1980 in comics

1980

1979 in comics

1981 in comics

Notable events of 1980 in comics. See also List of years in comics.

Events and publications

Year overall

• Big Rapids Distribution, a major Midwestern comics distributor, goes under, and two former employees (John Davis and Milton Griepp), form Capital City Distribution, headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin.
• Notable alternative titles RAW, World War 3 Illustrated, and Reid Fleming, World's Toughest Milkman, all make their debuts.
• "The Dark Phoenix Saga" runs in X-Men #129–138 (January–October), by Chris Claremont, John Byrne, and Terry Austin (Marvel Comics).
• "Wanted: Santa Claus -- Dead or Alive!" the first Batman story drawn by Frank Miller is published in DC Special Series #21 (Spring 1980)^[1]
• "Metamorphosis Odyssey", a long-running storyline by Jim Starlin, runs in Epic Illustrated.
• Marvel Comics phases out Curtis Magazines, its black-and-white magazine imprint.
• FantaCo Enterprises, which began as a retailer in 1978, begins publishing comics, starting with Fred Hembeck's The Hembeck Series.

January

• The Amazing Spider-Man #200: "The Spider and the Burglar," by Marv Wolfman, Stan Lee (script, page 47), Keith Pollard, and Jim Mooney. (Marvel Comics)
• Legion of Super-Heroes vol. 1 debuts, starting with issue #259, picking up the numbering from Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes (1949 series) (originally titled Superboy).

February

• "Fiends of the Eastern Front," a 2000 AD storyline runs in issues #152-161, February–April, by Gerry Finley-Day and Carlos Ezquerra (IPC Media)

March

• Detective Comics, with issue #488, resumes monthly publication. (DC Comics)
• With issue #26, DC cancels Men of War (1977 series).
• Superboy Spectacular #1, DC's first direct sales-only title.^[2][3]

July

• The Unexpected #200: Edited by Jack C. Harris. (DC Comics)
• The Untold Legend of the Batman #1, debut of three-issue mini-series and John Byrne's first work for DC Comics. (DC Comics)
• John Byrne's first issue as writer/artist of Fantastic Four is #220. While this is his first issue with those credits, his long, five-year run begins with issue 232.
• Raw #1, debut of comix and graphics magazine edited by Art Spiegelman and Françoise Mouly

August

• August 29: Writer Steve Gerber sues Marvel Comics over rights to his character, Howard the Duck in a lawsuit filed in the U. S. District Court for Los Angeles.^[4]
• Weird Western Tales, with issue #70, canceled by DC.

September

• DC Comics Presents #25, the "Whatever Happened to...?" backup feature began and would appear in most issues for the next two years until its last installment in issue #48 (Aug. 1982).^[5]
• Mystery in Space revived by DC (after a 14-year hiatus), picking up with issue #111, continuing the old numbering.
• The Brave and the Bold #166, featuring the first appearance of Nemesis (Tom Tresser)^[6] (DC Comics)
• With issue #20, Marvel cancels Shogun Warriors.
• September 20: The Tornado name is dropped from the 2000 AD comic book.

October

• David Boswell self-publishes Reid Fleming, World's Toughest Milkman, a title later published by Eclipse Comics and Deep Sea Comics.
• Thor #300: Double-sized anniversary issue, by Mark Gruenwald, Ralph Macchio, Keith Pollard, and Gene Day. (Marvel Comics)
• The Avengers #200: "The Child is Father to...?" by Jim Shooter (plot), George Pérez (plot), Bob Layton (plot), David Michelinie (plot; script), George Pérez (breakdowns), and Dan Green (finished art). (Marvel Comics)
• DC Comics Presents #26: features an insert previewing the upcoming New Teen Titans series by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez.^[7]

November

• The 2000th issue of The Beano dated 15 November 1980.

December

• Marvel Team-Up #100: Double-size anniversary issue, "And Introducing — Karma! She Possesses People!," by Chris Claremont, Frank Miller, and Bob Wiacek. The issue also contains a backup story featuring the Black Panther and Storm, from the X-Men, by Claremont and John Byrne, with inks by McLeod. (Marvel Comics)
• The first chapter of Art Spiegelman's Maus appears in Raw #2
• Necdet Sen begins publishing his cartoon, Hizli Gazeteci in the Turkish magazine "Hey".

Deaths

March

• March 1: Richard Allen "Dick" Dillin, Blackhawk and Justice League of America penciller, dies at age 50.

September

• September 7: Whitney Ellsworth, Golden Age editor and writer, passes away at age 71.

December

• Dick Briefer, Golden Age artist, dies at age 65.

