2013 in comics
Notable events of 2013 in comics. It includes any relevant comics-related events, deaths of notable comics-related people, conventions and first issues by title. For an overview of the year in Japanese comics, see 2013 in manga.
Events
January
January 15: Dutch cartoonist Pieter Geenen wins the Inktspotprijs for Best Political Cartoon.March
March 3: After 30 years of continuous publication, Philippe Geluck's Le Chat comes to an end.March 8: The first new Tom Poes story after creator Marten Toonder's death in 2005, Tom Poes en de Pas-Kaart, drawn by Dick Matena, starts serialisation in the magazine VertrekNL. March 9–10: During the Stripdagen in Haarlem, Paul Teng receives the Stripschapprijs. The P. Hans Frankfurtherprijs is awarded to Comic House. The Bulletje en Boonestaakschaal goes to Richard's Studio.March 26: Dupuis buys Marsu Productions.April
April 26: Dutch comic artist Jan van Haasteren is knighted in the Order of Orange Nassau.May
May 16 - July 10: Jan Hoet and politician Dany Vandenbossche organize the exhibition De Wereld van de Strips in Originelen on display in the Loketten of the Flemish Parliament in Brussels. Original pages by various Belgian comics artists are exhibited. However, the exhibition causes controversy when politician Jan Peumans objects to a French-language speech balloon on the promotional poster and asks for its removal. The speech is then blanked, which results in protest from various people, including cartoonist Kamagurka who asks for the removal of his cartoons from the expo.July
July 12: Albert Uderzo is named Officer in the Légion d'Honneur.August
August 6: Iranian cartoonist Ali Dorani, better known under his pseudonym Eaten Fish, is imprisoned in a detention camp at Christmas Island. In January 2014 he is incarcerated to another camp, Manus Island, where he stays until late 2017. During his five-year imprisonment he starts making cartoons and comics and have them smuggled outside the prison, which brings international attention to his case. August 12: Dutch comic writer and artist Thom Roep is knighted in the Order of Orange Nassau.September
September 4: Sonic the Hedgehog #252, marking the revised continuity where the Second-Genesis Wave is retconned. This was due to a legal settlement was made after writer Ken Penders was discharged from Archie Comics after facing lawsuits against Sega. Because of this, the characters that were created by Penders were not allowed in the subsequent comics, nor any of the stories written by him were to be reprinted.September 13: Patrick J. Marrin launches a long-running celebrity comic about Pope Francis, titled Francis. It will run until 2025.December
Specific date unknown: In Brussels, during renovation works in the SLFP building, drawings by André Franquin, Peyo, Jean Roba, Victor Hubinon, Mitacq,... are discovered on a wall, hidden behind wall paper layers.Specific date unknown
- Rao Pingru's Our Story: A Memoir of Love and Life in China is published. He is 90–91 years old, which makes him the oldest comics artist to ever make his debut.
- Syrian cartoonist Akram Raslan is tortured to death in a government detention center.
Deaths
January
January 30: Vahan Shirvanian, American cartoonist and comics artist, dies at age 87.February
February 3: Pierre Defoux, Belgian priest, painter, illustrator, sculptor, lattice window maker and comics artist, dies at age 88.February 9:- * Emilio Frejo Abregón, Spanish comics artist, dies at age 81.
- * Félix Molinari, French comics artist, dies at age 80.February 13: Bill Fugate, American comics artist, dies at age 58. February 16: Harald Siepermann, German comics artist and animator, dies at age 50.February 21: Scott Clark, American comics artist, dies at an unknown age.February 23: Maurice Rosy, Belgian children's book illustrator, comics writer and artistic director for Spirou between 1956 and 1973, dies at age 85.
