366 Days with Alfred Pennyworth, Day 189

Panels from Batman and Robin v.2 #10 (August 2012), script by Peter J. Tomasi, pencils by Patrick Gleason, inks by Mick Gray, colors by John Kalisz, letters by Carlos M. Mangual

Today in Comics History, July 7, 2031: The planet Apokolips finally learns to speak English

from The Kingdom #1 (DC, February 1999), script by Mark Waid, pencils and inks by Ariel Olivetti, colors by John Kalisz, separations by Chris Chuckry, letters by Phil Felix

366 Days with Alfred Pennyworth, Day 188

Panels from Batman: Joker's Apprentice one-shot (May 1999), script by C. J. Henderson, pencils by Trevor von Eeden, inks by Joe Rubinstein, colors by Pam Rambo, letters by Clem Robins

Today in Comics History, July 5: Jim Gordon attends a meeting of the Edward Hopper Re-Creation Society

from Batman #406 (DC, April 1987), script by Frank Miller, pencils and inks by David Mazzucchelli, colors by Richmond Lewis, letters by Todd Klein

366 Days with Alfred Pennyworth, Day 187

Page from Batman: The Purr-fect Crime children's book (June 2004), written by Jason Hernandez-Rosenbatt, illustrated by Rick Burchett

Today in Comics History, July 4, 1964: Batman reads that new Stevie Nicks biography

from Batman: Harvest Breed graphic novel (DC, November 2000), script and painted art by George Pratt, letters by Ken Lopez

Today in Comics History, July 4: Dick Grayson discovers The Smiths

from Batman: Dark Victory #10 (DC, September 2000), script by Jeph Loeb, pencils and inks by Tim Sale, colors by Gregory Wright, separations by Heroic Age, letters by Richard Starkings

Today in Comics History, July 4: Alfred plagiarizes Arthur Conan Doyle

from Batman: Detective #27 graphic novel (DC, December 2003), script by Michael Uslan, pencils and inks by Peter Snejbjerg, colors by Lee Loughridge, letters by Kurt Hathaway

76 of a Kind: Hooray for the Red, White, and Blue

76 of a Kind for 2007 • 2008 • 2009 • 2010 • 2011

366 Days with Alfred Pennyworth, Day 186

Alfred celebrates with a different kind of fireworks today!


Panels from Catwoman Annual #3 (June 1996), script by Joan Weis, pencils by Michal Dutkiewicz, inks by Gerry Fernandez, colors by Ian Laughlin, letters by Tim Harkins

Today in Comics History, July 4, 1962: The infant Jack Kirby is rocketed to Earth from his exploding home planet

from Freedom Force #1 (Image, January 2005), script by Eric Dieter, pencils and inks by Tom Scioli, colors by Tom McCraw, letters by Jim Keplinger and Charles Pritchett

Today in Comics History, July 4: It's business as usual in Smallville

from "The Amazing Tots of Smallville!" in Superboy (1949 series) #102 (DC, January 1963), script by Jerry Siegel, pencils and inks by Al Plastino

Today in Comics History, July 4: G. Gordon Godfrey's "I Have a Terrible, Hideously Agonizing Dream" speech

from Batman #401 (November 1986), script by Barbara J. Randall, pencils and inks by Trevor Von Eeden, colors by Adrienne Roy, letters by John Costanza

Democracy = Giving Pigs and Ducks the Vote

Keep in mind for this scenario to have happened, anthropomorphic animals had a World War II.


"Sweet Land of Liberty" public service advertisement from DC Comics cover-dated August 1951, script by Jack Schiff, pencils and inks by Otto Feuer, letters by Ira Schnapp

So what kind of animal do you think Earth-C Hitler was?

Today in Comics History, July 3, 1897: The Wreck of the S.S. Minnow

from Bram Stoker's Dracula #2 (Topps, November 1992), script by Roy Thomas, pencils by Mike Mignola, inks by John Nyberg, colors by Mark Chiarello, letters by John Costanza

Much the Same Problem Fonzie Had

Page from Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #125 (January 2000), script by Greg Rucka, additional dialogue balloon by Bully the Little Stuffed Bull, pencils by Rick Burchett, inks by James Hodgkins, colors by Klaus Janson, color separations by Wildstorm FX, letters by Willie Schubert

366 Days with Alfred Pennyworth, Day 185

Panels from Batman and the Mad Monk #4 (January 2007), script, pencils, and inks by Matt Wagner; colors by Dave Stewart; letters by Rob Leigh

Today in Comics History, July 3: Alfred drills Robin on the lyrics to "Poker Face"

from The Batman Chronicles: The Gauntlet one-shot (DC, September 1997), script by Bruce Canwell, pencils and inks by Lee Weeks, colors by Matt Hollingsworth, letters by Albert DeGuzman

Off-Model Batman Declares "Winne-Koh-Toh!"

