Today in Comics History, January 25: Happy birthday, Dr. Sivana!

...you low-down criminal mastermind mad scientist, you!


from Super DC Calendar 1976 (DC, 1975), letters by Ben Oda
So yes, it's the birthday of Dr. Thaddeus Sivana, the sworn (and he shouldn't swear) arch enemy of Captain Marvel! The real one. Nothin' against you, Brie Larson, but Billy had the name first. In fact, the first appearance of Sivana is also the first appearance of Captain Marvel huimself, in Whiz Comics #2! (Wow, he worked fast, didn't he?) Yes, Whiz Comics, the newsstand's only comic book that instructs kids how to go off with mysterious strangers into dark subway stations! Soon, kids all around the country were doin' it!


from "[Introducing Captain Marvel]" in Whiz Comics #2 (Fawcett, February 1940), script and colors by Bill Parker, pencils and inks by C. C. Beck
Billy soon meets the wizard whose name he cannot say in general conversation!


Thus, the bloodthirsty Billy Batson racks up his first kill.




And where does Sivana come in during all this? I'm glad you asked that question. He comes in right...about...here!


Sivana has taken all the radio stations across the nation off the air! Now he's free to become the Pirate of the Air Waves and broadcast nothing but right-wing conspiracy theory call-in radio 24/7!


WHO can possible stop h...oh, Captain Marvel already did it. Slow down, Cap, this breakneck pace is killin' me!


Wait, did Cap just throw Sivana into a wall? He's racked up his second kill in less than 24 hours!

Anyway, happy birthday, Sivana, you coo-coo crazy nut mad scientist evil genius, you!


from Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe (1985 series) #21 (November 1986); pencils and inks by Kurt Schaffenberger