March
March 7: Didier Comès, Belgian comics artist, dies at age 70.March 7: Damiano Damiani, Italian film director and comics artist, dies at age 90.March 10: André Veltkamp, Dutch comics artist, dies at age 67.March 12: André Rey, French comic artist, dies at age 89. March 15: Jim Unwin, American comics artist and illustrator, dies at age 83.March 18: Irmtraut Winkler-Wittig, German illustrator and comic artist, dies at age 79. March 27: Jean Mahaux, aka Mao, Belgian comic artist, dies at age 78 or 79.March 28: Manuel García Ferré, Argentine cartoonist and animator, dies at age 83.March 31: Bob Clarke, American illustrator and comics artist, dies at age 87 from pneumonia.Specific date in March unknown: Helmut Zielke, German painter and comics artist, dies at age 74 or 75.April
April 1: Christian Mathelot, French comics artist, dies at age 89.April 2: Fred, French comics artist, dies at age 82.April 4: Carmine Infantino, American comics artist and editor, dies at age 87.April 27: Jesse Santos, Filipino comics artist, dies at age 84.May
May 3: Dan Adkins, American illustrator and comics artist, dies at age 76.May 4: Rubén Lara Romero, Mexican comics artist, dies at age 78 or 79.May 16:- * Roger Chevallier, aka Kline, French comics artist, dies at age 91.
- * Fred Funcken, Belgian comics artist and writer, dies at age 91.
June
June 14: Manuel Zatarain, aka Zata, Spanish comics artist, dies at age 84 or 85.June 19: Kim Thompson, Danish-American comics editor, translator and publisher, dies at age 56 from lung cancer.July
July 7: Louis Glanzman, American comics artist, dies at age 91.July 11: Percy Eaglehurst, Chilean comics artist, dies at age 91.July 18: Gerrit Stapel, Dutch comics artist, dies at age 92.July 28: Pierre Frisano, French comics artist, dies at age 79.August
August 6: Stan Lynde, American comics artist, dies at age 81 from cancer.August 8: Derek Hockridge, British translator, dies at age 78 or 79.August 26: Louis Haché, Belgian comic artist, dies at age 90 or 91. Specific date in August unknown: René Mazyn, French comics artist, dies at age 53.September
September 3: José Ramón Larraz, Spanish film director and comics artist, dies at age 83 or 84.September 7: Pete Hoffman, American comics artist, dies at age 94 from a heart attack.September 24: Jacques Arbeau, French comics artist, dies at age 86..September 26: Rony Heirman, Belgian photographer, dies at age 77.September 28: Friso Henstra, Dutch illustrator and comics artist, dies at age 85.September 30: Roy Peterson, Canadian cartoonist, dies at age 77 from Parkinson's disease.October
October 13: Takashi Yanase, Japanese manga artist, dies at age 94.October 15: George Olesen, American comics artist, dies at age 88.October 21:- * José Luis Beltrán Coscojuela, aka Tran, Beltrán, Koski and Tranis, Spanish comics artist and animator, dies at age 82.
- * Rune T. Kidde, Danish writer, playwright, folk musician, poet, radio presenter and comics artist, dies at age 46.October 22: Yanwari Kazama, Japanese manga artist, dies at age 36 from liver failure.October 27: Rolf De Ryck, Belgian teacher and writer, dies at age 57 from a heart attack.October 30: Renato Canini, Brazilian comics artist, dies at age 77.
November
November 3: Nick Cardy, American comics writer and artist and advertising illustrator, dies at age 93.November 7: Joey Manley, American webcomics publisher, dies at age 48 from pneumonia.November 11: Pieter van Oudheusden, Dutch novelist and comics writer, dies of a brain tumor at age 56.November 23: Solveig Muren Sanden, Norwegian illustrator and comics artist, dies at age 95.November 25: Al Plastino, American comic book artist, dies at age 91.November 26: Joan Nebot, Spanish comics artist, dies at age 80 or 81.December
December 4: Charles Grigg, British comics artist, dies at age 97.December 6: Abel Romero, Chilean comics artist, dies at age 85.December 23: José Ortiz, Spanish comic artist, dies aged 81.December 25: Pierre Wininger, French comics artist, dies at age 63.December 26: Harold Whitaker, British animator and comics artist, dies at age 83.December 28: Martial, French comics artist, dies at age 88.Specific date unknown
- Bi Keguan, Chinese comics artist, dies at age 81 or 82.
- Mario Sbattella, Italian comics artist, dies at age 82 or 83.
