Notable events of 2007 in comics. Events
January January 10: Superman & Batman vs. Aliens & Predator released. January 16: Dutch cartoonist Willem wins the Inktspotprijs for Best Political Cartoon. January 24: The Boys is canceled with issue #6. Red Menace by Jerry Ordway and Adam Brody (Wildstorm) Batman/The Spirit by Jeph Loeb (DC Comics) Bullet points by J. Michael Straczynski and Tommy Lee Edwards (Marvel) The Order of the Stones by Pierre Christin and Jean-Claude Meziéres, 30th album of the Valerian series (Dargaud).
February February 2: Newsarama reports that The Boys has been picked up by Dynamite Entertainment. February 5: Gerben Valkema's comic strip Elsje (Lizzy in English) makes its debut. February 7: The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born by Peter David and Jae Lee (Marvel) February 28: Release of 2000 AD prog #1526. This is the 30th anniversary issue and will see the start of three new storylines: Flesh (by Pat Mills and Ramon Sola), Nikolai Dante (by Robbie Morrison & Simon Fraser) and Savage (by Pat Mills and Charlie Adlard) The final issue of Cracked is published. 100 dollars Pour Mourir (An Hundred Dollars To Die) by Francois Corteggiani and Michel Blanc Dumont, 16th album of the Bluberry's youth series (Dargaud). In Italy, the fantasy series Lys makes its debut, written by Katja Centomo (Edizioni Tridimensional). It is interrupted after 8 issues.
March March 6: Albert Uderzo is honoured as Knight in the Order of the Netherlands Lion. March 7: Marvel Comics "kills" Captain America (US) March 14: The British children's TV show Blue Peter, who organized a competition to let young viewers choose which new character they would like to become a recurring cast member in the comic strip The Bash Street Kids declare the character Wayne the winner. March 14: First issue of Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight (Dark Horse Comics) March 21: Andy Diggle starts his run on Hellblazer with issue #230. March 21: Empowered by Adam Warren and Ryan Kinnaird (Dark Horse Comics) With issue #215, Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight is cancelled by DC. The webcomic Crying Macho Man is collected in a print edition. First issue of the Italian fantasy series Angel's Friends, by Bruno Enna and Giada Perissinotto (Play Press).
April
April 5: Alice in Sunderland by Bryan Talbot (Dark Horse Comics). April 15: The tribute album Astérix et ses amis is released, to celebrate Albert Uderzo's 80th birthday (Editions Albert René). April 25: Amazons Attack! by Will Pfeifer and Pete Woods (DC Comics). In the DC universe, The Lightning Saga arc begins. World war III by Keith Champagne and John Ostrander (DC comics) The Trenchcoat Brigade by John Ney Rieber and John Ridgway (Vertigo) Dimmi Che Non Vuoi Morire (Tell Me That You Don't Want To Die) graphic novel by Massimo Carlotto and Igort (Mondadori), part of the series about the private eye “Alligator”.
May May 2: The weekly series 52 concludes. May 2: Supernatural origins by Peter Johnson and Matthew Dow Smith is released, a prequel to the Supernatural series (WildStorm). May 3: Belgian comic artist Benoît Sokal is knighted in the Order of Leopold II. May 12: Bristol Comic Expo, start of two-day event May 15: Spike: Asylum by Brian Lynch and Franco Urru (IDW publishing). May 23: British comic heroine Tank Girl returns after a twelve-year sojourn, with original writer Alan Martin on scripts and Australian penciler Ashley Wood on art. The four-part mini-series is called The Gifting and will be collected in time for Christmas. First issue of The Astounding wolf-man, by Robert Kirkman and Jason Howard (Image) Rides (Wrinkles) – graphic novel by Paco Roca about the old age and the Alzehimer's disease (Delcourt). On Tue Au Théâtre Ce Soir (This evening, murder at the theatre) by Andrè Paul Duchateau and Tibet, 73th album of the Ric Hochet series (Le Lombard). Les Trois Yeux des gardiens du Tao (The Tao Wardens' Three Eyes) by Jean Van Hamme and Philippe Francq, 15th album of the Largo Winch series (Dupuis)
June June 1 Silver Surfer :requiem by J. Michael Straczynski and Esad Ribic (Marvel). June 12: In The Amazing Spider-Man, the story arc One More Day begins: the marriage between Peter Parker and Mary-Jane Watson is deleted from the history of the Marvel universe and the Spider-Man's continuity is wholly upset. The radical retcon is harshly criticized by critics and readers. June 16: Dragonero (Black dragon) fantasy by Luca Enoch, Stefano Vietti and Giuseppe Matteoni, first album of the series Romanzi a fumetti Bonelli (Bonelli graphic novels). Later, a comic series (always published by Bonelli) and a novel one were born from the album. In the Green Lantern titles, the Sinestro corps war arc begins (DC Comics). Fallen son: The death of Captain America by Jeph Loeb and various artists (Marvel) X-Men: Endangered Species by Mike Carey and Scot Eaton (Marvel Comics). Impeesa by Paolo Fizzarotti and Ivo Milazzo – biography of Robert Baden-Powell, published for the 100th anniversary of the scouting (Rizzoli Libri).
