The first episode of L’uomo di Tsushima (The man of Tsushima) by Bonvi is published, a retelling of the famous battle as seen by Jack London, for the series Un uomo un’avventura (Bonelli).[1]
February
February 2: Belgian comics artist Maurice Tillieux is killed in a car crash.[2]
The first issue of the Belgian comics magazine À Suivre is published. It will run until December 1997.
Showcase #100: "Awesome Anniversary Edition! 60 Sensational Super-Stars" — featuring almost every character who ever appeared in Showcase — by Paul Kupperberg, Paul Levitz, and Joe Staton.
Continuing the "DC Explosion," the company increases its titles' page counts to 25 story pages and increases the price of a typical comic from 35 cents to 50 cents.
July 4 : In Tintin magazine, the first chapter of the Jonathan story L'Espace bleu entre les nuages (The blue space amongst the clouds) by Cosey, the fifth episode of the series, is published.
October 14: IPC Magazines merged two comic books: 2000 AD and Starlord into "2000 AD and Starlord".
October 15: The Dutch comics organisation Het Stripschap holds a dinner to celebrate their 10th anniversary. During the event one of their guests, Dick Matena, starts making a scene while drunk. The incident will become legendary afterwards.[16]
Diane Noomin releases the collective comic book Lemme Outa Here! Growing Up Inside the American Dream, published by Print Mint. [17]
November
November 22: In Belgium the Vlaamse Onafhankelijke Stripgilde (Flemish Independent Comics Guild) is founded, with cartoonist Eddy Ryssack as their first president. [18]
First volume of the Storia d’Italia a fumetti di Enzo Biagi (Enzo Biagi’s History of Italy in comics), drawn by some of the best Italian cartoonists (Milo Manara, Sergio Toppi, Dino Battaglia).
Roger Brunel starts drawing porn parodies of famous comics, serialized in the magazine Circus and released in album format by Glénat under the title Pastiches. [23]
The final episode of Crawford is published, a newspaper comic launched by animation director Chuck Jones. [24]
February 5: Frans Van Immerseel, Belgian painter, caricaturist, cartoonist, illustrator and comics artist (De Lotgevallen van Janssens), dies at age 68.[28]
February 7: Enrique Rapela, Argentine comics artist (Cirilo El Audaz), dies at age 67.[29]
February 9:
Woody Gelman, American animator, comics artist, novelist and publisher (The Dodo and the Frog, co-creator of Bazooka Joe), dies of a stroke at age 62.[30]
February 19: Gisela Zimmermann, German comics artist (continued Digedags and Abrafaxe), dies at age 65 of heart failure.[32]
February 21: Pol Dom, Belgian-Dutch illustrator, sculptor, caricaturist and comic artist (made comics for the jam factory De Betuwe), dies at age 92. [33]
February 28: Glenn Chaffin, American comics writer (Tailspin Tommy), dies at age 80. [34]
March
March 3: Frank Fogarty, American comics artist (Mr. & Mrs., continued Clarence), dies at age 80.[35]
March 8: Tjeerd Bottema, Dutch illustrator and comics artist (Er Was Eens Een Oud Vrouwtje), dies at age 94.[36]
March 30: István Köpeczi Bócz, Hungarian poster designer, costume designer, illustrator and comics artist, dies at age 58. [37]
May 11: Clinge Doorenbos, Dutch comedian, singer, songwriter, children's novelist, poet, journalist and comics writer (Flippie Flink[42]), dies at age 93.
May 27: Jo Spier, Dutch illustrator and cartoonist, dies at age 77.[43]
June
June 22: William Reusswig, American illustrator and comics artist (made comic adaptations of novels), dies at age 75.[44]
October 10: J.R. Bray, American animator and comics artist (Singing Sammy, Mr. O.U. Absentmind, Colonel Heeza Liar), dies at the age of 99.[50]
November
November 8: Norman Rockwell, American painter and illustrator (made a few sequential illustrations in his career), dies at the age of 84.[51]
November 20: Tom Okamoto, aka Tom Oka, aka Tom Mako, Japanese-American animator and comics artist (Deems, Little Brave, continued Li'l Neebo), dies at age 62. [52]
November 21: Orhan Ural, Turkish comics artist (Pazar Ola Hasan Bey), dies at age 64 or 65.[53]
Specific date unknown: Jacques Gagnier, Canadian caricaturist, comics artist, children's book illustrator and cartoonist (La Vie en Images), dies at age 61.[59]
Specific date unknown
Aldo De Amicis, Italian comics artist (worked for Il Vittorioso), dies at age 74 or 75.[60]
November 13–15: OAF SF & Nostalgia Show 1978 (Tradewinds Hotel, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) — science fiction/nostalgia convention staged by the Oklahoma Alliance of Fans, producers of Multicon
Return of The New Gods, with issue #19 (July/August) — the numbering had continued from the New Gods 1971 series, which itself had been cancelled in 1972.
Secrets of Haunted House, with issue #14 (October/November) — revived a year later, however, with issue #15; the title continues until issue #46 in March 1982.
^Greenberger, Robert; Manning, Matthew K. (2009). The Batman Vault: A Museum-in-a-Book with Rare Collectibles from the Batcave. Running Press. p. 163. ISBN978-0-7624-3663-7. In this fondly remembered tale that was later adapted into an episode of the 1990s cartoon Batman: The Animated Series, the Joker poisoned the harbors of Gotham so that the fish would all bear his signature grin, a look the Joker then tried to trademark in order to collect royalties.
