365 Days of KirbyTech, Day 81: Zakka's Shock-Pistol

Huh. Isn't that just like a Deviant, to bring a Shock-Pistol to a Monster Fight.


Panels from The Eternals Annual #1 (1977), script and pencils by Jack Kirby, inks and letters by Mike Royer, colors by Glynis Wein

Today in Comics History, March 21, 1985: Batman forgives Robin for overstarching his cape

from "Day of Doom" in Batman #385 (DC, July 1985), script by Doug Moench, pencils by Rick Hoberg and Chuck Patton, inks by Alfredo Alcala, colors by Adrienne Roy, letters by John Constanza

Today in Comics History, March 21, 1985: The red skies of Crisis on Infinite Earths make Batman swear irritably

from "The First Day of Spring" in Detective Comics #551 (DC, June 1985), script by Doug Moench, pencils by Pat Broderick, inks by Bob Smith, colors by Adrienne Roy, letters by John Workman

365 Days of KirbyTech, Day 80: Reed Richards' Flask of Highly Unstable Radioactive Particles

Say there, Kirby Kats and Kirby Kittens, can you guess what this is?


If you guessed a flask of radioactive particles, well, then, pal, you win the Bull-Prize!


Panel from Fantastic Four (1961 series) #130 (January 1973), script by Roy Thomas, pencils by John Buscema, inks by Joe Sinnott, colors by Petra Goldberg, letters by Artie Simek
<sarcasm>Genius move, Reed!</sarcasm> But what we're all really wondering, of course, is how Reed got that snake on his face.


Also, we want to know what weird, twisted version of Edward Lear's "The Owl and the Pussycat" Marvel is publishing this month.

Today in Comics History, March 21, 1985: Batman vows that no more Robins will die (this week)

from "The First Day of Spring" in Detective Comics #551 (DC, June 1985), script by Doug Moench, pencils by Pat Broderick, inks by Bob Smith, colors by Adrienne Roy, letters by John Workman

Today in Comics History, March 21, 1985: Vicky Vale's pin-up calendar is not as racy as her fans had hoped

from "The First Day of Spring" in Detective Comics #551 (DC, June 1985), script by Doug Moench, pencils by Pat Broderick, inks by Bob Smith, colors by Adrienne Roy, letters by John Workman
It's this panel that shows that all the other panels in this storyline (Batman #384-385, Detective Comics 551) take place in 1985.

Today in Comics History, March 21, 1985: Batman makes a typo when marking down the first day of Robin's diet

from "Broken Dates" in Batman #384 (DC, June 1985), script by Doug Moench, pencils by Rick Hoberg, inks by Rudy Nebres, colors by Adrienne Roy, letters by John Workman

Today in Comics History, March 21: Calendar Man checks his oddly specialized custom Moleskine

from "Shadow Play" in Batman #348 (DC, June 1982), script by Gerry Conway, pencils by Gene Colan, inks by Klaus Janson, colors by Adrienne Roy, letters by Ben Oda

365 Days of KirbyTech, Day 79: The Stun-Bolt Gun of Baron Zemo's Shock Troopers

Panel from the Captain America story "The Claws of the Panther!" in Tales of Suspense #98 (February 1968), script by Stan Lee, pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Joe Sinnott, letters by Artie Simek

365 Days of KirbyTech, Day 78: Captain Okada's Sea-Dragon

The portrayals of Japanese sailors in this WWII-era Captain America comic are offensive and racist in their depiction. They are presented here as a historical document of a 1941 Golden Age comic book within the context of its contemporary history and perceptions of the time.


Panel from "The Gruesome Secret of the Dragon of Death!" in Captain America Comics #5 (August 1941), script and art by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby

365 Days of KirbyTech, Day 77: Reed Richards' Movie Camera

Panel from Fantastic Four (1961 series) #56 (November 1966), co-plot and script by Stan Lee, co-plot and pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Joe Sinnott, letters by Artie Simek

365 Days of KirbyTech, Day 76: Annihilus's Rail-Plane

You can judge a culture by its public transport, so we here on civilized, mechanized Earth need to give a hearty "thumbs-up" to the brutal dictatorship of Annihilus's Negative Zone regime, because it happens to have the amazing, extraordinary wonder of the Rail-Plane!


Panel from Fantastic Four Annual #6 (November 1968), script by Stan Lee, pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Joe Sinnott, letters by Sam Rosen

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

from "The Luck of O'Grady" in Superman (1939 series) #22 (DC, May 1943), script by Jerry Siegel, pencils and inks by John Sikela

Today in Comics History, March 16: Batman and Robin arrive just in time for Game Night

from Batman #384 (DC, June 1985), script by Doug Moench, pencils by Rick Hoberg, inks by Rudy Nebres, colors by Adrienne Roy, letters by John Workman

Today in Comics History, March 16: The "B.D. in Vietnam" strips in Doonesbury get really dark

from Before Watchmen: Comedian #5 (March 2013), script by Brian Azzarello, pencils and inks by J.G. Jones, colors by Alex Sinclair, letters by Clem Robins
(Here's the real thing:)


Doonesbury comic strips (February 23 and March 3, 1972), script and art by Garry Trudeau

365 Days of KirbyTech, Day 75: The SHIELD Televiewer Tube

Are you afraid of living in the early twenty-first century, where the NSA* can spy on your every move, no matter how many times you erase your browser history? Well, let me alleviate your concerns. You have nothing at all new to worry about...


Splash page from "Sometimes the Good Guys Lose!" in Strange Tales #138 (November 1965), plot and layouts by Jack Kirby, dialogue by Stan Lee, finishes by John Severin, colors by Stan Goldberg, letters by Sam Rosen
...because the same thing has been done to you by SHIELD** since the late 1960s, using their patented Upside-Down Periscope!


*Naughty Spying Antics
**Spying Habitually Into Everyone's Little Details

Today in Comics History, March 16, 1935: Police detective forgets dentists are doctors

from "The Big Heist" in Gang Busters #26 (DC, February 1952), pencils and inks by John Lehti

Today in Comics History, March 16, 1975: Satana causes a car accident by wearing a skintight bodysuit while hitchhiking

from the Satana story "Deathsong," re-printed in black-and-white in Essential Marvel Horror v.1 (2006), script by Chris Claremont, pencils and inks by "The Tribe" (a group of Filipino artists that included Tony DeZuniga, Yong Montano, and Ernie Chan, among others), letters by Pablo Marcos
But say, what day did that fatal story take place, Marvel Premiere?


from Marvel Premiere #27 [Satana] (December 1975), credits as above plus colors by Janice Cohen
Which only goes to prove: this sort of thing happens to Satana at least twice a year.