My Friend Irma Looks Askance at You

Panels from My Friend Irma #13, 16, 25, 29, 30, 31, and 36 (Marvel/Timely, 1951-1953), pencils and inks by Dan DeCarlo

365 Days of Defiance, Day 27: Drain the Swamp

Panels from Marvel Team-Up (1972 series) #68 (April 1978), script by Chris Claremont, pencils by John Byrne, inks by Bob Wiacek, colors by Phil Rachelson, letters by Bruce Patterson

Today in Comics History: Rich men meet in an office that's what regular people think rich men live like

Panel from Psi-Force #31 (May 1989), script by Fabian Nicieza, pencils by Rodney Ramos, inks by Chris Ivy, colors by Nel Yomtov, letters by Rick Parker

Today in Comics History Future: Oh geez, I don't even have a joke for this one

Panel from "The Rulers of Earth" in Astonishing #30 (Marvel/Atlas, February 1954), pencils and inks by Joe Sinnott

A Month of... Celebrities in Comics, Day 27: Nick feels like he's fixin' to die

Yesterday we saw what happened when the Howling Commandos were in the audience for the Big Show of '44, which featured real-life celebrities that Nick Fury liked, goldarnit it, and not these modern kids with their underpants showing and their cone bras and their dancing with cartoon cats. Why, back in Nick's day when he was young and white, he and his gal pals jitterbugged to the smooth rhythms of Glenn Miller and Gene Autry and Spike Jones and the Fabulous Stains and Figrin D'an and the Modal Nodes! That was just the way music was, and Nick liked it that way!

Which is why Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.* would rather be dead than at a concert for today's Celebs in Comics, Country Joe McDonald and the Fish!


Panels from Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD (1968 series) #15 (November 1969); co-plot by Gary Friedrich, Herb Trimpe, and Dick Ayers; script by Gary Friedrich; pencils by Herb Trimpe and Dick Ayers; inks by Sam Grainger; letters by Jean Izzo
Yes indeed, those verses about the FF and Doc Strangely are not an invention of the Mighty Marvel Bullpen, but the actual song lyrics from C.J.&F.'s classic song "Superbird!" (There are lyrics referencing Superman and Kryptonite too, but I don't see any sign of the band appearing in that month's comics from Distinguished Competition.



Why, it's such a short song even Nick should be able to stand it, but no! As soon as the band rocks into the freaky riffs of "Not So Sweet Martha Lorraine" Nick's head totally expands, man! I mean, like literally! He's completely blown away by this song!


Is Nick dead, Nick's generic date? Why, he's not only rockapelic dead, he's also psychedelic dead.


Is Nick really dead? Who knows? Who cares? Because this is the last original issue of his comic book and we don't get to find out! In fact, the next three issues are completely filled with reprints. Way to duck the press asking the probing questions about Nick Fury's death, Dum-Dum Dugan!

And nobody ever saw Nick Fury, ever again.

















...until two months later.


Panels from Avengers #72 (January 1970), script by Roy Thomas, pencils by Sal Buscema, inks and colors (?) by Sam Grainger, letters by Sam Rosen
Turns out Nick had gone undercover as his evil identical twin brother to infiltrate Z.O.D.I.A.C.**, leaving a Life Model Decoy in his place mid-concert, presumably when he left Laura and went to get a hot dog or warn somebody about the brown acid. An L.M.D. instead of a dead body in a Marvel Universe story?!? By golly, we never saw that twist coming!



* Some How I'd Envy Literal Death
** Oh sorry, that shouldn't have been acronymed. Those letters don't actually spell anything.

Today in Comics History: President declares we need mysterious aggressors like we need a hole in Pennsylvania

Text page from Psi-Force #19 (May 1988)

365 Days of Defiance, Day 26: Don't tick off Iron Man

Panels from Iron Man (1968 series) #126 (September 1979), script by David Michelinie with conceptual assist by Bob Layton; breakdowns by John Romita, Jr.; finishes by Bob Layton; colors by Ben Sean; letters by John Costanza

A Month of... Celebrities in Comics, Day 26: Project: U.S.O.

Whoa, Sgt. Nick Fury and his Howling Commandos are at the most star-studded U.S.O. show ever! From my vantage point sitting up in one of those palm trees in the distance, I can spot expy celebrity Dino Manelli in panel one. Dino is a Marvel Universe generic version in both looks and mannerisms of Dean Martin, who had his own comic book over at DC. No wonder Dino had to go under an assumed name at Mighty Marvel!


