Notable events of 2021 in comics. It includes any relevant comics-related events, deaths of notable comics-related people, conventions and first issues by title.
January 15: A rejected Tintin cover for the album The Blue Lotus is auctioned and sold for the record prize of 3.2 million euros (2.8. million British pounds).[1]
February
February 18: The Tintin shop in Lisbon, Portugal, is forced to close its doors forever, because of the ongoing COVID-19 lockdown measures.[2]
March
March 4: Japanese publisher Kodansha prints a 15-meter (49-foot) tall version of an Attack on Titan album. It breaks a record as the largest comic book of all time.[3]
March 6: The Chandras debut in their own strip Har Har's Joke Shop! in The Beano No.2075.
87-year-old comic artist José Delbo sells Wonder Woman artwork as a non-fungible token for $1.85 million during a crypto auction, in collaboration with the Italian Hackatao duo.[8]
April 6: A rare copy of Action Comics 1 (the first Superman comic) is auctioned for a record sale of $3.25 million at ComicConnect.com.[12]
April 29: After 40 years, Steve Bell's long-running political comic strip If... comes to an end.[13]
May
Specific date unknown: The obese character Fatty in the British comic series The Bash Street Kids is renamed Freddy. [14]
June
June 2: The characters Mandira Sharma and Harsha Chandra, who originated in earlier gag comics in The Beano, are introduced as recurring cast members in The Bash Street Kids. [15]
June 8: DC releases DC Pride, its first anthology series focusing on LGBTQ+ characters.[16]
June 9:
In Spain more than 300 comics artists protest and boycott the annual Barcelona International Comic Fair, because the winner of the Grand Prix is Antonio Martin, who is not a comics writer or artist, but a comics historian and publisher.[17]
June 28: Studio Jan van Haasteren wins the annual P. Hans Frankfurtherprijs. The award is given to Jan van Haasteren and his two co-workers Rob Derks and Dick Heins.[24]
July
A revival of the weekly political-satirical gag comic spin-off of Jean Tabary's Iznogoud is launched as a webcomic series on the website La Vie Française. The new scriptwriter is Olivier Andrieu and the artist Elric. [25]
August
August 7: A comic mural designed by Belgian comic artist Kim Duchateau is inaugurated in Antwerp, Belgium. [26]
August 12: DC Comics announces that Robin will be outed as bisexual in an upcoming comic book story of Batman: Urban Legends, which features alternative storylines about Batman.[27][28]
September
September 9:
A copy of the first issue of Spider-Man is sold for the record-breaking prize of 3.6 million dollars.[29]
A scandal breaks out in Ontario, Canada, when it is revealed that in 2019 30 schools have burned or removed 5,000 children's books, novels, encyclopedias and comics, for depicting "prejudice against indigenous peoples."[30]
September 17:
In Anderlecht, Belgium, Hotel Yooma opens its doors: the first hotel dedicated to Franco-Belgian comics.[31][32]
Specific date in January unknown: Antoni Bancells Pujadas, Spanish comics artist (Disney comics, assisted on Mortadelo y Filemon), dies at age 71 or 72. [49]
February
February 4: Vlastimil Zábranský, Czech painter, visual artist and comics artist, dies at age 84.[50]
February 8: Jean-Claude Carrière, French novelist, actor, screenwriter and comics writer (wrote comics for Bernard Yslaire and Pierre Étaix [53]), dies at age 89.[54][55]
February 19: Leopold Lippens, Belgian politician (namesake of the Leopold Lippens Prize at the Comics Festival of Knokke-Heist[58]), dies at age 79.[59]
March
March 2: Claude Lacroix, aka Tartemption, Alias, French comics artist and illustrator (Farfelune, Yann Le Migrateur, Fariboles Sidérales, Cyann), dies at age 76.[60]
March 7: Frank Thorne, American comics artist (Red Sonja, Dr. Guy Bennett/ Dr. Duncan, Moonshine McJugs), dies at age 90.[61]
May 2: Pieter Aspe, Belgian novelist and comics writer (wrote comics in collaboration with cartoonists like Kim Duchateau,[74] Marec, Merho[75] and Patrick van Oppen [76]), dies at age 68.[77]
May 10: Marc Daniëls, Belgian comics writer and artist (Stam & Pilou, various celebrity comics) and co-founder of Studio Max!, dies at age 62 from COVID-19.[79]
May 18: Esegé, Spanish comics artist (Gustavo, el de la Calle del Diecinueve, Tito Sidecar, El Dinosaurio Jeremías), dies at age 63.[80]
May 19: David Anthony Kraft, American comics writer (Marvel Comics), critic (David Anthony Kraft's Comics Interview, Comics Revue) and publisher, dies at age 68.[81][82]
May 21: Ploeg, Belgian cartoonist and comic artist (Prosper), dies at age 85.[83]
June 14: Tuono Pettinato, Italian comics writer and illustrator (Garibaldi. Resoconto veritiero delle sue valorose imprese, a uso delle giovini menti), dies at age 44.[92][93]
June 18: Asher Dikstein, Israeli comic artist (The Spaceship of Time, Mysteries of the Lost Continent), dies at age 77 or 78.[94]
June 23: Walli, Belgian children's book illustrator and comic artist (Kommerkat, Cosmic Connection, Gil Sinclair, continued Modeste et Pompon and Chlorophylle), dies at age 69.[95]
July 25: Henri Vernes, Belgian novelist and comics writer (wrote the scripts to comic book adaptations of his own novel series Bob Morane), dies at age 102.[101]
July 31: Martin Perscheid, German comics artist (Perscheids Abgründe), dies at age 55.[102]
August
August 14:
Enzo Facciolo, Italian animator and comics artist (Clint Due Colpi, worked on Diabolik), dies at age 89.[103]
Geneviève Gautier, French comic artist (Les Aventures du Pingouin Alfred), dies at age 99. [104]
Ota, Brazilian comics writer, comics artist, cartoonist and publisher (Os Birutas, worked for the Brazilian edition of Mad Magazine), dies at age 67.[113]
September 27: hugOKÉ, Belgian cartoonist and comics artist (Belgman, Eddy Sterk Wint... De Spelen, Reynaert de Vos), dies at age 82.[115]
October
October 8: Santiago Martín Salvador, Spanish comic artist (worked on the comic strip based on The Saint and drew horror comics for Creepy), dies at age 85. [116]
December 18: Gérald Forton, Belgian-American comic artist (Kim Devil, continued Bob Morane, He-Man, Masters of the Universe newspaper comic), dies at age 90.[125]
Specific date unknown
Sandro Costa, Italian comic artist (worked for Rolf Kauka), dies at an unknown age. [126]
