This one's a little over the top, sure, but if you can't have a time-travelling Abe Lincoln punching post-apocalypse Immortan Don in 2017...
Panels from Trump vs. Time Lincoln one-shot (Summer 2017), script by David Perez, pencils and inks by David Hutchison, colors by Lee Duhig
"The people — the people — are the rightful masters of both congresses and courts — not to overthrow the constitution, but to overthrow the men who pervert it. — Abraham Lincoln, Notes for Speeches at Columbus and Cincinnati, 1959
From the world's bait-and-switchiest comic book, Limited Collectors' Edition #C-47, comes today's celebration of the French Alliance! Which gave us Asterix, the croissant, and Audrey Tautou, not to mention the eventual triumph of the War for Independence. Get down and party, bluecoats!
Page from illustrated story "Valley Forge" in Limited Collectors' Edition #C-47 [Superman Salutes the Bicentennial] (August-September 1976); script, pencils, and inks by Fred Ray
Splash page from "Mar. 7, 1945: Remagen Bridgehead" in Battlefield Action #21 (October 1958)), script by Joe Gill (?), pencils and inks by Sam Glanzman, letters by Jon D'Agostino
As William Howard Taft, one of our belovedest and roly-polyest Presidents would say: "Hey hey hey, It's Presidents' Day!" And it is*! You can't sneak much past President Taft, not even a bathtub.
That's why we're gathered here today to salute America's Greatest President (sit down, James K. Polk): Prez Rickard!
Panels from Sandman (1989 series) #54 (October 1993), script by Neil Gaiman, pencils and inks by Michael Allred, colors by Daniel Vozzo, letters by Todd Klein
The religious allegories are pretty obvious even in the DC Universe where Superman has been known to stretch out his arms when hovering and Mxyzptlk frequently turns lemonade into Grapefruit Kryptonite. Prez is brought out to the wasteland and tempted, not with the usual comic-book rewards of fame and power...oh, wait, I've made another one of my silly mistakes. He's tempted with exactly fame and power.
And in a dream...or maybe something more like true waking...he conversates with the Little President Who Thought He Could, Richard M. Nixon, trying to convince our pajamaless protagonist that the best creed you can folliow in the White House is every man for himself. (SHAMELESS CROSS-WEBSITE PROMOTIONAL PLUG: Don't forget to check out my article on 13th Dimension for a rundown of the 13 faces of Richard Nixon in Comics! Don't worry, we'll wipe the taped after you've been there.)
But that's not the way Prez rolls. (Prez Rolls, available at your local supermarket on the specialty breads shelf, new from Staff Bread!) Mind you, it's not that hard to resist Slimy Temptation by Tricky Dick, but I think even you and I might be seduced by the mouthwatering promise of being that one guy who could go to China. No, Prez is in this game we call politics for exactly one thing: everybody else in the United States of America.
And yes, it's truly a better world, pretty close to ours but only a slight vibratory dimension and one good man away. Look, he even saved John Belushi! (Celebrity in a Comic Book, folks!)
And his reward for it all? Well, in the end he gets exactly what we all get: he gets a lifetime.
Wait! One last act of defiance against the expectations of a President. When he discovers his temptor Boss Smiley is in charge "upstairs," Prez (with a little help from that crazy candy-colored clown called the Sandman) chooses another place, another path. Or, to paraphrase General John Stark (no relation to Tony) of New Hampshire: Die free, and live.
'Coz all Prez ever wanted to do was fix things so they ran right.
May we all make the same choice. May our Presidents and Prime Ministers and Premiers and Kings and leaders around the world and throughout the future ever strive to fix things. For all of us. For the dream.
* Offer not valid if you're reading this on not Presidents' Day, or indeed, if I forget to post it on President's Day.
