2009 in comics

January

January 1: The direct-to-DVD movie Hulk Vs was released.

January 6: The third and final volume of Hollow Fields has been released.

February

The Ultimate Marvel titles Ultimate X-Men and Ultimate Fantastic Four are both cancelled at milestones: Ultimate X-Men's series finale ends issue #100, while Ultimate Fantastic Four's ends at issue #60.

To celebrate the inauguration of Barack Obama, Amazing Spider-Man #583 presented an all-new story teaming up President Obama and Spider-Man in "Spidey Meets the President!" The title featured five variant covers.

April

In honor of Wolverine's 35th anniversary, Marvel Comics announced that numerous Marvel titles would feature Wolverine Art Appreciation Variant covers in April 2009. Styles will be reminiscent of Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí, Andy Warhol. The first issues to feature a Wolverine Art Appreciation variant cover were Captain Britain and MI13 #12, Amazing Spider-man #590, Hulk #11, Uncanny X-Men #508, and Secret Warriors #3.

"Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?" was a 2009 story featuring the DC Comics character of Batman. The story was published in two parts, in the "final" issues of the series Batman (#686) and Detective Comics (#853), released February and April respectively. Written by Neil Gaiman, pencilled by Andy Kubert, and inked by Scott Williams, the story was purported to be the "last" Batman story in the wake of severe psychological trauma that Batman endures within the Batman R.I.P. story, and his ultimate fate in Final Crisis.

May

May 1: X-Men Origins: Wolverine was released in theaters.

August

Textbook publisher Flat World Knowledge publishes a business-themed graphic novel, Atlas Black: Managing to Succeed.

September

September 9: It was announced that Paul Levitz would step down as President and Publisher of DC Comics to serve as the Contributing Editor and Overall Consultant for the newly formed DC Entertainment and Diane Nelson would serve as President of the new division.

October

October 7: Haunt, an ongoing series created by Todd McFarlane and Robert Kirkman, was launched by Image Comics. The book is written by Kirkman with layouts done by Greg Capullo, pencils by Ryan Ottley, and inks by McFarlane.

January

January 21: Claude Moliterni, French comics writer, critic and historian and co-founder of the Angoulême International Comics Festival, dies at the age of 76.

May

May 1: Ric Estrada, long-time DC Comics artist, passes away at age 81.

April

April 2: Frank Springer, long-time Marvel Comics artist, dies at age 79.

June

June 9: Dave Simons dies at age 54.

July

July 22: British cartoonist John Ryan, creator of Captain Pugwash, dies at age 88.

August

August 9: Golden Age artist Frank Borth dies at age 91.

August 13: Josette Baujot, Belgian colorist of the Adventures of Tintin, dies at age 88.

October

October 4: Ricardo Garijo dies at age 55.

October 12: Letterer Joe Rosen dies at age 88.

October 15: George Tuska, Captain Marvel and Iron Man artist, dies at age 93.

October 20: Jef Nys, creator of Jommeke, dies at age 82.

November

November 23: Filipino comics artist Sonny Trinidad dies.

Conventions

January 23–25: Phoenix Comicon (Mesa, Arizona) — 7,000 attendees; official guests: David Beaty, Lou Ferrigno, Tiffany Grant, Erin Gray, Matt Greenfield, Reuben Langdon, Yuri Lowenthal, Tara Platt, Christophe Tang, and Wil Wheaton

January 29–February 1: Angoulême International Comics Festival (Angoulême, France)

February: Convention du Lac (Lake Charles, Louisiana)

February 6–8: New York Comic Con (New York City, USA)

February 14–15: Hi-Ex (Inverness, Scotland) — guests included John Higgins, Leah Moore, Mike McMahon, and Frank Quitely

February 27–March 1: MegaCon (Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, Florida) — 40,000 attendees; guests include Peter S. Beagle, Jim Cheung, Colleen Clinkenbeard, Aaron Dismuke, Lou Ferrigno, Caitlin Glass, Peter Mayhew, Vic Mignogna, George Moss, Paul Pelletier, George Pérez, William Tucci, and Mark Waid

February 27–March 1: WonderCon (Moscone Center, San Francisco, California)

March 7: STAPLE! (Monarch Event Center, Austin, Texas)

April 4–5: Emerald City ComiCon (Washington State Convention & Trade Center, Seattle, Washington, USA) — 13,000 attendees; guests: Humberto Ramos, Barry Kitson, Darwyn Cooke, Mark Brooks, Joe Casey, Christos Gage, Jimmy Palmiotti, Amanda Conner, Frank Cho, Stuart Immonen, Adam Hughes, Steve Niles, Joseph Michael Linsner, Adi Granov, Mark Waid, Matt Fraction, Stan Sakai, Tony Harris, Brian Michael Bendis, Becky Cloonan, Vasilis Losos, James Kochalka, David Peterson, Paul Smith, Patrick Gleason, Mark Texeira, Brian Denham, Joe Jusko, Stephen Silver, Rick Remender, Gene Ha, Mike Huddleson, and Tim Sale

