Years ago, I wrote about landmark animation and comic anniversaries, as shown over the years. Examples include: the 50th anniversaries of Bugs Bunny and Hanna-Barbera in 1990 (the 50 years for the latter is based on William Hanna and Joseph Barbera’s first “Tom and Jerry” short in 1940); Superman’s 75th anniversary in 2013; and the 100th anniversaries of Disney and Warner Bros. in 2023.
As such, I thought I’d look at some noteworthy cartoon anniversaries featuring Black characters happening in 2025.
80th anniversary (1945)
“World’s Finest Comics” #17 (March) features a backup story about Ralph Jackson, a Black veteran of World War II who deals with Jim Crow after returning from the war. From the few panels I’ve seen, it’s an extremely rare depiction of a Black character in the 40s without any of the era’s stereotypes.
This was Ralph’s only appearance until decades later, when he makes an appearance as the grandfather of Celia Forrestal, a Navy veteran who becomes the superhero Skyrocket.
Ralph is also mentioned in a post on DC’s blog about their earliest Black heroes.
60th anniversary (1965)
“Lobo” #1 is published by Dell. Not to be confused with the DC villain, Lobo’s the first African American character to headline an American comic book. Only two issues of the comic were published; the first issue was released in December 1965, and the second one in September 1966.
The short-lived series is about Lobo (real name unknown), a Civil War veteran turned heroic gunslinger, righting various wrongs in the Old West.
50th anniversary (1975)
“Giant Size X-Men” #1 (May) is published. The X-Men relaunch features the debut of Storm, one of superhero comics’ most prominent Black superheroes.
25th anniversary (2000)
“Static Shock” debuted on The WB in September 2000. The series ran until 2004, totaling 52 episodes over four seasons.
The series has been released in its entirety on DVD, on four separate season sets.
20th anniversary (2005)
“The Boondocks,” based on Aaron McGruder’s newspaper comic strip, debuted as an animated series on Adult Swim.
10th anniversary (2015)
DreamWorks releases “Home,” starring Tip, the first African American character to headline a CGI animated theatrical feature film.
Image: “Giant Size X-Men” #1 (May 1975). Art by Dave Cockrum, Gil Kane, and Danny Crespi. (Marvel)
