2020 in comics

Events

January

• January 20: Legendary comics writer René Goscinny receives a statue in Paris. He is the first comics artist to be honoured this way in the French capital.
• January 28: A cartoon by Niels Bo Bojesen in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten causes a diplomatic incident with the Chinese embassy for depicting the Chinese flag, with its yellow stars depicting the coronavirus particles.
• January 29: Dutch comics artist Wasco wins the Stripschapprijs. On 8 February it is announced that Bas Schuddeboom and Kjell Knudde, editors of the comics encyclopedia website Comiclopedia, connected to the Amsterdam comics store Lambiek, win the P. Hans Frankfurther Prize.

  February

• February 4: Belgian cartoonist Lectrr causes a diplomatic incident with the Association of Chinese Enterprises in Belgium and Luxemburg by drawing the Chinese flag and replacing the yellow stars with 'danger' symbol.
• February 23:
• * The final episode of Norm Feuti's Retail is published.
• * Chris Yambar and Randy Bish launch a revival of Richard F. Outcault's classic newspaper comic character The Yellow Kid, albeit in comic book format.

  March

• March 23: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown Diamond Comic Distributors stops sending comics to retail shops until further notice. Issues of comics with United States release dates of April 1 or later, and with United Kingdom release dates of March 25 or later, will not be shipped until normal operations resume.
• March 28: The final daily episode of Bob Weber's Moose & Molly is published. The final Sunday episode appears on 5 April. On 17 October of the same year Weber dies.

  April

• April 1: De Kiekeboes are from now on drawn digitally rather than by hand. Creator Merho passes his pencil on to his successors: Kristof Fagard and Steve Van Bael, though keeps writing the scripts.

  May

• May 7: To support comics stores who had to close down several months due to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown various Dutch and Flemish comics artists release a free collective comic book titled Striphelden versus Corona, which is handed out in stores to everybody who buys a comic for minimum 15 euro.
• May 20: For the first time since his retirement in 2002, Paul Geerts presents a new Suske en Wiske story, drawn by himself: De Preutse Prinses. The title was set to be presented in March, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic the release had to be postponed.

  June

• June 5: DC Comics announces that they will discontinue their distribution through Diamond Comic Distributors and instead have their comics distributed through Penguin Random House, USC Comic Distributors and Lunar Distribution instead.
• June 10: At age 99 Al Jaffee retires from the comics industry. Mad Magazine releases a thematic special, which features his final fold-in.

  July

• July 1: The second posthumous The Adventures of Nero story, De Toet van Tut, starts serialisation in Knack, scripted by Willy Linthout and drawn by Luc Cromheecke.
• July 13: The final episode of Doc and Raider is published. Three weeks later, creator Sean Martin dies from pancreatic cancer.
• July 26: The final episode of Jan Eliot's Stone Soup appears in print.

  August

• August 29: An unfinished Suske en Wiske story by Willy Vandersteen, De Sonometer, is presented in a finished version, written by François Corteggiani and Dirk Stallaert. It is prepublished in De Telegraaf.

  September

• September 2: In the Central Station of Brussels, Belgium, the ceiling fresco depicting The Smurfs, which was inaugurated in 2018, collapses due to a water leak.
• September 17: Belgian comics scholar Pascal Lefèvre receives an honorary doctorate at the University of Malmö, Sweden.
• September 22: Dutch cartoonist Len Munnik wins his second Inktspotprijs for Best Political Cartoon. The first time happened in 1996.

  October

• October 2:
• * During the Stripdagen in Haarlem Herman Roozen is named the new Dutch Stripmaker des Vaderlands.
• * During the Stripdagen in Haarlem Bas Schuddeboom and Kjell Knudde, writers and editors of Lambiek's comics encyclopedia Comiclopedia, receive the P. Hans Frankfurtherprijs.
• Johnny Sampson makes his first fold-in for Mad.

  November

• November 29: Jan Godschalk and Ton Kooreman win the annual Bulletje en Boonestaakschaal.

  December

• December 13: Frank von Hebel and Fred de Heij create a homage story to Pieter Kuhn's classic comic Kapitein Rob, which is serialized in Het Parool, 75 years after the character's debut in the paper. Since 1966 no official new stories of this series had been published.

  Deaths

January

• January 2: Bogusław Polch, Polish comics artist, dies at age 78.
• January 7: Tobias Tak, Dutch comics artist, dies at age 65.
• January 11: Steve Stiles, American comics artist, dies at age 76.
• January 14: Jacques Stoll, French animator and comics artist, dies at an unknown age.
• January 19: Pirana, Belgian cartoonist and comics artist, dies at age 72 from euthanasia.
• January 20: Wolfgang J. Fuchs, German author, historian and comic book translator, dies at age 74.
• January 23: Zsolt Richly, Hungarian comic artist and animator, dies at age 78.
• January 25: Horst Alisch, German illustrator, animator and comics artist, dies at age 94.
• January 30: Bill Canfield, American sports cartoonistst, dies at age 99.
• Specific date unknown: Raymond Larrett, aka Norman Dog, American illustrator and comics artist, dies at an unknown age.

