Notable events of 1965 in comics.
Events
January January 19: In Quino's Mafalda, Felipe makes his debut. January 21: in Pilote, La piste des Navajos (Navajos' trail) by Jean-Michel Charlier and Jean Giraud; Blueberry gets the surname "Nez Cassé" (Broken nose). January 23: The first issue of the British comics magazine Sparky is published. It will run until 1977. January: Robert Crumb's Fritz the Cat makes his first public appearance in Help!. January: Michael O'Donoghue and Frank Springer's The Adventures of Phoebe Zeit-Geist is first published.
February February 13: The final episode of Jay Heavilin and Frank B. Johnson's Einstein is published. February 15: Morrie Turner's Wee Pals makes its debut. February 21 – March 2: The first edition of the Salone Internazionale dei Comics is held in Bordighera, Italy. The next edition will take place in Lucca and thus grow out to become the Lucca Comics festival. The first issue of Enemy Ace is published. In Del Connell and Paul Murry's Phantom Blot story The Phantom Blot meets Super Goof, Goofy's super-eroic alter ego Super Goof is introduced. In October a magazine is dedicated to him.
March March 14: Raymond Macherot's Sibylline makes its debut in Spirou. In Charles M. Schulz' Peanuts the Kite-Eating Tree receives its name. March 28: The final episode of Mike Roy's Akwas is published. March 29: In Quino's Mafalda Manolito makes his debut. March 31: Belgian comics artist Marc Sleen finishes his final adventure of The Adventures of Nero in the newspaper Het Volk, after which he joins another newspaper, De Standaard. At this occasion he also terminates all his other series: Piet Fluwijn en Bolleke, Doris Dobbel, Oktaaf Keunink, De Ronde van Frankrijk and De Lustige Kapoentjes, keeping only Nero The first episode of Nino Cannata's Sadik is published.
April April 1: As an April fool's joke, the covers of the rival comic magazines Tintin and Spirou are redesigned to make the Tintin cover look like Spirou and vice versa, complete with restyled logos and lay-out. The joke was thought up by Spirou editor Yvan Delporte in collaboration with Tintin's editors. April 4: The Masked Cucumber (Concombre Masqué) makes his debut in Nikita Mandryka's comic Boff in Vaillant. A week later the strange character receives his own long-running spin-off series. April 8: The first story of Jidéhem's Sophie is prepublished in Spirou. April 12: Since Marc Sleen is contractually unable to publish a new The Adventures of Nero story for three months Willy Vandersteen and Eduard De Rop create a cut-and-paste comic strip named De Geschiedenis van Sleenovia, which features Nero characters but drawn by Studio Vandersteen. It runs in De Standaard for three months, but after only three episodes the comic strip is modified for copyright issues, as Het Volk sues De Standaard for making an unauthorized copy of their former hit comic strip. After a few weeks the legal battle is solved and the story is allowed to continue as planned. It runs until 30 June, after which Sleen finally makes the first Nero story for De Standaard. April 19: Il Tesoro del pirata, by Gian Luigi Bonelli and Guglielmo Letteri; Tex Willer meets the New Orleans sheriff Nat Mac Kennet, who will become a recurring character in his adventures. April 29: in Spirou, Des barbelés sur la prairie by Goscinny and Morris April 29: in Pilote, Le cavalier perdu, by Jean-Michel Charlier and Jean Giraud; debut of the silver digger Jim McClure, Blueberry's recurring sidekick. The first issue of the Italian comics magazine Linus is published.
May May 2: The final episode of Right Around Home is published. May 3: The first episode of Bud Blake's Tiger is published, which will run until 2003.Tiger at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. from the original on June 9, 2015. May 10: The comic strip The Born Loser, by Art Sansom, begins syndication. May 27: The first episode of René Goscinny and Marcel Gotlib's Les Dingodossiers appears in Pilote, where it will run for the next four years. In the Italian magazine Linus the series Neutron by Guido Crepax is first published. It will eventually be retitled Valentina.