Exhibitions
May 16–31: "Image Duplicator" — an exhibition of cartoonists "re-appropriating the works of Roy Lichtenstein, tracking them back to their original source material and then creating a new comic book image that credits the original artist," curated by Rian Hughes and Jason Atomic. Cartoonists featured in the show include Dave Gibbons, Rian Hughes, Salgood Sam, Steven Cook, Howard Chaykin, Carl Flint, Betty Boolean, Mark Blamire, Tony Abruzzo, Jason Atomic, and David Leach.Conventions
January 31–February 3: Angouleme International Comics Festival March 1–3: Emerald City Comicon March 2–3: STAPLE! March 15–17: MegaCon – scheduled guests include Ed McGuinness, Mark Bagley, Frank Cho, Bob Layton, Mike Perkins, Michael Lark, Neal Adams, Mark Waid, Chris Claremont, Mike Choi, Andrew Robinson, Steve Epting, Andy Price, Doug Sneyd, José Delbo, Matteo Scalera, Steve McNiven, Michael Atiyeh, Jimmy Cheung, George Pérez, Gail Simone, Mike McKone, Dave Johnson, Dan Panosian, Brian Pulido, Brandon Peterson, Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti, Billy Tucci, Georges Jeanty, Tim Townsend, and Craig BoldmanMarch 22–24: Fabletown and Beyond, Mayo Civic Center — organized by Bill Willingham; guest of honor Mark Buckingham; other guests include Gene Ha, Mike Carey, Matt Sturges, Peter Gross, Kurt Busiek, Anthony Del Col, Shelly Bond, Adam Hughes, Chrissie Zullo, and Lauren Beukes.March 22–24: Wizard World St Louis - scheduled guests include Cullen Bunn, Jorge Molina, Tyler Kirkham, and Matt KindtMarch 29–31: WonderCon March 30: Asbury Park Comic Con — official guests include Al Jaffee, Michael E. Uslan, Herb Trimpe, Jamal Igle, Allen Bellman, Don McGregor, Jay Lynch, Rudy Nebres, John Holmstrom, Evan Dorkin, and Bob Camp.April 5–7: Steel City Con — guests include David Prowse, Karen Allen, Kevin Sorbo, Madison Lintz, Dawn Wells, Cristina VeeApril 6: FLUKE Mini-Comics & Zine Festival April 6–7: MoCCA Festival April 13–14: Small Press and Alternative Comics Expo April 13: New York Comic Book Marketplace April 20: Comica Comiket — participants in the Drawing Parade included Oliver East, Gary Northfield, Neill Cameron, Dan Berry, and Frazer IrvingApril 26–28: C2E2 April 27–29: Stumptown Comics Fest — 10th annual edition; goes on hiatus after eventMay 11–12: Comic Expo — 2,500 attendees; guests include Ian Churchill, Ian Gibson, Boo Cook, Mark Buckingham, Ben Oliver, and Lee GarbettMay 11–12: Toronto Comic Arts Festival — guests include Bill Amend, David B., Chester Brown, Boulet, Ivan Brunetti, Glyn Dillon, Lisa Hanawalt, Gilbert Hernandez, Jaime Hernandez, Chip Kidd, Michael Kupperman, Josh Neufeld, Bryan Lee O'Malley, Ulli Lust, Taiyo Matsumoto, Rutu Modan, Françoise Mouly, Frederik Peeters, Paul Pope, Michel Rabagliati, Seth, Dash Shaw, Art Spiegelman, Gengoroh Tagame, Raina Telgemeier, Maurice VellekoopMay 17–19: Dallas Comic Con May 17–19: Motor City Comic Con – scheduled guests include George Pérez, Jim Calfiore, Matthew Clark, Greg Horn, David Lloyd, Mark McKenna, Mike McKone, Tom Raney, Andy Suriano, and Charles Paul Wilson IIIMay 17–18: East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention — presentation of the Glyph Comics AwardsMay 23-25: International Comic Arts Forum — guests include Gabriel Bá & Fábio Moon, Dmitry Yakovlev, Ville Hänninen & Tommi Musturi, Brian Michael Bendis, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Matt Fraction, Megan Kelso, Greg Rucka, and T. Edward BakMay 