1975 in comics
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Notable events of 1975 in comics. See also List of years in comics.
This is a list of comics-related events in 1975.
Contents
Events and publications
Year overall
- Following up their various Giant-Size series from 1974, Marvel publishes a number of one-shot Giant-Size annuals featuring reprints of "classic" Captain America, Captain Marvel, Daredevil, Doctor Strange, Hulk, Invaders, Iron Man, Power Man, and Thor stories. In addition, the company publishes three Giant-Size issues (January, April, and July cover dates) of Kid Colt, and two Giant-Size issues (May and June cover dates) of the reprint title Marvel Triple Action. On the other hand, the company cancels 10 Giant-Size titles, including Giant-Size Avengers, Giant-Size Conan, Giant-Size Defenders, Giant-Size Fantastic Four, Giant-Size Man-Thing, Giant-Size Master of Kung Fu, Giant-Size Spider-Man, Giant-Size Super-Villain Team-Up, Giant-Size Werewolf, and Giant-Size X-Men.
- The horror/suspense comic resurgence ends, as publishers cancel titles in droves. Marvel and its black-and-white magazines are particularly hard hit, canceling Adventure Into Fear, Dead of Night, Dracula Lives!, Giant-Size Chillers, Giant-Size Werewolf, Haunt of Horror, both Man-Thing titles, Masters of Terror, Monsters Unleashed, Supernatural Thrillers, Tales of the Zombie, Vampire Tales, and Where Monsters Dwell. DC Comics cancels Black Magic, Secrets of Haunted House, Tales of Ghost Castle, and Weird Mystery Tales. Gold Key Comics cancels Mystery Comics Digest, and Archie Comics even cancels their title Red Circle Sorcery.
- Newspaper strip Cecil C. Addle by Ray Collins begins publication
January
- DC Comics raises the price of its typical comic book from 20 cents to 25 cents, keeping the page-count at 36.
February
- February 20: Artie Simek, long-time letterer for Marvel Comics, dies at age 59.
Spring
- DC Special (1968 series) is revived with issue #16; the title had ceased publishing in 1971. (DC Comics)
March
- Adventure Comics #438: A "Seven Soldiers of Victory" script by Joseph Samachson written in the 1940s was serialized as a backup feature in Adventure Comics beginning with issue #438 and running through #443, with each chapter illustrated by a different artist including Dick Dillin, Howard Chaykin, Lee Elias, Mike Grell, Ernie Chan, and José Luis García-López.[1][2][3]
April
- Detective Comics, with issue #446, resumes a monthly schedule, after going bi-monthly in June/July 1973. (DC Comics)
May
- Giant-Size X-Men #1, written by Len Wein and illustrated by Dave Cockrum (Marvel Comics).[4]
-
- First appearance of the new X-Men Colossus, Storm, Nightcrawler, and Thunderbird
- May 5: George Baker, cartoonist of The Sad Sack, dies at age 59.
July
- Canadian publisher Comely Comix, based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, debuts with Captain Canuck #1.
- The Buyer's Guide to Comics Fandom switches to weekly publication.
- July 18: Vaughn Bodé dies at age 33.
August
- Uncanny X-Men #94 — first issue of title featuring the new X-Men. Written by Chris Claremont; he will write the title continuously for the next 17 years.
Fall
- Atlas/Seaboard Comics folds, after parts of two years in business, having published 23 comics titles and five comics magazines.
October
- Marvel debuts three new ongoing titles, The Champions, The Inhumans, and Marvel Presents. Simultaneously, it cancels six ongoing titles: Giant-Size Fantastic Four, Man-Thing, Outlaw Kid (vol. 2), Supernatural Thrillers, War is Hell, and Where Monsters Dwell.
November
- Skartaris introduced in 1st Issue Special #8. (DC Comics)
- Korak, Son of Tarzan, with issue #60, changes its name to Tarzan Family. (DC Comics)
December
- Secrets of Haunted House, with issue #5 (December 1975/January 1976 cover date), goes on hiatus (DC Comics).
