Portal:Comics

Krazy Kat is a comic strip created by George Herriman that appeared in U.S. newspapers between 1913 and 1944. It was first published in William Randolph Hearst's New York Evening Journal. Set in a dreamlike portrayal of Herriman's vacation home of Coconino County, Arizona, Krazy Kat's mixture of surrealism, innocent playfulness, and poetic language have made it a favorite of comics aficionados and art critics for more than eighty years. The strip focuses on the relationship triangle between its title character, a carefree and innocent cat of indeterminate gender (referred to as both male and female), her antagonist Ignatz Mouse, and the protective police dog, Officer Bull Pupp. Krazy nurses an unrequited love for the mouse, but Ignatz despises her and constantly schemes to throw a brick at her head; for unknown reasons, Krazy takes this as a sign of affection. Officer Pupp, as Coconino County's administrator of law and order, makes it his unwavering mission to interfere with Ignatz's brick-tossing plans and lock the mouse in the county jail.

• 1915: birth of Bob Kane, American comic book writer and artist, creator of Batman
• 1925: birth of Al Feldstein, American comic book artist and editor, for 28 years editor-in-chief of MAD magazine
• 1932: birth of Ziraldo Alves Pinto, Brazilian comics artist best known for O Pasquim
• 1944: debut of The Mice Squad, Canadian comic strip by Larry Purdy in The Telegram
• 1953: birth of Mindy Newell, American comic book writer and editor best known for her work with DC Comics
• 1955: birth of Kiff Scholl, American comic book letterer
• 1968: birth of Françoise Mouly, American comic book colorist and wife of Art Spigelman

• ... that the original release of Jason Shiga's comic Demon included a four-page issue, a sixty-page issue, and an issue in which all the panels were black?
• ... that while it is now considered a classic work of girls' comics, the 1974 manga series The Heart of Thomas was almost cancelled five weeks into serialization due to poor initial reader response?
• ... that comic book artist Barry Windsor-Smith wrote, drew, inked, and lettered every page of his graphic novel Monsters by himself?
• ... that the Buddhist themes of David Bowie's 1967 composition "Karma Man" were compared to the Marvel Comics character Doctor Strange?
• ... that open depictions of sexual acts were a defining trait of early works of josei manga ('women's comics')?
• ... that Hikaru Natsumi contributed to adult comic magazines while still in high school?
• ... that it took Zachary Levi an average of twenty minutes to get into costume as the titular character in Shazam!?
• ... that otomechikku, a subgenre of Japanese girls' comics focusing on stories about ordinary teenaged protagonists, has been compared to monogatari and the genre of Bildungsroman?

Whiz Comics #2 (Feb. 1940), the first appearance of Captain Marvel. Cover art by C. C. Beck.

Captain Marvel is a fictional comic book superhero, originally published by Fawcett Comics and later by DC Comics. Created in 1939 by artist C. C. Beck and writer Bill Parker, the character first appeared in Whiz Comics #2 (February 1940). With a premise that taps adolescent fantasy, Captain Marvel is the alter ego of Billy Batson, a youth who works as a radio news reporter and was chosen to be a champion of good by the wizard Shazam.

• ...that the two-inch-tall people of The Teenie Weenies were a Chicago Tribune comic strip written by William Donahey for over 50 years?

• ...that the manhwa Recast was published not just in Korean, but also in German, French, and American English?

• ...that author Ted McKeever cited Planet of the Apes as inspiration for his futuristic comic book series Meta 4, saying that it changed his life?