January •
January 11: debut of the Italian web-comic
Mostrip, by Alberto Turturici; in May, the strip is published on paper. •
January 14: French cartoonist Piem is named
Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres. •
January 20: Dutch cartoonist wins his first (edition 2004) for
Best Political Cartoon. During the same ceremony Joep Bertrams receives his first Inktspotprijs too •
January 31: John R. Norton begins the
George comic strip. •
Decimation: House of M, The Day After by
Chris Claremont, Randal Green and
Aaron Lopresti (
Marvel). • In
Iron Man, the story arc
Extremis, by
Warren Ellis and
Adi Ganov, begins (Marvel). •
The New Avengers 1 by
Brian Michael Bendis and
David Finch (Marvel). •
Top 10: The forty-niners by
Alan Moore and
Gene Ha (
America's Best Comics) •
Hero Squared X-tra Sized Special by
Keith Giffen,
J. M. DeMatteis and
Joe Abraham (
Atomeka press) ; debut of the
Hero Squared series. •
The gambler smurfs by Luc Parthoens, Thierry Culliford and Ludo Borecki (
Le Lombard). •
The cycle of water by Hub (Humbert Chabuel), first album of the
Okko series (
Delcourt). •
Progetto Dakota by
Claudio Nizzi and Luigi Siniscalchi; in the last album of the
Nick Raider series, the hero marries his eternal fiancé Violet McGraw.
February •
Batman: The man who laughs by
Ed Brubaker and
Doug Mahnke (
DC Comics). • First issue of
Legion of Super-Heroes 5th series, the first with the
2004 team (
DC comics).
March •
2 March: first chapter of
Ultimate Iron Man by
Orson Scott Card and
Andy Kibert (
Marvel comics). •
16 March: first chapterof
Revenge of the Sith's comic version, by Miles Lane and
Doug Weathley (
Dark Horse). •
Dust by
Jean Giraud, last album of the
Blueberry series (
Dargaud). •
Cinque cuori di pietra (Five stone heaths) by Lorenzo Bartoli and Walter Venturi; team-up between
John Doe and
Dago (Eura Editoriale).
April •
April 13: •
DC Comics announces the discontinuation of its
Humanoids and
2000 AD titles. •
Powerade and DC Comics show the first of four new online comics starring
LeBron James as superhero "King James". Written by
Ron Perazza with art by
Rick Leonardi (
Batgirl). •
April 20: DC Comics launches the new DC Direct website. •
April 26: Artist
Ed Benes (
Superman) extends his exclusive agreement with DC Comics for an additional three years. •
April 28: •
Marvel Enterprises and
Paramount Pictures announce an agreement under which Paramount will distribute up to ten films over an eight-year period to be produced by Marvel. • Marvel Enterprises announces settlement of all pending litigation with
Stan Lee over claims for participation in profits from various sources. •
Marvel Comics announces the creation of a custom comic book written by
Brian Michael Bendis (
Ultimate Spider-Man,
New Avengers) and featuring superheroes such as
Spider-Man,
Captain America and the
Fantastic Four in a military-themed storyline. More than one million copies of the "Salute Our Troops" comic book were to be distributed to the troops and their families in May. •
Booze, Broads, & Bullets by Frank Miller (
Dark Horse). •
Seven soldiers by
Grant Morrison (DC comics).
May •
May 1: At
Clickburg, The Netherlands, the first
Clickies are awarded, awards for
webcomics. The awards will continue up until 2010. •
May 5: Artist
George Pérez (
The New Teen Titans,
Wonder Woman,
Justice League of America) signs a 5-year exclusive agreement with DC Comics. •
May 6: debut of
Brad Barron, the first
Bonelli miniseries, in 18 episodes, with the album
Non umani by Tito Faraci and
Bruno Brindisi. Its hero, with the
George Clooney's face, fights against the
alien invaders in the USA of the Fifties. •
May 12: on
Comicgenesis, the webcomic
Sorcery 101, by Kel McDonald, appears. •
May 18: in
Spirou, first chaper of
Le septieme code by
Roger Leloup. •
May 19: Artist
J. G. Jones (
Villains United,
Wonder Woman) signs a 2-year exclusive contract with DC Comics. •
May 31: • Artist
Bart Sears (
Captain America and the Falcon) signs a 2-year exclusive agreement with DC Comics. • In
Topolino, first chapter of
Paperina di Rivondosa, by
Silvia Ziche, pardoy of
Elisa di Rivombrosa. • At the
Cannes Festival, two films taken from comics (
A history of violence and
Sin city) are in competition.
