1950 in comics
Encyclopedia
European publications
- Quatre aventures de Spirou et FantasioQuatre aventures de Spirou et FantasioQuatre aventures de Spirou et Fantasio, written and drawn by Franquin, is a collection of four stories from serial publication between 1948-50 in Spirou, namely Spirou et les plans du robot, Spirou sur le ring, Spirou fait du cheval, and Spirou chez les Pygmées...
by André FranquinAndré FranquinAndré Franquin was an influential Belgian comics artist, whose best known comic strip creations are Gaston and Marsupilami, created while he worked on the Spirou et Fantasio comic strip from 1947 to 1969, during a period seen by many as the series' golden age.-Franquin's beginnings:Franquin was...
, Dupuis - EagleEagle (comic)Eagle was a seminal British children's comic, first published from 1950 to 1969, and then in a relaunched format from 1982 to 1994. It was founded by Marcus Morris, an Anglican vicar from Lancashire. Morris edited a parish magazine called The Anvil, but felt that the church was not communicating...
launched on April 14 of this year and ran (into two incarnations) until 19941994 in comics-Year overall:* Huge changes in the marketplace force many retailers and small publishers out of business...
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U.S. publications
In 1950 the U.S. comicsAmerican comic book
An American comic book is a small magazine originating in the United States and containing a narrative in the form of comics. Since 1975 the dimensions have standardized at 6 5/8" x 10 ¼" , down from 6 ¾" x 10 ¼" in the Silver Age, although larger formats appeared in the past...
industry came to a turning point. The Golden Age of Comic Books
Golden Age of Comic Books
The Golden Age of Comic Books was a period in the history of American comic books, generally thought of as lasting from the late 1930s until the late 1940s or early 1950s...
was ending, and the rise of crime comics, romance comics, western comic, horror comics, and science fiction comics signaled the start of the new decade. In the movies, Destination Moon
Destination Moon
Destination Moon can refer to the following:* Destination Moon , a 1950 science fiction film* "Destination Moon" , a story by Robert Heinlein adapted from his screenplay for the above...
, the first color science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
, and the first big budget science fiction film since Things to Come
Things to Come
Things to Come is a British science fiction film produced by Alexander Korda and directed by William Cameron Menzies. The screenplay was written by H. G. Wells and is a loose adaptation of his own 1933 novel The Shape of Things to Come and his 1931 non-fiction work, The Work, Wealth and Happiness...
in 1936. DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
was quick to pick up on the renewed interest of the public in science fiction, and a still from Destination Moon was the cover of the new science fiction comic book Strange Adventures
Strange Adventures
Strange Adventures was the title of several American comic books published by DC Comics, most notably a long-running science fiction anthology that began in 1950.-Original series:...
, soon joined by a companion book Mystery in Space
Mystery in Space
Mystery in Space is the name of two science fiction comic book series published in the United States by DC Comics, then known as National Comics. The first series ran for 110 issues from 1951 - 1966, with a further 7 issues continuing the numbering during a 1980s revival of the title...
. EC Comics
EC Comics
Entertaining Comics, more commonly known as EC Comics, was an American publisher of comic books specializing in horror fiction, crime fiction, satire, military fiction and science fiction from the 1940s through the mid-1950s, notably the Tales from the Crypt series...
were at the height of their all-too-brief trajectory, with science fiction comics Weird Science
Weird Science (comic)
Weird Science was a science fiction anthology comic book that was part of the EC Comics line in the early 1950s. Over a four-year span, the comic ran for 22 issues, ending with the November–December, 1953 issue...
and Weird Fantasy
Weird Fantasy
Weird Fantasy is a science fiction anthology comic that was part of the EC Comics line in the early 1950s. The companion comic for Weird Fantasy was Weird Science...
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Dell Comics
Dell Comics
Dell Comics was the comic book publishing arm of Dell Publishing, which got its start in pulp magazines. It published comics from 1929 to 1973. At its peak, it was the most prominent and successful American company in the medium...
was publishing a large number of western
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
comics, dedicated to celebrities such as Roy Rogers
Roy Rogers
Roy Rogers, born Leonard Franklin Slye , was an American singer and cowboy actor, one of the most heavily marketed and merchandised stars of his era, as well as being the namesake of the Roy Rogers Restaurants franchised chain...
and Gene Autry
Gene Autry
Orvon Grover Autry , better known as Gene Autry, was an American performer who gained fame as The Singing Cowboy on the radio, in movies and on television for more than three decades beginning in the 1930s...
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The comic strip
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
reprint comics, which had started the comic book phenomenon, were disappearing. Ace Comics
Ace Comics
Ace Comics was a comic book series published by David McKay Publications between 1937 and 1949 — starting just before the Golden Age era of comics...
, Magic Comics, and King Comics
King Comics
King Comics, a short-lived comic book imprint of King Features Syndicate, was an attempt by King Features to publish comics of its own characters, rather than through other publishers. The line ran for approximately a year-and-a-half, with its series cover-dated from August 1966 to December 1967...
ended their long runs. Attempts to bring out single character comic strip reprints, such as Flash Gordon
Flash Gordon
Flash Gordon is the hero of a science fiction adventure comic strip originally drawn by Alex Raymond. First published January 7, 1934, the strip was inspired by and created to compete with the already established Buck Rogers adventure strip. Also inspired by these series were comics such as Dash...
, Steve Canyon
Steve Canyon
Steve Canyon was a long-running American adventure comic strip by writer-artist Milton Caniff. Launched shortly after Caniff retired from his previous strip, Terry and the Pirates, Steve Canyon ran from January 13, 1947 until June 4, 1988, shortly after Caniff's death...
, and Terry and the Pirates
Terry and the Pirates (comic strip)
Terry and the Pirates was an action-adventure comic strip created by cartoonist Milton Caniff. Captain Joseph Patterson, editor for the Chicago Tribune New York News Syndicate, had admired Caniff’s work on the children's adventure strip Dickie Dare and hired him to create the new adventure strip,...
folded after short runs.
Also, Charles Schulz' Peanuts
Peanuts
Peanuts is a syndicated daily and Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz, which ran from October 2, 1950, to February 13, 2000, continuing in reruns afterward...
appeared for the first time on 2 October 1950 in seven US newspapers.
First issues by title
- Strange AdventuresStrange AdventuresStrange Adventures was the title of several American comic books published by DC Comics, most notably a long-running science fiction anthology that began in 1950.-Original series:...
cover dated August–September, published by DC ComicsDC ComicsDC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
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