Remember UltraForce? Role call: Hardcase! Prototype! Prime! Ghoul! Contrary! Topaz! Pixx! Gathered together from the cosmic reaches of the universe (and Cleveland) — here in this great Hall of Justice Ultra — are the most powerful forces of good ever assembled! And they had their own critically-disdained Saturday morning cartoon! Which other superhero team can claim that?!?
Before Marvel acquired Malibu Comics in order to get the printing techniques for their ahead-of-its-time shaded coloring
EDIT on 01/28/17: Ardent and head-shiny reader Green Luthor checked in below in the comments to correct me on the story of Marvel's acquisition of Malibu. Or, as G.L. told me...
For the record, the story that Marvel bought Malibu for it's printing and/or coloring isn't true; they actually bought Malibu to prevent DC from buying them first. (Marvel had more market share at the time than DC, but DC was attempting to negotiate to buy Malibu at the time, and Malibu had enough market share itself that the purchase would allow DC to overtake Marvel. Marvel didn't want that (for obvious reasons), so they negotiated their own buyout of Malibu.)
...and linked to Brian Cronin's always entertaining Comics Legends column on the subject. Go read for the straight skinny! And thank you, Green Luthor!
...(note that there's three color credits for this issue) and turned the UltraVerse into the Marvel Universe's Narnia closet, there were adventures of the UltraForce that didn't involve Juggernaut or Black Knight or Ghost Rider or Man-Thing or whoever it was they shunted over to Earth-93060 in an attempt to goose the sales. I presume the UltraVerse was destroyed by smashing it against Earth-616 like a rotten tomato during Secret Wars '15, but sometimes it's fun to look back and see this proto-shared universe's differences and similarities to our own world. For example, they did have a President Bill Clinton. On the other hand, he's dressed up like Jimmy Olsen!
Panels from UltraForce (1994 Malibu series) #2 (October 1994), script by Gerard Jones, breakdowns by George Pérez, pencils by John Statema, inks by Jeff Whiting and Barb Kaalberg, color design by Robert Alvord, colors by Emily Yoder, color separations by Violent Hues, letters by Patrick Owsley
Also present behind Bill and also from the real world: Secretary-General of the United Nations Boutros Boutros-Ghali and, probably referring to himself in the third person, Senator Bob Dole. Also, apparently, Billy Dee Williams. I'm not certain if I could have picked this universe's Bill Clinton out of a line-up based on his appearance, but there's enough textual evidence to show it is indeed Mister Clinton. Doin' something slick, no doubt!
in order to provide conflict and a plot point, UltraForce's resident manipulator Contrary manipulates emotions so that alien queen Topaz blows her top and challenges the purpose of meeting with that guy who played saxamaphone on The Arsenio Hall Show. Whoa, switch to decaf, Topaz! You're Maxima-ing all over the plkace!
That is, until Pixx calls forth an ethereal vision of reason and sanity to calm Topaz down, in the form of...Hillary Clinton. Wha...huh?!
So, on this important day when women around the world are marching for justice, equality, and their voices to be heard, let's all remember that time Hillary Clinton had a really convincing other-universe speech while glowing. And I'm going to admit that the phrase "Women do get stepped on in this world, but if we stick together and don't let guys get away with too much...well, we'll get there." is at least semi-inspirational. I'd replace "too much" with "all their crap," but your mileage may vary. And don't think of Gennifer Flowers!
I give full support, two hooves up, and complete props to the women and men and children marching today, their anger, righteousness, bravery, and actions are all a strong sign of and a solid path towards true justice. Give 'em hell, women.
Hey, remember the time that Luke Cage got really Sweet Christmased-off at one of New York City's most self-entitled real estate developers because he wouldn't let his limo driver get out of the way of an ambulance?
Panels from New Avengers (2005 series) #47 (January 2009), script by Brian Michael Bendis, pencils and inks by Michael Gaydos, colors by Justin Ponsor, letters by Albert Deschesne
I do too! You could, honestly and accurately, describe that guy as one of the Celebrities in Comics.
But you know what? I'm in charge here, and he doesn't get a spotlight today. He doesn't get to appear in this blog which celebrates heroes, justice, and fun. Not on my blog.
You may have noticed that I set this series of posts each day to appear at high noon (unless I'm late) so that y'all have something to look at while you have your delicious tuna sammich, bag of Barbecue Fritos, and that yummy-lookin' chocolate chip cookie hey are you gonna eat alla that cookie? But I set this here post to go off at 11:00 AM. My point (and I do have one) is that at least at the time this piece posted, that guy above is not anything more than an ordinary American citizen.
Let's look at somebody else in a different comic book, like, say, Amazing Spider-Man #583. There's quite a handful of celebrities in ASM #583. Here's the very first Marvel Universe appearance of Diamond Joe Biden. This portrayal of Biden as America's Favorite Cool Uncle is definitely a G-rated version of the Onion's hilarious ongoing coverage of him as a hard-drinkin', hard-driving', hard-lovin' ramblin' man.
Panels from "Spidey Meets the President!" in Amazing Spider-Man #583 (March 2009), script by Zeb Wells, pencils and inks by Todd Nauck, colors by Frank D'Armata, letters by Jared K. Fletcher
Also appearing: Senator John McCain, America's favorite frozen French fry, second-place, first-runner-up in 2008's popular "Who Wants to Be Blamed for Everything That's Wrong in America?" reality show.
Nope. Today's Celebrity in Comics is a man I'm standing up tall and proud on both hooves to salute with the honor and support he deserves: President Barack Obama. Sure, he never saved us from Galactus, and he wasn't a perfect leader of our country, but who among us can say that? Sit down, Victor.
Turns out that ersatz Barack is actually the Chameleon. Remember yesterday when I promised you a supervillain today? Her he is, the Chameleon! (Why, who did you think I meant?) This perennial Spider-foe is impersonating Obama and trying to step his tiny little shape-changing feet into the big shoes of the U.S. President. That trick never works!
Yes, as the clock clicks closer to noon, I can sit back and daydream that the above ranting dialogue somehow happens today...
But it's not gonna happen. And moments like the World's Greatest Fistbump in Comics Magazine now become just another back issue. We shall not see its likes again...
OH MAN THAT FIRST DIALOGUE BALLOON BY OBAMA FTW
I think one of the ways Obama has affected me, a little stuffed bull, the most, is his constant and earnest inspiration message: that we are all Americans, that we must strive to be better people, better citizens, better Americans. We must teach and learn and speak and listen and work and play together. We must be Americans. YES WE CAN.
Panels from Action Comics (1938 series) #901 (July 2011), script by Paul Cornell, pencils and inks by Kenneth Rocafort and Jesus Merino, colors by Brad Anderson, letters by Rob Leigh
Now it's probably after noon, and Barack Obama is no longer our President. To ladle on the hurt, there's no Superman in our world. So we have to be the heroes the President is calling for here. We have to teach, and learn, and speak, and listen, and be heroes for ourselves. And our communities, and our country, and our people. The power is in our hands — now, as always — to band together, to speak truth to power, to put out a hand not in anger but to lift someone else up. To fight injustice, to right that which is wrong, and to serve all mankind.
Seventy-five years ago today, the attack on Pearl Harbor by Imperial Japanese forces precipitated the entrance of the US into World War II. It also directly led to the making of Michael Bay's film of the same name, which I think we can all agree was a pretty terrible thing. It's certainly not as good a movie as Roy Thomas and Rich Buckler's All-Star Squadron is a comic, and the movie's only clear advantage is that Faith Hill song.
In this post I'm gonna give Roy all the accolades for kicking off his Earth-2/WWII comic series with a solid three-(and a half)-part story that doesn't downplay or trivialize the terror of the Pearl Harbor attack, mostly because the events and evil schemes within are a supervillain's tangent to take advantage of, but not cause, the real-life events.
