Few people know that the famous mouse started its career as a replacement for Walt Disney's first star cartoon figure, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. The Mickey character was created with cartoon illustrator Ub Iwerks after Disney lost the rights to Oswald. At first, the mouse was named Mortimer, but reportedly Walt Disney's wife didn't like the name, and suggested Mickey instead.

Mickey Mouse premiered on screen on November 18, 1928 with the film "Steamboat Willie." Almost eight minutes long, with sound effects and music, the short film already features Minnie Mouse and Mickey's arch enemy, Pete. The audience and the media loved the cartoon that jump-started the Disney empire.

The first work starring Mickey, the silent film "Plane Crazy," actually had a test screening six months before "Steamboat Willie," but no film distributor was interested in it. In it, Mickey played Charles Lindbergh, the first aviator to fly flown nonstop from America to Europe. It was finally released in 1929, as a sound cartoon. Ub Iwerks drew some 700 images a day to create it.

Mickey cavorted across the screen in black and white until 1935 before his films were produced in color. Walt Disney himself lent the mouse his voice from 1928 to 1946. The 1938 film "The Brave Little Tailor" was considered very advanced technically, a model for cartoon animators worldwide well into the 1990s.

Pluto, who was first called Rover, joined the club in 1930. The playful pet loves bones, and of course his owner, Mickey Mouse. Often enough, he smells something dangerous going on before Mickey notices. Unlike many other animals in the Disney kingdom, he doesn't speak, he only barks and growls.

By 1939, Donald Duck started upstaging Walt Disney's favorite character — so he dedicated a feature film to Mickey Mouse. "Fantasia," an experimental animated masterwork set to classical music, netted Disney an Honorary Oscar in 1942. For his performance as the sorcerer's apprentice, set to the music of Paul Dukas, the mouse would have deserved one, too.

In the 50s, there were only a few short films starring Mickey, until they were discontinued altogether. It was't until 1983 that he made a brilliant comeback with the Oscar-nominated film "Mickey's Christmas Carol." Five years later, (the Oscar "turned 60" that year, just like Mickey), the Mouse himself announced the winner in the category "Best Short Animated Film" during the Oscars ceremony.

Even if Mickey looks sad here, don't worry: That's what the script of "The Prince and the Pauper" prescribes. The film was a great success in 1990. It's no wonder given the leading actor. After all, the talented mouse was the first cartoon figure to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1978. But he's never put on airs: Most important for him have always been his friends.

Mickey doesn't always have it easy with his Minnie. But actually, the two are inseparable. They appeared together in their first movie in 1928. Minnie works as a secretary and reporter. She loves red clothes and flowers. Mickey does just about anything to please her. Unfortunately, tomcat Karlo also attempts to court his beloved again and again.

Goofy is gentle, a little distracted, clumsy and always in a good mood — unlike his son Max (photo, right). He made his debut in 1932, so he's also added up quite a few dog years. He's shared many an adventure with Mickey. Both are firm in their conviction that they can rely on their dog-mouse friendship.

The first Mickey Mouse comic was published in the US in 1931. Mickey quickly became popular internationally as well. The pioneer in Europe was Italy, which not only adapted the stories from America, but also invented its own adventures for "Topolino" (Italian for "mouse"). In Germany, the Micky Maus magazine has been published once a month since 1951 — still a best-seller today.

Modern technology makes it possible: here, Mickey straightens famous conductor James Levine's bow tie, while both wait for Donald Duck to appear so they kick off the concert "Pomp and Circumstance" by Sir Edward Elgar. Donald, however, is still in the shower ...

The first Disneyland Park opened its doors in California in 1955. There are now six of them: from Tokyo to Paris, visitors of all ages are enchanted by Disney's likeable figures. Mickey and his girlfriend Minnie are, of course, two of the stars who always steal the show.

Over the years, the lovable character has appeared in over 130 films. He is the official Walt Disney mascot, and merchandise featuring him is still popular to this day. "I only hope that we never lose sight of one thing — that it was all started by a mouse," Walt Disney pointed out in 1954.

A major exhibition is taking place in New York in honor of Mickey's 90th birthday on November 18. He himself is more likely to celebrate with his loved ones — with Minnie, the lady of the heart; his nephews Mack and Muck; and with Goofy and Pluto. And they'll enjoy his favorite dish together: spinach and strawberries with cream. Happy birthday, Mickey!

