2004 in comics

Notable events of 2004 in comics. See also List of years in comics.

Events

• The Canadian publisher Arcana Studio is founded.

February

• February 6: Marvel Enterprises and Electronic Arts announce a multi-year agreement in which EA will develop a new generation of fighting video games pitting Marvel superheroes against a new, original set of EA heroes.
• February 20: Erik Larsen becomes the new publisher of Image Comics, replacing Jim Valentino, who stepped down.

March

• Cerebus the Aardvark ends 300-issue run.

April

• April 21: Top Cow Productions launches its new property, Proximity Effect, with the first of two free online issues (at http://www.proximity-effect.com); the second issue was to premiere on May 26. A 96-page trade paperback collecting the series, with additional anthology stories and a new cover by Marc Silvestri, would be released June 30.

June

• With issue #1595, Comics Buyer's Guide changes its format from a weekly tabloid to a monthly squarebound magazine. In addition, in hopes of enhancing newsstand sales, CBG adds a price guide for contemporary comics as well as other new features intended to make the magazine more appealing to those with an avid interest in comic books as an investment.
• June 3: Marvel Comics announces the creation of its first prose imprint Marvel Press. Three novels were scheduled for 2004: the young adult novel Mary Jane II would land on bookstore shelves in June, followed by an adult fantasy Wolverine title in October and a middle grade Spider-Man title in November.
• June 18: CrossGen Entertainment files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy at the US Bankruptcy Court in Tampa, Florida. (Copy of filing PDF (220 KiB)

August

• August 22: The first episode of Bunny is posted.

October

• October 6: Marvel Enterprises announces an agreement with Antefilms Production to produce a new animated television series based on The Fantastic Four.

November

• November 30: Artist Michael Ryan (New X-Men: Academy X, Mystique) signs an exclusive 3-year contract with Marvel Comics.

December

• December 1: Colorist Frankie D'Armata (Ultimate Nightmare, The New Avengers, Captain America) signs an exclusive 3-year contract with Marvel Comics.
• December 2: Artist Michael Lark (Gotham Central) and colorist Morry Hollowell (Ultimate Secret, Marvel Knights 4, Meridian) sign exclusive contracts with Marvel Comics.
• December 3: Artist Mark Brooks (Amazing Fantasy, Marvel Age Spider-Man) signs a 3-year exclusive contract with Marvel Comics.

Deaths

February

• February 8: Legendary DC Comics editor Julius Schwartz dies at age 88.
• February 16: Letterer Bill Oakley dies at age 39.
• February 24: Rudy Lapick, long-time Archie Comics inker, passes away at age 77.

April

• April 11: Irv Novick, long-time DC Comics artist, passes away at age 93.
• April 15: Mitsuteru Yokoyama passes away at age 69.

May

• May 15:
  • Disney comics artist Jack Bradbury passes away at age 89.
  • Gill Fox passes away at age 88.

June

• June 6: Kate Worley, writer of Omaha the Cat Dancer, dies of cancer at age 46.

November

• November 13: Harry Lampert, co-creator of the Golden Age Flash, dies at age 88.
• November 25: Bob Haney, co-creator of the Teen Titans, dies at c. age 78.
• November 29: Irwin Donenfeld, long-time executive at National Periodicals (DC Comics), dies at age 78.