July July 10–11: Doug Marlette, creator of Kudzu, dies in a car accident, which means the end of his series. July 17: in Topolino, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the character Scrooge McDuck, the saga Tutti i milioni di Paperone (All Scrooge's millions) by Fausto Vitaliano, begins, exploring how Scrooge became a billionaire in the 1920s. July 25: The United States Postal Service releases Marvel Superhero Stamps featuring Spider-Man, Wolverine, and other Marvel superheroes. Green Arrow: Year One by Andy Diggle and Jock (DC Comics) In Nathan Never comics, the so-called “space-time saga”, written by Stefano Vietti, begins: a falling space wreck destroys the megalopolis depicted in the series.
August August 11: The two-day comic event Caption starts. August 14: Tokyopop begins publishes Undertown. August 26: The final episode of Kudzu is published. Half a month earlier the creator, Doug Marlette, died in a car accident. August 26: The final episode of Triple Take by Scott Nickel and Todd Clark is published. In the Marvel Universe, the crossover Annihilation: Conquest begins. In the Top Cow universe, the arc First born, written by Ron Marz, begins; Sara Pezzini and Jackie Estacado give birth to a little girl, Hope, who reunites the powers of Witchblade and The Darkness. In Kuwait, first issue of The 99, by Naif Al-Mutawa (Teshkeel Comics). First issue of Dylan Dog color fest; it's the first integrally color series published by Sergio Bonelli.
September September 8: London Film & Comic Con, start of two-day event. September 9: The final episode of Farley is published. September 15: Suske en Wiske receive a bust in Kalmthout, Belgium. September 19: The Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite by Gerard Way and Gabriel Bà (Dark Horse). September 29: During the Stripdagen in Houten, the Netherlands, Aloys Oosterwijk receives the Stripschapprijs. Ronald Grossey wins the P. Hans Frankfurtherprijs for his book about Studio Vandersteen. Henk Groeneveld wins the Bulletje en Boonestaakschaal. 299+1 by Leo Ortolani, parody of Frank Miller's 300 (Panini Comics).
October October 2: Artemis Fowl: The Graphic Novel by Eoin Colfer, Andrew Donkin and Giovanni Rigano (Hyperion books) October 10: The Best American series releases the second The Best American Comics publication. The collection is edited by Chris Ware and Anne Elizabeth Moore. October 10: Burma Chronicles by Guy Delisle (Delcourt) October 10 : First issue of Volto Nascosto by Gianfranco Manfredi (Sergio Bonelli) October 20: The final episode of Posy Simmonds' Tamara Drewe is published. October 26: In Scott Adams' Dilbert, a gag is printed in which decision makers in offices are compared to "drunken lemurs". An employee at the Catfish Bend Casino in Burlington, Iowa hangs it in his office, after being informed that the casino will close down and is fired. Two months later, an administrative law judge rules in the fired employee's favor. Adams also draws a Dilbert gag supporting the fired employee. October 30: Zuda Comics, a webcomics imprint of DC Comics, launches. October 31: Gli occhi e il buio (The Eyes and the Darkness) – a period thriller by Gigi Simeoni, about the hunt for a serial killer in Milan at the beginning of the 20th century (Sergio Bonelli Editore)
November November 2: In Strasbourg the Tomi Ungerer Museum opens. November 9: The Folger Shakespeare Library hosts Lynda Barry, Alison Bechdel, and Chris Ware in a discussion on graphic novels as a part of the PEN/Faulkner Reading Series. November 21: The first episode of Signe Wilkinson's Family Tree is published. It will run until 2011. November 28: The graphic novel Cherubs! by Bryan Talbot is published by Desperado Publishing.
