Today in Comics History, September 7: Ye Green Arrow comic book ye uses lots of ye's

from "The Diary of a Desperado" in Adventure Comics #145 (DC, October 1949), script by Otto Binder, pencils and inks by George Papp

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 250: Lois is doin' it for herself

House ad for Lois Lane #80 (January 1968); printed in Teen Titans (1966 series) #13 (January-February 1968)
Ad designed and lettered by Gaspar Saladino
And Lois never saw Superman, ever again.

Here's the color version of that cover:


Cover of Lois Lane #80 (January 1968), pencils by Curt Swan, inks by Neal Adams, letters by Ira Schnapp
Sadly, that is not the actual first page of LL #80 peeking at us from where Lois has torn down the "Superman's Girlfriend" part of her logo.

Comics Pulps Within Comics Month, Day 7: Who knows?

from Batman: Dark Allegiances graphic novel (DC, 1996); script, pencils, inks, and colors by Howard Chaykin, color seprations by Jamison, letters by Ken Bruzenak


cover of The Shadow Magazine #60 (Street & Smith, August 1934), painted cover by George Rozen

Rebus!

Can you solve the mysterious rebus picture puzzle? Here it is:


Answer: "Bully is under the weather." Cough, cough!

So that means I'm falling a bit behind on current posts but I will put them all up online when I feel better! Send me some chicken soup, folks! Also: comic books for me to read in bed.

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 249: It's only a model

House ad for The Legend of King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table four-part series (never published); printed in Batman Family #1 (September-October 1975)
Ad art by Nestor Redondo
Sadly, Nestor Redondo (who drew Rima the Jungle Girl, one of my favorite "obscure" DC comics), didn't finish the King Arthur project and it was never published. But hey, eventually we got Camelot 3000 and we did get this:


Panels from Muppet King Arthur #1 (December 2009), script by Paul Benjamin and Patrick Storck, pencils and inks by Dave Alverez, colors by Digikore STudios, letters by Deron Bennett

Comics Within Comics Month, Day 6: Come on baby light your Fantastic Four #4 in mint condition 9.8

Panels from FF (2013 series) #5 (May 2013), script by Matt Fraction, pencils and inks by Michael Allred, colors by Laura Allred, letters by Clayton Cowles



Cover of Fantastic Four (1961 series) #4 (May 1962), pencils byJack Kirby, inks by Sol Brodsky, colors by Stan Goldberg, letters by Artie Simek

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 248: We Got the Beat

House ad for Teen Beat #1 (November-December 1967); printed in Batman #196 (November 1967)
Artist unknown

Comics Within Comics Month, Day 5: Not to be confused with Firestar

Panel from Action Comics (2011 series) #9 (July 2012), script by Grant Morrison, pencils and inks by Gene Ha, colors by Art Lyon, letters by Pat Brosseau



Cover of Starfire #5 (April-May 1977), pencils by Mike Vosburg, inks by Vince Colletta

Put on your 3-D glasses NOW!

In honor of the release of DC's three-dimensional comic book covers released today (and, y'know, I think there are some comic books attached to them), here's your favorite little stuffed comics blogger...in amazing eye-popping three dimensions!


For those you without 3D glasses, or possibly with only one eye (you're welcome, Nick Fury, Deathstroke, and Peter Falk!), here's how I look in your puny two-dimensional universe!


And I'm not going away until you get me to say my name backwards! It's pronounced "Yllub."

Oh...poop.

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 247: The only DC comic book with a hero who bites the heads off chickens, aside from some copies of Batman/Ozzy Osbourne Team-Up #1

House ad for Brother Power, The Geek #2 (November-December 1968); printed in Batman #205 (September 1968)
Comic cover art: pencils and inks by Joe Simon, letters by Gaspar Saladino
Ad designed and lettered by Gaspar Saladino
Say, this ad is dated September 5, and it's really only the 4th! What gives, Mister Bull? (you may very well ask; and you are very polite, yes you are!) Well, that's because I've got something even more special for you for 9/5 tomorrow: it's the grooviest, it's the ginchiest, it's not even really a comic book! Can you guess what it is? Hint: it's all hosted by this groovy gal:

Today in Comics History, September 4, 1882: I've seen the lights go up on Broadway

from Hawkguy Hawkeye (2012 series) #10 (Marvel, July 2013); script by Matt Fraction, pencils, inks, and colors by Francesco Francavilla; letters by Chris Eliopoulos and Clayton Cowles

At 3 pm on September 4, 1882, [Thomas] Edison threw the switch that would start up America's first power plant, serving a square-mile area that included some very wealthy and influential customers: J.P. Morgan, the Stock Exchange, and the nation's largest newspapers. "I have accomplished all that I promised," the inventor said.

It would take another two years for the public to trust electricity enough to purchase orders for plants in other cities. Edison promoted electric light as being clean, healthy, and efficient—unlike foul-smelling, dangerous gas—and had reason to think the public believed him. Cables insulated with beeswax and paraffin had been laid under the streets, but before long problems surfaced: horses were shocked trotting down wet streets, workmen electrocuted. [...]