Conventions
- Multicon '75 (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma) — produced by OAK (Oklahoma Alliance of Fans); guests include George Takei, George Pal, Spanky McFarland, Bret Morrison, Jim Bannon, Al Williamson, and Steve Barrington
- Ohiocon '75 (Youngstown, Ohio) — program booklet, edited by Joe Zabel, includes a history of the Youngstown Comic Art Association
- Pittcon '75 (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
- January: Cincinnati Comic Convention (Netherland Hilton, Cincinnati, Ohio) — 1st annual show, produced by comics retailer the Yellow Kid Comics Shoppe
- March: Mid-America Comic Convention (Holiday Inn, Cincinnati, Ohio) — sponsored by Northern Kentucky’s only comic book shop, the Northern Kentucky Bookstore
- Summer: Nostalgia '75, 4th Annual Chicago Comic and Nostalgia Convention (Chicago, Illinois) — produced by Nancy Warner
- June 25–29: Houstoncon '75 (Royal Coach Inn, Houston, Texas)[5] — merged with the Houston Star Trek convention; guests include C. C. Beck, George Takei, Jock Mahoney, John Wooley, and Don "Red" Barry (Beck and Barry serve as judges for the costume contest)
- July 3–7: Comic Art Convention (Hotel Commodore, New York City)
- July 30–August 3: San Diego Comic-Con (El Cortez Hotel, San Diego, California) — 1,100 attendees; official guests: Robert Bloch, Will Eisner, Mark Evanier, Gil Kane, Jack Katz, Stan Lee, Dick Moores, Chuck Norris, Don Rico, Jerry Siegel, Jim Starlin, Jim Steranko, Theodore Sturgeon
- August: Cleveland Comic Con (Sheraton Hotel, Cleveland, Ohio) — produced by Vladimir Swyrinsky; guests include Tony Isabella
- August 2–3: Comicon '75 (British Comic Art Convention) (Regent Centre Hotel, London, England) — organized by Rob Barrow; guests include Frank Hampson and Paul Neary[6]
- August 22–24: Atlanta Comics & Fantasy Fair (Ramada Inn, Atlanta, Georgia) — first iteration of this event; official guests include Stan Lee, Kenneth Smith, and collector Mike Curtis
- September: OrlandoCon '75 (Orlando, Florida) — guests include Harvey Kurtzman, Burne Hogarth, Roy Crane, and Hal Foster
- November 7–9: Famous Monsters Convention (Commodore Hotel, New York City) — guests include James Warren, Forrest J Ackerman, Peter Cushing, Verne Langdon, Ingrid Pitt, and Barbara Leigh
- December 18-21: MiamiCon I (Americana Hotel, Miami Beach, Florida) — 3,000 attendees;[7] guests include Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Neal Adams, C. C. Beck, James Doohan; admission price: $3.50
First issues by title
DC Comics
- Release: September /October Editor: Julius Schwartz.[8]
- Release: April /May. Writer: Michael Uslan. Artist: Ricardo Villamonte.[9]
- Release: May/June. Writer: David Michelinie. Artist: Ernie Chua.[10]
- Release: April. Writer/Artist: Jack Kirby.[11]
- Release: October /November Writer: Gerry Conway. Artists: José Luis García-López and Wally Wood.[12][13]
The Joker: arguably the first regular series to feature a villain.
- Release: May. Writer: Dennis O'Neil. Artist: Irv Novick and Dick Giordano.[14]
- Release: May/June. Writer: Dennis O'Neil. Artist: Al McWilliams.[15]
- Release: June/July. Writer: Jack Oleck. Artist: Alfredo Alcala.[16]
- Release: December 1975/January 1976. Writer: Gerry Conway. Artists: Steve Ditko and Al Milgrom.[17]
Richard Dragon, Kung Fu Fighter
- Release: April /May. Writer: Jim Dennis. Artist: Leopoldo Duranona.[18]
- Release: April /May. Editor: Joe Orlando.
- Release: September /October Writers: Denny O'Neil (adaptation) and Arthur Conan Doyle (original story). Artists: E.R. Cruz.
- Release: June/July. Writer: Paul Levitz. Artist: Steve Ditko.[19]
- Release: October/November Editor: Gerry Conway.[20]
- Release: May/June Editor: Tex Blaisdell.
Tor: first DC issue, featuring reprints of a Kubert character created in 1953.
- Release: May/June Writer/Artist: Joe Kubert.[21]
Marvel Comics
- Release: October. Writer: Tony Isabella. Artists: Don Heck and Mike Esposito.[22]
- Release: August by Curtis Magazines. Writer: Doug Moench. Artists: John Buscema and Tony DeZuniga.
- Release: February.
Giant-Size Super-Villain Team-Up
- Release: March. Editor: Roy Thomas.[23][24]
- Release: May. Writer: Len Wein. Artist: Dave Cockrum.[4]
The Inhumans
- Release: October. Writer: Doug Moench. Artists: George Pérez and Frank Chiaramonte.[25]
- Release: August. Writer: Roy Thomas. Artists: Frank Robbins and Vince Colletta.[26]
- Release: May by Curtis Magazines. Writer/Editor: Roy Thomas.
Marvel Feature vol. 2
- Release: November. Editor: Roy Thomas.
- Release: October. Writer: John Warner. Artists: Mike Vosburg, Pat Boyette, and Bob McLeod.
- Release: Winter by Magazine Management/Curtis Magazines. Editor: Roy Thomas.