April 18–19: Small Press and Alternative Comics Expo (S.P.A.C.E.) (Aladdin Shrine Center, Columbus, Ohio)

April 18–19: Stumptown Comics Fest (Double Tree Convention Hall, Portland, Oregon) — guest of honor: Craig Thompson

April 18–19: Toronto ComiCON Fan Appreciation Event (Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada)

May 9–10: Bristol Comic Expo (Ramada and Mercure hotels, Bristol, UK) — guests include Dan DiDio and Bob Wayne

May 9–10: Toronto Comic Arts Festival (Toronto Reference Library, Toronto, Canada)

May 15–17: Motor City Comic Con (Rock Financial Showplace, Novi, Michigan, USA) — guests include Art Baltazar, Dwayne McDuffie, Guy Davis, Carrie Fisher, John Schneider, Aaron Douglas, Michael Hogan, Kristy Swanson, Julie Newmar, Doug Jones, Catherine Bach, Garrett Wang, and Joyce DeWitt

May 15–16: East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention (Free Library and Crowne Plaza Hotel, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) — guests include Kevin Grevioux, Jamal Igle, Reggie Byers, Leslie Esdaile Banks, and Eric Battle; presentation of the Glyph Comics Awards

June 6–7: MoCCA Festival (69th Regiment Armory, New York City, USA)

June 12–14: Adventure Con 2009 — Summer (Knoxville Convention Center, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA) — guest of honor: Arthur Suydam

June 19–21: Heroes Convention (Charlotte Convention Center, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA) — guests include Mark Bagley, Liz Baillie, John Beatty, Brian Michael Bendis, Ivan Brandon, Ed Brubaker, Cliff Chiang, Jeremy Dale, Guy Davis, Vito Delsante, Colleen Doran, Nathan Edmondson, Matt Fraction, Bryan J. L. Glass, Michael Golden, Adam Hughes, Jamal Igle, Bob McLeod, Carla Speed McNeil, Steve McNiven, Chris Moreno, Jim Ottaviani, George Pérez, David Petersen, Don Rosa, Jeff Smith, Ben Templesmith, Loston Wallace, and Daniel Way

July 18–19: London Film and Comic Con (Earls Court Exhibition Centre, London, England, UK)

July 23–26: San Diego Comic-Con International (San Diego, California, USA) — 126,000 attendees; guests include Forrest J. Ackerman, Sergio Aragonés, Kyle Baker, Ralph Bakshi, Mike W. Barr, Lynda Barry, Frank Beddor, Ray Bradbury, Steve Breen, Max Brooks, Ed Brubaker, Matt Busch, Jim Butcher, Eddie Campbell, Howard Chaykin, Kim Deitch, Mark Evanier, Al Feldstein, Keith Giffen, Neil Googe, Victor Gorelick, Mike Grell, Paul Gulacy, Joe Hill, Bryan Hitch, John Howe, Al Jaffee, Geoff Johns, J. G. Jones, Todd Klein, Dean Koontz, Tite Kubo, Verne Langdon, Jim Lee, Rutu Modan, Noel Neill, Floyd Norman, Jim Ottaviani, Mike Peters, Wendy Pini, Steve Purcell, Robert J. Sawyer, James Shoop, Jim Starlin, Joe Staton, J. Michael Straczynski, Adrian Tomine, Ethan Van Sciver, James Warren, Jeff Watts, Signe Wilkinson, Bill Willingham, Connie Willis, Jim Woodring, Bernie Wrightson, Dean Yeagle, Neil Patrick Harris, and more

August 6–9: Wizard World Chicago (Rosemont, Illinois, USA)

August 15–16: "CAPTION is Away with the Fairies" (East Oxford Community Centre, Oxford, England, UK)

August 15–16: Dallas Comic Con 13 (Richardson Civic Center, Richardson, Texas) — guests include Paul Smith, Steve Niles, Bill Sienkiewicz, J. Scott Campbell, Cal Slayton, and many more

August 22–23: "miniMegaCon" (Orlando, Florida) — guests include Buffy the Vampire Slayer actors Charisma Carpenter, Emma Caulfield, Amber Benson, and Adam Busch