Panels from Sgt. Fury [and His Howling Commandos] #43 (June 1967), script by Dick Ayers and Gary Friedrich, pencils by Dick Ayers, inks by John Tartaglione, letters by Sam Rosen
But the real celebs step on stage and the show begins in panel two. We've got Western warbler and cowboy star Gene Autry, accompanied by Glenn Miller and his Orchestra! (Only Dick Ayers knows why Glenn himself is holding what looks liek a bugle or trumpet while conducting rather than his usual instrument, the trombone.) Mister USO himself, Bob Hope brings along the laffs, if not his comedy partner Bing Crosby. And if you don't get the "Marjorie Main in a bikini" joke: Ms. Main was prominently known for playing "Ma" in the Ma and Pa Kettle movie series, and she looks like this:


Panel four features crazy comedian (and frequent Hope sidekick) Jerry Collona, accompanied by the glamorous and no doubt wolf-whistled Betty Grable, Dorothy Lamour, and Lana Turner! My little buttons eyes bug out to eight times their size, my heart thumbs through my chest, and steam comes out my ears as I make the AW-OOOOOOO-GAH sound!

And even though that's the end of the show, it's not the end of the real-life cameo appearances in this comic, because Nick and the H.C.s are about to meet the Desert Fox himself, Erwin Rommel! (Disclaimer: Rommel does not actually meet Nick Fury or the Howling Commandos.)


Rommel! I read your comic book, you magnificent guest star!

365 Days of Defiance, Day 25: Nobody beats the Thing

If'n I could own just one page of original Jack Kirby art...it'd prob'bly be this one.


Panels from Fantastic Four (1961 series) #40 (July 1965), script by Stan Lee, pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Vince Colletta, colors by Stan Goldberg (?), letters by Artie Simek

A Month of... Celebrities in Comics, Day 25: What's Errol Flynn got that Porky hasn't?

The very early days of Looney Tunes comics, like the cartoon films contemporary to the period, played on the idea that the stars actually had regular lives that we were sometimes privy to observing. (SEE: The Jack Benny Program, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, etc.) That's definitely true of this early Looney Tunes comic book (excuse the rough reproduction; it's from a microfiche) in which Porky isn't just a ________ (fill in the blank of whatever Warner Bros. cartoon you've most recently watched: farmer, legionnaire, race horse owner, gob), but he's a genuine big-time Hollywood star! Complete with fans!


Panels from the Porky Pig story in Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies Comics (1941 series) #2 (November 1941), pencils and inks by Roger Armstrong (?)
Oh course, where Porky's a celebrity at a celebrity restaurant, you have other celebrities rubbing his pork shoulders! First panel: James Cagney, Groucho and Harpo Marx! Second panel: Dorothy Lamour! Fourth panel! Jimmy Stewart!


But, at least as far as the Warner Bros. cartoon department is concerned, the biggest celebrity cameo appearance is by Leon Schlesinger, producer of the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons, therefore making him Porky's boss! In a relationship that will surprise no one, Schlesinger was also nepotistically related to the actual Warner Bros. As Raul Julia would sing: "Harry, Sammy, Irving, and Jack!"


Here's an actual, I mean real-life, son, appearance by Leon Schlesinger in the May 1940 Looney Tunes short "You Ought to Be in Pictures." The timing of this followed by the comic book about a year later tells me the cartoon likely inspired Leon's appearance in this comic story.


Looney Tunes "You Ought to Be in Pictures" (1940), story by Jack Miller, voices by Mel Blanc, music by Carl W. Stalling, produced by Leon Schlesinger, directed by Friz Freleng
Leon Schlesinger is also boss of Warners' stars Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd. And probably even that %!#@^ing Buddy.


Later, Elmer tries to convince Leon that Porky should go west, and Schlesinger thinks he means "rest," and oh boy, hilarity ensues.

Please stand by

All's well here. Blog posts will return soon.

However, I'm attempting something akin to turning a battleship around on a dime.

Stay tuned. I'm here.

365 Days of Defiance, Day 24: I hope the Russians love their spiders too

He may have the proportionate strength of a spider and the brilliant science mind of an elastic engineer, but I've always said that Spider-Man's most dangerous weapon is his sarcasm. (Also: dramatic irony, metaphor, bathos, puns, parody, litotes and satire.) Watch him defeat Colossus and Magik, both possessed by the Phoenix Force, armed only with a sonic screwdriver his wits!

(Click this picture to Bendis-crossover-event-size)


Panels from Avengers vs. X-Men #9 (October 2012); (deep inhale) plot by Brian Michael Bendis, Ed Brubaker, Jonathan Hickman, and Matt Fraction; script by Jason Aaron; pencils by Adam Kubert; inks by John Dell; colors by Laura Martin and Larry Molinar; letters by Chris Eliopoulos

A Month of... Celebrities in Comics, Day 24: The little harmonica is hammered

So no one told you life was gonna be this way
You're in a Civil War
And Rhodey's D-O-A
It's like you're still a prisoner of war
And if you remember your past
You killed a guy in issue 124

Well, she'll be there for you
'Coz she's Courteney Cox
If you're Iron Man
And you've got metal socks
She'll be there for you
Guest-starring in Iron Man 2



Panels from Iron Man (1998 series) #13 (February 1999), script by Kurt Busiek, pencils by Sean Chen and Patrick Zircher; inks by Lary Stucker, Eric Cannon, and Bud LaRosa; colors by Steve Oliff; letters by Wes Abbott
In the next panel, the Human Fly flies into Rumiko's mouth.

