2001 in comics

Events and publications

February

• Belgian cartoonist Baudouin de Duve is arrested on the accusation of making an illegal The Adventures of Tintin comic book, Tintin in Thailand in Thailand. He is later cleared from all charges, as he had no intent to plagiarize the franchise and the illegal copies were made without his permission or control.

  September

• September 22-23: During the Stripdagen in Den Bosch Daan Jippes wins the Stripschapprijs. The comics magazine Stripper receives the P. Hans Frankfurtherprijs.
• September 24: The New Yorker publishes a seemingly completely black cover to commemorate the victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks, which actually shows the silhouette of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. The design is by Françoise Mouly, based on an initial idea by Art Spiegelman.

  Specific date unknown

• Milton Griepp founds online trade publication ICv2 in January.
• Marvel Comics withdraws from the Comics Code Authority and established its own rating system for its publications.
• The merger of AOL and Time Warner, parent of DC Comics was completed, the merger name was AOL Time Warner.
• WildStorm founded its Eye of the Storm imprint.
• CMX established by DC Comics.
• The final episode of Ralph Dunagin's Dunagin's People is published.

  Deaths

January

• January 6:
• * Leo Nowak, American comics artist and political cartoonist, dies at age 93.
• * Guido Scala, Italian comics artist, dies at age 64.
• January 9: Carol Voges, Dutch illustrator and comics artist, dies at age 75.
• January 12: Gian Luigi Bonelli, Italian comics writer, dies at age 92.
• January 23: Fred Ray, American comics cover artist and redesigner of Superman's "S" symbol, dies at age 80.

  February

• February 3: Neg Cochran, American comics artist, passes away at age 87.
• February 7: Lazar Stanojević, Serbian comics artist, dies at age 69.
• February 10: Miné Okubo, American comics artist and writer, dies at age 88.
• February 19: Adolfo Mazzone, Argentine comics artist, dies at age 86.

  March

• March 1: Torsten Bjarre, Swedish animator and comics artist, passes away at age 85.
• March 4: Fred Lasswell, American comics artist, dies at age 84.
• March 5: Necmi Riza Ayça, Turkish cartoonist, dies at age 86 or 87.
• March 15: Brasser, Belgian political cartoonist, dies at age 64.
• March 22:
• * William Hanna, American animator, dies at age 90.
• * Edith Oppenheim-Jonas, German-Swiss comics artist, dies at age 94.
• March 26: Bill Yates, American comics artist, writer and comic strip editor for King Features Syndicate, dies at age 79.
• March 31: Luciana Giussiani, Italian comics writer, dies at age 72.

  April

• April 3: Ray Osrin, American cartoonist, animator and comics artist, dies at age 72.
• April 4: Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, American artist, cartoonist, illustrator, pinstriper, custom car designer and builder, dies at age 69.
• April 16: Mittéï, Belgian comics artist and writer, dies at age 68.
• April 19: Henry Boltinoff, American comics artist, dies at age 87.

  May

• May 14: Eric Bradbury, British comics artist, dies at age 80.
• May 27: Claude Bordet, aka Claudy, French comics artist, passes away at age 80.
• May 29: Bill Bunce, American illustrator and comics artist, dies at age 97.

  June

• June 1: Hank Ketcham, American comics artist and animator, dies at age 81.
• June 14: Barb Rausch, American comics writer and artist, dies at age 60.
• June 15: Hurey, Belgian comics artist, dies at age 63.
• June 17: Hugo Díaz Jiménez, Costa Rican cartoonist and comics artist, dies at age 70 from bone marrow cancer.
• June 22: George Evans, American comics artist dies at age 81.
• June 26: Tove Jansson, Finnish novelist, illustrator and comics artist, passes away at age 86.
• Specific date unknown: Basil Reynolds, British comics artist, dies at age 84.

  July

• July 7: Toni Pagot, Italian comics artist, cartoonist and animator, dies at age 79.
• July 11: Herman Brood, Dutch rock artist, painter and comics artist, commits suicide at age 55 by jumping off the top of a hotel building.
• July 16: Morris, Belgian comics artist , dies at age 77.
• July 16: Opland, Dutch political cartoonist and comics artist, dies at age 73 from bone cancer.
• July 22: Eduardo Muñoz Bachs, Spanish-Cuban poster and comics artist, dies at age 64.
• July 25: Endre Lukács, Hungarian-Dutch comics artist, dies at age 95.
• July 27: Martha Orr, American comics artist, dies at age 93.
• July 31: Youji Muku, Japanese comics artist and magazine editor, dies at age 73.
• Specific date unknown: Maurice Chénechot, aka Chen, aka Mac, French comics artist and illustrator, dies at age 88.