June June 6: In Quino's Mafalda her female friend Susanita makes her debut. June 8: Suske en Wiske receive a statue in Zuiddorpe, The Netherlands. June 14: The final episode of Jack Kent's King Aroo is published. June 26: The first episode of Ted Cowan and Reg Bunn's The Spider is published. It will run until 1969.
July July 12: In Charles M. Schulz' Peanuts Snoopy first tries to write a novel, which becomes a running gag. July 13: Bob De Moor's experimental gag comic Balthazar debuts in Tintin. July 22: Alfred Bestall concludes his final Rupert Bear story. The comic is continued by Alex Cubie and Jenny Kisler. July 20: in Le journal de Tintin, Piège pour Ric Hochet, by André-Paul Duchâteau and Tibet. July 24–25: The first Detroit Triple Fan Fair is held in Detroit, Michigan by Shel Dorf, Jerry Bails, Carl Lundgren, Tom Altschuler, Ed April, Noel Cooper, Gary Crowdus, Howard Devore, Marvin Giles, Dennis Kowicki, Larry Larson, Eugene Seeger and Robert Brosch. Although a convention for various multigenre it features comic books as a major component too, making it the oldest regularly held comic book convention in the world. It will run until 1977.Davidoff, Kale. "San Diego Comic-Con's Detroit Roots," Woodwords (July 9, 2015).Detroit Triple Fan Fair program book (Detroit Triple Fan Fair, 1972).Thomas, Phil. "Comic Strips Are Collectors' Items," The Owosso Argus-Press (April 3, 1965).
August August 22: In Charles M. Schulz' Peanuts Snoopy first imagines being a member of the French Foreign Legion, which becomes a running gag. August 24: in Le journal de Tintin, The necklace affair by Edgar P. Jacobs.
September September 5: The comic strip Eek and Meek, by Howie Schneider, begins syndication. September 6: Formiche rosse (Red Ants), by Gian Luigi Bonelli and Guglielmo Letteri; the Egyptian El Morisco, scholar of occult arts and partner of Tex Willer in many stories of a supernatural nature, makes his debut. September 9 : in Pilote, Asterix in Britain, by Goscinny and Uderzo. September 17: Gli adoratori del sole (The sun's worshippers) by Guido Nolitta and Gallieno Ferri; the clumsy detective Bat Batterton, recurring character in the Zagor's adventures, make his debut. September 18: The first issue of the British comics magazine Ranger is published. It will run until 18 June 1966. In its first issue Mike Butterworth and Don Lawrence's The Trigan Empire makes its debut. September 20: Bob Weber Sr.'s Moose makes its debut, which will be retitled to Moose Miller in 1971 and eventually Moose & Molly in 1998. The series will continue until 2020.Moose Miller at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. from the original on April 16, 2012. September 30: The final episode of Red Ryder is published. The final issue of Help! is published. Dutch comics artist Marten Toonder moves to Greystones, Ireland.
October October 10: In Charles M. Schulz' Peanuts Snoopy first imagines fighting The Red Baron, which becomes a running gag. October 14: in Spirou, Bravo les brothers, cross-over between the universes of Spirou & Fantasio and Gaston Lagaffe. October 17: In the Disney magazine Topolino, Paperino e le vacanze solitarie, by Rodolfo Cimino and Giovan Battista Carpi is first published. It marks the debut of Anacleto Mitraglia, the equivalent of Neighbor Jones in the Italian Disney comics. October 28: in Spirou, Calamity Jane, by Goscinny and Morris. In the 98th issue of Mad Al Jaffee's Snappy Answers To Stupid Questions makes its debut.
November November 26: The first French satellite A-1 is launched, which is later renamed Astérix, after the eponymous comics character.