Conventions

• January 10â€"11: Florida Extravaganza (Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, Florida)
• February 21â€"22: Alternative Press Expo (Concourse Exhibition Center, San Francisco)
• February 29: Emerald City ComiCon (Qwest Field, West Field Plaza, Seattle, Washington) â€" guests: Stan Sakai, J.G. Jones, Howard Chaykin, Dave Johnson, Todd Nauck, Jeff Johnson, Tomm Coker, Stefano Gaudiano, Brian Michael Bendis, Phil Noto, Matt Wagner, Ford Gilmore, Bob Schreck, Kurt Busiek, Jay Faerber, Greg Rucka, Darick Robertson, John Layman, David Hahn, Karl Kesel, Paul Guinan, Matt Haley, Steve Lieber, Dan Norton, Jason Pearson, and Michael T. Gilbert
• February 29: Toronto ComiCON I (Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada)
• March 5â€"7: MegaCon (Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, Florida) â€" guests include Kaare Andrews, Brian Michael Bendis, John Cassaday, Amanda Conner, Phil Jimenez, Andy Lee, Tony Lorenz, David W. Mack, James O'Barr, Jimmy Palmiotti, Walter Simonson, Craig Thompson, Skottie Young, Luis Amado, Tony Bedard, Jose Caraballo, Patrick Carlucci, Jim Cheung, Laura DePuy, Chuck Dixon, Steve Epting, Glenda Finkelstein, Jeff Johnson, Greg Land, Ron Marz, Stanley Morrison, Mike Perkins, Brandon Peterson, Justin Ponsor, Ariel Rivero, Tone Rodriguez, Steven Sanchez, Bart Sears, Josh Sullivan, Kevin Smith, Jason Mewes, Allison Mack, Walter Koenig, Ken Foree, Brad Dourif, Noah Hathaway, Herbert Jefferson, Jr., Brian Thompson, Glenn Shadix, Marc Singer, Angela Cartwright, Bill Mumy, Virginia Hey, and Sid Haig
• March 6â€"7: London Film and Comic Con I (Wembley Exhibition Centre, London, England, UK) â€" inaugural event
• March 13â€"14: Chicago ComicFest (Ramada Plaza Hotel O'Hare, Rosemont, Illinois)
• March 19â€"21: Wizard World Los Angeles (Long Beach Convention Center, Long Beach, California) â€" guests include Eric Basaldua, Brian Michael Bendis, and Alex Ross
• April: Phoenix Comicon (Glendale, Arizona)
• April 1â€"3: National Comic Book, Art, and Sci-Fi Expo I (Penn Plaza Pavilion, New York City) â€" guest of honor Jerry Robinson; other guests include Sergio Aragonés, Jim Lee, Mark Bagley, Bill Sienkiewicz, Roy Thomas, Alex Maleev, and Kevin Eastman
• April 3: Small Press and Alternative Comics Expo (S.P.A.C.E.) (Ohio Expo Center, Rhodes Center, Columbus, Ohio) â€" special guests: Dave Sim and Gerhard. Sim awarded the SPACE Lifetime Achievement Award
• April 16â€"18: Atlanta Comicon (Gwinnett Civic Center, Gwinnett, Georgia) â€" 2,000â€"6,000 attendees
• April 30â€"May 2: Pittsburgh Comicon (Radisson Hotel Pittsburgh ExpoMart, Monroeville, Pennsylvania) â€" guests include Jim Rugg, George A. Romero, Lani Tupu, and Virginia Hey
• May 2: Toronto ComiCON Fan Appreciation Event (Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada)
• May 1â€"2: WonderCon (Moscone Center, San Francisco, California)
• May 14â€"16: Motor City Comic Con I (Novi Expo Center, Novi, Michigan) â€" 15th anniversary show; guests include Julie Benz, Erin Gray, Kate Jackson, Ron Perlman, and Alfonso Ribeiro.
• May 15: East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) â€" presentation of the ECBACC Pioneer Lifetime Achievement Award
• May 21â€"23: Wizard World East (Philadelphia Convention Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
• May 23â€"24: Comic Festival (Ramada Plaza, Bristol, Avon, England, U.K.) â€" guests include Gary Spencer Millidge, Bob Finch, Norman Lovett, John McCrea, Duncan Fegredo, David Roach, Rob Williams, Jon Foster, and Gary Erskine
• June 5â€"6: Adventure Con 3 (Knoxville Expo Center, Knoxville, Tennessee) â€" 3,000 attendees
• June 6: Stumptown Comics Fest (Portland, Oregon) â€" first inaugural event, hosted by the Old Church, a non-profit organization whose goal was to preserve an old church. 22 exhibitor tables, 150 attendees
• June 11â€"13: Heroes Convention (Charlotte Convention Center, Charlotte, North Carolina) â€" guests include Jim Amash, Murphy Anderson, John Beatty, Mark Brooks, Nick Cardy, Richard Case, John Cassaday, Dave Cockrum, Steve Conley, Kim DeMulder, Tommy Lee Edwards, Steve Epting, Matt Feazell, Tom Feister, Ron Garney, Chris Giarrusso, Keron Grant, Cully Hamner, Scott Hampton, Tony Harris, Irwin Hasen, Sam Henderson, Adam Hughes, Georges Jeanty, Dan Jolley, Nat Jones, Jim Krueger, Dick Kulpa, Jason Latour, Rick Leonardi, Joseph Michael Linsner, Aaron Lopresti, David W. Mack, Ed McGuinness, Joshua Middleton, Martin Nodell, Phil Noto, Michael Avon Oeming, Jeff Parker, Jason Pearson, Brandon Peterson, Paul Pope, Howard Porter, Eric Powell, George Pratt, James Pruett, Joe Pruett, Budd Root, Josef Rubinstein, Paul Ryan, David Self, Bill Sienkiewicz, Joe Sinnott, Joe Staton, Brian Stelfreeze, Karl Story, Roy Thomas, Tim Townsend, Robert Ullman, Dexter Vines, Neil Vokes, Loston Wallace, Mike Wieringo, and Larry Young