23–26: Phoenix Comicon June 7–9: Heroes Convention — guests include Jason Aaron, Bob Almond, Jim Amash, Peter Bagge, Mitch Breitweiser, Elizabeth Breitweiser, Mark Brooks, Richard Case, Becky Cloonan, Jeremy Dale, Michael Dooney, Steve Epting, Tom Fowler, Matt Fraction, Francesco Francavilla, Rob Guillory, Cully Hamner, Scott Hampton, Dustin Harbin, Tony Harris, Jeremy Haun, Adam Hughes, Jamal Igle, Matt Kindt, Jason Latour, John Layman, Tom Lyle, Paul Maybury, Bob McLeod, Jorge Molina, Sean Gordon Murphy, B. Clay Moore, Ted Naifeh, David Petersen, Brandon Peterson, Ed Piskor, Eric Powell, Tom Raney, Paolo Rivera, Don Rosa, Greg Rucka, Jim Rugg, Tim Sale, Tom Scioli, Charles Soule, Matthew Southworth, Joe Staton, Brian Stelfreeze, Arthur Suydam, Marcio Takara, Philip Tan, Ben Templesmith, Tim Townsend, Cory Walker, Lee Weeks, and Brett WeldeleJune 15–16: Chicago Alternative Comics Expo — special guests: Chris Ware, Kim Deitch, Phoebe Gloeckner, Jason Shiga, Aaron Renier, Michael DeForgeJune 28–30: Wizard World New York City Experience — scheduled guests include Julie Bell, Mike Deodato, Jr., Stan Lee, Carlos Pacheco, Humberto Ramos, Paolo Rivera, Arthur Suydam, and Boris VallejoJuly 18–21: San Diego Comic-Con August 8–11: Wizard World Chicago : Special guests: Stan Lee, Morena Baccarin, James Marsters, Juliet Landau, Manu Bennett, Norman Reedus, Michael Rooker, Andrew McCarthy, Jason David Frank, Alan Davis, Esad Ribić, Pasqual Ferry, Harvey Tolibao, Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo, Kenneth Rocafort, Ramon F. Bachs, Francis Portela, Greg Land, Ethan Van Sciver, and Michael GoldenAugust 30–September 2: Dragon*Con September 6–8: Cincinnati Comic Con — announced guests include Ben Templesmith and Tony MooreSeptember 7–8: Baltimore Comic-Con September 13–14: Small Press Expo September 13–15: Cincinnati Comic Expo September 14–15: FantaCon — Thomas Skulan's horror & comics convention returns after a 23-year hiatus; guests include Stephen R. Bissette, Judith O'Dea, Judith Ridley, John A. Russo and Kyra SchonSeptember 20–22: Wizard World Ohio Comic Con September 27–29: Pittsburgh Comicon September 28: Wildcat Comic Con September 28–29: Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo — guests include Nick Abadzis, Nick Bertozzi, and Josh NeufeldOctober 10–13: New York Comic Con October 11–13: Komikazen — themed in solidarity with the Occupy movement: 99 cartoonists came to Ravenna and made work related to the concept of "We are the 99%."October 23–November 16: Comica — London International Comics Festival — guests include Joe Sacco, Eddie Campbell, Dave McKean, Oscar Zárate, ILYA, Simon Spurrier, Kieron Gillen, Will Brooker, Richard Reynolds, Gareth Brookes, Daniel Merlin Goodbrey, Woodrow Phoenix, Hunt Emerson, Sean Michael WilsonOctober 31–November 3: Lucca Comics & Games November 2–3: Rhode Island Comic Con November 2: Comica Comiket November 14–17: Festival of Cartoon Art — "Grand Opening Festival of Cartoon Art"; speakers included Paul Pope, Jeff Smith, the Hernandez brothers, Matt Bors, Eddie Campbell, Stephan Pastis, Brian Basset, Kazu Kibuishi, and Art SpiegelmanDecember 1: Genghis Con — guests include Derf BackderfFirst issues by title
;The Accelerators;Age of Ultron
;Alex + Ada
;Black Beetle
;East of West
;Five Weapons
;Guardians of the Galaxy vol 3
;Helheim
;Justice League Beyond 2.0
;Lost Vegas
;New Avengers vol 3
;Nova vol 5
;Resident Alien: The Suicide Blonde
;Sex
;''Uncanny Skullkickers''