Like several of the popular DC comics series of the early '80s, All-Star Squadron kicks off as a 16-page preview story within the pages of another comic book, in this case, the original JLA. You actually really did get more for your buck fifty cents! The New DC: there was no stopping them then!
Panels from "Special All-Star Squadron Preview" in Justice League of America (1960 series) #193 (August 1981), script by Roy Thomas, breakdowns by Rich Buckler, finishes by Jerry Ordway, colors by Carl Gafford, letters by John Costanza
JLA's preview ends as December 7, 1941 begins, President Franklin D. Roosevelt confers with his then-Veep Henry A. Wallace trusted aide and advisor, Harry Hopkins (thanks to Ward Hill Terry for the correction!) about the need for Earth-2's Justice Society of America "forming some sort of All-Star Squadron" to aid the US in the inevitable world war. Pretty savvy thinking, and I'm not certain if the All-Star Squadron was his finest idea, or giving Captain America that round shield was. Either way, on any Earth, he's the smartest man in a wheelchair this side of Charles Xavier, Niles Caulder, or Stephen Hawking.
Panels from All-Star Squadron #1 (September 1981), script by Roy Thomas, pencils by Rich Buckler, inks by Jerry Ordway, colors by Carl Gafford, letters by John Costanza
Eventually gathering at the White House are a few of the JSA plus other Golden Age DC heroes. But FDR's not ready to send them into direct battle against the Japanese forces. There's a more immediate, homefront danger...
...and that danger is spelled Per Degaton! Dah dah dah! (sinister sting) The time-traveling, world conqueror wanna-be who's so evil he doesn't even have a code name! If he did it would probably be something like Time-O or Mister Iniquitous, so it's a good thing he just stuck with the name Ma Degaton gave him.
Who can stop Per Degaton's heinous plan? Who will stand against him? These guys, that's who! These guys! And Plastic Man.
Splash page from All-Star Squadron #2 (October 1981), script by Roy Thomas, pencils by Rich Buckler, inks by Jerry Ordway, colors by Carl Gafford, letters by John Costanza
Degaton's evil plan for blood, devastation, death, war and horror of course involves — wait for it — time travel. He has come back to 1941 from 1947, so he's armed with the futuristic power of the Slinky! He's also brought back supervillains experienced in the art of defeating the Justice Society by hitting them with a wood plank (Green Lantern) or tying them up (Wonder Woman) or just hitting them really, really hard (Atom, Wildcat, Sandman, Hawkman...pretty much all of them).
His plot is to divert the attention of American forces westward instead of toward Europe, thus enabling that rat Hitler (who is he kidding?) to attack from the east! Step two: ???. Step three: PROFIT!
Per woulda come back earlier to influence the war, but there was a (handwave) timestorm (yep, that's it, that'll work) blocking time travelers off from landing in the years from September 1939 through December 1941. And now you know why so few time travelers attended the grand premiere of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's blockbuster Gone with the Wind!
The Justice Society All-Star Squadron to the rescue! Not seen: other Golden Age heroes like Liberty Belle, Firebrand, Mighty Mouse, Abbott and Costello, Senator Beauregard Claghorn, and Bugs Bunny!
Splash page from All-Star Squadron #3 (November 1981), script by Roy Thomas, pencils by Rich Buckler, inks by Jerry Ordway, colors by Carl Gafford, letters by John Costanza
Glass jaws are punched, volcano island bases explode, and justice is eventually served. Which only goes to show: guys in 1941 are better than 1947. Also: Per Degaton obviously has one of those Brother PTouch Labelmakers. They come in ever so handy for marking detonator buttons that have to be pressed to be activated!
And in the end, as December 8th dawns on a grim new world but the all-new all-different All-Star Squadron joins with the JSA on the Golden Gate Bridge to listen to a speech by First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt (portrayed here by J. Edgar Hoover) and vow to keep fighting the good fight for as long as the war lasts or until the Crisis on Infinite Earths deletes their existences from history, whichever comes first.
