2002 in comics

Events

 * Chuck Rowles and Steve Rowles begin the webcomic Gods of Arr-Kelaan

March

 * Adventures of Superman #600: super-sized anniversary issue by Joe Casey, Mike Wieringo, and Jose Marzan, Jr. (DC Comics)

April

 * Batman #600: "Bruce Wayne: Fugitive," part one, 64-page giant, written by Ed Brubaker.

June

 * June 3: Webcomic A Miracle of Science by Jon Kilgannon and Mark Sachs debuts

January

 * January 4: Kurt Schaffenberger, long-time artist of Captain Marvel and Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane, dies at age 81.
 * January 10: Legendary Marvel Comics artist John Buscema passes away at age 74.

April

 * April 22: British cartoonist Denis McLoughlin dies at age 84.

May

 * May 3: Horror comics artist Tom Sutton dies at age 65.
 * May 7: Robert Kanigher, writer of Wonder Woman and most of DC Comics' war comics line, dies at age 86.
 * May 17: Dave Berg, long-time Mad magazine cartoonist, passes away at age 81.

June

 * June 13: Vincent Fago, Golden Age artist and editor, dies at age 83.

July

 * July 12: Argentinian cartoonist Jorge Zaffino dies at age c. age 42.

August

 * August 5: Grass Green dies at age 63.

September

 * September 13: Golden Age creator Fred Guardineer passes away at age 88.

Conventions

 * January 19: Big Apple Comic Book Art and Toy Show (St. Paul's Church Auditorium, New York City) — guests include Guy Gilchrist, Ethan Van Sciver, Bill Plympton, Irwin Hasen, Dick Ayers, Iron Sheik, April Hunter, Wagner Brown, Tammy Lynn Sytch, Chris Candido, and Virgil
 * February 9–10: Alternative Press Expo (Herbst Pavilion, Fort Mason, San Francisco)
 * February 22–24: MegaCon (Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, Florida) — guest of honor: Kevin Smith; other guests: George Pérez, Butch Guice, Mark Waid, Erin Gray, June Lockhart, David Prowse, Michonne Bourriague, Eugene Roddenberry Jr., Bob May, and Mark Rolston
 * March: Granada Comics Festival (Granada, Spain) — 7th annual show; controversy as awards are given out in a mock terrorist attack.
 * March 9–10: Chicago ComicFest (Rosemont, Illinois)
 * March 23–24: Planet Comicon (Kansas City, Kansas)
 * April 20: Small Press and Alternative Comics Expo (S.P.A.C.E.) (Ohio Expo Center, Rhodes Center, Columbus, Ohio) — special guests: Dave Sim and Gerhard
 * April 19–21: WonderCon (Oakland Convention Center, Oakland, California)
 * April 26–28: Pittsburgh Comicon (Pittsburgh Expomart, Monroeville, Pennsylvania) — guests include Carmine Infantino, Billy Tucci, George Pérez, Ted Dibiase, Nikolai Volkoff, Frank Cho, Julius Schwartz, Al Williamson, Kenny Baker, Michonne Bourraigue, and Jerome Blake
 * May 5: Alberta Comic Collectors Association Comic & Toy Show (Red & White Club, McMahon Stadium, Alberta, Canada)
 * May 11: East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention (Ritter Hall, Walk Auditorium, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) — first annual show; guests include Arvell Jones, William H. Foster, III, Lance Tooks, and Jerry Craft
 * May 10–12: Wizard World East (Pennsylvania Convention Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
 * May 17–19: Motor City Comic Con I (Novi Expo Center, Novi, Michigan) — c. 14,000 attendees; guests include Cindy Williams, Frank Cho, Guy Davis, Christopher Golden, Carmine Infantino, Joseph Michael Linsner, Vince Locke, Andy Lee, David W. Mack, Tom Mandrake, Dan Mishkin, Bill Morrison, Mike Okamoto, Scott Rosema, Thomas E. Sniegoski, Brian Stelfreeze, Roy Thomas, S. Clay Wilson, and Randy Zimmerman
 * June: Phoenix Comicon (Ahwatukee, Arizona) — 432 attendees
 * June 1–2: Adventure Con (Knoxville Expo Center, Knoxville, Tennessee) — first iteration of this annual show
 * June 1–2: Comics 2002 (The Empire and Commonwealth Museum, Temple Quay, Bristol, Avon, England, U.K.) — presentation of the National Comics Awards; official guests include Joe Quesada, Jamie Rich, Grant Morrison, Frank Quitely, John McCrea, William Christensen, Terry Wiley, Woodrow Phoenix, Bevis Musson, Gary Spencer Millidge, Rich Johnston, Patty Jeres, Lee Kennedy, Roger Langridge, James Hodgkins, Heidi MacDonald, Dave Gibbons, and Lee Barnett
 * June 14–16: Heroes Convention (Charlotte Convention Center, Charlotte, North Carolina) — guests include Arthur Adams, Murphy Anderson, Dan Brereton, Nick Cardy, Ron Garney, Butch Guice, Tony Harris, Irwin Hasen, Adam Hughes, Terry Moore, Kevin Nowlan, Carlos Pacheco, George Pérez, Joe Quesada, Julius Schwartz, Brian Stelfreeze, Roy Thomas, Tim Townsend, Charles Vess, and Mike Wieringo
 * June 23: MoCCA Festival (Puck Building, New York City) — inaugural MoCCAFest
 * June 28–30: New York International Sci-Fi and Fantasy Creators Convention (Madison Square Garden, New York City) — 3rd annual show; guests include George Pérez, Peter David, Chris Claremont, Michael Kaluta, Jae Lee, Kevin Eastman, and Mark Bagley
 * July 5–7: Wizard World Chicago (Rosemont Convention Center, Rosemont, Illinois) — guest of honor: Marc Silvestri; special guest: Stan Lee
 * July 12–13: Big Apple Comic Book Art and Toy Show (St. Paul's Church Auditorium, New York City) — guests include Michael Berryman, Dennis O'Neil, James O'Barr, Gerard Christopher, Joseph Michael Linsner, Graig Weich, and Virgil
 * August 1–4: Comic-Con International (San Diego Convention Center, San Diego, California) — 63,000 attendees; official guests: Dick Ayers, Mike Carey, Howard Chaykin, Peter David, Roman Dirge, Devon Grayson, Frank Jacobs, Chip Kidd, Bub Lubbers, Jason Lutes, Craig McCracken, Todd McFarlane, Tony Millionaire, Kevin Nowlan, Bob Oksner, Lew Sayre Schwartz, Eric Shanower, Hal Sherman, Herb Trimpe, George Woodbridge, and William Woolfolk
 * August 17–18: "CAPTION Noir" (Oxford Union Society, Oxford, England)
 * August 23–25: Canadian National Expo (Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada) — 16,600 attendees; guests include Brent Spiner, Nicholas Brendon, Nichelle Nichols, John Billingsley, Billy Dee Williams, Andy Hallett, Adam Kubert, Joe Kubert, John Romita Jr., John Cassaday, and Darwyn Cooke
 * August 30–September 2: Dragon Con (Hyatt Regency Atlanta/Marriott Marquis, Atlanta, Georgia) — 20,000+ attendees; guests include Carmine Infantino, Nichelle Nichols, and Jefferson Starship
 * September 6–8: Small Press Expo (Bethesda, Maryland)
 * September 13–14: Big Apple Comic Book Art and Toy Show (St. Paul's Church Auditorium, New York City) — guests include Jim Steranko, Bill Plympton, Dave Cockrum, Paty Cockrum, Jon B. Cooke, Herb Trimpe, Linda Fite, Gene Colan, Flo Steinberg, Michael Avon Oeming, Dick Ayers, Steve Rude, George Tuska, Neil Vokes, Irwin Hasen, Ray Lago, and John Workman
 * October 5–6: FallCon 2002 ( Education Building at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds, Bloomington, Minnesota USA) — sponsored by the Minnesota Comic Book Association
 * October 6: Capital Associates Monthly Comic, Toy & CCG Show (Tysons Westpark Hotel, McLean, Virginia USA) — 400 attendees
 * October 12–13: Dallas Comic Con & Sci-Fi Expo (Plano Centre, Plano, Texas) — guests include Amanda Conner, Jim Daly, Nick Derington, Richard Dominguez, Ben Dunn, Steve Erwin, Kerry Gammill, Miles Gunter, Michael Lark, Jaime Mendoza, John Lucas, Joseph Michael Linsner, Terry Moore, Mark Murphy, Don Punchatz, Kelsey Shannon, Cal Slayton, Kenneth Smith, and Dave Stevens
 * October 15: Los Angeles Comic & SF Con (Shrine Auditorium Expo Center, Los Angeles, California USA)
 * October 19–20: Kansas City ComiCon ( Jack Reardon Civic Center, Kansas City, Kansas USA)
 * October 26–November 3: Lucca Comics & Games (Fair Point, Lucca, Tuscany, Italy) — 50,000 attendees
 * October 26–27: Baltimore Comic-Con (Shearton Hotel, Towson, Maryland)