Panel from "A Hairpin, a Hoe, a Hacksaw, a Hole In the Ground!" in Batman #53 (June-July 1949), pencils by Bob Kane [Batman & Robin figures] and Lew Sayre Schwartz [all other pencils], inks by Charles Paris, letters by Ira Schnapp

366 Days with Alfred Pennyworth, Day 184

Panel from Batman: The Chalice graphic novel (December 1999), script by Chuck Dixon; pencils, inks, and colors by John Van Fleet; letters by Jack Morelli

Now We Are Still Six

Hooray! Today is my birthday! And I am nine years old!. No, wait, I've made another one of my silly mistakes and I was holding my birthday card upside-down. Actually, this year I am six years old! Which is a very good age to be.

Birthday celebrations began just before dawn this morning when I jumped up and down on John and Randi's bed and sang "IT'S MY BIRTHDAY! IT'S MY BIRTHDAY! GO BULLY! GO BULLY! LET'S OPEN PRESENTS! IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!" until they told me to go back to bed and not wake up for several more hours.

I was too anxious to go back to sleep so I laid in my bed and read Batman comics until it was time to get up.


Panel from "The Blaze" in Detective Comics #95 (January 1945), script by Mort Weisinger; pencils, inks, and letters by Dick Sprang

Hooray! At last everybody got up and got going thanks to some gentle pushing from me jumping on the bed and singing. We went out and I got Nutella-filled French Toast! And a birthday strawberry on top.



We all went over to our friends Heather and Brian's house. They had a very special surprise for me in a box. What could it be? What could it be?



It's a fabulous birthday cake with my name written on it an' everything! Folks, I'm not to shy to tell you a tear got in my little button eye. Especially when they told me I had to share the cake with everybody else.



It was deeeeeelicious! Also on the top, there was a chocolate bar with my name on it! Even when Reggie Jackson had his candy bar it didn't have his name on the chocolate. How can you say someone is great who's never had his name on candy bars? Ah, I'm jus' joshin' ya, Reggie. I'll be over for those batting lessons later.



THEN IT WAS TIME FOR THE FABULOUS BIRTHDAY PRESENTS. I got a Lego set of Superman and Wonder Woman kissing fighting Lex Luthor in a giant robot. It's like Lego had reached into my dreams.



I received a box of the world's biggest Pop-Tarts™. Seriously, these babies are bigger than I am. And when I've finished them, I can use the box to make a cool fort!



In 2011 I featured "365 Days of the Warriors Three" all year on my blog, and by the end of the year Hasbro had produced Warriors Three action figures! This year I'm spotlighting Alfred Pennyworth and I got an Alfred action figure! So I think that means next year I need to do 365 days of Jane Wiedlin.



Speaking of heroes I've devoted a whole year to, I got a teeny-tiny Ben Grimm figure! I am going to hang him on my backpack. He will also come in useful for clobbering stubborn hard-boiled eggs. Also, if I ever get a pet guinea pig, I can do this with him.



I am a big fan of the 1950s BBC radio programme The Goon Show and here's the latest CD of four remastered episodes. This will have me walking backwards for Christmas all year long!



I got Mr. Toast comic books! Yay! They are funny and you should buy them right now.



Because I use a lot of batteries and I am green (by which I mean ecologically conscious), I got some really good rechargeable batteries for my birthday. This will power my toys for hours! Especially the loud ones! Which is important very early in the morning when nobody else is up to play.



It's almost time to go back to school so I was really glad to get a Batman lunchbox! These are bigger on the inside so you can fit a whole four course meal and dessert in one of these.



I got Marmite. Um. Thank you for the Marmite.



And finally, as the dessert topping on this wonderful cavalcade of gifts, I got my own Bat-Signal. It's just my size!



It really works!



So, a very red satin-heart-felt thank you to everybody who celebrated my birthday and made it such a wonderful day for me. I had a great day and I can't wait until my next birthday! We'll meet back here at this exact spot in a year, okay?



So, as I eat one more piece of birthday cake, there's no better way to wrap up the festivities than with Ten of a King Cake Wrecks! Take it away, vintage comic book covers!























Thanks for comin' to my birthday blog party! And remember: always wish the birthday boy many happy returns!