June •
June 6: Artists
Adam Kubert (
Ultimate Fantastic Four,
Ultimate X-Men) and
Andy Kubert (
Marvel 1602,
Origin,
Ultimate Iron Man,
Ultimate X-Men) sign 3-year exclusive agreements with DC Comics. •
June 11:
Harvey Awards winners announced. •
June 21: Belgian comic artist
Marc Sleen is declared an
honorary citizen of
Brussels. •
June 22: The first comic to carry the
Boom! Studios logo,
Zombie Tales #1, is published •
June 28: • Artist
Justiniano (
Day of Vengeance,
The Human Race) signs a 2-year exclusive contract with DC Comics. • In
Spirou, ''L'homme qui ne voulait pas mourir
by Jean-David Morvan and José Luis Munuera (Spirou et Fantasio'' series). •
Day of vengeance by
Bill Willingham (
DC comics). • The
Marvel comics storyline
House of M, by
Brian Michael Bendis and
Olivier Coipel begins. • In
Nickelodeon magazine, debut of
Avatar, the last airbender – The lost adventures, by
Michael Dante DiMartino and
Bryan Konietzko (
Dark Horse). • With
La guerra di Toro Seduto (
Sitting Bull's war) by
Gianfranco Manfredi and
Darko Petrovic, the
Magico Vento's saga about the
great Siox war begins (
Bonelli). • First issue of the Italian
hard-boiled miniseries
Detective Dante by Lorenzo Bartoli and Roberto Recchioni (Eura editoriale).
July •
July 12: Writer
Bill Willingham (
Fables) renews his exclusive contract with DC Comics for an additional two years. •
July 13: • DC Online launches a new website for kids featuring
Johnny DC. • DC Comics' DC Direct announces the new
Looney Tunes Golden Collection
action figure series. The sculptures would be officially unveiled later in the week at
San Diego Comic-Con. •
July 15:
Eisner Awards ceremony is held at
San Diego Comic-Con. •
July 19: •
Joe Quesada extends his contract agreement with Marvel Comics, and in addition to his current role as Editor-in-Chief, he will take on the added role as the Chief Creative Officer, Publishing. •
July 26: • Writer
Mark Waid (
Legion of Super-Heroes,
Empire) signs a 2-year exclusive agreement with DC Comics. • Turkish cartoonist
Oğuz Aral receives a statue in
Istanbul. •
Rann-Thanagar war by
Dave Gibbons and
Ivan Reis and
Villains united by
Gail Simone and
Dale Eaglesham (
DC comics).
August •
August 2: Artist
Tony Daniel (
Teen Titans,
Spawn,
X-Force) signs a 2-year exclusive agreement with DC Comics. •
August 8: In the Danish magazine
Jumbobo,
The legacy, by Andreas Phil and Mårdøn Smet; debut of the gentleman thief
Fantomius.The character, already often mentioned in the
Paperinik stories but never appeared until then, has later had a more fortunate version by the Italian Author Marco Gervasio. •
August 30: • A square in
San Telmo,
Buenos Aires, is named after
Mafalda. •
August 30: The webcomic
Crying Macho Man by
Jose Cabrera goes live. •
Justice by
Alex Ross and
Jim Krueger (
DC comics). •
Old times by
Peter David and Fernando Goni (
Dark Horse).
September •
September 6: •
The New York Times is to carry a comic strip by
Chris Ware within its pages. • Marvel has changed its corporate name to
Marvel Entertainment, Inc and is to produce its own
movies based upon comics characters such as Captain America,
Nick Fury and the
Avengers •
September 8: Contributors have been announced for the
Comic Book Legal Defense Fund's annual
SPX anthology.