- Release: July by Curtis Magazines. Editor: Tony Isabella.
- Release: August. Writer: Marv Wolfman. Artist: Steve Gan.
- Release: August. Writer: Tony Isabella.[23]
Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction
- Release: January by Magazine Management/Curtis Magazines. Editor: Roy Thomas.
Other publishers
- Release: Spring by The Print Mint. Editors: Art Spiegelman and Bill Griffith.
- Artist/Writer: Jean Giraud.
- Release: March 8 by IPC Magazines. Editor: Pat Mills.
- Release: by Big Apple Productions. Editor: Flo Steinberg.
- Release: July by Comely Comix. Writer/Artist: Richard Comely.
- The Demon Hunter
- Release: September by Atlas/Seaboard Comics. Writer: David Anthony Kraft Artist: Rich Buckler
- Release: July by Charlton Comics. Writer: Joe Gill. Artist: John Byrne.
- Release: August by Charlton Comics. Editor: George Wildman.
- Release: May by Kadokawa Shoten. Writer: Kazumasa Hirai. Artist: Yang Kyung-il
Canceled titles
DC Comics
- Black Magic, with issue #9 (April /May)
- Justice, Inc., with issue #4 (November /December )
- Rima, the Jungle Girl, with issue #7 (April /May)
- The Sandman, with issue #6 (December 1975/January 1976)
- Sherlock Holmes, with issue #1 (September )
- Stalker, with issue #4 (December 1975/January 1976)
- Tales of Ghost Castle, with issue #3 (September /October ).
- Young Romance, with issue #208 (November /December ) — generally considered the first romance comic
- Weird Mystery Tales, with issue #24 (November )
Marvel Comics
- Adventure into Fear, with issue #31 (December )
- Dead of Night, with issue #11 (August )
- The Frankenstein Monster, with issue #18 (September )
- Giant-Size Avengers, with issue #5 (December )
- Giant-Size Chillers, with issue #3 (August )
- Giant-Size Conan, with issue #5 (Fall)
- Giant-Size Defenders, with issue #5 (July)
- Giant-Size Fantastic Four, with issue #5 (October )
- Giant-Size Man-Thing, with issue #5 (August )
- Giant-Size Master of Kung Fu, with issue #4 (June)
- Giant-Size Spider-Man, with issue #6 (Fall)
- Giant-Size Super-Villain Team-Up, with issue #2 (June)[23]
- Giant-Size Werewolf, with issue #5 (July)
- Giant-Size X-Men, with issue #2 (Fall) — reprinted "classic" Roy Thomas/Neal Adams X-Men stories
- Man-Thing, with issue #22 (October )
- Outlaw Kid (vol. 2), with issue #30 (October )
- Supernatural Thrillers, with issue #15 (October )
- Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction, with issue #6 (November )
- War is Hell, with issue #15 (October )
- Western Gunfighters (1970 series), with issue #33 (November )
- Where Monsters Dwell, with issue #38 (October )
Curtis Magazines
- Dracula Lives!, with issue #13 (July)
- Haunt of Horror, with issue #5 (January )
- Kull and the Barbarians, with issue #3 (September )
- Masters of Terror, with issue #2 (September )
- Monsters Unleashed, with issue #11 (April )
- Savage Tales, with issue #11 (July)
- Tales of the Zombie, with issue #10 (March )
- Vampire Tales, with issue #11 (June)
Other publishers
- E-Man vol. 1, with issue #10 (Charlton, September )
- Mystery Comics Digest, with issue #26 (Gold Key, October )
- Red Circle Sorcery, with issue #11[27] (Red Circle Comics/Archie Comics, February )
Initial appearance by character name
DC Comics
- Atlas, in 1st Issue Special #1 (April)
- Bronze Tiger, in Richard Dragon, Kung Fu Fighter #1 (April /May)
- Claw the Unconquered, in Claw the Unconquered #1 (June)
- Dingbats of Danger Street, in 1st Issue Special #6 (September)
- Richard Dragon, in Richard Dragon, Kung Fu Fighter #1 (April /May)
- Golden Eagle, in Justice League of America #116 (March)
- Green Team: Boy Millionaires, in 1st Issue Special #2 (May)
- Kong the Untamed, in Kong the Untamed #1 (June/July)
- Lady Cop, in 1st Issue Special #4 (July)
- Lady Shiva, in Richard Dragon, Kung Fu Fighter #5 (December)
- Lucien, in Weird Mystery Tales #18 (May)
- O-Sensei, in Richard Dragon, Kung Fu Fighter #1 (April /May)
- Sterling Silversmith, in Detective Comics #446 (April)
Marvel Comics
- Vance Astrovik, in Giant-Size Defenders #5 (July)
- Janice Foswell, in Marvel Team-Up #39 (November)
- Gloria Grant, in The Amazing Spider-Man #140 (January)
- Harold H. Harold, in Tomb of Dracula #37 (October)
- Korvac, in Giant-Size Defenders #3 (January)
- Stephen Lang, in X-Men #96 (December)
- Moira MacTaggert, in X-Men #96 (December)
- Jamie Madrox, in Giant-Size Fantastic Four #4 (February)
- Master Man, in Giant-Size Invaders #1
- Moon Knight, in Werewolf by Night #32 (August)
- Moses Magnum, in Giant-Size Spider-Man #4 (April)
- Nova, in Fantastic Four #164 (November)
- Illyana Nikolievna Rasputin, in Giant-Size X-Men #1 (May)
- Razor Fist (William Young), in Master of Kung Fu #29 (June)
- Ben Reilly, in The Amazing Spider-Man #149 (October)
- Shroud, in Super-Villain Team-Up #5 (April)[23]
- Straw Man, in Dead of Night #11 (August)
- U-Man, in Invaders #3 (November)
- White Tiger, in Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #19 (December)
- new X-Men, in Giant-Size X-Men #1 (May)
Other publishers
- Captain Canuck, in Captain Canuck #1 (July)
References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ "Minicon VIII Set for Nov. 23," The Rice Thresher vol. 62, #9 (October 10, 1974), p. 2.
- ↑ Skinn, Dez. "Early days of UK comics conventions and marts," DezSkinn.com. Accessed Mar. 3, 2013.
- ↑ Ashton, Bill. "POW! Comic Book Buffs Swoop Into Town for a 3-Day Bash," Miami Herald (1979).
- ↑ McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 164: "DC launched Batman Family with its memorable debut of the Batgirl-Robin team. Scribe Elliot S! Maggin and artist Mike Grell unleashed 'The Invader From Hell'."
- ↑ McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 165: "Scribe Michael Uslan and artist Ricardo Villamonte introduced the broadsword-bashing hero of Anglo-Saxon myth in May's Beowulf: Dragon Slayer #1."
- ↑ McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 163: "David Michelinie's pen and Ernie Chan's pencils and inks provided the magic for this fantasy series that introduced Claw the Unconquered, a barbaric outlander with a deformed claw-like right hand."
- ↑ McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 162: "Debuting with Atlas the Great, writer and artist Jack Kirby didn't shrug at the chance to put his spin on the well-known hero."
- ↑ McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 165: "Hercules Unbound featured powerful writing from Gerry Conway plus stellar artwork by José Luis García-López."
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 163: "It may have been an unusual idea at the time, but writer Denny'Oneil and artist Irv Novick decided to feature a villain in his own comic book. The Joker only lasted nine issues."
- ↑ McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 163: "DC again translated pulp fiction into comics with a revival of the icy-eyed 1930s hero, the Avenger. Writer Denny O'Neil and artist Al McWilliams adapted the novel Justice, Inc. by "Kenneth Robeson" (a.k.a. writer Paul Ernst)."
- ↑ McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 164: "Writer Jack Oleck and artist Alfredo Alcala focused on a primitive, powerful theme with which to depict the prehistoric warrior Kong in his debut issue: a growing son's bond with his mother."
- ↑ McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 168: "Thanks to his appearances in Detective Comics and Batman, Man-Bat's popularity soared to the point where writer Gerry Conway and artist Steve Ditko launched the [character] into his own series."
- ↑ McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 163: "Richard Dragon, Kung-Fu Fighter was based on the 1974 novel Dragon's Fists by 'Jim Dennis' (the shared pseudonym of comic book writer Dennis O'Neil and artist Jim Berry)."
- ↑ McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 164: "This sword and sorcery title by scripter Paul Levitz and artist Steve Ditko epitomized the credo 'Be careful what you wish for'. The series anti-hero was a nameless wanderer whose dreams of becoming a warrior brought him first slavery, then worse."
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 163: "In conjunction with DC's launch of fantasy/adventure titles, writer and artist Joe Kubert revived Tor, the caveman whose legend began in the early 1950s...Kubert's revival of Tor lasted six issues."
- ↑ Sanderson "1970s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 171: "Created by writer Tony Isabella and artist Don Heck, the Champions consisted of Angel, Iceman, Hercules, the Black Widow, and Ghost Rider."
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 23.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Sanderson "1970s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 168: "After two giant-size issues, Super-Villain Team-Up switched to a thirty-two-page format in August [1975]."
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Sanderson "1970s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 170: "In 1975, Thomas and adventure comic strip artist Frank Robbins created the Invaders."
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
