Hey you! It's Election Day! So go out there and vote!
What's that? "Aw, my vote won't count", ya say? Shame on you! This comic book is as true today, maybe even more true, than it was in 1952!
Panels from Your Vote Is Vital! public service one-shot (Harvey, 1952), pencils and inks by Warren Kremer; Al Avison
Look, let's put it this way. Neither the actual President, the Vice President, or the White House tweeted generally about voting today. That's what we're up against. Remember that!
Panels from Vote Loki #1 (August 2016), script by Christopher Hastings, pencils and inks by Langdon Foss, colors by Chris Chuckry, letters by Travis Lanham
* (sobbing) No it couldn't! (bawling tears) NO IT COULDN'T!
Bookmark sites like these on your phone to have them ready and at hand!
Panels from "America's Wonder Women of Tomorrow!" in Wonder Woman #7 (Winter 1943), script by William Moulton Marston, pencils and inks by Harry G. Peter
Remember: you too can be a Wonder Woman or Man (or Bull!) just by exercising your right to vote!
Cover ofWonder Woman #7 (Winter 1943), pencils and inks by Harry G. Peter
Don't let the press convince you not to vote! It's still important to get out there tomorrow!
Panels from Captain America (1968 series) #250 (October 1980); script by Roger Stern with ideas by Don Perlin, Roger McKenzie, and Jim Shooter; breakdowns by John Byrne; finishes by Joe Rubinstein; colors by George Roussos; letters by Jim Novak
Panels from The Amazing Spider-Man Annual (1964 series) #39 (July 2012), script by Brian Reed, pencils by Lee Garbett, inks by John Lucas, colors by Antonio Fabela, letters by Joe Caramagna
...because you never know who you're gonna wind up with for President if you don't vote.
Panels from What If? (1977 series) #26 (April 1981), script by Mike W. Barr, breakdowns by Herb Trimpe, finishes by Mike Esposito, colors by Carl Gafford, letters by Michael Higgins
Page from Howard the Duck #8 (January 1977), script by Steve Gerber, with plot assists by David Anthony Kraft and Don McGregor, pencils by Gene Colan, inks by Steve Leialoha, colors by Janice Cohen
"Mopsy" strip reprinted in TV Teens #8 (July 1955); script, pencils, inks, and letters by Gladys Parker
Even so: New Yorker cartoonist George Pricedid it first. In 1938!
The unsuspecting Gladys Parker had no idea that one day we would be able to look these up on The Complete New Yorker Cartoons CD-ROM. Shame on ya, Gladys!
By popular demand*, here's the full page that featured the header image I'm using today:
Contest ad from Marvel Mystery Comics #27 (January 1942)
*The phrase "by popular demand" is used here in the same way that Walt Disney's Comics and Stories used to use it, meaning "hey, look at this old piece we had lying around in inventory!"
"You Get What You Vote For" PSA printed in DC Comics cover-dated November 1952 and January 1964, script by Jack Schiff, pencils and inks by Win Mortimer, letters by Ira Schnapp
Panel from Simpsons Comics #24 (September 1996), script by Mary Trainor, pencils by Stephanie Gladden, inks by Tim Harkins, colors by Nathan Kane, letters by Jeannine Crowell
...um, so maybe you may not want to pay any attention to Homer Simpson. Instead, why not take your clues from Simpsons creator Matt Groening in this op-ed piece from Simpsons Comics #24:
"Don't Forget to Register and Vote" from The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers #3 (1973); pencils and inks by Gilbert Shelton
(Click picture to Fat Freddy's Cat-size)
"Binky's Special Election Exhibit" PSA, printed in DC Comics cover-dated November 1956, script by Jack Schiff (?), pencils and inks by Bob Oksner, letters by Ira Schnapp
Ladies and gentlemen and little stuffed beings, Binky is right! Get out there and vote today for the candidate of your choice! And if there's one thing that Binky knows about, it's choice!
Cover of Binky #82 (Summer 1977), pencils by Stan Goldberg
House ad for Swing with Scooter #4 (January 1967);
printed in falling in Love #88 (January 1967)
Comic cover art: pencils by Joe Orlando, inks by Mike Esposito, letters by Ira Schnapp
Ad designed and lettered by Ira Schnapp
Panels from Detective Comics #508 (November 1981), script by Gerry Conway, pencils by Don Newton, inks by Dan Adkins, colors by Adrienne Roy, letters by Ben Oda
And yep: that's the same Arthur Reeves who's featured in one of the greatest Batman pages of all time:
Page from Batman #234 (August 1971), script by Denny O'Neil, pencils by Neal Adams, inks by Dick Giordano, letters by John Costanza
Panels from Ambush Bug Nothing Special one-shot (September 1992); plot and pencils by Keith Giffen, script by Robert Loren Fleming; inks by Al Gordon; colors by Anthony Tollin; letters by John Costanza
Happy Election Day, everyone! I hope you'll all have time to read this so you can get back to the couch and be sure not to miss the annual viewing of You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown and Rudolph's Hanging Chad Adventure followed by the all-new Faith Hill Family Election Night Musical Special! Boy, I can not wait until that spinny thing comes out and says it's a CBS special presentation!
