Today in Comics History, February 10: Happy birthday, Laura Dern!

Born on this very happy day, and we're glad the world gave her to us: actress, filmmaker, Academy Award-winner and all-around cool person Laura Dern! She hasn't been in as many movies or TV shows as I'd like (because of cowardly and homophobic backlashes after she appeared as a lesbian in Ellen), but she's done lots we do love: Mask, Blue Velvet, Wild at Heart, Rambling Rose, October Sky, Little Women, I Am Sam, Twin Peaks, Inland Empire, F Is for Family, Big Little Lies, Bastard Out of Carolina, and a little indie film you may have heard of called Jurassic Park:



from "Jurass-Has-Had-It Park" in MAD #323 (December 1993), script by Dick Debartolo, pencils and inks by Mort Drucker
You remember the Second Rule of Comics Oughta Be Fun!, don't you?: You ain't nobody 'til you've been drawn by Mort Drucker!



Why, even X-Nemesis Mystique thinks Laura Dern is a cool person, by masquerading as her (or, I'm not sure because Sam Neill's there too) possibly as Dr. Ellie Sattler, complete with trademark pink blouse:



from "Cretaceous Flirtations" in Women of Marvel (2021 series) #1 one-shot (Marvel, June 2021), script by Natasha Alterici, pencils and inks by Joanna Estep, colors by Irma Kniivila, letters by Ariana Maher
Of course in recent years Dern brought us the best Star Wars character since Ackmena: Vice-Admiral Amilyn Holdo in Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Yeah, the one the internet melts down over. Get outta here, I love that movie.



from Star Wars: The Last Jedi #5 (Marvel, September 2018), script by Gary Whitta, art by Michael Walsh, colors by Mike Spicer, letters by Travis Lanham
The All-New All-Different Expanded Universe fills out a lot of Holdo's history. She and Princess Leia were best buds as kids! Now I want to see Jeffrey Brown draw Princess Leia inviting Amilyn over to a girls' sleepover while Leia's nervous dad Darth Vader checks to make sure that it's lights out at midnight and keeping Luke from raiding the pizza and popcorn.


cover of Star Wars: Age of Resistance Special #1 (Marvel, September 2019), art by Phil Noto
In the meantime, here's some panels from a great short story of Holdo's past in a Star Wars one-shot:




from "The Bridge" in Star Wars: Age of Resistance Special #1, script by G. Willow Wilson, pencils and inks by Elsa Charretier, colors by Nick Filardi, letters by Travis Lanham
All that cool stuff and she gets to say "pew" when she fires her blaster!


So, wrapping up if not in conclusion: happy birthday, Laura Dern!


David Lynch loves you, cows love you, and you (pointing at the fourth wall) oughta love her. I certainly do.


from Star Wars: Age of Resistance: Poe Dameron one-shot (Marvel, October 2019), script by Tom Taylor, pencils and inks by Ramón Rosanas, colors by Guru-eFX, letters by Travis Lanham