Notable events of 2003 in comics. See also List of years in comics.
The AOL name was finally dropped from Time Warner, reverted to the Time Warner name.
Action Comics #800: Double-sized anniversary issue, "A Hero's Journey," by Joe Kelly, Pascual Ferry, and Duncan Rouleau. (DC Comics)
April 19: Webcomic Bigtime Consulting comes to a conclusion
Wolverine vol. 2 is canceled by Marvel with issue #189.
June 10 - Manhwa Dragon Hunter begins publication
January 2: Jack Keller, American comics artist (Kid Colt) dies at age 80.
March 2: Bill Woggon, American comics artist (Katy Keene), dies at age 92.
April 9: Jerry Bittle, American comics artist (Geech, Shirley and Son), dies at age 53.
May 27: Al Hartley, American comics artist (Archie Comics, Christian comics), dies at age 81.
June 9: Georges Pichard, French comics artist and writer (Ténébrax, Submerman, Blanche Epiphanie, Paulette).
July 24: Warren Kremer, American comics artist (Harvey Comics), passes away at age 82.
July 31: Guido Crepax, Italian comics artist (Valentina), dies at age 70.
October 12: Pete Morisi, American comics artist (Thunderbolts), dies at age 75.
November 12: John Tartaglione, American comics artist and inker (Marvel Comics ), dies at age 81.
November 29: Len Lawson, Australian comics artist (The Lone Avenger, The Hooded Rider, Diana, Queen of the Apes) and convicted rapist and murderer, dies at the age of 76 from a heart attack in his cell.
November 30: Kin Platt, American comics artist, dies at age 92.
December 5: Bob Gregory, American comics writer/artist (Donald Duck comics, Hanna-Barbera comics) dies at age 82.
December 27: Pete Alvarado, American comics artist (Disney comics, Warner Bros. comics, Hanna-Barbera comics), dies at age 83.
December 29: Don Lawrence, British comics artist, (Storm), dies at age 75.
January 25: Big Apple Comic Book Art, and Toy Show I (St. Paul's Church Auditorium, New York City)
January 31–February 2: Creation Comic Book & Pop Culture Convention (Pasadena, California)
February 1–2: Alternative Press Expo (Concourse Exhibition Center, San Francisco)
February 9: Emerald City ComiCon (Qwest Field, West Field Plaza, Seattle, Washington) — first annual event; 2,500 attendees; guests: Erik Larsen, John Cassaday, Scott Morse, Pia Guerra, Darick Robertson, Sean Chen, Greg Rucka, Ford Gilmore, Jim Mahfood, Steve Skroce, Mike Huddleston, Steve Rolston, Ian Boothby, Jay Faerber, Matt Haley, Kathleen Webb, John Lustig, David Hahn, Stefano Gaudiano, Donna Barr, Roberta Gregory, Rick Hoberg, Jason Hall, and Brian Snöddy
February 28–March 2: MegaCon (Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, Florida) — guests include J. Scott Campbell, Scott McDaniel, Chuck Dixon, Frank Cho, George Pérez, Roy Thomas, Greg Land, Jimmy Palmiotti, Amanda Conner, Robert Rodi, Bart Sears, Brian Pulido, and Adam Hughes
March 22–24: East Coast Hobby Show 2003 (Ft. Washington Expo Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
March 23: Toronto Comic Con I (Toronto Hilton Hotel, Toronto, Ontario, Canada) — first edition of this convention
March 29–30: Planet Comicon (Overland Park International Trade Center, Overland Park, Kansas)
April: Phoenix Comicon (Glendale, Arizona)
April 5–6: Dallas Comic Con 2.0 (Richardson Civic Center, Plano, Texas) — guests include Tim Bradstreet, Adam Hughes, Dave Dorman, and Frank Cho, Scott Kurtz, Kerry Gammill, Cal Slayton, and Michael Lark. A collectible program book produced with dual covers by artists Dave Dorman and Adam Hughes.
April 5: 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 25–27: Pittsburgh Comicon (Pittsburgh Expomart, Monroeville, Pennsylvania) — guests include Terry Austin, Terry Moore, Wayne Wise, Adam Hughes, Bill Morrison, Erin Gray, George Pérez, Joseph Michael Linsner, Jim Balent, and Michael Turner
April 26–27: WonderCon (Moscone Center, San Francisco, California) — convention moves from Oakland
April 27: MicroCon 2003 (Maplewood Community Center, Maplewood, Minnesota)
May 2–3: Big Apple Comic Book Art, and Toy Show II (St. Paul's Church Auditorium, New York City) — guest of honor Jim Steranko; other guests: Russ Heath, Billy Tucci, Graig Weich, Tony Isabella, Guy Gilchrist, Jim Krueger, Jamal Igle, Robin Riggs, and Jim Salicrup
May 2–3: Hershey Comicon I (Cocoaplex Cinema, Hershey, Pennsylvania)
May 16–18: Motor City Comic Con I (Novi Expo Center, Novi, Michigan) — guests include Aaron Bordner, Mark Bode, Dan Brereton, Norm Breyfogle, Guy Davis, Dan Fogel, Frank Kelly Freas, Laura Freas, Gilbert Hernandez, Jaime Hernandez, Vince Locke, William Messner Loebs, James O'Barr, Jim Pitts, Paul Ryan, William Stout, Billy Tucci, Neil Vokes, and Larry Welz
May 17: East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) — 50 attendees; guests include William H. Foster, III, Jerry Craft, and Anthony Jappa
May 23–24: Comics 2003 (Bristol, Avon, England, U.K.) — presentation of the National Comics Awards; guests include Jim Lee, Jeff Smith, Dez Skinn, Mike Conroy, Duncan Fegredo, Steve Yeowell, Gary Spencer Millidge, Phil Winslade, Sean Phillips, Mike Carey, Chris Weston, Chris Francis, Phil Hall, Bryan Talbot, Dave Gibbons, John McCrea, John Cassaday, D'Israeli, Staz Johnson, Gary Erskine, Rich Johnston, Nick Locking, and David Hitchcock
May 30–June 1: Wizard World East (Pennsylvania Convention Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
May 31–June 1: Adventure Con 2 (Knoxville Expo Center, Knoxville, Tennessee)
June 13–15: Heroes Convention (Charlotte Convention Center, Charlotte, North Carolina) — guests include Bob Almond, Jim Amash, Pat Broderick, Frank Brunner, Sal Buscema, Nick Cardy, Richard Case, Steve Conley, Shane Davis, Kim DeMulder, Todd Dezago, Tommy Lee Edwards, Michael Eury, Tom Feister, Lou Ferrigno, Dick Giordano, Cully Hamner, Scott Hampton, Tony Harris, Irwin Hasen, Adam Hughes, Matt Hughes, Greg Hyland, Jamal Igle, Dan Jolley, Bruce Jones, Nat Jones, Jason Latour, Bob Layton, Jon Lewis, David W. Mack, Pop Mhan, Phil Noto, Jeff Parker, George Pratt, Budd Root, Craig Rousseau, Julie Schwartz, Bill Sienkiewicz, Roxanne Starr, Brian Stelfreeze, Karl Story, Roy Thomas, Rich Tommaso, Tim Townsend, Koi Turnbull, George Tuska, Neil Vokes, Loston Wallace, Daniel Way, and Mike Wieringo
June 13–14: Lexington Sci-Fi Comic Con (Lexington Convention Center, Lexington, Kentucky)
June 20–21: Hershey Comicon II (Cocoaplex Cinema, Hershey, Pennsylvania)
June 22: MoCCA Festival (Puck Building, New York City)
July 12–13: Big-D Collectible Show (Hampton Inn Military Pkwy & Hwy 635 Mesquite, Dallas, Texas) — 1500 attendees
July 17–20: Comic-Con International (San Diego Convention Center, San Diego, California) — 70,000 attendees; official guests: Brian Azzarello, Charles Berberian, Sal Buscema, Philippe Dupuy, Neil Gaiman, Jackson "Butch" Guice, Nalo Hopkinson, Steve Jackson, Geoff Johns, Larry Lieber, Carla Speed McNeil, Kevin O'Neill, Howard Post, and R.A. Salvatore
July 18–20: Hawaii All-Collectors Show (Neal Blaisdell Exhibition Hall, Honolulu, Hawaii)
August: "Cyber CAPTION" (Oxford Union Society, Oxford, England) — guests include Carla Speed McNeil
August 3: Atlanta Comic Convention (Atlanta Marriott Century Center, Atlanta, Georgia)
