Chuck Rowles and Steve Rowles begin the webcomic
Gods of Arr-Kelaan
January 13: , French illustrator and comics artist (Gribouille, Scout), dies at age 91.[16]
Pierre Joubert
January 24: , American comics artist (continued Captain Marvel and Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane), dies at age 81.[17]
Kurt Schaffenberger
January 22 — February 7: "Heroes Among Us" (, New York City) — featuring original artwork from Marvel Comics' Heroes and Alternative Comics' 9-11: Emergency Relief 9/11 benefit books, including creators such as John Romita, Sr., Neal Adams, Alex Ross, Frank Cho,[58] Dean Haspiel, Josh Neufeld, Joe Quesada, Stuart Moore, Renée French, Ted Rall, Tom Hart, Michael Kupperman, Tomer Hanuka, Neil Kleid, Will Eisner, and Nick Bertozzi;[59] later traveled to Wayland Baptist University's Abraham Art Gallery (Plainview, Texas); and Lloyd Center (Portland, Oregon)
New York City Firehouse Museum
March 7 – May 26: , Whitney Museum of American Art (New York City) — features original pages by Chris Ware
Whitney Biennial
April 25 – June 23: "She Draws Comics: Trina Robbins and 27 Women Cartoonists", Secession Gallery, , Austria — curated by Trina Robbins; artists include Robbins, Joan Hilty, Lauren Weinstein, Leanne Franson, Fly, Isabella Bannerman, Sharon Rudahl, Lark Pien, Roberta Gregory, Paige Braddock, Molly Kiely, Mary Fleener, Sabrina Jones, Donna Barr, Diane DiMassa, Joyce Chin, Leela Corman, Mary Wilshire, Marie Severin, Sandra Bell-Lundy, Joyce Farmer, Katherine Arnoldi, and Carol Tyler; in 2006, the exhibition toured to the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art (New York City)[60]
Vienna
January 19: (St. Paul's Church Auditorium, New York City) — guests include Guy Gilchrist, Ethan Van Sciver, Bill Plympton, Irwin Hasen, Dick Ayers, The Iron Sheik, April Hunter, Wagner Brown, Tammy Lynn Sytch, Chris Candido, and Virgil
Big Apple Comic Book Art and Toy Show
January 19: [61] (Tasty World, Athens, Georgia) — first iteration of this festival
FLUKE Mini-Comics & Zine Festival
February 9–10: (Herbst Pavilion, Fort Mason, San Francisco)
Alternative Press Expo
February 22–24: (Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, Florida) — guest of honor: Kevin Smith; other guests: George Pérez, Butch Guice, Mark Waid, Erin Gray, June Lockhart, David Prowse, Michonne Bourriague, Eugene Roddenberry Jr., Bob May, and Mark Rolston[62]
MegaCon
March: (Granada, Spain) — 7th annual show; controversy as awards are given out in a mock terrorist attack.[63]
Granada Comics Festival
March 9–10: (Rosemont, Illinois)
Chicago ComicFest
March 23–24: (Kansas City, Kansas)
Planet Comicon
April 19–21: (Oakland Convention Center, Oakland, California)
WonderCon
April 26–28: (Pittsburgh Expomart, Monroeville, Pennsylvania) — guests include Carmine Infantino, Billy Tucci,[64] George Pérez, Ted Dibiase, Nikolai Volkoff, Frank Cho, Julius Schwartz, Al Williamson, Kenny Baker, Michonne Bourraigue, and Jerome Blake[65]
Pittsburgh Comicon
May: inaugural
London MCM Expo
May 5: (Red & White Club, McMahon Stadium, Alberta, Canada)
Alberta Comic Collectors Association Comic & Toy Show
May 11: (Ritter Hall, Walk Auditorium, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) — first annual show; guests include Arvell Jones, William H. Foster, III, Lance Tooks, and Jerry Craft
East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention
May 17–19: I (Novi Expo Center, Novi, Michigan) — c. 14,000 attendees; guests include Cindy Williams, Frank Cho, Guy Davis, Christopher Golden, Carmine Infantino, Joseph Michael Linsner, Vince Locke, Andy Lee, David W. Mack, Tom Mandrake, Dan Mishkin, Bill Morrison, Mike Okamoto, Scott Rosema, Thomas E. Sniegoski, Brian Stelfreeze, Roy Thomas, S. Clay Wilson, and Randy Zimmerman[67][68]
Motor City Comic Con
June: (Ahwatukee, Arizona) — first edition of this show; 432 attendees
Phoenix Comicon
June 1–2: (Knoxville Expo Center, Knoxville, Tennessee) — first iteration of this annual show
Adventure Con
June 1–2: (The Empire and Commonwealth Museum, Temple Quay, Bristol, Avon, England, U.K.) — presentation of the National Comics Awards; official guests include Joe Quesada, Jamie S. Rich, Grant Morrison, Frank Quitely, John McCrea, William Christensen, Terry Wiley, Woodrow Phoenix, Bevis Musson, Gary Spencer Millidge, Rich Johnston, Patty Jeres, Lee Kennedy, Roger Langridge, James Hodgkins, Heidi MacDonald, Dave Gibbons, Lee Barnett,[69] Mike Conroy, Dez Skinn, Mark Buckingham, Karen Berger, and Jim Valentino[70]
Comics 2002
