On This Day: 20 Mar

Valiant Holiday Special (IPC Magazines Ltd.) nn (1978).
St. Swithin's Day (Trident Comics; 1990).
Batman (Fleetway) Vol.2 #01 (Mar 1993).

First Appearances:

Medivac 318 in 2000 A.D. (Fleetway Publications) Prog 619 (25 Mar 1989).

Births:

Bruce C. Windo (1920)

Deaths:

J.R. Monsell (1952); James Herbert (2013)

Notable Events:

Terror Keep newspaper strip ended in 1937.
Inaugural Ally Sloper Award held at Comics 101 on this day in 1976.
Patty's Hours of Agony: A Reconstruction of the Life of Patty Hearst newspaper strip began in The Daily Mirror in 1976.
Raymond Briggs was a castaway on Desert Island Discs, on BBC Radio 4, in 2005.
The Royal Mail released World of Comics, a set of ten first class stamps bearing the likeness of Dennis the Menace, Dan Dare, and Judge Dredd among others, alongside the titles they appeared in, in 2012.
Brainstorm! The Art of Bryan Talbot began, at The Muse, 269 Portobello Rd., London, in 2014.

On This Day: 18 Mar

Games Gazette (Games Gazette) #01 (1983)

First Appearances:

Sgt. Walter Waggers (Waggers' Winter War) in Warlord (D.C. Thomson & Co., Ltd.) #339 (21 Mar 1981).

Births:

Shea Anton Pensa (1968)

Deaths:

Michael Attwell (Zoke; 2006); Arthur C. Clarke (2008); Bernie Wrightson (2017)

Notable Events:

IPC Magazines purchased the Once Upon a Time title from City Magazines in 1972.
Comics 101, the first British convention dedicated to homegrown material, began in 1976.
The Daily Mirror reported, in 2000, that Neil Gaiman accused J.K. Rowling of ripping off his Books of Magic character for her Harry Potter series. Naturally, there was no basis in fact for the "journalism," and Gaiman has strenuously denied any connection between the characters.
Barry Humphries announced that he was retiring his Dame Edna Everage character in 2012. He later changed his mind.
The Canny Comic Con began, at Newcastle City Library, in 2017.