Although at the time, comics were still considered the work of the devil in Germany, the first German edition of Mickey Mouse was published on August 29, 1951. Now worth thousands of euros to collectors, not even half of the original 300,000 copies were sold; the ones that went unsold were given away for free to schools or ended up in the trash. By now, Mickey Mouse is seen as a literary classic.

Many experts see German illustrator Wilhelm Busch as the forefather of comics. The German artist inspired the early comic artists of New York, and later on even Walt Disney. The protagonists he created from the 1860s onwards included animal torturers, drunk priests, hypocritical nuns and two poorly behaving kids named Max and Moritz.

An exhibition running through September 18, 2016 at the Frankfurt Art Museum, Kunsthalle Schirn, presents six predominantly US pioneers of comics, among them Cliff Sterrett (pictured: "Polly and Her Pals.") The exhibition presents the artists as "another avantgarde" creating their own art form, while anticipating later developments such as Surrealism and Expressionism.

Comics largely owe their early success to newspapers, as decreasing paper costs and more efficient printing machines made them more accessible to a greater public in the early 20th century. Comics came to play an important role in the resulting competition between different newspapers. Sometimes, the success of a particular paper depended to a large extent on the popularity of its comics.

In 1933,– at the tender age of 14, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster created Superman whom they baptized "Kal-El,"– which means "God is in everything" in Hebrew. But it took them five years to find a publishing house for their hero - DC Comics, which published the first edition of the series "Action Comics" in 1938. Later, at an auction in the US, a first edition was sold for 3.2 million dollars.

Superman didn't stay alone for long. Pretty soon, Batman, Captain America, Wonderwoman, The Flash and countless other superheroes and super villains were fighting each other. Among those making cameo appearances was Adolf Hitler; during World War II, Superman & Co served as a way to raise the morale of American soldiers.

After the end of the war, many superheroes disappeared from the scene. Only a few permanent heroes were left to confront the aliens and criminal geniuses such as The Joker. Later, various film adaptations triggered a renewed boom for Superman & co, among them recent movies like "Deadpool," a comic figure from Marvel's "House of M".

An irritable animated duck made his debut in a 1934 animation film, nine years before he made his way into the "Walt Disney Comics." Donald Duck owes a lot of his popularity to artist Carl Barks. Over the next 20 years, Barks wrote and illustrated almost every month for Disney while creating numerous members of Donald Duck's family, including Scrooge McDuck in 1947 and Gladstone Gander in 1948.

Europe has produced quite a few remarkable comics in its own right. The Adventures of Asterix by French artist René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo (pictured) are among the most famous. Created in 1959, the two Gauls Asterix and Obelix play the main roles in a total of 36 original editions. Contemporary editions published today are no longer the work of their original creators.

Another world famous comic figure is Tim (Tintin), who travels around the world accompanied by his little white dog. Tintin was invented in 1929 by Belgian artist Hergé. Today, the 24 editions can be found in every bookstore. The series has even survived various accusations, including one of racism. In 2007, a Congolese student sued to stop the distribution of Tim comics in the Congo (pictured).

Another comic star from Belgium is cowboy Lucky Luke. The guy who pulls his revolver faster than his shadow was invented by artist "Morris" to be published for the first time in the magazine "Spirou" in 1946. The first Lucky Luke album was published in 1949. Apart from the Cowboy albums, Morris also wrote 17 screenplays on Lucky Luke, among them an unforgettable movie starring Terence Hill.

At times, comics had to overcome difficult challenges, as they were seen as dumb or even as putting young people at risk. In 1977, author Will Eisner (pictured) created the term "graphic novel" which was aimed at underlining the literary character of his comics. This was a clever move, as from then on, even more conservative readers got to discover their interest in comics.

The major difference between comics and graphic novels is the fact that the latter cover an entire story and are published as books. With "Maus," Art Spiegelmann made his entrance onto bestseller lists in 1986, and was even awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1992 - a revolution for the world of comics. In "Maus," the American artist tells the story of his father - a Holocaust survivor.

In contrast to the traditional comic strongholds France and the US, there wasn't much interest in comics in Germany for a long time. By today, some German comic artists have established themselves internationally, among them Reinhard Kleist. And there is a lot of young talent as well; in 2016, Nils Oskamp published "Drei Steine" ('Three Stars') highlighting the issue of right-wing violence.

Mangas have long been an integral part of leisure culture in their country of origin, Japan. In Europe however, they were largely rejected until the 1990s - on account of having a reputation for featuring violent or sexist content. Thanks to TV series like "Sailor Moon" they became more acceptable. In the late 1990s, "Pokemon" triggered a manga boom in Germany, which continues today.