• June 18â€"20: Toronto Comic Con (National Trade Centre, Queen Elizabeth Building, Toronto, Ontario, Canada) â€" guests of honor: Will Eisner and Dave Sim
• June 26â€"27: MoCCA Festival (Puck Building, New York City)
• July 22â€"25: Comic-Con International (San Diego Convention Center, San Diego, California) â€" 95,000 attendees; official guests: Jack Adler, Roger Dean, Dave Gibbons, Tom Gill, Harry Harrison, Sid Jacobson, Geoff Johns, Batton Lash, Chuck McCann, Aaron McGruder, Brad Meltzer, Mike Mignola, Rebecca Moesta, Bill Plympton, Eduardo Risso, Jean Schulz, Frank Springer, Tim Thomerson, Craig Thompson, and John Totleben. Comic-Con expands into Hall H of the San Diego Convention Center and now occupies the entire exhibit space.
• August 8: National Comic Book, Art, and Sci-Fi Expo II (Penn Plaza Pavilion, New York City)
• August 13â€"15: Wizard World Chicago (Rosemont Convention Center, Rosemont, Illinois) â€" guest of honor: Joss Whedon; special guests: Kelly Hu and Amber Benson; other guests: Brian Michael Bendis, Josh Blaylock, J. Scott Campbell, John Cassaday, Jim Cheung, Marie Croall, Tony Daniel, Lou Ferrigno, Gene Ha, Greg Horn, Geoff Johns, Dan Jolley, Jim Lee, Jeph Loeb, Sean McKeever, Angel Medina, Mark Millar, Mike Norton, Joe Quesada, Alex Ross, Alex Saviuk, Marc Silvestri, Kevin Smith, Michael Turner, Brian K. Vaughn, and Skottie Young
• August 14â€"15: "CAPTION is History" (Wolfson College, Oxford, England) â€" guests include Al Davison and Pat Mills
• August 27â€"29: Fan Expo Canada (Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada) â€" 27,684 attendees; guests include George Takei, Julie Benz, Peter Mayhew, Mercedes McNab, Anthony Montgomery, Aron Eisenberg, Cirroc Lofton, George A. Romero, Tom Savini, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Doug Bradley, Yoshitoshi ABe, Yasuyuki Ueda, George Pérez, Brian Azzarello, Mike Deodato, Rags Morales, Skottie Young, Adam Hughes, David W. Mack, and Jill Thompson
• September 3â€"6: Dragon Con (Hyatt Regency Atlanta/Marriott Marquis, Atlanta, Georgia) â€" 20,000+ attendees
• September 18â€"19: National Comic Book, Art, and Sci-Fi Expo III (Penn Plaza Pavilion, New York City) â€" guests include Jim Steranko, Sal Buscema, Glen Fabry, Los Bros Hernandez, and Angel Medina
• September 23: Comics Salon (Pezinok, Slovakia)
• October 2â€"3: Small Press Expo (Bethesda, Maryland)
• October 16â€"17: Motor City Comic Con II (Novi Expo Center, Novi, Michigan)â€" guests include Dan Mishkin, Rowena Morrill, Bill Morrison, Stephanie Murnane, Eddy Newell, Diana Okamoto, Mike Okamoto, Mike Pascale, Scott Rosema, Steve Rude, Stan Sakai, Paul Sizer, Layne Toth, Daniel Webb, Bill Wilkinson, and Randy Zimmerman
• October 23: London Comic Festival (Holiday Inn London Bloomsbury, London, England, U.K.) â€" guests include Gary Spencer Millidge
• October 23â€"24: Dallas Comic Con (Plano Centre, Plano, Texas) â€" guests include Adam Hughes, Michael Lark, Greg Horn, Dan Brereton, Cal Slayton, and Michael Jantze
• November 5â€"7: Wizard World Texas (Arlington Convention Center, Dallas, Texas) â€" guests include Jim Lee, Brian Pulido, Marc Silvestri, Michael Turner, Mark Waid, and Skottie Young
• November 6â€"7: Comic Expo (Ramada City Inn, Bristol, United Kingdom) â€" first iteration of this annual convention; guests include Simon Furman, Mike Carey, and Mike Collins
• November 6â€"7: London Film and Comic Con II (Wembley Exhibition Centre, London, England, UK)
• November 27â€"28: Mid-Ohio Con (Columbus Hilton Easton, Columbus, Ohio) â€" guests include Sergio Aragonés, John Byrne, Talent Caldwell, Stan Goldberg, Marc Hempel, David Mack, Michael Avon Oeming, Jeff Smith, and Tom Batiuk

First issues by title

DC Comics

JSA Strange Adventures

Release: October.

Marvel Comics

Guardians

Release: July 14. Writer: Marc Sumerak. Artist: Casey Jones.

Loki

Release: July 7. Writer: Robert Rodi. Artist: Esad Ribic.

Man-Thing

Release: July 21. Writer: Hans Rodionoff. Artist: Kyle Hotz.

Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Avengers 2004

Release: July 7. Cover by: Salvador Larroca.

Starjammers

Release: July 7.Writer: Kevin J. Anderson. Artist: Francisco Ruiz Velasco.

Witches

Release: June. Writer: Brian Walsh. Artist: Will Conrad.

Other publishers

Capitão Brasil

Osiedle Swoboda

Release: June by Niezależna Prasa. Writer & Artist: Michał Śledziński

Initial appearances by character name

Footnotes