Today in Comics History, December 14: Hawkeye watches Dog Cops, then throws up in an alley. Coincidence? I think not.

from Hawkguy Hawkeye (2012 series) #6 (Marvel, February 2013), script by Matt Fraction, pencils and inks by David Aja, colors by Matt Hollingsworth, letters by Chris Eliopoulos

Psylocke Psaturday #23: Two Things Psylocke Does Very Well

Two Things Psylocke Does Very Well™:

Fight...

...and pose.

Panels from Uncanny X-Men #239 (December 1988), script by Chris Claremont, pencils by Marc Silvestri, inks by Dan Green, colors by Glynis Oliver, letters by Tom Orzechowski
Fight and pose: check and check. Two skills Psylocke has perfected that will make her an essential part of comic books in the 1990s.

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 348: There's no place like gnome

House ad for The Superman Family #182 (March-April 1977); printed in The Superman Family #181 (January 1977)
Ad art: pencils and inks by Neal Adams (Superman), pencils and inks by Kurt Schaffenburger (Lois, Jimmy, Supergirl); designed and lettered by Gaspar Saladino
...otherwise known as the month Superman Family became a Dollar Comic: 80 pages of brand-new, no-reprint stories!


Left: Cover of The Superman Family #181, pencils by Ernie Chan, inks by Vince Colletta
Right: Cover of The Superman Family #182, pencils by Curt Swan, inks by Neal Adams
...also known as the month Superman and Supergirl accidentally killed Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen by flying them into outer space.

A Four Color Christmas, Day 14: Post-War Santa is extra-generous

Cover of Four Color #126 [Christmas with Mother Goose] (November 1946), pencils and inks by Walt Kelly

Today in Comics History, December 13, 1946: Gotham City's Most Ironic Death Sentence

Hey, remember that TV show Early Edition, about the guy who got newspapers from the future?


opening titles from Early Edition (CBS, 1996), theme composed by W. G. Snuffy Walden
Well, as we all know...Batman did it first.


from "The Man Who Could Not Die!" in World's Finest Comics #32 (January 1948), script by Bill Finger, pencils by Paul Cooper, inks by Ray Burnley, letters by Ira Schnapp
When he finds out he is unkillable for 365 days (366 days if it's a leap year), crook Lucky Star does what all of us would do in the same situation: he cosplays as Ted "Starman" Knight.




Uh oh! It's into the pokey for Lucky Starr. But could that prediction of the day he dies actually come true, Alanis? Why...yessssssssssssss.


Most tragically of all: Lucky never lived to see his theme song finally hit the top of the pop charts.


"Lucky Star" by Madonna (1983), written by Madonna

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 347: The sky's color blind

I didn't want this feature to wrap up without spotlighting one of the great DC house ads from the mid-1980s (the just-before-Crisis-era):


House ad for Sgt. Rock #405-406 (October-November 1985); printed in World's Finest Comics #319 (September 1985)
Ad art: pencils and inks by Joe Kubert

A Four Color Christmas, Day 13: Serves those circus clowns right for leaving it unlocked

Cover of Four Color #1154 [Santa Claus Funnies] (December 1960), painted art by unknown

They said get back Cosmo Cat / Better get back to the moon

And now...Horrible Children of the Golden Age!


Panel from Cosmo Cat #10 (October 1947), script by Pat Adams, pencils and inks by Ellis Chambers (?)
Yes, death is too good for them.

Today in Comics History, December 12: Jack Dale is reminded that telegrams were once a thing, apparently

from "Death in the Northwoods!" in Detective Comics #154 (December 1949), script by Don Cameron, pencils by Carmine Infantino

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 346: Don't talk to strangers

House ad for Showcase #80 [The Phantom Stranger] (February 1969); printed in Batman #209 (February 1969)
Ad designed and lettered by Gaspar Saladino
Neal Adams cover? You know what that means...here's a bigger, full-cover version!:


Cover of Showcase #80, pencils and inks by Neal Adams, Phantom Stranger logo by Gaspar Saladino

Today in Comics History, December 12: Modern art takes revenge on guy who said "My kid coulda painted that!"

from "Only Pantorro Knew!" in Ghost Stories #5 (Dell, January 1964), script by Carl Memling, pencils and inks by Gerald McCann

Today in Comics History, December 12: Turns out to have been Ma's birthday after all

from 100 Bullets #22 (DC/Vertigo, May 2001), script by Brian Azzarello, pencils and inks by Eduardo Risso, colors by Patricia Mulvihill, color separations by Digital Chameleon, letters by Clem Robins
Happy birthday, Ma! Sorry we already ate the cake on December second.

A Four Color Christmas, Day 12: He'll be back again someday, if he survives on that ice floe

Cover of Four Color #1065 [Frosty the Snowman] (December 1959), artist unknown

Sweet Luke Cage's Baadasssss Christmasssss

A Bully Christmas Classic, originally posted December 12, 2007! (You can tell it's a classic because it's in black and white.) Enjoy or enjoy again!

Hey, Luke Cage! What's your favorite holiday?


Um, I'm sorry, you'll have to speak up...what did you say?