 * October 26–27: Motor City Comic Con II (Novi Expo Center, Novi, Michigan) — guests include Richard Herd, James Horan, Michael Edmunds, David Prowse, Shannon Baska, Glori Anne Gilbert, Patrick Bauchau, Jon Gries, and Richard Marcus
 * November 8–10: National Comic Book, Art, Toy, and Sci-Fi Expo (Metropolitan Pavilion, New York City) — first annual presentation of the Golden Panel Awards for Excellence in Comic Book Art and Story Telling (from the New York City Comic Book Museum); c. 6,000 attendees; guests include Nichelle Nichols, Sarah Douglas, Sergio Aragonés, Jim Lee, Gene Colan, Nutopia, Sam Keith, Michael Kaluta, Brian Michael Bendis, David W. Mack, Joe Jusko, Andy Lee, Tim Vigil, and Graig F. Weich
 * November 30–December 1: Mid-Ohio Con (Hilton Columbus Hotel at Easton Town Center, Columbus, Ohio)

First issues by title

 * Cavalcade of Boys
 * Release: by Poison Press. Writer and Artist: Tim Fish


 * Festering Season
 * Release: September by Stickman Graphics. Writer: Kevin Tinsley Artist: Tim Smith 3


 * Global Frequency
 * Release: October by Wildstorm. Writer: Warren Ellis Artists: various. Cover by: Brian Wood.


 * Hawaiian Dick
 * Release: December by Image Comics. Writer: B. Clay Moore Artist: Steven Griffin.


 * Point Blank
 * Release: August by Wildstorm. Writer: Ed Brubaker Artist: Colin Wilson.


 * The Pro
 * Release: July by Image Comics. Writer: Garth Ennis Artist: Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti.


 * Strange Killings
 * Release: February by Avatar Press. Writer: Warren Ellis Artist: Mike Wolfer.


 * Ultimate War
 * Release: December 8 by Marvel Comics. Writer: Mark Millar Artist: Chris Bachalo.