June 14–16: (Charlotte Convention Center, Charlotte, North Carolina) — guests include Arthur Adams, Murphy Anderson, Dan Brereton, Nick Cardy, Ron Garney, Butch Guice, Tony Harris, Irwin Hasen, Adam Hughes, Terry Moore, Kevin Nowlan, Carlos Pacheco, George Pérez, Joe Quesada, Julius Schwartz, Brian Stelfreeze, Roy Thomas, Tim Townsend, Charles Vess, and Mike Wieringo
Heroes Convention
June 23: (Puck Building, New York City) — inaugural MoCCAFest
MoCCA Festival
June 28–30: (Madison Square Garden, New York City) — 3rd annual show; guests include George Pérez, Peter David, Chris Claremont, Michael Kaluta, Jae Lee, Kevin Eastman, and Mark Bagley[71]
New York International Sci-Fi and Fantasy Creators Convention
July 5–7: (Rosemont Convention Center, Rosemont, Illinois) — guest of honor: Marc Silvestri; special guest: Stan Lee
Wizard World Chicago
July 12–13: (St. Paul's Church Auditorium, New York City) — guests include Michael Berryman, Dennis O'Neil, James O'Barr, Gerard Christopher, Joseph Michael Linsner, Graig Weich, and Virgil
Big Apple Comic Book Art and Toy Show
August 1–4: (San Diego Convention Center, San Diego, California) — 63,000 attendees; official guests: Dick Ayers, Mike Carey, Howard Chaykin, Peter David, Roman Dirge, Devon Grayson, Frank Jacobs, Chip Kidd, Bub Lubbers, Jason Lutes, Craig McCracken, Todd McFarlane, Tony Millionaire, Kevin Nowlan, Bob Oksner, Lew Sayre Schwartz, Eric Shanower, Hal Sherman, Herb Trimpe, George Woodbridge, and William Woolfolk
Comic-Con International
August 17–18: " Noir" (Oxford Union Society, Oxford, England)
CAPTION
August 23–25: (Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada) — 16,600 attendees; guests include Brent Spiner, Nicholas Brendon, Nichelle Nichols, John Billingsley, Billy Dee Williams, Andy Hallett, Adam Kubert, Joe Kubert, John Romita Jr., John Cassaday, and Darwyn Cooke
Canadian National Expo
August 30–September 2: (Hyatt Regency Atlanta/Marriott Marquis, Atlanta, Georgia) — 20,000+ attendees; guests include Carmine Infantino, Nichelle Nichols, and Jefferson Starship
Dragon Con
September 5–8: (ICAF) / Small Press Expo (SPX) (Bethesda Holiday Inn, Bethesda, Maryland) — guests include Willem, Los Bros Hernandez, Sabine Witkowski, Art Spiegelman, David Lasky, Johana Rojola, Nick Bertozzi, Greg Cook, Kevin Huizenga, and John Kerschbaum[72]
International Comics and Animation Festival
September 13–14: (St. Paul's Church Auditorium, New York City) — guests include Jim Steranko, Bill Plympton, Dave Cockrum, Paty Cockrum, Jon B. Cooke, Herb Trimpe, Linda Fite, Gene Colan, Flo Steinberg, Michael Avon Oeming, Dick Ayers, Steve Rude, George Tuska, Neil Vokes, Irwin Hasen, Ray Lago, and John Workman
Big Apple Comic Book Art and Toy Show
October 5–6: 2002 ( Education Building at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds, Bloomington, Minnesota USA) — sponsored by the Minnesota Comic Book Association Archived 2016-09-09 at the Wayback Machine
FallCon
October 6: (Tysons Westpark Hotel, McLean, Virginia USA) — 400 attendees
Capital Associates Monthly Comic, Toy & CCG Show
October 12–13: & Sci-Fi Expo (Plano Centre, Plano, Texas) — guests include Amanda Conner, Jim Daly, Nick Derington, Richard Dominguez, Ben Dunn, Steve Erwin, Kerry Gammill, Miles Gunter, Michael Lark, Jaime Mendoza, John Lucas, Joseph Michael Linsner, Terry Moore, Mark Murphy, Don Punchatz, Kelsey Shannon, Cal Slayton, Kenneth Smith, and Dave Stevens
Dallas Comic Con
October 15: (Shrine Auditorium Expo Center, Los Angeles, California USA)
Los Angeles Comic & SF Con
October 19–20: ( Jack Reardon Civic Center, Kansas City, Kansas USA)
Kansas City ComiCon
October 26–November 3: (Fair Point, Lucca, Tuscany, Italy) — 50,000 attendees
Lucca Comics & Games
October 26–27: (Shearton Hotel, Towson, Maryland)
Baltimore Comic-Con
October 26–27: II (Novi Expo Center, Novi, Michigan) — guests include Richard Herd, James Horan, Michael Edmunds, David Prowse, Shannon Baska, Glori Anne Gilbert, Patrick Bauchau, Jon Gries, and Richard Marcus
Motor City Comic Con
November 8–10: (Metropolitan Pavilion, New York City)[74] — first annual presentation of the Golden Panel Awards for Excellence in Comic Book Art and Story Telling (from the New York City Comic Book Museum); c. 6,000 attendees; guests include Nichelle Nichols, Sarah Douglas, Sergio Aragonés, Jim Lee, Gene Colan, Nutopia, Sam Kieth, Michael Kaluta, Brian Michael Bendis, David W. Mack, Joe Jusko, Andy Lee, Tim Vigil, and Graig F. Weich
National Comic Book, Art, Toy, and Sci-Fi Expo
November 30–December 1: (Hilton Columbus Hotel at Easton Town Center, Columbus, Ohio)