely Comics

  September

• September 11: The episode Ten Minutes, in the series The Spirit, is first published. This marks the first story written by Will Eisner's assistant Jules Feiffer, who will continue writing most of the series until 1952.

  October

• Captain America's Weird Tales #74 - Timely Comics
• Cowboy Romances #1 - Timely Comics
• Alfred Harvey and Vic Herman's Little Dot makes her debut in Little Max Comics # 1.
• The final issue of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster's Slam Bradley is published.

  November

• Boy Commandos, with issue #36 dated November–December, cancelled by DC Comics.
• Little Lana #8 - Timely Comics -
• Marvel Tales #94 - Timely Comics
• Two-Gun Kid, with issue #10, cancelled by Timely Comics.
• Venus #8 - Timely Comics

  December

• December 3: First publication of Pecos Bill by Guido Martina and Raffaele Paparella.
• December 15: The final issue of the Dutch comics magazine Doe Mee is published.
• Cowboy Romances #2 - Timely Comics
• True Western #1 - Timely Comics

  Specific date unknown

• The first episode of Roland Davies' Sparks and Flash is published.

  Deaths

February

• February 15: Charles L. Bartholomew, Bart, American comics artist, dies at age 80.

  March

• March 6: Storm P., Danish comics artist, animator, illustrator, painter and comedian, passes away at the age of 66.
• March 16: Stanley E. Armstrong, American comics artist, passes away at age 85.
• March 21: Jo Valle, French comics writer, dies at age 83.

  April

• 24 April: Reg Carter, British comics artist dies at the age of 62.

  May

• May 12: Neysa McMein, American illustrator, painter and comics artist, dies at age 60.
• May 27: Robert L. Ripley, American comics artist, cartoonist, entrepreneur and anthropologist, dies at the age of 58 from a heart attack.

  June

• 10 June: John T. McCutcheon, American political cartoonist and occasional comics artist, dies at age 79.

  July

• July 13: Walt Kuhn, American painter, illustrator and comics artist, dies at age 71.

  October

• October 8: Monte Barrett, American comics writer, dies at age 52.

  November

• November 13: Bern L. Vinger, Dutch illustrator and comics artist, dies at age 77.
• November 30: Lester J. Ambrose, American comics artist, dies at age 70.

  December

• December 3: Frank Miller, American comics artist, dies from a heart attack at the age of 51.
• December 7: Bovil, Swedish painter, illustrator, sculptor and comics artist, dies at age 39.
• December 8: Frank R. Leet, American comics artist, dies at age 68.
• December 11: Clifford K. Berryman, American cartoonist, dies at the age of 80.

  Specific date unknown

• Jo Valle, French comics writer, dies at age 84.
• André Vallet, French painter, illustrator and comics artist, dies at age 79 or 80.
• Émile Vavasseur, French poster artist, comics artist and illustrator, dies at age 85 or 86.

  First issues by title

• Buster Bunny, cover dated November, published by Standard Comics
• Girl Comics, cover-dated October, published by Timely Comics
• Girls' Love Stories, cover dated August–September, published by DC Comics
• Heart Throbs, cover-dated August, published by Quality Comics
• Kid Colt Outlaw, cover-dated May, published by Timely Comics
• Superboy, cover-dated March/April, published by DC Comics
• Torchy, cover-dated November, published by Quality Comics

  Initial appearances by character name

• Pow Wow Smith in Detective Comics #151, created by Don Cameron and Carmine Infantino - DC Comics
• Dr. Edward Clariss - Reverse Flash in Flash Comics'' #104, created by John Broome and Joe Kubert - DC Comics