Today in Comics History, February 19: Happy birthday, Lee Marvin!

Born Punched his way into the world today in 1924: actor, tough guy, and the Webster's Dictionary definition of "cool" (complete with a photo of him): Lee Marvin. His acting credits include The Killers, The Professionals, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Paint Your Wagon...


...The Dirty Dozen, Point Blank, The Big Red One, Cat Ballou, and even Gorilla at Large, the only motion picture to ever be awarded seventy-three Oscars. And yes, he was in comic books, because with that many iconic roles in classic movies, you just know he'd be featured in a MAD magazine parody or two, right?




from "The Amateurs" in MAD #112 (July 1967), script by Larry Siegel, pencils and inks by Mort Drucker
You ain't nobody 'til you've been drawn by Mort Drucker, says the Second Law of Comic Books as drawn up by some cute an' lovable li'l stuffed comics blogger, and Lee Marvin fulfills that notoriety by being drawn not once by Drucker, not twice, but a whole heckuva lotta times. Here's another one, if you can even stand it:


from "The Virginiaham" in MAD #99 (December 1965), script by Lou Silverstone, pencils and inks by Mort Drucker
But let's momentarily give Mort Drucker's drawing hand a rest (ice bags are in the freezer, Mort!) and check out another great master of comics: Darwyn Cooke!


cover of Catwoman: Selina's Big Score (DC, September 2002), art by Darwyn Cooke
Selina's Big Score is a fantastic Catwoman graphic novel in which Cooke "casts" some movie greats at his characters. To the left of Selina's up there is Lee Marvin as Stark, and on the right Chow Yun-fat as Jeff. (Others include Burgess Meredith, himself not a stranger to acting alongside Catwoman, and the delectable and dangerous Pam Grier.)

Let's look at lots of panels not only because Lee Marvin is fun to look at, but because ooh la la, Darwyn Cooke's art is sublime.





from Catwoman: Selina's Big Score, art and letters by Darwyn Cooke, colors by Matt Hollingsworth
More Mort Drucker artwork of Lee Marvin? Sure, why not?


from "The Academy Awards Show We'd Like to See" in MAD #132 (January 1970), script by Larry Siegel, pencils and inks by Mort Drucker
But did Lee Marvin ever has his own comic book?, you ask me. How can you say someone is great who's never had his own comic book? Ahem. Lee Marvin was great.


cover of The Dirty Dozen one-shot (Dell, October 1967), painted cover (movie poster art) by Frank McCarthy
When I think of motion pictures that are ripe for the Dell Movie Classic treatment, I gotta admit that The Dirty Dozen did not pop foremost into my mind. And yet...





from The Dirty Dozen; pencils and inks by Jack Sparling, letters by Charlotte Jetter
The Dirty Dozen! A classic of modern cinema. Which of course means...





from "Dirtier by the Dozen" in MAD #116 (January 1968), script by Lou Silverstone, pencils and inks by guess who...Mort Drucker!
Happy birthday to Lee Marvin! I'm yelling that to him from fifty feet away. He probably wouldn't punch me, but I'm hedging my bets.


from Catwoman: Selina's Big Score