Today in Comics History, August 29, 1970: FDR is attacked by that sexy French feather duster from Beauty and the Beast

from Silverblade #2 (DC, October 1987), script by Cary Bates, pencils by Gene Colan, inks by Steve Mitchell, colors by Joe Orlando, letters by Gaspar Saladino

365 Days of Star Wars Comics, Day 241: Well, that explains that

Panels from Star Wars: Tag & Bink Are Dead #2 (November 2001), script by Kevin Rubio, pencils by Lucas Marangon, inks by Howard Shum, colors by Michelle Madsen, letters by Steve Dutro

Today in Comics History, August 28: Kirby: Like a Rock

Jack Kirby is a big slab of rock.

Now hold on, hold on. Let me explain.

Jack Kirby is the monolith from Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. Or, to call it by its familiar nickname, TMA-1. Howdy, T!


Now, that's not just because Jack did the oversized treasury edition adaptation of 2001 (and can you think of a Marvel book more deserving of that big-ass format?), but that's a good enough place to start. Along with being glad that Jack Kirby never did a comic book adaptation of Kubrick's Lolita or Eyes Wide Shut. (Although I would have dearly loved to see Jack's version of Dr. Strangelove or A Clockwork Orange. Heck, even Barry Lyndon!


Splash page from Marvel Treasury Special: 2001: A Space Odyssey one-shot (1976), script and pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Frank Giacoia, colors by Marie Severin and Jack Kirby, letters by John Costanza

365 Days of Star Wars Comics, Day 240: You're not my real dad

Panels from Star Wars Annual #1 (1979), script by Chris Claremont, pencils by Mike Vosburg, inks by Steve Leialoha, colors by Bob Sharen, letters by John Costanza
Let's recap:


So, Luke's father and Darth Vader are not the same guy. Hmmm. Works for me. That can never be redacted!

365 Days of Star Wars Comics, Day 239: I go out walkin' after midnight, out in the moonlight

Hey, remember when Darth Vader did this?:


Panels from Star Wars (2015 Marvel series) #2 (April 2015), script by Jason Aaron, pencils and inks by John Cassaday, colors by Laura Martin, letters by Chris Eliopoulos
Big whoop. Luke Skywalker can do this:


Panels from Star Wars: Dark Empire #1 (December 1991); script by Tom Veitch; pencils, inks, and colors by Cam Kennedy; letters by Todd Klein
Like father, like son? Think about it, won't you?

365 Days of Star Wars Comics, Day 238: Lando: cool as a cucumber under pressure

Panels from Star Wars: Empire's End #1 (October 1995), script by Tom Veitch, painted art by Jim Baikie, letters by L. Lois Buhalis

Geez, Marvel, really?!? (Vietnam War Department)

From the "Next Issue" blurb page in Marvel's recent The Punisher #16, a promo of issue 17's cover:


Um, Marvel. Probably not the most prudent and sensitive way to feature actual names of U.S. military killed in Vietnam is to put them in a legible image of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall as a backdrop to your Punisher/Captain America comic book slugfest.

Showing an intelligent consideration by Marvel, by the time the actual issue came out two weeks later, the cover looked like this instead, with the Wall's names obscured...


Cover of The Punisher (2014 series) #17 (June 2015), art by Mitch Gerads
...except for one name, Mitch Gerads. The book's artist.


So, anybody else besides me find the concept of the artist putting his own name (complete with cheeky P!nk-style "!" in place of an I) on a depiction of the Vietnam Wall alongside the actual historical names of casualties...not quite right?

In other words: geez, Marvel, really?!?

365 Days of Star Wars Comics, Day 237: Go that way! You'll be malfunctioning within a day, you nearsighted scrap pile!

Cover of Star Wars: Droids (Dark Horse 1994 limited series) #4 (July 1994), painting by Kilian Plunkett

Where the Heck II: Veteran of the Secret Wars (Continuing Credit Where Credit Is Due)

We're about halfway through Marvel's gynormous Secret Wars mega-event, or as I prefer to call it "You liked the Age of Apocalypse? Well, here's fifty of 'em!". Although they're kind of using up their "What If?" quota for the 2010s pretty fast, I'm enjoying a lot of the series, especially Planet Hulk, X-Men '92, Runaways, Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows, Ghost Racers, Giant-Size Little Marvel, Captain Marvel & the Carol Corps, and the "nontinuity" of Deadpool's Secret Secret Wars flashing back to the original Secret Wars. And last week's Howard the Human was as delightfully surreal as I had hoped, with glorious art by Jim Mahood, reminding me of Mark Martin's Gnatrat from the 1990s. (And yes, that's a big compliment from yours little stuffed truly.)

But you may remember when I recently chided Marvel Comics for listing the creators of Iron Man incorrectly in Armor Wars #1. To sum up briefly, the "created by" line reads


when it should read

Iron Man created by Stan Lee, Don Heck,
Larry Lieber, and Jack Kirby

Yeah! Don't forget Heck and Lieber, guys!

Sadly, though, the credits pages of Armor Wars #2 continued to insist


And #3 and 4 averted redressing the problem by avoiding any "created by" credit whatsoever:


C'mon, Marvel! You've got one issue of Armor Wars left in the miniseries to give Heck 'n' Lieber their due. especially since you'd gotten it right up until that point, as seen in tehthecredits of Superior Iron Man #9:


Heck, if you can get this guy's credit right...


That's about all I need to say right now about Secret Wars: Fight for the Right to Party, except for this...


Panel from "Misty and Danny Forever" in Secret Wars: Secret Love #1 (October 2015); script by Jeremy Whitley; pencils, inks, and colors by Gurihiru; letters by Clayton Cowles
…which is set on a realm of Battleworld so bizarre that Colleen Wing's apartment door opens outwards (even though its hinges aren't on the outside). Are they on the same world as Mystery Science Theater 3000's "Gunslinger?"


If so, I so wanna see the Daughters of the Dragon fight Roger Corman!

(And remember:)

Iron Man created by Stan Lee, Don Heck,
Larry Lieber, and Jack Kirby

365 Days of Star Wars Comics, Day 236: I'm not quite certain the Star Wars Universe has mastered the art of the turtleneck

Panels from the Star Wars comic strip adaptation of Brian Daley's early proto-Expanded Universe novel Han Solo at Stars' End (novel April 1979, comic strip circa 1980), reprinted in Classic Star Wars: Han Solo at Stars' End #2 (April 1997), script by Archie Goodwin, pencils and inks by Alfredo Alcala, colors by Perry McNamee

Ten of a Kind: Hot Fun in the Summertime

(More Ten of a Kind here.)

365 Days of Star Wars Comics, Day 235: In space, no one can see Carmine Infantino's vanishing point

Cover of Star Wars Weekly #113 (April 23, 1980), pencils by Carmine Infantino, inks by Bob Wiacek
And here's a bonus better look: Infantino and Wiacek's original pencils and inks for the cover!: