from Marvel Age #56 (Marvel, November 1987), text by Mike Carlin, pencils and inks by Ron Zalme
Actually, I just have a buncha comics panels and not a Top Ten List. Sorry.
from Bloom County by Berke Breathed
Letterman — or, as he's called in this story, "David Endochrine" — appears prominently in Frank Miller's The Comic That Made Them All Grim 'n' Gritty™.
from Batman: The Dark Knight Returns #3 (DC, August 1986), script and pencils by Frank Miller, inks by Klaus Janson, additional inks by Frank Miller, colors by Lynn Varley, letters by John Costanza
Actually, it's a good thing it's not the real Dave, because now he dead. Sorry, Mister L...I mean, E.
Comic Book Time is pulled slowly along behind us, so retcons have put Spider-Man's first appearance on Letterman's NBC show.
from Spider-Man: Dead Man's Hand #1 (Marvel, April 1997); script by Roger Stern; pencils by Darick Robertson and Dan Lawlis; inks by Keith Aiken; colors by Christie Scheele and Ian Laughlin; letters by Emerson Miranda, Albert Deschesne, and Richard Starkings
...which contradicts THIS little bit of canon...
from Amazing Spider-Man (1999 series) #33/474 (September 2001), script by J. Michael Straczynski, pencils by John Romita, Jr., inks by Scott Hanna, colors by Dan Kemp, letters by Richard Starkings and Saida Temofonte
(Say, do you think you're a little too obsessed with Letterman, Spidey?)
...but it fits in with this one, including that it was at Letterman's studios that Spidey let the burglar who killed Uncle Ben go by! No, why didn't Hal Gurnee stop him?!? (throws pencil, window breaks)
from Marvel Adventures Spider-Man (2005 series) #1 (Marvel, May 2005), script by Kitty Fross, pencils by Patrick Scherberger, inks by Norman Lee, colors by Wes Hartman and Robby Bevard, letters by Dave Sharpe
Here's Ultimate Wasp on Ultimate Letterman, but hey, when did Letterman ever ask serious questions about serious politics or current affairs, like how it feels to change suddenly from Asian to Caucasian, and what it's like top be eaten by Blob? (More to the point, he totally woulda been calling her "Jan" from moment one.)
From Ultimates 2 (2005 series) #4 (Marvel/Ultimate, March 2005), script by Mark Millar, pencils by Bryan Hitch, inks by Paul Neary, colors by Laura Martin, letters by Chris Eliopoulos
He's just a face in the crowd when Excalibur has a New York Adventure! ("Excalibur's New York Adventure" is copyright ©1989 by Chris Claremont)
cover of Excalibur (1988 series) #8 (Marvel, May 1989), pencils by Ron Lim, inks by Joe Rubinstein
For some real-life, actual dialogue repeated verbatim Letterman encounters, why not check out comics' greatest superhero Harvey Pekar's American Splendor?
from "Late Night with David Letterman" in American Splendor #12 (Harvey Pekar, 1987), script by Harvey Pekar, cover art by Val Mayerik, cover colors by Gary Dumm, story art and letters by Gerry Shamray
While Pekar began as one of Letterman's traditional eccentric guests, the relationship gradually became more confrontational.
from "David & Me: My Protest On the Letterman Show" in American Splendor: Our Movie Year (Random House, December 2004); script by Harvey Pekar; pencils, inks, and letters by Gary Dumm
from "My Struggle With Corporate Corruption and Network Philistinism" in AMerican Splendor #13 (Harvey Pekar, 1988), script by Harvey Pekar, pencils by Joe Zabel, inks and letters by Gary Dumm
Things didn't end well.
from American Splendor #14 (Pekar, 1989), script by Harvey Pekar, cover art by Joe Zabel and Gary Dumm, story art by William Fogg
Another indie comic, though (slightly) less real-life, depiction of David Letterman:
from Snarf #10 (Kitchen Sink, February 1987); script, art, and letters by Dennis Worden
Another real-world Letterman appearance depicted in comics by a larger-than-life figure: Andre the Giant!
from Andre the Giant: Life and Legend (First Second, May 2014); script, art and letters by Box Brown
I betcha nobody else famous was ever on David letterman in the comics! Betcha can't find a single important person to...oh, ah, first guy of the Marvel Age, how ya doin'? (Say, Letterman never did that thing of Carson's where everybody sat on the couch together. Who is this imposter...a Skrull?!?