Scott Morse and
Jordan Crane are amongst the forty creators •
September 12:
Doonesbury is dropped and then promptly reinstated by
The Guardian •
September 13: • The
Ignatz Awards nominees are announced, with
Gilbert Hernandez receiving three nominations •
Dynamic Forces acquire
license to print comics based on the
Highlander films and
television series •
September 18: first issue of
Sonic X (
Archie Comics) •
September 19:
Joe Ferrara is elected to the Board of Directors of the
Comic Book Legal Defense Fund •
September 20: Marvel Comics announce
Neil Gaiman's next project as being related to
The Eternals •
September 21: •
Art Spiegelman's next project,
Portrait of the Artist as a Young %@?*!, is to be serialised in the
Virginia Quarterly Review, commencing in the Fall 2005 issue •
September 22:
Bill Watterson answers fifteen selected questions from fans around the world to publicise the upcoming release of
The Complete Calvin and Hobbes •
September 23: • The two-day Small Press Expo opens with
Harvey Pekar as special guest. •
September 25: The 2005 Ignatz Awards are announced at the Small Press Expo. Amongst the winners were
David B, voted the Outstanding Artist and
Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return, voted Outstanding Graphic Novel • First issue of
All-Star Batman & Robin the Boy Wonder by
Frank Miller and
Jim Lee; it inaugurates the imprint
All Star DC Comics. •
Randall Munroe begins publishing the webcomic
xkcd on his personal website. •
Le boucher de Cincinnati by
François Corteggiani and Michel Blanc-Dumont (
La jeunesse de Blueberry series ;
Dargaud). •
L’or de Maximilien by
William Vance and
Jean Van Hamme (
XIII series ;
Dargaud). •
Qualcosa è cambiato by
Guido Nolitta and eight various pencillers (
Bonelli); with this very long saga (18 albums and 1508 plates) the
Mister No series virtually ends.
October •
October 1:
Lea Hernandez steps down as editor of
Girlamatic.com, to be replaced by
Lisa Jonté •
October 3:
Jay Stephens launches his own
blog Cute Creeps From Pop Culture •
October 4:
The Complete Calvin and Hobbes is released •
October 5:
Matt Madden is interviewed by
Bookslut •
October 8: Art Spiegelman is one of 196 inducted into the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences •
October 10: •
Dark Horse licenses the rights to reprint a number of manga titles, including
Juon • Peter Schjeldahl of
The New Yorker analyses
graphic novels •
October 11: •
Marvel 1602 wins the inaugural graphic novel
Quill Award • First volume of
Dramacom by
Svetlana Chamkova (
Tokyopop). •
October 13: • The tenth annual
International Comic Arts Festival begins in
Washington, D.C. • Ddebut of the Italian fantasy webcomic
Nalshael by Studio Dardanidi. •
October 14: •
Lynd Ward is profiled by
In These Times •
The Oberlin Review profiles
Marjane Satrapi •
Maus and Beyond, an exhibition looking at comic book and graphic novel portrayals of the
Shoah, opens at the
Centennial College, Toronto. It runs until November 30 •
October 17: •
Charles Burns is interviewed by
The Book Standard • The
Melvin Gelman Library of
George Washington University is to add 300 graphic novels to its collection •
The New York Times profile
Little Nemo in Slumberland: So Many Splendid Sundays!, a collection of
Little Nemo strips publishing them as originally printed •
Hunt Emerson has adapted
John Ruskin's Unto This Last into comics format, retitling the work
How To Be Rich. Two-thirds of the 15,000 print run will be distributed to
secondary schools in the United Kingdom •
October 18: •
Dale Eaglesham signs a two-year exclusive contract with DC Comics •
Carla Speed McNeil launches the online serialisation Carla Speed McNeil of
Finder. McNeil has suspended the publication of the work in comic book format, although serials will still be collected and published as graphic novels •
October 20:
Dave Sim and Al Nickerson place a DC Comics contract, as annotated by Sim, on the web. See also:
Creator's Bill of Rights •
October 22–23: During the
Stripdagen in
Houten, The Netherlands,
Jan Steeman wins the
Stripschapprijs. The website
Stripster receives the P. Hans Frankfurtherprijs and , and
Jan van der Voo receive the Bulletje en Boonestaakschaal. •
October 23:
Joe Sacco is profiled by
The Oregonian •
October 24: •
Roger Stern is interviewed by Newsarama •
October 26:
Stephen King is to launch a comic book series with
Marvel Comics based upon his
Dark Tower series •
Todd McFarlane is to be guest of honor at February 2006's inaugural New York Comic-Con •
October 31: • Carly Berwick laments the lack of great female
comic book artists •
The Guardian profiles Chris Ware • First issue of
Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man (
Marvel). It includes the fist chapter of the Spider-Man crossover
