Comic Book History

Comic Book History Key Moments in Comic Publishing

First 1985

Shatter Special #1

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Shatter Special #1
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First digitally-illustrated comic book, created on Apple's 1984 Macintosh Plus running MacPaint
Early issues were printed on a dot-matrix printer, until Apple donated their state-of-the-art LaserWriter which at that time retailed for $6,995 (about $25,000 today)
The story continues in Jon Sable, Freelance #25 which was on newsstands the same day
A four-page preview was first printed in the UK computer magazine Big K #12 in March 1985, preceded by an article that featured artwork in Big K #6 (1984)
DC 1986

Watchmen #1

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Watchmen #1
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Premiere issue of a twelve-issue series that explores the dark side of superheroes from a realistic, flawed perspective
1st appearance of Rorschach, Dr. Manhattan, Ozymandias, Silk Spectre, The Comedian and Night Owl
Alan Moore based his characters off of DC's newly acquired Charlton heroes: the Question, Captain Atom, Thunderbolt, Nightshade, the Peacemaker and Blue Beetle
[July 2023 - Warner Bros. announced an animated Watchmen feature is in development]
Michael Hunt Publications 1989

Boiled Angel #1

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Boiled Angel #1
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100-page, black and white, independently published comic book written and illustrated by Mike Diana then distributed to approximately 300 subscribers
Diana has the distinction of being the first person in the United States to be convicted of 'artistic obscenity' for the graphic content of the Boiled Angel series which included extreme violence, sexual assault and murder of men, women and children
Diana was fined $3,000, ordered to stay away from minors and given three years probation with one of the conditions being to cease creating art
In addition to police viewing Diana's work as illegal, they also supposedly identified the creator as a suspect in the 1990 Gainseville Ripper slayings, of which he was cleared
A documentary about the case titled 'Boiled Angels: The Trial of Mike Diana' was released in 2018
Value unknown
Marvel 1991 VOL 2

X-Men #1

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X-Men #1
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1st team appearance of the X-Men Gold (team): Storm, Archangel, Colossus, Iceman and Jean Grey
1st team appearance of the X-Men Blue (team): Cyclops, Wolverine, Gambit, Rogue, Psylocke and Beast
1st team appearance of The Acolytes: Fabian Cortez, Annie-Marie Cortez, Chrome, Nance Winters, Delgado
Best-selling comic of all-time with sales of 8.1 million copies
Interior pin-up by Jim Lee, 'A Villains Gallery'
Archie 2011

Betty #190

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Betty #190
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Final comic to bear the Comics Code Authority logo
Archie was the last publisher to stop submitting books to the CCA following the lead of DC and Marvel
The Comics Code symbol had been in continuous use on Newsstand comics since its inception in 1954
Diamond 2025

Previews #438

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Previews #438
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Final Previews catalog following the January 2025 bankruptcy announcement of Diamond Comics Distributors
Launched in 1989, the Previews catalog served the 'Direct Market' aka comic book shops with thousands of products listed in this catalog

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