Conventions

• Charlotte Mini-Con (Charlotte, North Carolina) — one-day event held at local mall by Shelton Drum, owner of the comics retailer Heroes Aren't Hard To Find (and future founder of HeroesCon)
• FantaCon 2 (Albany, New York) — official guests include Berni Wrightson, Raoul Vezina, John Caldwell, Jeff Jones, Richard & Wendy Pini, Joe Staton, and Fred Hembeck

• March 15–16: Long Island Comic Book Convention (Holiday Inn, Rockville Center, New York)
• June 20–22: Houstoncon (Houston, Texas) — official guests include George Pérez
• July 4–6: Comic Art Convention (Statler Hilton Hotel, New York City) — special guests Boris Vallejo and Michael Kaluta; other guests: Bob Kane, Fred Hembeck, Wendy and Richard Pini, John Caldwell Norman Mingo, Harlan Ellison, Bob Boze Bell, and Dave Simons
• July 18–20: Chicago Comicon (Pick-Congress Hotel, Chicago, Illinois) — guest of honor: Roy Thomas; other guests: Frank Brunner, Dave Manak, Frank Miller, Josef Rubinstein, Roger Stern, Laurie Sutton, Chris Claremont, Jack C. Harris, Paul Kupperberg, Paul Levitz, Al Milgrom, Steve Mitchell, Joe Staton, Len Wein, and Marv Wolfman
• July 25–27: Atlanta Fantasy Fair VI (Dunfey's Royal Coach, Atlanta, Georgia) — official guests include Robert Bloch
• July 30–August 3: San Diego Comic-Con (Convention and Performing Arts Center and U.S. Grant Hotel, San Diego, California) — 5,000 attendees; official guests: John Byrne, Chris Claremont, Mike Grell, Paul Gulacy, Larry Niven, Joe Orlando, Richard Pini, Wendy Pini, Jerry Pournelle, Osamu Tezuka, Adam West, Wally Wood
• August: Atlanta Fantasy Fair VI (Dunfey's Royal Coach, Atlanta, Georgia) — official guests include Robert Bloch; Gil Kane is a scheduled guest, but doesn't make it
• August 23: Denver Minicon (Ground Round Restaurant, Denver, Colorado)
• September: OrlandoCon (Orlando, Florida) — guests include Gil Kane, Jock Mahoney and Autumn Russell
• November: Mid-Ohio Con (Mansfield, Ohio) — first staging of this annual event, produced by Roger A. Price^[8]
• December: Katy-Kon (Santa Barbara, California) — first convention dedicated to Katy Keene^[9]

Awards

Eagle Awards

Presented in 1981 for comics published in 1980:

• Favourite Artist (UK): Brian Bolland^[10]

First issues by title

DC Comics

New Teen Titans

Release: November. Writer: Marv Wolfman. Artist: George Pérez.

The New Adventures of Superboy

Release: January. Writer: Cary Bates. Artists: Kurt Schaffenberger and Dave Hunt.

Marvel Comics

Epic Illustrated

Release: Spring. Editor: Archie Goodwin.

Savage She-Hulk

Release: February. Writer: Stan Lee. Artist: John Buscema.

Independent titles

Gay Comix

Release: September by Kitchen Sink Press. Editor: Howard Cruse.

RAW

Release: July by RAW Books. Editors: Art Spiegelman and Françoise Mouly.

Reid Fleming, World's Toughest Milkman

Release: October by David Boswell. Writer/Artist: David Boswell.

Thorgal

Release: by Lombard Editions. Writer: Jean Van Hamme. Artist: Grzegorz Rosiński.

Tinkle

Release: April by India Book House. Editor: Anant Pai.

World War 3 Illustrated

Editors: Seth Tobocman and Peter Kuper.

Queen Millennia

Release: January 28 by Sankei Shimbun and Nishinippon Sports. Writer/Artist: Leiji Matsumoto.

Nutty

Release: 16 February by DC Thomson

Shueisha

You

Initial appearances by character name

DC Comics

• Creature Commandos, in Weird War Tales #93 (November)^[11]
• Deathstroke, in The New Teen Titans #2
• Mister E, in Secrets of Haunted House #31 (December)
• Mongul, in DC Comics Presents #27
• Nemesis (Tom Tresser) in The Brave and the Bold #166 (September), created by Cary Burkett^[12] and Dan Spiegle.^[6]
• New Teen Titans, in DC Comics Presents #26
  • Cyborg^[7]
  • Raven^[7]
  • Starfire^[7]
• Shakira, in The Warlord #32
• Squid, in Detective Comics #497 (December)
• Wintergreen, in New Teen Titans #2 (December)