  August

• August 10:
• * Jerry DeFuccio, American comics writer and editor, dies at age 76 from cancer.
• * Pericle Luigi Giovannetti, Swiss painter and comics artist, passes away at age 85.
• August 15: Jim Russell, Australian cartoonist, dies at age 92.
• August 25: Chuck Cuidera, American comics artist, dies at age 85.

  September

• September 13: Johnny Craig, American comics artist, dies at age 75.
• September 26: Fred Neher, American comics artist, dies at age 97 or 98.
• September 30: George Gately, American comics artist, dies at age 72 from a heart attack.
• September 30: Bjørn Frank Jensen, Danish animator and comics artist, dies at age 81.

  October

• October 7: Herbert Block, American political cartoonist, dies at age 91.

  November

• November 6: Gray Morrow, American comics artist commits suicide at age 67.
• November 8: Ryuichi Yokoyama, Japanese comics artist, dies at age 92.
• November 21: Seymour Reit, aka Sy Reit, American animator, writer, screenwriter, comics writer and comics artist, dies at age 83.
• November 25: Harry Devlin, American painter, illustrator and comics artist, dies at age 83.
• November 28: Bob Gustafson, American comics writer and artist, passes away at age 81.

  December

• December 2: Chase Craig, American animator, scriptwriter and comics writer, dies at age 91.
• December 6: Carla Hansen, Danish comics writer, dies at age 95.
• December 16: Derek Bauer, South-African comics artist and cartoonist, dies in a car accident at age 45 or 46.
• December 19: Dan DeCarlo, American comics artist, dies at age 82 from a heart attack.

  Specific date unknown

• Charlie Bood, Swedish illustrator and comics artist, passes away at age 78 or 79.
• Neg Cochran, American comics artist,, dies at age 87 or 88.
• Nat Edson, American comics artist, dies at age 91 or 92.
• Anselmus Kengen, aka Kari, Dutch illustrator and cartoonist, dies at age 84 or 85.
• Dick Lucas, Canadian cartoonist, passes away at age 85 or 86.

  Awards

• Ted Goff receives the Silver T-Square award from the National Cartoonist Society in a unanimous vote.

  Exhibitions

• August 26–September 30: "Historic Virtuoso Cartoonists" — featuring Thomas Nast, Joseph Keppler, Frederick Burr Opper, Richard Felton Outcault, Winsor McCay, Nell Brinkley, George Herriman, Edwina Dumm, Rube Goldberg, Milton Caniff, Walt Kelly, Charles M. Schulz, Willard Mullin, James Thurber, Oliver Harrington, Art Young, Jay Norwood Darling, Rollin Kirby, and Jeff MacNelly