December December 11: Mike Le begins publishing the "Don't Forget To Validate Your Parking" webcomic. The final episode of Tumbleweeds is published.
Specific date unknown Gary Panter releases an updated version of his 1992 graphic novel Dal Tokyo.
Deaths
January January 1: Tiberio Colantuoni, Italian comics artist (Bongo, worked for Rolf Kauka, Disney comics), dies at age 71. January 3: Sam Burlockoff, American comics artist and inker, dies at age 82.
February February 6: Robert Gigi (Scarlet Dream, Orion, Le Laveur de Planètes, Dossier Soucoupes Volantes, Agar, Ugaki), dies at age 80. February 8: Joe Edwards, American comics artist (Li'l Jinx), dies at age 85. February 14: Willy Moese, German comics artist and animator (Bogomil, Klaus und Choko), dies at age 79. February 18: Alfio Consoli, Italian comics artist (Demoniak), dies at age 61. Bob Oksner, American comics artist (Miss Cario Jones, made various TV-based comics, continued Dondi), dies at age 90.
March March 3: Osvaldo Cavandoli, Italian animator and comics artist (La Linea), dies at age 87. March 5: Yvan Delporte, Belgian journalist (chief editor of Spirou 1955-1968) and comics writer, dies at age 78. March 6: Lina Buffolente, Italian comics artist and illustrator (Piccolo Ranger, Gun Gallon Homicron, Nick Reporter, Reno Kid, Comandante Mark), dies at age 82. March 9: Hugo Leyers, aka Haschèl or Hug, Belgian comics artist (De Geschiedenis van Vlaanderen, De Geschiedenis van Nederland, Met De Neus & Co Op Stap), dies at age 77. March 12: Arnold Drake, American comics writer (It Rhymes with Lust, co-creator of the Doom Patrol and Deadman), dies at age 83. March 21: Drew Hayes, American comics artist and writer (Poison Elves), dies from a heart attack at age 37. March 24: Marshall Rogers, American comics artist (continued Batman, Silver Surfer, Wolverine and Doctor Strange), dies from a heart attack at age 57. March 27: Boris Dimovski, Bulgarian comics artist (Once Upon A Time), dies at age 81. March 29: Leslie Waller, American comics artist (It Rhymes with Lust), dies at age 82. March 31: Massimo Belardinelli, Italian comics artist (Ace Trucking Co.), dies at age 68.
April April 7: Johnny Hart, American comics artist (B.C., The Wizard of Id), dies at age 76. April 15: Brant Parker, American comics artist (The Wizard of Id, Crock), dies at age 86 from a stroke. April 21: Art Saaf, American comics artist (worked for Highlights for Children magazine and made various comics for DC Comics, Fiction House, Harvey Comics, Quality Comics and Standard Comics), dies at age 85. April 29: José De Huescar, aka Garvi, Spanish comics artist (Agence Eureka), dies at age 68.
May May 1: Tom Artis, American comics artist (DC Comics, Marvel Comics, Fleetway), dies at age 51. May 2: Mario Cubbino, Italian comic artist (Zip e Jungla, Wallenstein i Mostro, Karzan, L'Ombra, worked on Pantera Bionda, Dylan Dog and Diabolik, worked for Rinaldo Dami's studio, drew comics for Trisanto Torelli and Amalgamated Press), dies at age 77. May 6: Oscar Blotta, Argentine comics artist and animator (El Gnomo Pimenton, Ventajita), dies at age 88.