365 Days of Defiance, Day 23: The Third- or Fourth-to-Last Jedi

Today, Janaury 23, Disney announced the title of the eighth or ninth Star Wars film: Star Wars: The Last Jedi. To which the accumulation of Star Wars fandom sighed "Oh, at last." But it's not the first Last Jedi! Back in the heady days of original Star Wars Fever, Marvel Comics published a powerful and touching tale called "The Last Jedi" which introduced Jedidiah, an alien with Star Wars-induced PTSD that has left him with the delusion (or memory?) that he was one of the fabled but extinct Jedi Knights.


Panels from Star Wars (1977 Marvel series) #49 (July 1981), script by Mike W. Barr, breakdowns by Walt Simonson, finishes by Tom Palmer, colors by Don Warfield and Christie Scheele, letters by Shelly Leferman
As befits his usual part in the Star Wars universe, C-3PO takes on the role of caretaker and nanny for the addled "Jedi." Still, even Threepio isn't without sympathy for Jedi.


Later, of course, Luke Skywalker is in trouble, so he lights up the Jedi Signal unconsciously sends out a psychic call for help! Of course, Jedi's run off to help, and Artoo is already planning his own alibi and framing Threepio.


Luke's hair is red in this sequence, by the way, not because of a coloring error (no blaming Christie "Max" Scheele!), but because he was disguising himself as Space-Danny Bonaduce, which explains why he's gotten involved in a deadly brawl. Also: sexy Imperial officer. HEY GEORGE I FIGGERED OUT HOW TO AMKE YOUR MOVIES BETTER


Jedi sacrifices his life to save Luke from the deadly blaster shot, thus giving up his chance to become a beloved recurring character in the Star Wars Universe, like the Tonnika Sisters or Yak Face.


Altho' we will never see Jedi again, and later on Luke becomes a true Jedi and therefore he really wasn't the Last Jedi, we shall always remember his honor and sacrifice. Until Disney blows up the Extended Universe. Boom!


Even so: May the Force be With You!

A Month of... Celebrities in Comics, Day 23: Lethal Weapon 8: Dial M for Mel

Hey kids! That's Mel Gibson and Alfred Hitchcock hanging around the Salem Center, New York hospital (Our Lady of Mutated Grace Memorial)! EDIT: Oh, no, wait, as joecab correctly points out below, that's Vince Edwards as Dr. Ben Casey, which makes a lot more sense in the setting. I am humbly and gratefully corrected! Please just ignore all the Lethal Weapon jokes I've liberally scattered around this post, won't you?


Panel from The New Mutants (1983 series) #19 (September 1984), script by Chris Claremont, pencils and inks by Bill Sienkiewicz, colors by Glynis Wein, letters by Tom Orzechowski
Also in this issue: the proof that Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters was the inspiration for Betsy DeVos's "arm a student, stop a bear" proposal! She was trying to warn us: demon bears kill!

Ten of a Kind: This is fine.

And Nazis of today, don’t forget this important message:




(More Ten of a Kind here.)

365 Days of Defiance, Day 22: Best Captain America entrance ever

Panels from "Trapped in the Nazi Stronghold" in Captain America Comics #2 (Marvel/Timely, April 1941), script and pencils by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby

A Month of... Celebrities in Comics, Day 22: Well, no salad dressing for dinner now

Reid Fleming (World's Toughest Milkman™) and his gal-pal Lena Toast are watching The Commander Bob and Betty Show (no advance tapes were sent before this review). Naturally, as in all great TV shows like Survivor or The Joe Franklin Show, you may not survive the experience!


Panels from Reid Fleming: World's Toughest Milkman #2 (Eclipse, March 1987); script, pencils, inks, and letters by David Boswell
Today's special guest star: Hollywood legend Paul Newman! Go ahead, ask him anything about anything except his acting debut in 1954's The Silver Chalice, sometimes referred to as Paul Newman and the Holy Grail. Newman publicly called the film "the worst motion picture produced during the 1950s" and took out a full-page advertisement imploring audiences not to watch it on TV. In other words: don't mention The Silver Chalice! I mentioned it once, but I think I got away with it all right.


We all salute the life and career of Paul Newman (1925-1987).

Still, I quibble at the honorific "World's Toughest Milkman." Why, look what happened when he rang my doorbell!