Saturday, February 13, 2021

Today in Comics History, February 13: She leaves it to him, baby


from "Dear Valentine!" in Adventures into Terror #31 (Marvel/Atlas, May 1954), pencils and inks by Al Hartley

Wondering what I was talking about in the alt-text? Check it out here, baby! And tune in tomorrow for the blood-pumping conclusion to this story!

Friday, February 12, 2021

Today in Comics History, February 12, 1908: Grandfather bores young boy by relating the entire plot of the movie The Great Race



from "The Race History Will Never Forget" in Real Fact Comics #20 (DC, May 1949); script by Jack Schiff, Mort Weisinger, and/or George Kashdan

PS: Peter Falk was in it!

Today in Comics History: February 12, 1980: Jimmy Carter exhausts all non-peanut-related options


from Kirby: Genesis: Silver Star #1 (Dynamite, November 2011), co-plot by Alex Ross, co-plot and script by Jai Nitz, pencils by Johnny Desjardins, colors by Vinicius Andrade, letters by Simon Bowland

Wednesday, February 10, 2021

Stuff Bully Got: I has tiny toys!

5 Surprise Mini Brands toys, to be precise! They are just the right size for my small house, too!


Tuesday, February 09, 2021

Today in Comics History, February 9, 1964: Overshadowed, Topo Gigio vows vengeance


from The Beatles: Their Story in Pictures (ITV, 1982), script by Angus P. Allan, art by Arthur Ranson (collected from the strip in Look-In)



from Marvel Comics Super Special #4 [The Beatles] (1978), script by Dave Kraft, additional dialogue by Don McGregor, pencils by George Pérez, inks by Klaus Janson and Joe Rubinstein, colors by Petra Goldberg, letters by Tom Orzechowski



from The Beatles one-shot (Dell, September 1964), pencils and inks by Joe Sinnott



from The Fifth Beatle: The Brian Epstein Story (Dark Horse, November 2013); written by Vivek J. Tiwary; pencils, inks, and colors by Andrew C. Robinson; letters by Steve Dutro



from The Beatles in Comics! (NBM, November 2018); script by Richard Di Martino; translation by Joe Johnson; art by Pierre Braillon; letters by Ortho



from Lennon: The New York Years (IDW, May 2017), story by David Foenkinos, adaptation by Éric Corbeyran, illustration by Horne Perreard, translation by Ivanka Hahnenberger, letters by Troy Little



from Fab 4 Mania (Fantagraphics, June 2018), script, art, and letters by Carol Tyler

Updated on February 9, 2023: New material printed below in green.

Hey, guess who else was on the Sullivan show that night?


from Fantastic Four: Life Story #1 (Marvel, July 2021), script by Mark Russell, pencils by Sean Izaakse, inks by Francesco Manna, colors by Nolan Woodard, letters by Joe Caramagna

And the world would never hear from those little moptops from Liverpool, ever again.

Monday, February 08, 2021

Today in Comics History, February 8: Happy birthday, Terry Stewart!

Born on this day: Terry Stewart, who was editor at and president of Marvel Comics and a CEO of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum!


from Marvel Age #98 (Marvel, March 1991), text by Chris Eliopoulis and Barry Dutter, art by Ron Zalme, colors by Renee Witterstaetter

During the Stan's-in-Hollywood era of the 1990s, President Terry was the "face fronter" of Marvel public relations, altho' he never gained the cultural popularity or either Stan or any of the Editors-in-Chiefs at the House of Ideas.


from "Bullpen Bulletins" in Marvel Comics cover-dated October 1993

He certainly popped up with regularity in photos features within Marvel Age:




from Marvel Age #112 (top), 115 (middle), and 136 (bottom) (Marvel, May 1992, August 1992, and May 1994)

But have you ever seen his picture on a bubble gum card? Hmmm? How can you say someone is great who's never had his picture on a bubble gum...oh.


from Marvel Age #104 (Marvel, September 1991)

But what you're probably going to remember about terry Stewart was that the Great Image Exodus occurred on his watch. (Ouch!)


from "No More Wednesdays" in Comic Book Comics #6 (Evil Twin, November 2011); script by Fred Van Lente; pencils, inks, and letters by Ryan Dunlavey

Here's that same scene from the POV of the Image guys, doing a MAD magazine-style recollection of the events:




from Splitting Image #1 (Image, March 1993); co-plot by Rob Liefeld; co-plot, script, pencils, inks, and letters by Don Simpson; colors by Brian Murray)

Wonder whatever happened to those guys?