  Conventions

• February 17–18: Alternative Press Expo
• February 25: Portland Comic Book Show — guests include Bernie Wrightson, Val Mayerik, Steven Grant, Anne Timmons, and Pete Woods
• March 2–4: MegaCon — guests include George Pérez, Mark Waid, Steve Epting, Rick Magyar, Scot Eaton, Andrew Hennessy, Wil Quintana, Barbara Kesel, Steve McNiven, Tom Simmons, Morry Hollowell, Bart Sears, Andy Smith, Michael Atiyeh, Ron Marz, Greg Land, Drew Geraci, Brandon Peterson, John Dell, Andrew Crossley, Jim Chuen, Don Hillsman II, and Caesar Rodriguez
• March 9: National Comic Book, Art, Toy, and Sci-Fi Expo I
• March 31: Small Press and Alternative Comics Expo — 440 attendees; special guest: Dave Sim. First presentation of the Howard Eugene Day Memorial Award
• March 31–April 1: Chicago ComicFest — produced by the organizers of the Motor City Comic Con
• April 1–3: WonderCon
• April 27–29: Pittsburgh Comicon — guests include Frank Miller, Gilbert Hernandez, Jaime Hernandez, Frank Cho, Dave Cooper, Dan Clowes, Mark Schultz, Scott McDaniel, Tom Savini, Chyna, Michonne Bourriague, Paul Blake, Claire Stansfield, Alexandra Tydings, Jeff Smith, Terry Moore, Dean Haspiel, and Josh Neufeld
• May 18–20: Motor City Comic Con I — guests include Sergio Aragonés, Todd Dezago, David Finch, Franchesco, Andy Lee, Steve Lieber, Paul Jenkins, Jason Moore, James O'Barr, Michael Avon Oeming, Brian Pulido, Stan Sakai, Chris Sprouse, J. Michael Straczynski, Michael Turner, Randy Zimmerman, Murphy Anderson, Pam Bliss, Mark Crilley, Marshall Dillon, Dick Giordano, David W. Mack, Eddy Newell, Martin Nodell, Mike Okamoto, Diana Okamoto, Jim Ottaviani, Greg Rucka, Billy Tucci, and Chris Yambar
• May 26–27: Comics 2001 — presentation of the National Comics Awards; official guests include Eddie Campbell, D'Israeli, Gary Spencer Millidge, Tony Rollinson, Tim Sayer, Dave Gibbons, Staz Johnson, Sean Phillips, Charlie Adlard, Greg Staple, Metaphrog, Bob Schreck, Alan Grant, John McCrea, Dez Skinn, and Steve Conley
• June 8–10: Heroes Convention — guests include Bob Almond, Jim Amash, Murphy Anderson, Mark Bagley, John Beatty, Dan Brereton, Frank Brunner, Steven Butler, Nick Cardy, K.C. Carlson, Richard Case, Sean Chen, Mark Chiarello, Alan Davis, Todd Dezago, Johnna Draper Carlson, Dick Giordano, Jimmy Gownley, Cully Hamner, Scott Hampton, Scott Hanna, Tony Harris, Irwin Hasen, Adam Hughes, Jamal Igle, Georges Jeanty, Phil Jimenez, Drew Johnson, Dan Jolley, Nat Jones, Greg Keyes, Jim Krueger, Bob Layton, Mark Lipka, David W. Mack, Nathan Massengill, Pop Mhan, Phil Noto, Michael Avon Oeming, Paul Pope, James Pruett, Joe Pruett, Joe Quesada, Robin Riggs, Budd Root, Craig Rousseau, Julius Schwartz, Walter Simonson, Louise Simonson, Brian Stelfreeze, Karl Story, Roy Thomas, Tim Townsend, George Tuska, Dexter Vines, Loston Wallace, Karl Waller, and Mike Wieringo
• July 6: National Comic Book, Art, Toy, and Sci-Fi Expo II
• July 19–22: Comic-Con International : 53,000 attendees; official guests: Brian Michael Bendis, John Buscema, Michael Chabon, Frank Cho, Julie Doucet, Brian Froud, Wendy Froud, Gene Ha, Joe R. Lansdale, Russell Myers, P. Craig Russell, Kim Stanley Robinson, Spider Robinson, Alvin Schwartz, Dan Spiegle, Jhonen Vasquez, Judd Winick, and Bernie Wrightson
• August 17–19: Wizard World Chicago — 40,000+ attendees; guest of honor: Alex Ross; special guests: Kevin Smith, Jason Mewes, Gene Simmons, Peter Mayhew, David Prowse, Kenny Baker, Kimmie Kappenberg from Survivor, James Marsters, and Juliet Landau
• August 18–19: "Love is... CAPTION 2001"
• August 24–26: Fan Expo Canada — 15,359 attendees; guests include William Shatner, James Doohan, Peter Mayhew, Traci Lords, Ethan Phillips, Ted Raimi, Ian Churchill, Jeph Loeb, Carlos Pacheco, Mika Akitaka, and Scott McNeil
• August 30–September 2: Dragon Con — 20,000+ attendees; guests include Don Bluth, Alice Cooper, Anthony Daniels, and James Doohan
• September 14–16: Small Press Expo/International Comics and Animation Festival — events canceled due September 11 attacks
• September 16: SP-Xiles — created to replace canceled Small Press Expo; raises $1,925.00 for the American Red Cross and the New York Fire Fighter's 9-11 Relief Fund
• September 15–16: HoustonCon — sponsored by Bedrock City Comics; guests include Harry Knowles, John Lucas, and Scott Gilbert
• October 12–13: National Comic Book, Art, Toy, and Sci-Fi Expo III — run as a charity event to benefit victims of the September 11 attacks
• October 19–21: Bat.con — celebrating the 35th Anniversary of the Batman TV show. Featured guests include: Mark Waid, Craig Rousseau, Dan Brereton, Norm Breyfogle, Adam West, Burt Ward, Yvonne Craig, Julie Newmar, Frank Gorshin, and Van Williams
• October 19–21: Great American Comic Book and Sci-Fi Expo — guests include Andy Kubert, Adam Kubert, Joe Kubert, Joe Quesada, Ed McGuinness, and David Wahl
• November 2–5; Coco Bulles
• November 9–11: National Comic Book, Art, Toy, and Sci-Fi Expo IV — featured guests include Klaus Janson and Joe Staton
• November 17–18: Motor City Comic Con II — guests include Aaron Bordner, Peter David, Guy Davis, Marshall Dillon, Vince Locke, Jason Moore, Mark Schultz, William Stout, Randy Zimmerman, Chase Masterson, Vaughn Armstrong, Julie Caitlin Brown, Jeremy Bulloch, Angus McGinnis, Garek Hagon, and Kenneth Colley
• November 23–25: UnCommonCon 2001 — events cancelled due to sharp drop in domestic travel after 9/11 and slow dealer tables sales
• November 24–25: Mid-Ohio Con — guests include Dave Gibbons and John Byrne

  First issues by title

Initial appearances by character name