The History of Comics in 500 Issues
Episodes
Episode 28: Tijuana Bibles
09 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, I discuss the notorious Tijuana Bibles, the first pornographic comic books. Except that you can't really tell the story of the Tiju...
Episode 27: African Comics Before WW2
19 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A somewhat scattershot (sorry) chronology of the development of comics and graphic narrative in the colonies and countries of Africa before the beginn...
Episode #26: Marvel Comics #1
28 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
One of my longer efforts to date, this one is about Marvel Comics #1, the first issue by what would eventually become the juggernaut of American comic...
Episode 25: Rin Tin Tin #1
10 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, which is ostensibly about the Spanish comic Rin-Tin-Tin, I go allll over the place. (Sorry). I begin with the early history of the...
Episode 24: Amazing-Man Comics #5
27 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode I use the superhero Amazing Man, who debuted in Amazing-Man Comics #5 (cover date Sept 1939), to take a look at just what, exactly, ...
Episode #23: Colonialism in the Bandes Dessinées beginning with Alain Saint-Ogan's "Zig et Puce"
13 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
ln this episode I use Alain Saint-Ogan's bande dessinée "Zig et Puce" as a springboad for a discussion of colonialism in the French bandes dessinées...
Episode 22: Superman #1
22 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode I discuss the publication of Superman #1, the first comic book dedicated to the stories of one character. I talk about why this is s...
500 Issues, the Juneteenth episode: Black Creators, Paraliterature, and Golden Age comic books
19 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
To help celebrate Juneteenth, I made an episode in which I discuss Black creators of paraliterature, which (as I'm sure you know) is all of that liter...
Episode 21: The Early History of the Dutch Comics Industry
07 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode I discuss the beginnings of the Dutch comics industry from 1493, when an imprisoned Dutch nobleman drew a comic strip in one of his le...
Episode 20: Detective Comics #27 and the Batman
31 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this epsiode I discuss Detective Comics #27, the issue in which Batman debuted. I talk about the background behind the creation of Batman, why Batm...
Episode 19: "Don Catarino" and the Early Years of the Mexican Comic Book Industry
10 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode I discuss the beginning and early years of the Mexican comic book industry, from its precursor among the Nahuatl-writing Mexica of the...
Episode 18: Wonder Comics #1
26 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode I discuss Fox Comics' Wonder Comics #1, which featured the infamous Superman rip-off "Wonder Man." I talk about Victor S. Fox, the l...
Episode 17: Dominguin #1 and the Beginning of the Spanish Comic Book Industry
13 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode I discuss the early years of the Spanish comic book industry. I begin in the 1870s, after the downfall of Isabella II (Sexenio Democra...
Episode 16: Detective Comics #20
30 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode I discuss the debut, in Detective Comics #20 (on-sale date Sept. 7, 1938), of the Crimson Avenger. I place the Crimson Avenger in th...
Episode 15: Favorite Comic #1
16 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode I discuss the British comic paper Favorite Comic #1 and why it's important: because it featured "Victor Brand," a series about the S...
Episode 14: Funny Pages #21
01 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode I describe the circumstances around the publication of Funny Pages #21, the people involved in its publication, what's inside it, an...
Episode 13: Corriere dei Piccoli #1
16 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode I describe the history of the Italian comics industry up until 1937. I begin with Cesare Lombroso, the famous criminologist, because o...
Episode 12: "Tough is putting mildly the treatment you're gonna get!" Action Comics #1
02 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode I discuss Action Comics #1 and its contents, including the fabulous new character find of 1938: Superman! I discuss what led up to t...
Episode 11: "The Placid Shores of the Ipiranga:" O Tico-Tico #1
20 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode I discusss the origins of the Brazilian comic book industry, beginning with the arrival of an Italian immigrant in São Paulo in 1859,...
Episode 10: "That's why I'm calling on Chang. He's helped me a lot on previous cases that have baffled me." Detective Comics #2.
05 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode I discuss the people of color superheroes and sidekicks of comics' Golden Age, beginning with Detective Comics #2 (on-sale March 10,...
Episode Nine: Becassine
15 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode I sketch the history of the French comics industry from its beginning in the 19th century following Rodolphe Topffer's debut to 1939, ...
Episode Eight: "Are y'gonna talk or do I get the pleasure of splashin' up the walls with your face?": Detective Comics #1
08 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode I go in-depth on Detective Comics #1 (Feb. 10, 1937), DC's first comic book issue. I also discuss the mob's involvement in comic b...
Episode Seven: "They called me mad in school, you know": Puck #1
25 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode I describe the British comic Puck #1 and its mad scientist/wacky inventor, Professor Radium, who turns out to be more influential th...
Episode Six: "Treachery on the Trail!" Star Ranger #1 & Western Picture Stories #1
10 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode I discuss the history of the genre of the Western, beginning early in the 19th century as frontier fiction and proceeding up to the la...
Episode Five: "The Empire, Long Divided, Must Unite": The Story of the Three Kingdoms
27 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode I describe the early history of the Chinese comic book industry--specifically the lianhuanhua industry--from its beginning in 1899 to...
Episode Four: "The Clock!" "That is right, gentlemen--and striking just in time!" Funny Pages #6
13 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode I go back to 1935 and 1936 and discuss how business was actually done in the early comics industry the rise of Comics Magazine Compan...
Episode Three: In England's Green and Pleasant Land: Comic Cuts #1
30 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In which I take a look at British comics during the 19th century, talk about some of the notable and important people who were a part of it, and descr...
Episode Two: "A new cargo of mystery and thrills!" New Fun #1
16 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In which I briefly sketch the history of comics between Rodolphe Topffer and the 1930s, discuss the first comic books, and then describe New Fun #1,...
Episode One: To Begin With: L'Histoire de M. Vieux Bois
02 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In which I begin the series by taking us back to Switzerland in the 1820s and 1830s and describe how Rodolphe Topffer, a Swiss teacher and caricaturis...