August 28–30: Fan Expo Canada (Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada) — 59,000 attendees; guests include Leonard Nimoy, Bruce Campbell, Linda Hamilton, Thomas Dekker, Avery Brooks, Beau Bridges, Mary McDonnell, Billy Dee Williams, Walter Koenig, James Kyson Lee, Robert Duncan McNeill, Emma Caulfield, Lou Ferrigno, Dave Thomas, Leslie Nielsen, Larry Thomas, J. Michael Straczynski, Roger Corman, Udo Kier, Barbara Steele, James Duval, Max Brooks, Rick Green, Jack Ketchum, Joe Quesada, Chris Bachalo, Mike Deodato Jr., Ethan Van Sciver, Ivan Reis, Terry Dodson, David Finch, Olivier Coipel, Len Wein, Bill Sienkiewicz, Stuart Immonen, Yoshinori Ono, Scott McNeil, Crispin Freeman, Brad Swaile, Colleen Clinkenbeard, Aaron Dismuke, Monica Rial, Derek Stephen Prince, Steve Downes, Victor Lucas, Lil Poison, Scott C. Jones, and surprise guest Tobin Bell

September 4–7: Dragon Con (Hyatt Regency Atlanta/Marriott Marquis/Atlanta Hilton/Sheraton, Atlanta, Georgia, USA) — 30,000+ attendees; guests include William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Patrick Stewart, Adam Savage, Terry Gilliam, Malcolm McDowell, Lois McMaster Bujold, Mike Mignola, and Tom Felton

September 11–13: Pittsburgh Comicon (Monroeville Convention Center, Monroeville, Pennsylvania, USA) — 9,000 attendees; guest of honor: Stan Lee; other guests include Beau Smith, Billy Tucci, Khoi Pham, Robyn Moore, Bethany Barbis, Scott James, Sean McKeever, Joe Jusko, Pat Olliffe, Ron Frenz, Brian Pulido, Dawn Best, and Dan Fraga

September 19–20: Montreal Comiccon (Place Bonaventure, Montreal, Quebec) — 4,000 attendees; guests include Lou Ferrigno, Jeremy Bulloch and The Honky Tonk Man, with Brad Swaile

September 26–27: Small Press Expo (Bethesda, Maryland, USA)

October 3–4: Mid-Ohio Con (Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio)

October 9–10: Komikazen (Ravenna, Italy) — guests include Dave McKean (guest of honor), Peter Kuper, Carlos Trillo, Gianluca Costantini, Davide Toffolo, Gianfranco Bettin, and Paul Gravett

October 10–11: Baltimore Comic-Con (Baltimore Convention Center, Baltimore, Maryland, USA)

October 16–18: Wizard World Big Apple Comic Con (Pier 94, New York City, USA) — first iteration of the show under Wizard Entertainment

October 17–18 Alternative Press Expo (San Francisco, California, USA)

October 24–25: Adventure Con 2009 — Fall (Pigeon Forge Convention Center, Grand Hotel, Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, USA)

October 31-November 1: Manitoba Comic Con (Winnipeg Convention Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada) — guests include Adam West, Julie Newmar, Marv Wolfman, Tommy Castillo, Nigel Sade, Echo Chernik, and Lucie Brouillard

November 28: Genghis Con (Beachland Ballroom, Cleveland, Ohio) — first edition of this show, organized by local retailer Scott Rudge and comics creator John G.; guests include Derf, Mike Gustovich, Gary Dumm, and Greg Budgett

First issues by title

Batman and Robin

Release: June by DC Comics. Writer: Grant Morrison Artists: Frank Quitely, Philip Tan.

Go Beerkada: Rise of the Jhologs

Release: October. Writer and Artist: Lyndon Gregorio

Black Panther Vol. 5

Release: February by Marvel Comics. Writer: Reginald Wudlin Artist: Ken Lashley.

Blood Upon the Rose

Release: by O'Brien Press. Writer and Artist: Gerry Hunt

Cowboy Ninja Viking

Release: August by Shadowline. Writer: A.J. Lieberman Artist: Riley Rossmo

The Flash: Rebirth

Release: March by DC Comics. Writer: Geoff Johns Artist: Ethan Van Sciver.

Blackest Night

Release: Summer by DC Comics. Writer: Geoff Johns Artist: Ivan Reis.

Mysterius: The Unfathomable

Release: March by Wildstorm. Writers: Jeff Parker Artist: Tom Fowler

Push

Release: January by Wildstorm. Writers: Marc Bernardin and Adam Freeman Artist: Bruno Redondo

R.E.B.E.L.S.

Release: February by DC Comics. Writer: Tony Bedard Artists: Andy Clarke, Claude St. Aubin.

Tumor

Release: October by Arcaia Studios Press. Writer: Joshua Hale Fialkov Artist: Noel Tuazon