The other. November •
November 2: • Scott Morse announces he is to launch his own imprint, Red Window. He has established a distribution deal for his imprint with
AdHouse Books •
November 3:
Mark Millar announces he is to take a six-month sabbatical from comics for health reasons •
November 6: It is reported that
Thomas Haden Church is to play
Sandman in the
Spider-Man 3 movie • Newspapers in the United States are reported to be considering carrying
manga strips from January 2006. The two strips reportedly up for inclusion are
Van Von Hunter and
Peach Fuzz •
November 8: Alan Moore is profiled by
Publishers Weekly •
November 9: • Marvel releases its third quarter financial statement •
November 11: •
Arnold Drake is interviewed by
newsarama •
Pulitzer Prize winner
Michael Ramirez discusses the
Los Angeles Times decision to let him go •
David Simpson is fired by Tulsa World amid allegations of
plagiarism •
November 12: The
Los Angeles Times profiles selected artists featured in the "Masters of American Comics" exhibition, which opens at Los Angeles'
Hammer Museum and the
Museum of Contemporary Art on November 20 •
November 14: Chris Morgan, (
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift) is hired to draft a script for
Universal's adaptation of DC Comics
The Psycho, by
James Hudnall and
Dan Brereton • Harvey Pekar takes his
American Splendor series to
Vertigo, with a mini-series slated for 2006 with
Dean Haspiel handling some of the art chores •
Doug Harvey writes of
10 Comics That Shook The World in
LA Weekly •
November 18: The trailer for
Superman Returns is released •
November 20: •
The New York Times reviews
Absolute Watchmen, an expanded collection of Alan Moore and
Dave Gibbons' comic book series of the 1980s • It is reported that
Posy Simmonds and
Raymond Briggs are to be featured on the cover of the 2006 edition of the
Royal Society of Literature's annual magazine, having been made
fellows of the society earlier this year •
November 21: •
Time magazine has archived its articles related to
comics'''' •
November 22: The United Kingdom's
Press Gazette names its 40 most influential
journalists, and includes three cartoonists,
Gerald Scarfe,
Carl Giles, and
Matt Pritchett •
November 23: •
Duncan Fegredo is to provide art for the 2006 Hellboy miniseries,
Darkness Calls •
Malaysian cartoonist
Lat is awarded a Special Jury Award at the 2004 Malaysian Press Institute (MPI)-Petronas Journalism Awards •
Archie Comics and
The Veronicas settle their dispute over the rights to the name
The Veronicas •
The New York Times explores the use the two biggest American comic book publishers have made of the
epic storyline in their releases this year •
RK Laxman's ''Brushing Up the Years: A Cartoonist's History of India 1947-2004'' is published •
November 29: •
Christian Lax wins the second Grand Prix RTL de la BD • According to reports, the
Cartoon Network will not be commissioning a sixth series of the animated
Teen Titans series • Debut of the Spanish web-comic
Raruto by Jesus Garcia Ferrer. • First issue of
All-Star Superman, by
Grant Morrison and
Frank Quitely (
DC Comics) •
Superman/Shazam: First Thunder by
Judd Winick and
Joshua Middleton (
DC Comics). •
The fountain by
Darren Aronofsky and
Kent Williams (
Vertigo). •
The law of the dollar by
Jean Van Hamme and
Philippe Francq (
Largo Winch series ;
Dupuis). •
Myrna: a sangue caldo by
Giancarlo Berardi and
Laura Zuccheri ; third confrontation between
Julia and her nemesis, the serial-killer Myrna (
Bonelli). • First issue of
Wondercity, an attempt to create an Italian superhero comic, conceived by Giovanni Gualdoni (Free Books).
December •
December 1, 2005: •
Lorenzo Mattotti is awarded the Grand Prix by the jury at the
Blois comics festival • Selected DC Comics
superheroes are to appear on
United States postage stamps in 2006 • Four of the seven charges against comics retailer
Gordon Lee have been dropped. Lee still faces three misdemeanor counts of Distribution of Harmful to Minors Material charges •
December 3, 2005: • The ''
That's Life'' panel by
Mike Twohy ends • Marvel Comics: The line of comics based upon
Stephen King's
Dark Tower series is to be pushed back until February 2007 •
December 5, 2005: • It is reported that
Fox are to make a sequel to this year's
Fantastic Four movie, with a proposed release date of July 4, 2007 • Les Mauvaises Gens, by Etienne Davodeau, wins Grand Prix de la Critique for 2005. The prize is awarded by L'Association des Critique et Journalistes de Bandes Dessinees • The trailer for
X3 is launched online •
Chris Batista signs an exclusive agreement with DC Comics •
December 7, 2005: • The
Angoulême Festival announces the nominees under consideration for awards at the 2006 festival.