Really? I woulda thought you'd say Martin Luther King Jr. Day, or Kwanzaa. But you really prefer...


Well, that's great. I bet you're gonna get some fantastic gifts.
What do you want for Christmas?


So how's the Hero for Hire business? Are you working on any special cases this holiday season?


How do you plan on celebrating Christmas?



Really? When do the festivities begin?


And I'm sure you'll be decorating the place and making it look so festive! Say, where do you think you'll put your Christmas tree this year?


Whoops, speaking of Santa, here he comes!


I think you're right! But you'd better get to bed, Luke. If you don't Santa will never come. You can't stay up all night!


Oh, you know, Mister Cage, I'm been trying to remember...that song "Last Christmas"...who was that sung by?


Well gosh, thanks for talking to us, Mister Cage. One last question: if you were to read any kind of little stuffed animal blogger, which one would be your favorite?


Happy Sweet Christmas to you too, Luke.

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 345: How Grover Groundhog Stole Christmas

House ad for Funny Stuff Stocking Stuffer one-shot (March 1985); printed in World's Finest Comics #313 (March 1985)
Ad art: pencils and inks by Jim Engel, from the cover of Funny Stuff Stocking Stuffer one-shot

A Four Color Christmas, Day 11: Don't you know your name, girl? / Twelve people gonna ask you just the same, girl

Cover of Four Color #533 [Raggedy Ann + Andy] (February 1954), painted art by Dan Gormley
6,600.

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 344: They hate these posters!

House ad for Our Army at War #203 [Sgt. Rock's Prize Battle Tales,
a.k.a. 80-Page Giant #G-56] (February-March 1969); printed in Batman #209 (February 1969)
Comic cover art: pencils and inks by Joe Kubert
Ad designed and lettered by Gaspar Saladino

Today in Comics History Future, December 10, 2994: Cops is filmed on location with the Science Police, the men and women and beings of Neo-Metropolis

text page from Legion of Super-Heroes (1989 series) #12 (DC, October 1990); script by Keith Giffen, Tom Bierbaum, and Mary Bierbaum, with an assist by Al Gordon

A Four Color Christmas, Day 10: A reading from the Book of St. Nicholas

Cover of Four Color #666* [Santa Claus Funnies] (December 1955), painted cover by Mel Crawford
*Yes, I know. Well, just rearrange the letters of his first name and see what you wind up with!

Lana Lang is surrounded and attacked by word balloons

Panel from Superman (1987 series) #2 (February 1987), script and pencils by John Byrne, inks by Terry Austin, colors by Tom Ziuko, letters by John Costanza

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 343: Lois Lane, please put me in your planner

House ad for Countdown (2007-2008); printed in Batman #664 (May 2007)
Ad art: pencils and inks by Phil Noto

A Four Color Christmas, Day 9: Little Boo was bad all year so Santa brought her a stocking full of rats

Cover of Four Color #172 [Christmas with Mother Goose] (November 1947), pencils and inks by Walt Kelly

Psylocke Psunday #22: Otter, otter, candlelight / Doin' the town and doin' it right

1988's Marvel annuals introduced the most frightening, terrifying villain of all:

The Company-Wide Crossover.

Mind you, we did get Speedball out of it, so it's still up for debate.

Anyway: Psylocke had a minimal-to-invisible presence in the main story of '88's Uncanny X-Men Annual #12, but the back-up story features a return to the villain voted Bully's Least Favorite Comic Book Villain over a record-breaking seven years from 1986-1993 (and again in 2001-2004), Mojo. In it, we learn an important fact, Official handbook of the Marvel Universe-style: since the X-Men passed through the Siege Perilous and became invisible to electronic surveillance, Mojo can no longer watch through Betsy's Mojoverse-created bionic baby blue eyes, closing off a subplot that honestly pretty much never went anywhere. Quel surprise, Claremont!


Panel from "I Want My X-Men!" in Uncanny X-Men Annual #12 (1988), script by Chris Claremont, pencils by Art Adams, inks by Bob Wiacek, colors by Glynis Oliver, letters by Tom Orzechowski
Annoyed by the lack of X-Infotainment, Mojo summons his Brain Trust of designers, who...yeah, ha ha...resemble the editor and creators on Marvel's X-Men comic. From left to right: Bob Harras, Bob Wiacek, Glynis Oliver, Art Adams, Chris Claremont, and Tom Orzechowski.


Vanna White is in this story too. You may remember her stint working on X-Men. She was only on the book for a while. Well, just a spell.


Anyway, I know who you've come here about, and she begins with P-S-Y and she ends with C-K-E. And a L-O in the middle. And she is in here, although not immediately. First we see Mojo roll through a number of alternate X-Versions, but they don't test well in the ratings with Males 2,100-3,400 pounds. There's the Gender Swap Earth-11 X-Men-slash-Women:


Nor does Betsy appear among the Robot-X-Men or the Hellfire Club Leather Bondage X-Men.
But can you handle the intense cuddliness and the sheer plushosity of...

The All-New, All-Animal X-Men?!?

And Psylocke is

AN OTTER

That concludes this post on behalf of the People Who Like to See Other People Turned Into Otters Association.

OTTER!