Today in Comics History, August 18: Happy birthday, Robert Redford!

Born on this day: actor, director, and whatta dreamboat Robert Redford! He was on the cover of a Marvel comic book issue #1!


from ALF #1 (Marvel, March 1988), photograph plus pencils by Dave Manak, inks by Marie Severin
But it's true: the real Bob hasn't appeared in many comic books, but here's a genuine modeling job that paid off big for him in the comics world!


cover of Young Love (1949 series) v. 4 #1 [#31] (Prize, March 1952), photographer uncredited and unknown



Here's Redford (left) in a (fictional) appearance on The Joe Franklin Show alongside Barbra Streisand and some other guy.


from "The Joe Franklin Story" in High Times #70 (Trans-High Corporation, June 1981); script by Josh Alan Friedman; pencils, inks, and letters by Drew Friedman
Hey, didja notice Redford became a popular meme recently? You wouldn't have been surprised at the ID reveal if you had read this comic!


cover of Valiant and TV21 (IPC, 16th June 1973), pencils and inks by Mike Western
After that you're pretty much just limited to references to Robert Redford. By Brian Bolland:


from "Mr. Mamoulian" in Negative Burn #30 (Caliber, January 1996), script and art by Brian Bolland
Um, Valentine comics, maybe don't use a word that can mistaken for another word at first glance.


cover of Valentine (1957 series) (IPC, 10 October 1970)
Never forget that in any universe, Robert Redford is a sexy, sexy guy. Being compared to him is a big compliment!


cover of Everything's Archie #51 (Archie, September 1976), creators uncredited and unknown
But in the Archieverse, celebrities are more frequently replaced by their thinly-disguised generic doubles!


from Cheryl Blossom (1996 series) #2 (Archie, January 1997), script by Bill Golliher, pencils by Dan Parent, inks by Rudy Lapick, colors by Barry Grossman, letters b Bill Yoshida
Sometimes direct reference is completely avoided, but it’s clear here that Archie sure liked Redford's 1974 movie version of The Great Gatsby:




from "The Great Who?" in Archie (1959 series) #242 (Archie, March 1975), script by Frank Doyle, pencils by Harry Lucey, inks by Chic Stone, colors by Barry Grossman, letters by Bill Yoshida
How long-lasting is the career of Robert Redford? So long he's been around since the Stone Age. Well, here it's actually about 25 years before the Stone Age proper.




from Flintstone Kids #2 (Marvel/Star, October 1987), script by Michael Gallagher, pencils by Warren Kremer, inks by Jacqueline Roettcher, colors by George Roussos, letters by Grace Kremer
Happy birthday, Robert Redford!


from Dazzler (1981 series) #29 (Marvel, November 1983), co-script and pencils by Frank Springer, co-script by Jim Shooter, inks by Vince Colletta, colors by Andy Yanchus, letters by Janice Chiang