Now that you';ve been exposed to lots of pictures of Terry Stewart, can you find him in the very crowded 1992 Marvel Bullpen? (Hint: He is next to Stan Lee.)



from Marvel Age #120 (Marvel, January 1993), art by Rick Parker
(Click top picture to President-size)

A couple links about Terry Stewart that I liked:

Still, even though we know all that, not a lot of people know that (copyright ©1966 by Michael Caine) Terry Stewart debuted as a comic book love story protagonist waaaay back in 1953! (wink wink)


from "One Night of Love" in First Love Illustrated #25 (Charlton, February 1953), pencils and inks by John Sink

Say, I wonder what Terry said during his apparently censored speech balloon...and how did it lead to their world turning black and white? Are they being targeted by a sniper?


Anyway, happy birthday, Terry Stewart!

Today in Comics History, February 8: Happy birthday, Bill Finger!

Born on this date in 1914: Bill Finger, co-creator of Batman, Robin, Joker, Riddler, Penguin, Catwoman, Commissioner Gordon, Green Lantern, Wildcat, and many other classic characters and concepts!


from Fifty Who Made DC Great one-shot (DC, 1985)

Here's a lovely memorial essay for Finger in the DC fan magazine The Amazing World of DC Comics #1 (DC, July 1974). Note that Finger here is credited, altho' not in a "created by" byline, with the invention of many iconic DC characters.


But The Amazing World of DC Comics had many contributors with many differing views. Since I don't have access to issue #10, here's a great video by Tom Brevoort about a comic story published within its pages that was truly cruel and dismissive of Bill Finger. Boo!


In fact, DC's "official" story of Batman's origin in a 1946 comic book doesn't mention Finger at all. (More on this here.)


from "The True Story of Batman and Robin! How a Big-Time Comic is Born!" in Real Fact Comics #5 (DC, November 1946), script by Jack Schiff, Mort Weisinger, and/or Bernie Breslauer; pencils and inks by Win Mortimer

From Wikipedia:
While Kane privately admitted in a 1980s audio interview with his autobiographer that Finger was responsible for "50–75% of all the creativity in Batman," for decades he publicly denied Finger had been anything more than a subcontractor executing Kane's ideas. As a result, Finger died in obscurity and poverty while the Batman brand—and Kane—amassed international fame and wealth.

At least Finger was by-lined within the pages of the comic book as the co-creator of Green Lantern straight from the first (if not necessarily later on).



from Green Lantern (1941 series) #1 (Fall 1941), script by Bill Finger, pencils and inks by Mart Nodell

It's only recently that DC Comics has credited Bill Finger with the co-creation of Batman, altho' with a "with" credit line after Bob Kane.


from Batman (2016 series) #101 (DC, December 2020)

We love you and remember you, Bill Finger, creator of Batman and so much more! Happy birthday!

Sunday, February 07, 2021

Today in Comics History, February 7, 1964: Parents just don't understand


from The Fifth Beatle: The Brian Epstein Story (Dark Horse, November 2013), written by Vivek J. Tiwary, art by Andrew C. Robinson, letters by Steve Dutro

Today in Comics History, February 7, 1964: Pop band invades, conquers, enslaves America


from The Beatles in Comics! (NBM, November 2018); script by Gaëtan Petit; translation by Joe Johnson; art by Efix; letters by Ortho


from The Beatles: Their Story in Pictures (ITV, 1982), script by Angus P. Allan, art by Arthur Ranson (collected from the strip in Look-In)


from Marvel Comics Super Special #4 [The Beatles] (Marvel, 1978), script by Dave Kraft, additional dialogue by Don McGregor, pencils by George Pérez, inks by Klaus Janson and Joe Rubinstein, colors by Petra Goldberg, letters by Tom Orzechowski


from Rock 'n' Roll Comics: The Beatles Experience (Revolutionary/Bluewater, 2010), script by Todd Loren, art by Mike Sagara


from The Beatles one-shot (Dell, September 1964), pencils and inks by Joe Sinnott

And the world would never be the same. Because The Beatles blew it up.