December December 9: The final episode of Bob van den Born's Professor Pi is published. December 19: Jean Tabary's Corinne et Jeannot, a spin-off of Totoche, first appears in print in the magazine Vaillant. Dell Comics publishes Lobo, starring the first African-American character to headline his own series. The stories are written by Don "D. J." Arneson and drawn by Tony Tallarico. In issue #31 of The Amazing Spider-Man, Gwen Stacy makes her debut. The same issue also introduces Marvel's readers' column, Bullpen Bulletins.Gruenwald, Mark (w). "Origin of the Bullpen Bulletin" Marvel Age 119 (Dec. 1992), Marvel Comics
Specific date unknown Jack Davis returns to Mad. The comic strip Art's Gallery, by Art Finley begins syndication. The final episode of Philip Mendoza's Gulliver Guinea-Pig is published. Robert L. Short publishes the book The Gospel According to Peanuts."The Gospel according to? Try Jesus" The Northwest Florida Daily News Buddy Duncan – October 9, 2009The Gospel According to Peanuts, 2000
Births
November 17: Ron Marz, American comic writer (Green Lantern, Superman).
Deaths
January January 1: Leo Morey, Peruvian-American illustrator and comics artist, dies at age 65. January 21: Carl Buettner, American illustrator and comics artist (Disney comics), dies at age 61. Reino Helismaa, Finnish lyricist, musician and comics writer (Maan mies Marsissa ), dies at age 51. Specific date unknown: January: U.S. Abell, American comics artist and illustrator (made Christian comics), dies at age 78.
February February 1: Harry Donenfeld, American comics publisher (National Allied Publications), dies at age 71. February 7: Ralph Lane, American comics artist (Vic Flynt, assisted on Buz Sawyer, Captain Easy), dies at age 59 or 60.
March March 9: Jimmy Murphy, American comics artist (Toots and Casper, It's Poppa Who Pays), dies at age 73.
April April 22: Harvey Eisenberg, American animator and comics artist (Hanna-Barbera comics), dies at age 53.
June June 5: Vernon Greene, American comics artist (continued Bringing Up Father), dies at age 64. June 11: Fougasse, British cartoonist (Punch), dies at age 77. June 11: Frank Tinsley, American illustrator and comic artist (Bill Barnes, Yankee Doodle A.K.A. Captain Yank), dies at age 65. Specific date unknown: Roy Wilson, British comics artist (George the Jolly Gee Gee, Chimpo's Circus worked for Funny Wonder, Film Fun and TV Fun), dies at age 64.
July July 14: Marianne Frimberger, Austrian children's book illustrator and comics artist (Die fünf Negerlein), dies at age 88.
August August 2: Ving Fuller, American comics artist (Doc Syke), dies at age 62. August 15: Julio E. Suárez, Uruguayan radio presenter, painter, caricaturist, teacher, journalist and comics artist (Peloduro, Cocona en el país de las Hormigas), dies at age 59.
September September 1: René Giffey, French illustrator and comics artist (Ninette et Cloclo, M. Dupont, Détective, Nigaude et Malicette, Les Frôle-la-Mort, Jean Lion le Spahi, Les Assiégés de Médine, Le Capitaine Fracasse, Les Compagnons de Jéhu, Cinq-Mars, Colomba, La Vénus d'Ille and Carmen, continued L'Espiègle Lili), dies at age 81. September 11: Valentí Castanys Borràs, Spanish radio presenter and comics artist (Pepito Holmes, Sergapo, el Lusitano, El vado del valor, Andanzas de Loanillo, Don Bartolo, Gotán, el Mono Sabio), dies at age 67. September 12: André Galland, French illustrator, journalist, poster designer and comics artist (Achille Costaud, Ninette et Cloclo, continued L'Espiègle Lili and Marco, Gars du Voyage), dies at age 79. September 21: Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson, American pulp magazine writer and entrepreneur (founder of DC Comics), dies at age 75.
October October 18: Conrado W. Massaguer, Cuban cartoonist and comics artist, dies at age 76. October 29: Ted Brodie-Mack, New Zealand editorial cartoonist, sports cartoonist and comic artist (Kazanda), dies at age 68.
November November 9: Eduardo Abela, Cuban comics artist, painter and illustrator (El Bobo), dies at age 76.
December December 8: Jack Gordon, British comics artist (worked for The Beano), dies at age 74 or 75.