Today in Comics History, January 20: Happy birthday, Buzz Aldrin!

Born on this day in 1930: Edwin Eugene "Buzz" Aldrin, second man on the moon and first to punch a guy in the face for suggesting he wasn't! Yes, he's somewhere in the picture below: he's inside that lunar module. How awesome was Buzz Aldrin? So awesome that even Jack Kirby could not portray him.


from Fantastic Four (1961 series) #98 (Marvel, May 1970), script by Stan Lee, pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Joe Sinnott, letters by Artie Simek



What'd ya find on the lunar surface, Buzz? Is it something from Sharper Image? Or maybe from (dun dun dun)...DOCTOR DOOM?


from "Unto You Is Born...The Doomsman!" in Astonishing Tales #1 (Marvel, August 1970), script by Roy Thomas, pencils and inks by Wally Wood, colors by Tom Palmer (?), letters by Artie Simek
Conspiracy theorist Harley Quinn learns that there were four men on that first flight to the moon: Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins were accompanied by original Suicide Squad member Rick Flag!



from "King for a Day, Part 3" in Suicide Squad (2016 series) #29 (DC, January 2018), script by Rob Williams, pencils and inks by Wilfredo Torres, colors by Adriano Lucas, letters by Pat Brosseau
WHOA NELLY FURTADO! What was that thing reaching at Neil 'n' Buzz!? Could it be the same thing that's lunging at Buzz (or maybe Neil) in a comic from Marvel as well?


cover of Marvel: The Lost Generation #6 (Marvel, September 2000), pencils by John Byrne, inks by Al Milgrom
Still, leave it to the brilliant Michael Kupperman to give us the only true story of what happened on that historical moon shot!




from "Moon 69: The True Story of the 1969 Moon Launch" in Tales Designed to Thrizzle #8 (Fantagraphics, May 2012), by Michael Kupperman
It's all true, because it's in comic books!

Happy birthday, Buzz Aldrin!


"Buzz Aldrin's Strange Missions" from Tales Designed to Thrizzle #5 (Fantagraphics, March 2009), by Michael Kupperman