1972 in comics

Events

Year overall

• Marvel Comics forms their British publishing arm, Marvel UK.
• Phil Seuling founds Sea Gate Distributors, developing the concept of the direct market distribution system for getting comics directly into comic book specialty shops, bypassing the established newspaper/magazine distributor method.
• DC acquires licensing rights to the Marvel Family, originally published by Fawcett Comics.
• Fleming H. Revell establishes Spire Christian Comics.
• Jacques Glénat, at only twenty years old, establishes Glénat.
• Newspaper strip Captain Kate ceases syndication.
• Kinney National Company spun off its non-entertainment assets and changed its name to Warner Communications.
• In Italy, Renzo Barbieri founds Edifumetto, a publishing house specialized in cheap erotic comics, in concurrence with the EdiGi of his former associate Renzo Cavedon. The firm launches, in this year, new characters, such as the monster Wallenstein, Zora, Biancaneve and the super-hero Playcolt.

  January

• January 2: Il corriere dei piccoli, splits in two magazines: Il corriere dei piccoli, aimed to children, and Il corriere dei ragazzi aimed to teenagers.
• January 6: In Pif Gadget, the Corto Maltese story Concert en O mineur pour harpe et nitroglycérine by Hugo Pratt is published. The first of four tales set in the Celtic countries.
• January 7: In the magazine De Nieuwe Gommaar Timmermans creates De Nieuwe Ark, a philosophical comic will run until 8 September 1972.
• January 19: In Spirou, the first chapter of Tora Torapa by Jean-Claude Fournier is published.
• Korak, Son of Tarzan, with issue #45, cancelled by Gold Key Comics.
• Primaggio Mantovi's Sacarrolha debuts.
• The stories Hound of the Moaning Hills' and Storm dancers by Carl Barks and Kay Wright are published in Huey, Dewey and Louie Junior Woodchucks.
• Iorix le grand by Jacques Martin.

  February

• February 12: After a long trial Al Capp is fined for attempted adultery in a plea bargain, his public image and the popularity of Li'l Abner are damaged beyond repair.
• February 24: In Spirou, the first chapter of L’orgue du diable by Roger Leloup is published.
• February 24: in L’Intrepido, debut the SF series Iber, by Antonio Mancuso and Antonio Toldo.
• February 26: The final episode of Big Sister appears in print. It had run since 1928.
• The Brave and the Bold #100 : Batman teams up with Robin, Green Arrow, Black Canary, and Green Lantern.
• With issue #206, Gold Key Comics cancels Tarzan, a title it acquired from Dell Comics in 1962.

  March

• March 30: In Pilote, the first chapter of the Blueberry story Ballade pour un cercueil by Jean-Michel Charlier and Jean Giraud is published, the last episode of the Blueberry trilogy about the search for Confederate gold.
• The first issue of the French Disney comics magazine Picsou Magazine is published.
• Marvel Comics launches its second ongoing Spider-Man title, Marvel Team-Up.
• House of Mystery #200, edited by Joe Orlando.
• The story The Day the Mountain Shook, by Carl Barks and Kay Wright is published in Huey, Dewey and Louie Junior Woodchucks.
• Binky Brown Meets the Holy Virgin Mary, by Justin Green.

  April

• April 18: In Le journal de Tintin, the first chapter of the Ric Hochet story Requiem pour une idole by André-Paul Duchâteau and Tibet is published.
• Marvel Comics launches Marvel Premiere, an anthology series.
• With issue #207, DC Comics begins publishing Tarzan, acquired from Gold Key Comics.
• With issue #89, DC suspends publishing Green Lantern.
• The first issue of the Italian magazine Il mago is published by Mondadori.

  May

• May 1: The first issue of the adult comic magazine L'Écho des Savanes is published. Up until 1974 it only features comics by the three founders Marcel Gotlib, Nikita Mandryka and Claire Bretécher.
• May 4: In Pilote the first chapter of Asterix and the Soothsayer by Goscinny and Uderzo, is published.
• May 21: The final episode of Jerry and Hally Skelly's newspaper comic strip Captain Kate is published.
• May 23: In Charles M. Schulz' Peanuts Rerun van Pelt makes his debut.
• Wonder Woman #200 : 52-page giant, "The Beauty Hater," by Denny O'Neil and Dick Giordano.
• Tomahawk, with issue #140, canceled by DC.
• The Donald Duck stories Huey, Dewey and Louie Junior Woodchucks, Duckmade disaster are published by Carl Barks and Kay Wright.
• The Italian magazine Lo scolaro, after sixty years of history and more than a thousand issues, ceases publications.

