1997 in comics

Notable events of 1997 in comics. See also List of years in comics.

Events

• Publisher Blatant Comics founded by Chris Crosby and Bobby Crosby.

April

• Comic strip Cigarman begins publication in Smoke Magazine

July

• July was Marvel Comics' Flashback month. All issues were released with the number âˆ'1.

November

• Mayo Kaan takes out newspaper ads claiming to be the original model for Superman, although his allegations were later proven false.

December

• Marvel returns the Avengers and Fantastic Four to their main continuity in Heroes Reborn: The Return #1â€"4

Deaths

• Tony Velasquez, the Father of Tagalog comics, dies at age 86.

January

• January 25: Dan Barry dies at age 73.

February

• February 15: Jack Sparling dies at age 81.

March

• March 10: Stan Drake dies at age 75.

June

• Ruth Atkinson, co-creator of Patsy Walker and Millie the Model, passes away at age 78.

November

• December 13: Samm Schwartz, long-time artist of Jughead stories for Archie Comics, passes away at age 75.

Exhibitions and shows

Conventions

• February 2: Alternative Press Expo (San Jose, California)
• March: Big Apple Comic Con (Church of St. Paul the Apostle, New York City)
• March 15â€"16: UKCAC (Institute of Education, London, England) â€" guests include Joe Kubert and Dan Clowes; presentation of the inaugural National Comics Awards by Paul Gambaccini and Jonathan Ross
• March 15â€"16: MegaCon (Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, Florida): guests include J. Michael Straczynski and Peter David
• March 21â€"23: Motor City Comic Con I (Novi Expo Center, Novi, Michigan)
• April: Northampton Comic Convention (Northampton, Massachusetts)
• April 18â€"20: Pittsburgh Comicon (Monroeville ExpoMart, Monroeville, Pennsylvania) â€" guests include David Prowse and Carmen Electra
• April 25â€"27: WonderCon (Oakland, California)
• Summer: "EuroCAPTION" (Oxford Union Society, Oxford, England) â€" guests include France's David B, Spain's Max, and the Netherlands' Maaike Hartjes
• Summer: Canadian National Comic Book Exposition (Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada) â€" c. 3,800 attendees; guests include Marc Silvestri, Dwayne Turner, Carlos Pacheco, Dale Keown, David Wohl, and Rich Buckler
• June 12â€"15: Heroes Convention (Charlotte Convention Center, Charlotte, North Carolina)
• June 26â€"29: Dragon Con (Inforum Convention Center/Westin Peachtree Plaza/Atlanta Civic Center, Atlanta, Georgia) â€" 18,000 attendees
• July 4â€"6: Chicago Comicon (Rosemont Convention Center, Rosemont, Illinois) â€" c. 5,000 attendees; convention sold to Wizard Entertainment
• July 17â€"20: Comic-Con International (San Diego Convention Center, San Diego, California) â€" 40,000 attendees; special guests include Brent Anderson, Dick Ayers, Steve Bissette, Terry Brooks, Kurt Busiek, Evan Dorkin, Sarah Dyer, Steven Hughes, Peter Kuper, David Lapham, Carol Lay, Joseph Michael Linsner, Ralph McQuarrie, Linda Medley, Michael Moorcock, George Pérez, Brian Pulido, Alex Ross, R.A. Salvatore, Kevin Smith, George Tuska, Jhonen Vasquez, Paul Verhoeven, Mark Waid, and Al Williamson
• September 19â€"21: Small Press Expo (Silver Spring, Maryland)* 1997: September 19â€"21 â€" Quality Hotel, Silver Spring, Maryland
• October 11â€"12: Motor City Comic Con II (Dearborn Civic Center, Dearborn, Michigan)
• November 29â€"30: Mid-Ohio Con (Adam's Mark Hotel, Columbus, Ohio) â€" guests include John Byrne, Roger Stern, Kurt Busiek, Brent Anderson, Sergio Aragonés, Mark Evanier, Mart Nodell, Tony Isabella, Joseph Michael Linsner, Sheldon Moldoff, Terry Moore, Steve Lieber, Jim Ottaviani, Paul Smith, Alvin Schwartz, Murphy Anderson, and Bernie Wrightson

First issues by title

Clover

Release: by Kodansha (Amie). Authors: Clamp

Desert Punk

Release: August 5 by Enterbrain (Comic Beam). Author: Usune Masatoshi

Peach Girl

Release: by Kodansha (Bessatsu Friend). Author: Miwa Ueda

References