[I]ndustrialist George Westinghouse had developed a a far-reaching system that used high-voltage alternating current (AC), and a former employee of Edison's, Nikola Tesla, invented AC motors and generators that threatened Edison's domination of the electrical industry. In a last-ditch effort to save the business he had created, Edison took advantage of an unusual opportunity to discredit Westinghouse. He gave his full endorsement to a plan to use 1,000 volts of AC—from a Westinghouse generator—to execute criminals sentenced to death in New York State. The first execution turned into a grisly spectacle, damaging Edison's reputation. The board of Edison General Electric decided to adopt AC power, and dropped Edison's name; the company was now called "General Electric."

Edison would refuse to set foot in any General Electric plants for the next 30 years, but his ability to reinvent himself matched his scientific prowess. In the second half of his life he would invent the first motion picture camera, improve his phonograph, and become America's first entertainment mogul. "People will forget," he stated with typical bravado, "that my name ever was connected with anything electrical."

—from The American Experience: Thomas Edison's Miracle of Light

And let's not even mention Topsy the elephant.

Comics Within Comics Month, Day 4: This is how awesome Batman is...

...so awesome that his legend is carried on into post-apocalyptic Earth through the medium of his own comic books!


Panels from The Brave and the Bold #120 (July 1975); script by Bob Haney; pencils, inks, and letters by Jim Aparo



Cover of The Brave and the Bold #118 (April 1975), pencils and inks by Jim Aparo, colors by Tatjana Wood

The Entire Silver Age in One Comics Panel

Panel from "Return of the Super Gorilla!" in The Flash (1959 series) #107 (June-July 1959), script by John Broome, pencils by Carmine Infantino, inks by Joe Giella

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 246: "Bob!"*

Another one of the "really amazingly good despite its origin as a tie-in comic to an Atari video game cartridge and it's a shame it will never be reprinted because of the rights issues" comic books:


House ad for Atari Force (1984 series) #1 (January 1984); printed in Thriller #4 (February 1984)
Ad art taken from the cover of Atari Force #1, pencils and inks by José Luis Garcia-López

*If you recognize that reference, I love you very much and will give you a big fuzzy little stuffed hug.

Comics Within Comics Month, Day 3: Even Brainiac-5 had trouble following the plot of Final Crisis

Panels from Adventure Comics #507 (June 2009), script by Geoff Johns and Sterling Gates, pencils by Jerry Ordway, inks by Bob Wiacek, colors by Brian Buccellato, letters by Steve Wands



Cover of Final Crisis: Legion of Three Worlds #4 (June 2009), pencils and inks by George Pérez, colors by Hi-Fi

Today in Comics History, September 3, 1783: Treaty of Paris is signed; George Washington sets up two dates at the same time

from Archie & Friends #132 (Archie, August 2009), script by Arie Kaplan, pencils by Pat Kennedy, inks by Mark McKenna, colors by Glenn Whitemore, letters by Jack Morelli

Today in Comics History, Tuesday the 3rd: Giant mystery solved by giant detective

from Batman #540 (DC, March 1997), script by Doug Moench, pencils by Kelley Jones, inks by John Beatty, colors by Greg Wright, letters by Todd Klein

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 245: Aquaman and Nova begged to be in this one

House ad for Marvel Treasury Edition #28 [Superman and Spider-Man] (July 1981); printed in Batman #327 (September 1980)

Today in Comics History, September 2: Arthur Dent attends an art exhibit with She-Two-Face

from Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere #5 (DC/Vertigo, January 2006), script by Mike Carey, pencils and inks by Glenn Fabry, colors by Tanya Horie and Richard Horie, letters by Todd Klein

Comics Within Comics Month, Day 2: Comics are your best entertainment value (if you're a Norse god)

Panels from Journey into Mystery #646 (January 2013), script by Kathryn Immonen, pencils and inks by Valerio Schiti, colors by Jordie Bellaire, letters by Clayton Cowles




Covers of Journey into Mystery #67-68 (April-May 1961); pencils by Steve Ditko (#67) and Jack Kirby (#68), inks by Steve Ditko (#67) and Dick Ayers (#68), colors by Stan Goldberg, letters by Artie Simek

Ten of a Kind: Dr. Doom and the Bikini Machine*

(More Ten of a Kind here.)

*Someone must write a comic by this title, stat.

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 244: INSERT COMIC BOOK AD HERE

Let's kick off September with the most generic DC house ads ever!




House ads for Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman comics (2007); printed in Cartoon Network Action Pack #14 (August 2007)

Ad art: Batman, from the cover of Batman #655 (September 2006): pencils and inks by Andy Kubert
Superman, from the cover of Superman #654 (September 2006):
pencils by Carlos Pacheco, inks by Jesus Merino, colors by Dave Stewart
Wonder Woman: pencils by Terry Dodson, inks by Rachel Dodson (?)

Today in Comics History, August 28: Happy Birthday, Big Guy! (2013)

Yes, I do know it was the past week, but I wanted to wait until the end of the week to wish birthday greetings to one of the biggest names in comics. That's right...

Happy Birthday, Herbie!

Panels from Walt Disney's The Love Bug one-shot (June 1969), pencils and inks by Dan Spiegle