Marvel Comics

• Anaconda, in Marvel Two-in-One #64
• Sunset Bain, in Machine Man #17
• Beep the Meep, in Doctor Who Weekly #19 (Marvel UK)
• Bushman, in Moon Knight #1 (November)
• Calypso, in The Amazing Spider-Man #209
• Abslom Daak, in Doctor Who Weekly #17 (Marvel UK)
• Dazzler, in Uncanny X-Men #130
• Dragon Lord (Tako Shamora), in Marvel Spotlight (vol. 2) #5 (March)
• Vanth Dreadstar, in Epic Illustrated #1 (Spring)
• Fusion (Twin Terror), in The Amazing Spider-Man #208 (September )
• Caleb Hammer, in Marvel Premiere #54 (June)
• Hellfire Club, in Uncanny X-Men #129 (January)
  • Emma Frost, in Uncanny X-Men #129 (January)
  • Harry Leland, in Uncanny X-Men #132 (April)
  • Donald Pierce, in Uncanny X-Men #132 (April)
  • Sage (Tessa), in Uncanny X-Men #132 (April)
  • Sebastian Shaw, in Uncanny X-Men #129 (January)
• Hobgoblin, in The Amazing Spider-Man #238
• Imperial Guard members, in Uncanny X-Men #137 (September)
  • Earthquake
  • Hussar
  • Manta
  • Warstar
• Karma, in Marvel Team-Up #100 (December)
• Robert Kelly, in Uncanny X-Men #135 (July)
• Dansen Macabre, in Marvel Team-Up #93 (May)
• Mauler, in Daredevil #167 (November)
• Mister Fear (Alan Fagan), in Marvel Team-Up #92 (April)
• Kitty Pryde, in Uncanny X-Men #129
• Bernie Rosenthal, in Captain America #248 (August)
• She-Hulk, in Savage She-Hulk #1
• Margali Szardos, in Uncanny X-Men Annual #4
• Taskmaster, in Avengers #195
• U-Foes, in The Incredible Hulk #254
  • Ironclad
  • Vapor
  • Vector
  • X-Ray
• Heather MacNeil Hudson, in Uncanny X-Men #139 (November)

Independent titles

• Judge Anderson, in 2000 AD #150 (Fleetway)
• Reid Fleming, in Reid Fleming, World's Toughest Milkman (David Boswell)

References

1. DC Special Series #21 at the Grand Comics Database
2. Superboy Spectacular #1 at the Grand Comics Database
3. "In a further effort to find new distribution, a Superboy Spectacular was produced for Random House's in-school book club program and offered to comic shops but not newsstands." Levitz, Paul 75 Years of DC Comics The Art of Modern Mythmaking Taschen America, LLC 2010 ISBN 978-3-8365-1981-6 p. 454
4. "Duck Squawk: Gerber vs. Marvel" Amazing Heroes #1 (June 1981) p. 18
5. Wells, John (May 2013). "Flashback: Whatever Happened to...?". Back Issue! (TwoMorrows Publishing) (64): 51–61.
6. Trumbull, John (May 2013). "Nemesis Balancing the Scales". Back Issue! (TwoMorrows Publishing) (64): 69–75.
7. Manning, Matthew K.; Dolan, Hannah, ed. (2010). "1980s". DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. Dorling Kindersley. p. 188. ISBN 978-0-7566-6742-9. [The New Teen Titans] went on to become DC's most popular comic team of its day. Not only the springboard for the following month's The New Teen Titans #1, the preview's momentous story also featured the first appearance of future DC mainstays Cyborg, Starfire, and Raven.
8. Press release. "Mid-Ohio Comic Con merges with Ohio Comic Con, launches new website," Comic Book Resources (May 19, 2008).
9. Duncan, Randy, and Smith, Matthew J., editors. Icons of the American Comic Book: From Captain America to Wonder Woman (ABC-CLIO, 2013), p. 396.
10. Bolland profile, Who's Who of American Comic Books, 1928–1999.
11. Manning "1980s" in Dolan, p. 189 "A battalion of horror icons created by the U.S. government to aid the American war effort made its debut in an off-beat story by writer J. M. DeMatteis and penciler Pat Broderick."
12. Isaacs, Deanna (December 23, 2004). "Nemesis vs. Politics as Usual - Gadfly, former actor, and superhero model Tom Tresser is back, calling on the creative class to claim their piece of the pie.". Chicago Reader. Archived from the original on January 22, 2012. Retrieved January 22, 2012. Tom Tresser, the square-jawed, blond comic-book hero, was created in 1979, when Tom Tresser, the meeker, balder actor, was working at the Merrimack Valley Theatre in Manchester, New Hampshire, and rooming with writer Cary Burkett. Burkett got an assignment from DC Comics to create a new character and came up with Nemesis, a master of martial arts and disguise, who needed a daytime alias. Burkett's Tom Tresser became a mild-mannered, Shakespeare-quoting former FBI agent.