Despite their patriotic last-panel cheer, not a single one of the JSA or the ASS earned one slim dime from Sammy Kaye's 1942 hit song. That's not justice!
There's a lot of characters to keep track of and a lot of DC/Quality comics lore to learn (not to mention your fundamental world history). But Roy made it easy for you to get up to speed: here's a text page from the second issue of All-Star Squadron that explains the basic premise between the continuity implant behind the series, and general introductions to the cast. Handy!
In all complete seriousness, I salute the real military and civilians who fought in the Battle of Pearl Harbor and World War II. My own dad was an electrician's mate on a ship in the Pacific Fleet during the War, and I've been forever proud of him. We now look upon Japan and Germany as friends and allies, which is the right way to progress through history. But I've got to admit that this, posted today on Twitter by former Speaker of the House of Representatives Newt Gingrich, is an insulting and cowardly statement that compliments and praises the attacking force on Pearl Harbor. Seriously: I'm very angry that this is considered an acceptable public statement, especially by a man who got a deferment from serving during the Vietnam War. It's a personal put-down directly at every man and woman who died at Pearl Harbor and who fought during World War II. I say it's rotten spinach, Mister Gingrich, and the hell with you.
As long as there's public statements like that which draw attention away from what we have lost and what we fought for, I'll never scoff at Roy Thomas for being merely silly in scenes like this:
There was certainly racial hatred packed into a lot of the comics of World War II that we can now rightly call deplorable portrayals. We can read comics like those and learn our American history, both hopeful and unfortunate, from their contemporary views. All the more kudos to Roy Thomas, therefore, for presenting us with modern comics of World War II that entertain and educate without resorting to to racism, that rewrite history only in the name of fun and fantasy. May Roy's patriotic heroes always inspire us; may we learn from and not follow the regrettable aspects of our past, only seventy-five years ago.
Panels from Jenny Sparks: The Secret History of the Authority #3 (October 2000), script by Mark Millar, pencils by John McCrea, inks by James Hodgkins, colors by Ian Hannin, letters by Bill O'Neil
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.
Young Justice! Not to be confused with the excellent '80s band Lone Justice.
Yes, Young Justice, the Justice League of Tomorrow! Until their book was cancelled and replaced with all those unimpressive Teen Titans redux titles, but hey, it was fun while it lasted. But what's it doing in this feature? Why, it's because it features of the very few Eath-DC appearances of our Mustacheoed Maverick of Media Muckraking, J. Jonah Jameson! (The extra "J" is for "Justice!")
Panels from Young Justice (1998 series) #18 (March 2000), script by Peter David, pencils by Todd Nauck, inks by Lary Stucker, colors by Jason Wright, color separations by Digital Chameleon, letters:\ by Ken Lopez
Also, I've thrown in a bonus guest appearance there at the bottom of one of the Presidents in Comic Books! And Chelsea Clinton, who one day will probably be another President after she pilots the space shuttle into a time vortex and marries Wesley Crusher.
Panels from Marvel Adventures: The Avengers #34 (May 2009); script by Paul Tobin,
pencils by Matteo Lolli, inks by Christian Vecchia, colors by Sotocolor, letters by Dave Sharpe
Remember UltraForce? Role call: Hardcase! Prototype! Prime! Ghoul! Contrary! Topaz! Pixx! Gathered together from the cosmic reaches of the universe (and Cleveland) — here in this great Hall of 
Seventy-five years ago today, the attack on Pearl Harbor by Imperial Japanese forces precipitated the entrance of the US into World War II. It also directly led to the making of Michael Bay's film of the same name, which I think we can all agree was a pretty terrible thing. It's certainly not as good a movie as Roy Thomas and Rich Buckler's All-Star Squadron is a comic, and the movie's only clear advantage is that Faith Hill song.