  June

• June 15: The first chapter of the Lucky Luke story Chasseur de primes, by Goscinny and Morris is published in Pilote.
• Marvel Comics launches Luke Cage, Hero for Hire, which is the debut of the title character.
• Thor #200: "The End of the World," by Gerry Conway, Stan Lee, John Buscema, and John Verpoorten.
• Action Comics #413: Metamorpho becomes the backup feature.
• The Avengers #100: "Whatever Gods There Be," by Roy Thomas and Barry Smith.
• The Darkhold, also known as The Book of Sins, is introduced in Marvel Spotlight #4.
• Stan Lee starts his long-running monthly column, Stan's Soapbox, in Marvel's readers pages Bullpen Bulletins. It will appear until 1982.
• Korak, Son of Tarzan, with issue #46, taken over by DC from Gold Key Comics.
• With issue #12, All-Star Western changes its name to Weird Western Tales — DC Comics
• With issue #5, The Sinister House of Secret Love changes its name to Secrets of Sinister House — DC Comics

  July

• July 12: The final episode of Marten Toonder's Kappie is published.
• July 22: The first edition of Wizard World Chicago, aka the Chicago Comic-Con, is organized by Nancy Warner.
• After a year-long experimentation with 25-cent, 52-page comics, DC Comics reduces the price of a typical comic to 20 cents, and returns the page count to 36 pages.
• Art Spiegelman publishes "Maus", a three-page strip which will eventually turn into Maus, for the one-shot underground magazine Funny Animals , an underground comic published by Apex Novelties.
• Detective Comics #425: Jason Bard replaces Batgirl as the backup feature.
• Sgt. Fury #100: "One Hundredth Anniversary," by Gary Friedrich, Dick Ayers, and Mike Esposito.
• Pippo e I parastinchi di Olimpia, by Romano Scarpa, in Olympic Goofy, a story written for the 1972 Summer Olympics.
• Il grande intrigo by Gian Luigi Bonelli and Erio Nicolò; Tex Willer is sentenced to death with a false charge. The story, exceptionally long, is considered a masterwork among the classic adventures of the hero.

  August

• August 6: In Il giornalino, Notturno a Macao, by Claudio Nizzi and Ruggero Giovannini; debut of the sea adventures series Capitan Erik.
• August 31: In Pif Gadget, the Corto Maltese story Au nom d'Allah le très miséricordieux, le compatissant by Hugo Pratt, is published, the first chapter of The Ethiopian, an arc of four stories set in Africa, where the captain has, as a partner, the Afar warrior Dash.
• The Flash #217: Four months after the cancellation of his own title, Green Lantern begins appearing as a backup feature in The Flash #217.
• Justice League of America #100: "The Unknown Soldier of Victory!", by Len Wein, Dick Dillin, and Joe Giella.
• Forever People, with issue #11, is cancelled by DC.
• In the story The kingdom under the sea, by Rodolfo Cimino and Giorgio Cavazzano, Queen Reginella makes her debut.

  September

• September 13: The first episode of Gommaar Timmermans' comic Iamboree is published in Knack. It will run until 1982.
• September 14: RAI broadcasts the first episode of Gulp, spectacle of "TV comics" very popular among the Italian young viewers. For the show, original comics are realized, as The flying fat women, by Vittorio Metz, La secchia rapita, by Pino Zac and moreover Nick Carter, by Bonvi and De Maria.
• September 19: In Le journal de Tintin, the first chapter of the Michel Vaillant story Cauchemar is published by Jean Graton.
• House of Secrets #100, edited by Joe Orlando.
• Stan Lee becomes Marvel Comics' publisher; Roy Thomas takes over as Marvel editor-in-chief.
• In The People's Comics, Robert Crumb draws the story Fritz the Cat Superstar, in which his most famous character Fritz the Cat is murdered, thus terminating the comic strip. Crumb drew the story in reaction to Ralph Bakshi's animated feature film adaptation which premiered a few months earlier.

  October

• October 28: The final episode of Mort Walker and Frank Roberge's Mrs. Fitz's Flats is published.
• Date with Debbi, with issue #18, is cancelled by DC.
• Kamandi, The Last Boy on Earth #1: new series by writer/artist Jack Kirby is launched by DC Comics with an October/November cover date.
• New Gods, with issue #11, is temporarily cancelled by DC.
• Silver Age inker Sid Greene dies at age 66.

  November

• November 9: The first episode of Willy Vandersteen's comics series Robert en Bertrand is published and will run until 1992.
• Girls' Love Stories, with issue #180, cancelled by DC Comics.