Say, trivia buffs...do you know what long-running CBS TV program that "CBS Special Presentation" music is taken from? (No, no, it's not Kate and Ally.) Here's the answer! (Be sure to click on the "play all samples" button to hear the genesis of that thrilling holiday special track!)
But back to election day. As Batman reminded you yesterday, the American political structure is based on the common citizen's ability to see past the glitz and glamor of contemporary politics to examine the real issues at hand. Like pollution. Urban crime. And all those parking tickets the Batmobile gets when Batman and Robin leave it in front of Gotham City's police headquarters.
That still and speech were taken from a Batman '66 episode, "Hizzoner the Penguin," in which that foul fowl featured fiend, Oswald Cobblepot, The Penguin, ran for (and almost won) mayorship of Gotham City, USA! Holy rigged elections, Batman! So inspiring was this concept that Tim Burton later made it a plotline in his blockbuster 1992 motion picture Batman Returns, a movie especially noticed for its creation of a Catwoman who can come back from the dead and still can't hide seams in her costume and the line "You know, mistletoe can be deadly if you eat it. " Good advice by Batman, folks! But it's not until the comic book series Batman Adventures (v.2, 2003) that the idea becomes a reality: Penguin really does get elected to become Gotham's Mayor! Aieeee! That's pretty dire! I mean, I can't think of a single worse person to become mayor...
Hmmm, okay. Point taken.
The Mayor Cobblepot subplot actually spans nearly the entire length of the series, running from #1 to 13 (the series ended with issue #17). It's some remarkable worldbuilding and fascinating storytelling that influences Batman and Company's adventures all the way down the line, to the point where Batman actually must enlist a deadly (if temporarily reformed) enemy to help him bring down the Penguin:
Panels from Batman Adventures v.2 #11 (April 2004), script by Ty Templeton, pencils by Rick Burchett, inks by Terry Beatty, colors by Lee Loughridge, letters by Rob Leigh
Ahem. Please excuse a momentary aside while I remind my good pals at DC Comics that most of the excellent tie-in comics to the animated Batman, Superman, and Justice League TV series have never been in trade paperback format, and those that were are now long out of print. So, DC, how about making some nice colorful all-ages trade compilations of (inhale) Batman Adventures (volumes 1 and 2), Batman and Robin Adventures, Batman: Gotham Adventures, Batman Adventures: The Lost Years, the Batgirl Adventures special, Superman Adventures, Justice League Adventures, Justice League Unlimited and one of the great near-forgotten gems of those animated universe days, Adventures in the DC Universe? After all, out of 52 Earths, surely one of them has to be the Timmverse, right? And how about considering a Wonder Woman comic in the same style for young readers who love the WW? Please and thank you, DC!
Batman Adventures v.2 #13 begins the wrap-up of the evolving storyline with members of the #occupygotham movement inhabiting Mayor Cobblepot's front lawn. Hey, they've got torches! Way cool. When a torch-bearing mob of protestors face off against armed police in riot gear, that's going to be completely safe and uneventful, right?
Panels from Batman Adventures v.2 #13 (June 2004), script by Ty Templeton, pencils by Rick Burchett, inks by Terry Beatty, colors by Heroic Age, letters by Ken Lopez
As befits his namesake bird, denizens of the Antarctic who eat herring and poop in an explosive wide blast area around themselves, Mayor Cobblepot cooly and calmly addresses his constituency with political restraint and tact:
But of course Batman (because he is Batman) figgers out the truth at last: voting machine tampering resulted in Cobblepot's election to higher office. Thank goodness the Riddler's new trademark ?Phone helped the Dark Knight unravel the mystery! How do you like those Apples, Steve Jobs? (Whoops. Tasteless. I'm sorry.) how do you like those apples, giggle!
Shed a tear for the defeated Penguin, a bird without a roost, a fowl without an egg, a Hizzoner without honor...
Well, that was certainly one of the most gracious resignations from high office ever, huh? You've got to flipper it to the Penguin, he certainly took his dethroning with grace and good-humored acceptance...
So, on this magic enchanted holiday night, let us remember the true meaning of Election Day, and vow to honor and keep its spirit in all its ways. The Penguin had no further involvement with elections, but lived upon the Total Kill Batman Principle, ever afterwards; and it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Election Day well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Damian Wayne observed, "Tt."
Anyway, rigging elections by tampering with the voting machines? It's just a comic book. That would never happen in real life.
