Today in Comics History, August 3, 1977: Alan Moore makes sure he leaves some space to tell stories that take place before Watchmen

from Watchmen #4 (DC, December 1986), script by Alan Moore; pencils, inks, and letters by Dave Gibbons; colors by John Higgins

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 215: This Famous Symbol Week, Day 7: Bullseye!

"This Famous Symbol" house ad for National/DC Comics (1953); printed in Here's Howie #8 (March-April 1953)

Say, since it's the last day of "This Famous Symbol" week, why don't we pay homage to my pals the bulls? Or, more accurately, their eyes:


House ad for "This Famous Symbol" house ad for National/DC Comics (1950); printed in World's Finest comics #46 (June-July 1950)

Today in Comics History, AUgust 3, 1968: First appearance, Saturn Werewolf

from "Riddle of the Random Realities!" in Strange Adventures (1999 series) #1 (DC/Vertigo, November 1999); script, pencils, and inks (and letters?) by Dave Gibbons, colors by Angus McKie

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 214: This Famous Symbol Week, Day 6: Amazon.com later stole this idea from DC

"This Famous Symbol" house ad for The Adventures of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis #4 (January-February 1953); printed in Detective Comics #191 (January 1953)
Comic cover art: pencils and inks by Howie Post
Ad designed and lettered by Ira Schnapp

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 213: This Famous Symbol Week, Day 5: The day the sun exploded over Metropolis

"This Famous Symbol" house ad for DC Comics (1951); printed in Detective Comics #169 (March 1951)

Today in Comics History, August 1: Hard-hitting lease-breaking action!

from Spider-Woman (1978 series) #20 (Marvel, November 1979), co-plot by Steven Grant, co-plot and script by Mark Gruenwald, pencils by Frank Springer, inks by Mike Esposito, colors by Nelson Yomtov, letters by John Costanza

Today in Comics History, August 1: Waldo spotted

from The Unwritten #35.5 (DC/Vertigo, May 2012), plot by Peter Gross, script by Mike Carey, pencils and inks by Gabriel Hernandez Walta, colors by Lee Loughridge, letters by Todd Klein

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 212: This Famous Symbol Week, Day 4: More stars than there are in the heavens

House ad for the DC "Line of Stars" (1953); printed in Here's Howie #9 (May-June 1953)



House ad for the DC "Line of Stars" (1957); printed in Showcase #9 (July-August 1957)



House ad for the DC "Line of Stars" (1957); printed in Wonder Woman #131 (July 1962)

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 211: This Famous Symbol Week, Day 3: Gaze deep into the terrifying eyes of young "Terrible" Dan Turpin

House ad for "America's Greatest Comics Characters" (1949); printed in Batman #51 (February-March 1949)
In the Great Hall of the Justice League...there are assembled the world's greatest heroes...created from the cosmic legends of the universe! Superman! Wonder Woman! Batman and Robin! The Flash! Green Lantern! And those three junior Super Friends: Mutt, Jeff and Brooklyn! Their mission: to fight injustice, to right that which is wrong, and to serve all mankind!

Captain Tootsie Month, Day 30: Hey Venus

Something a little special for all your Captain Tootsie fans out there (one...two...three...well, maybe there's a couple more of you): did y'all know that Captain Tootsie had his own comic book magazine! No! I'm not lying! Not this time!


Cover of Captain Tootsie #1 (Toby Comics, October 1950), artist unknown

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 210: This Famous Symbol Week, Day 2: The New 41

"This Famous Symbol" house ad for DC Comics (1955); printed in Adventure Comics #210 (March 1955)
Ad designed and lettered (top panel) by Ira Schnapp

Oh! And because I'm the Bull Who Gives You a Bonus, here's the Marvel Comics equivalent of the "This Famous Symbol" ads!


House ad from Suspense #1 (December 1949)

Captain Tootsie Month, Day 29: Following smoke inhalation, immediately administer Tootsie Rolls

"Captain Tootsie Saves the Day!" from Detective Comics #153 (November 1949), by C. C. Beck

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 209: This Famous Symbol Week, Day 1: Number One with the Bullet

All this week on "365 Days of DC House Ads," I'll be spotlighting some of DC's finest This Famous Symbol ads—house promos that promote the line of DC stars as well as remind you that you can find the finest books in comicdom simple by looking for the DC logo!


No, no, I meant the older logos.

Sharp-eyed, fang-toothed, beetle-browed readers will recognize my header above as a homage and not at all a violation of copyright to the DC Dollar Bill ads that festooned the top DC/National mags of the days of yore. That is, "yore" favorite comic books!:


"This Famous Symbol" house ad for DC Comics (1957); printed in Detective Comics #239 (January 1957)
Ad designed and lettered by Ira Schnapp
This ad's appearance in 'Tec #239 is a third-of-a-page and only features that image, but it was frequently used on a full-page house ad in conjunction with promoting a couple National books:



Top: "This Famous Symbol" house ad for Action Comics #203 (April 1955), cover pencils and inks by Al Plastino; and Adventure Comics #211 (April 1955), cover pencils and inks by Win Mortimer; printed in Jimmy Olsen #5 (May-June 1955)
Bottom: "This Famous Symbol" house ad for Mutt & Jeff #77 (March 1955 ), cover artist unknown; and Nutsy Squirrel #64 (March-April 1955), cover artist unknown; printed in Peter Porkchops #36 (April 1955)
Ad designed and lettered by Ira Schnapp
Here's a "rare" pink version of the "DC dollar":

"This Famous Symbol" house ad for Sgt. Bilko's Pvt. Doberman #4 (December 1958-January 1959), cover pencils and inks by Bob Oksner (?); and Adventures of Jerry Lewis #50 (January-February 1959), artist unknown; printed in Sgt. Bilko #11 (January-February 1959)
Ad designed and lettered by Ira Schnapp
So, don't forget, kids...


...Superman-DC comics protected you against the big bad boogyman of comic books like this!


Cover of Crime SuspenStories #22 (April-May 1954), pencils and inks by Johnny Craig
Self-righteous flying A with two Cs for wings, we salute you!

Captain Tootsie Month, Day 28: Oh, it's a Johnny Holiday with Tootsie...

"Captain Tootsie and His Friends See Johnny Holiday," from Whip Wilson #9 (April 1950), by Bill Schreiber
Wait a minute...they all met William Bendix when he was making the Babe Ruth movie! What is the mysterious connection between William Bendix and the Tootsie Company? Is Bendix in for forty large to Captain Tootsie, thus ensuring his cooperation when it comes time to make these comic ads? Did the Tootsie Company kill William Bendix as a warning to other actors?!? (Answer: no.)

TOOTSIE!