  February

• February 3: Philippe Adamov, French illustrator, animator and comics artist, dies at age 63.
• February 8: Victor Gorelick, American comic book editor, dies at age 78.
• February 10: Claire Bretécher, French comics artist and editor, dies at age 79.
• February 12: Hubert Boulard aka Hubert, French comics writer and colorist, dies at age 49.
• February 21: Nick Cuti, American comics writer, editor, animator and artist, dies at age 75.
• Specific date unknown: Alice Schenker, American underground comix and poster publisher, dies at age 88.

  March

• March 2:
• * Abdullah Turhan, Turkish comics artist, dies at age 87.
• * Suat Yalaz, Turkish comics artist, dies at age 88.
• March 4:
• * Helen Courtney, New Zealand cartoonist, dies at age 67.
• * Frank McLaughlin, American comics artist, dies at age 84.
• March 5: André Chéret, French comics artist, dies at age 82.
• March 9: Allen Bellman, American comics artist and one of the last living Golden Age of Comic Books artists, dies at age 96.
• March 13: René Follet, Belgian illustrator and comics artist, dies at age 88.
• March 18: Erwin Drèze, Belgian comics artist, dies at age 59 from a brain tumor.
• March 19: Roman Arámbula, Mexican animator and comics artist, dies at age 83.
• March 20:
• * François Dermaut, aka Franjack, French comics artist, dies at age 71.
• * Giovanni Romanini, Italian animator and comics artist, dies at age 75 from a heart attack.
• March 24:
• * Juan Padrón, Cuban animator and comics artist, dies at age 73.
• * Albert Uderzo, French comics artist, dies at age 92 from a heart attack.
• March 27:
• * Daniel Azulay, Brazilian TV host and comics artist, dies at age 72 from COVID-19.
• March 30: Tom Gianni, American comic artist, dies at age 60.
• March 31:
• * Emmanuel Malot, A.K.A. Malotruf, French comics artist, dies at age 51 from COVID-19.
• * Valeer Peirsman, Belgian sculptor, dies at age 87.

  April

• April 2: Juan Giménez, Argentine comics artist, dies at age 76 from COVID-19.
• April 4:
• * Dale Crain, American comics artist, dies at an unknown age.
• * Arnold Heertje, Dutch economist and comics writer, dies at age 86.
• * Rao Pingru, Chinese illustrator and comics artist, dies at age 97.
• April 8: Mort Drucker, American comics artist, illustrator and caricaturist, dies at age 91.
• April 12: Albert Roch, aka Béoc, Belgian comics artist, dies at age 90.
• April 16:
• * Gene Deitch, American animator, animated film director and comics artist, dies at age 95.
• * Tonet Timmermans, Belgian illustrator and comics artist, dies at age 94.
• April 26: Jean-Claude Pertuzé, French comics artist, dies at age 70.

  May

• May 2:
• * Armando Huerta, Mexican-American illustrator, pin-up artist and comic artist, commits suicide at age 50.
• * Paul Sellers, British comic artist, dies at age 89.
• May 7: Richard Sala, American comics artist, illustrator and animator, dies at age 65.
• May 10: Martin Pasko, Canadian-American comics writer, dies at age 61.
• May 12: Frank Bolle, American comics artist, dies at age 95.
• May 18: Jennifer Kisler, British comics artist, dies at age 84.
• May 21:
• * Mati Botezatu, Romanian comic artist, dies at age 68.
• * Lluís Juste De Nin, aka L'Esquerrà, El Zurdo, Spanish comics artist, caricaturist and illustrator, dies at age 74 or 75.
• May 29: Eric Schreurs, Dutch comics artist, dies from heart failure at age 61.
• Specific date in May unknown:
• * Frank B. Johnson, American comics artist, dies at age 89.

  June

• June 10: Murray Olderman, American sports cartoonist, dies at age 98.
• June 11: Dennis O'Neil, American comics writer, dies at age 81.
• June 24: Ralph Dunagin, American comics writer and comics artist, dies at age 83.
• June 25: Joe Sinnott, American comics artist and inker, dies at age 93.
• June 26: Milton Glaser, American graphic designer, dies at age 91.
• Specific date in June unknown: Brian Walker, British comics writer and artist, dies at age 94.