from Fantastic Four: Life Story #3 (Marvel, October 2021), script by Mark Russell, pencils and inks by Sean Izaakse, colors by Nolan Woodard, letters by Joe Caramagna
And a character who appeared before Reed in comic books has been on Late Night!
from Marvel Monsters: Fin Fang 4 #1 (one-shot) (Marvel, December 2005); script, pencils, and inks by Roger Langridge; co-script by Scott Gray; colors by James Brown, letters by Dave Lanphear
Right about...wait for it...right about...now you might be wondering: who aside from a little stuffed bull actually watched Late Night/Show with David Letterman? And that's another very good question. Well, to start off, Peter Parker watched it! ...sometimes.
from Spider-Man: Fever #1 (Marvel, June 2010); script, pencils, inks, colors, and letters by Brendan McCarthy; additional colors and letters by Steve Cook
Also, Peter's
from Amazing Spider-Man #303 (Marvel, August 1988), script by David Michelinie, pencils and inks by Todd McFarlane, colors by Bob Sharen, letters by Rick Parker
Tony Stark watches it! Fittingly, in a bar.
from Iron Man (1998 series) #41/386 (Marvel, June 2001), script by Frank Tieri, pencils by Keron Grant, inks by Rob Stull, colors by VLM, letters by Sharpefont
Sabretooth watches it! Well, there's not really too much to do when you're stuck deep undergound in Krakoa, is there?
from Wolverine (1988 series) #90 (Marvel, February 1995), script by Larry Hama, pencils by Adam Kubert, inks by Mark Farmer and Dan Green, colors by Marie Javins, letters by Pat Brosseau
Blade watches it! This guy, however, simply does not have the guts.
from Blade (1998 series) #1 (Marvel, November 1998), script by Don McGregor, pencils by Brian Hagan, inks by Sandu Florea, colors by Steve Oliff, letters by John Costanza
This guy that Dakota North put in the hospital has nothing but time to watch it! Fashionable!
from Dakota North #2 (Marvel, August 1986), script by Martha Thomases, pencils and inks by Tony Salmons, colors by Christie Scheele, letters by Phil Felix
This guy stuck in a German hotel who's got an unhealthy obsession with MODOK watches it...and reads the Deutsche subtitles! Now that's commitment!
from Captain America and the Falcon #8 (Marvel, December 2004), script by Christopher Priest, pencils by Andrea DiVito, inks by Scott Koblish, colors by Transparency Digital, letters by Dave Sharpe
The Big Bad of U.S. 1 watches it...oh wait, he turned the TV off before Letterman aired. Well, that is why he's a villain.
from US 1 #8 (Marvel, February 1984), script by Al Milgrom, pencils by Frank Springer, inks by Mike Esposito, colors by George Roussos, letters by Janice Chiang
Bryant Gumbel keeps track of David Letterman just to hope someday he can take over the show.
from Iron Man (1968 series) #243 (Marvel, June 1989), co-plot and script by David Michelinie, co-plot and pencils by Bob Layton, inks by Barry Windsor-Smith, colors by Paul Becton, letters by Janice Chiang
And those are all the comic book appearances of David Letterman. He never appeared in any other comic book.
…what are you still here for? It's over. There's no more comic books that Letterman guest-starred in.
Oh, okay.
cover of The Avengers #239 (Marvel, January 1984), pencils by Al Milgrom, inks by Joe Sinnott
Hawkeye and the Legion of Substitute Avengers make an appearance on Late Night, where they get to meet Dave (as well as Paul Shaffer and the World's Most Dangerous Band!).
from The Avengers #239; script by Roger Stern, pencils by Al Milgrom, inks by Joe Sinnott, colors by Christie Scheele, letters by Jim Novak
Unfortunately the show is crashed by Avengers semi-villain Fabian Stankiewicz, the Mechno-Marauder!
Guess who saves the day? Aw, no fair peekin'. Dave saves the day! That is why he is a honorary Avenger. He's got the leather jacket with the big "A" on the sleeve an' everything!
Say, are you wondering why you never got to see that episode of Late Night with David Letterman? Wonder no more, True Believers!
So, happy birthday, Dave. Sometimes you're a real jerk, but you've made us laugh.
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Would you believe I left the comment about Playback’s shoes before I saw this post?!?
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