August 8–10: Wizard World Chicago (Rosemont Convention Center, Rosemont, Illinois)
August 22–24: Fan Expo Canada (Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada) — 20,655 attendees; guests include Leonard Nimoy, Ray Park, Adrian Rayment & Neil Rayment Twins (The Matrix), J. August Richards, Connor Trinneer, Denise Crosby, Brian Michael Bendis, Francisco Herrera, Ed McGuinness, Ken Steacy, Darwyn Cooke, Josh Blaylock, and Fred Gallagher
August 29–September 1: Dragon Con (Hyatt Regency Atlanta/Marriott Marquis, Atlanta, Georgia) — 20,000+ attendees
September 5–6: Big Apple Comic Book Art, and Toy Show III (St. Paul's Church Auditorium, New York City)
September 5–7: Small Press Expo (Holiday Inn Select, Bethesda, Maryland)
September 12–14: Raptus 2003 (Bergen Konferanse Senter, Skandic Hotel Bergen, Bergen, Norway) — 4,500 attendees
September 20–21: Baltimore Comic-Con (Baltimore Convention Center, Baltimore, Maryland)
September 20–21: Royalfest 2003 (Gateway Center, Collinsville, Illinois) — 3,000–4,000 attendees
October 3–5: Adventure Con 2.5 (Gatlinburg Convention Center, Gatlinburg, Tennessee)
October 4–5: FallCon (Education Building at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds, St. Paul, Minnesota)
October 18–19: Motor City Comic Con II (Novi Expo Center, Novi, Michigan) — guests include Kurt Busiek, Andy Lee, and David W. Mack
October 19: Los Angeles Comic Book and Science Fiction Convention (Shrine Auditorium Expo Center, Los Angeles, California)
October 19: Maine Comic Book Spectacular (Verrillo’s Convention Center, Portland, Maine)
October 25–26: Dallas Comic Con ("DCC3") (Plano Centre, Plano, Texas) — guests include Tim Bradstreet, Phil Noto, Adam Hughes, Scott Kurtz, John Lucas, Ben Dunn, Jaime Mendoza, Cal Slayton, and Erik Reeves
October 31–November 3: Las Vegas Comic-Con (Mandalay Bay Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada) — first annual event
October 31–November 2: Lucca Comics and Games (Fair Point, Lucca, Tuscany, Italy) — 50,000 attendees
November 1: Comic Festival Winter Special (Holiday Inn, Bloomsbury, London, England, U.K.) — guests include Steven Appleby, Mark Buckingham, John M. Burns, Laurence Campbell, Al Davison, Alex Collier, Mike Conroy, Andy Diggle, Simon Donald, Christian Dunn, Ian Edginton, Carl Flint, Paul Gambaccini, Phil Gascoigne, Ian Gibson, Jon Haward, Morris Heggie, P. J. Holden, Jock, Davey Jones, Euan Kerr, Roger Langridge, Metaphrog, Gary Spencer Millidge, Robbie Morrison, Paul Palmer, Siku, Dez Skinn, Kev F. Sutherland, and Lee Townsend
November 6–9: Coco Bulles (Culture Palace of Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire)
November 7–9: Toronto Comic Con II (National Trade Centre, Queen Elizabeth Building, Toronto, Ontario, Canada) — guests of honor: Jim Starlin and Michael William Kaluta
November 15–16: Kansas City ComiCon (Shawnee Civic Center, Shawnee, Kansas)
November 21–23: Wizard World Texas (Arlington Convention Center, Arlington, Texas)
November 28–30: Big Apple Comic Book Art, and Toy Show IV (Metropolitan Pavilion, New York City)
November 29–30: Mid-Ohio Con (Hilton Columbus Hotel at Easton Town Center, Columbus, Ohio)
December 7: Boston Comic Book Spectacular (Boston Radisson Hotel, Amesbury, Massachusetts) — 1,000 attendees
Confidential Assassination Troop
Release: by Tong Li Comics. Writer & Artist: Fung Chin Pang
Fluffy
Release: by Jonathan Cape. Writer & Artist: Simone Lia
Opus
Release: November 23 by The Washington Post Company. Writer: Berkeley Breathed Artist: Berkeley Breathed.
xxxHolic
Release: February 24 by Kodansha. Authors: Clamp.
2003 in comics Wikipedia (Text) CC BY-SA