Charles Schulz,
Jeff Smith, Chris Ware and
Jaime Hernandez are amongst the many contenders • Italian cartoonist
Gipi wins the Prix Goscinny, an annual prize awarded by jury and named in honour of
René Goscinny •
December 8, 2005: •
Pierre Wazem wins the
Swiss Prix International de la Ville de Geneve •
Warren Ellis is to revamp Marvel's
New Universe line, originally launched in 1986 by
Jim Shooter •
Jonathan Shapiro, cartoonist for the
Cape Times under the pen name Zapiro, wins the Principal
Prince Claus Award •
Canada's Doug Wright Awards are to become an annual affair •
December 9, 2005:
Bill Griffith and
James Sturm are interviewed by
Washington Post comics page editor Suzanne Tobin online •
December 11, 2005:
Roger Sabin reviews recent graphic novels in
The Observer •
December 12, 2005: • American cartoonists participate in "Black Ink Monday", producing cartoons for publication based upon the decline in the number of newspapers which keep an editorial cartoonist on staff •
Tom Spurgeon interviews
Comic Book Legal Defense Fund Executive Director Charles Brownstein •
December 13, 2005:
The Village Voice nominates three graphic novels within its favorite 25 books of the year •
December 14, 2005:
Archie Goodwin and
Al Williamson's run on the
Flash Gordon strip is to be collected by Image Comics and
Eva Ink Publishing • The judges for the 2006
Eisner Awards are announced •
December 17, 2005: •
Jacques Faizant, cartoonist on
Le Figaro, retires •
Andrew Arnold of
Time opinion on the ten best comics works released in 2005 •
December 19, 2005: It is reported that cartoonist
Joe Martin is to launch his own syndicate to better promote his own work. He was previously syndicated by
Tribune Media Services •
December 20, 2005: •
Ben Katchor's new strip is to be debuted in
The Forward •
Comixpedia names its 25 People in Webcomics for 2005 •
December 26, 2005: • Marvel Comics is to produce custom sized comic book inserts featuring Spider-Man for distribution via newspapers •
December 28, 2005: • Cartoonists
Mike Luckovich and
Mike Peters nominate some of their favorite editorial cartoons of the year •
Audrey Puente reports on
A New Golden Age of Comics for
CBS •
Kurt Busiek signs an exclusive two-year agreement with DC Comics •
December 29, 2005: A sale of cartoon art opens in London, with artwork of
Dan Dare strips by
Frank Hampson amongst the work offered for sale •
December 30, 2005: •
Scott McCloud is planning to tour the United States in support of his forthcoming book,
Making Comics • A Turkish court of appeal has overturned a decision which saw the newspaper
Evrensel fined $8000 because of a cartoon by
Sefer Selvi which caused Turkish Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to sue for
defamation •
December 31, 2005: •
Modern Tales announces it is to expand its operations and launch free webcomic strips, supported by
advertising •
Infinite crisis by
Geoff Johns and various pencillers (
DC comics). •
Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk by
Damon Lindelof and
Leinif Francis Yu (
Marvel). •
Marvel Zombies by
Robert Kirkman and
Sean Philips (
Marvel)
Specific date unknown •
Barbara Brandon-Croft discontinues ''Where I'm Coming From''. •
Dragon hunt by
Richard Knaak and Kim Jae-hwan, first volume of
Warcraft, the Sumwell trilogy (
Tokyopop). •
Toon van Driel's
celebrity comic about comedian
André van Duin is discontinued. • Jean-Pol, Wim Swerts and Luc Van Asten's
celebrity comic based on
Samson en Gert is discontinued. It had run since 1993. • French comic artist
Jean Graton is knighted in the
Order of Leopold II. • Andreas Rausch releases his graphic novel
Zappaesk, about
Frank Zappa. •
Questa è la stanza, graphic-novel by
Gipi (
Coconino press). • In the magazine
Daisuki, debut of the German manga
Jibun-Jishin by Nina Werner. • In the Spanish magazine
El jueves, debut of the satirical strip
Silvio Josè, the good parasite by Paco Alcàzar. ==Deaths==