This Day in Comic Book History — September 29, 2026
This Day in Comic Book History
Spotlight: Mafalda Debuts (1964)
On September 29, 1964, Argentine cartoonist Joaquín Salvador Lavado — Quino — launched Mafalda in the weekly magazine Primera Plana. Argentina's National Library records two opening strips: one with the girl challenging her father, another with her criticizing the country. Today marks 62 years.
The strip ran until June 25, 1973 and moved on to El Mundo and Siete Días Ilustrados. Its six-year-old heroine, a sharp-tongued skeptic of politics, war and soup, reflected Argentina's progressive middle class. It was translated into roughly twenty languages, reached Europe, Quebec and Asia, and Quino later drew Mafalda for UNICEF's Convention on the Rights of the Child (1976). Life-size statues stand in Buenos Aires and Oviedo, Spain, and a Netflix animated series was announced in 2024.
2023 — Gen V Premieres
The Boys spin-off Gen V debuted September 29, 2023 on Prime Video. Developed by Craig Rosenberg, Evan Goldberg and Eric Kripke, it follows superhero students at Godolkin University, led by Jaz Sinclair as blood-manipulating Marie Moreau. It draws on Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson's The Boys rather than adapting one storyline, and ran two eight-episode seasons.
In Memoriam — Alfred J. Buescher (1999)
American comics artist Alfred J. Buescher, whose credits include Illustrated Sunday School Lesson, Joe and Judy and Eski, died September 29, 1999 at age 96.
Panel of the Day
Mafalda's newspaper run lasted under nine years — 1964 to 1973 — yet the character got life-size statues in two countries. Quino stopped the strip at its peak.