Saturday, June 11, 2022

There Is No Hope in Crime Alley, Night 11: Thomas and Martha Wayne are killed with a gun that shoots concentrated bats

from "There Is Hope in Crime Alley" in Batman Annual (2017 series) #5 (DC, February 2021); script by James Tynion IV; pencils, inks, and colors by James Stokoe; letters by Clayton Cowles
(Click picture to giant golden-crowned flying fox-size)

Today in Comics History, June 11: Happy birthday, Bettie Ringma!

Born on this day: Marvel Production Paste-Up Manager in the early '90s, Bettie Ringma!


from Marvel Age #90 and 102 (Marvel, July 1990 and July 1991), text by Chris Eliopoulis and Barry Dutter, pencils and inks by Ron Zalme, colors by Renee Witterstaetter

Happy birthday, Bettie!

(Was she the same Bettie Ringma who took great photos of the punk scene in Europe and at NYC's CBGB during the 1970s? LMK in the comments if you're sure!)

Today in Comics History, June 11: Happy birthday, Rich Margopoulos!

Born on this day: comics writer Rich Margopoulos (Creepy, Eerie, What If?, Haunt of Horror, and dozens and dozens of Archie Comics)!



from (top) EERIE (1966 series) #43 (Warren, November 1972), and
New Talent Showcase (1984 series) #2 (DC, February 1984)




Today in Comics History, June 11, 2015: Oh god, no, don't


from Yellow Cab (IDW, May 2022), by Christophe Chabouté, based on the novel by Benoît Cohen

Today in Comics History, June 11, 1988: Royalties on "Ring of Fire" are finally paid


from Spectacular Spider-Man (1976 series) #144 (Marvel, November 1988), script by Gerry Conway, pencils and inks by Sal Buscema, colors by Bob Sharen, letters by Rick Parker

Today in Comics History, June 11, 1942: Roy Thomas slows time to a crawl across three entire comics




from Young All-Stars #23 (top), 24 (middle), and 25 (bottom) (DC, March-May 1989); script by Roy Thomas and Dann Thomas; pencils by Ron Harris; inks by Bob Downs; colors by Gene D'Angelo (#23), Shelley Eiber (#24-25), letters by Helen Vesik (#24), Jean Simek and Albert T. De Guzman (#25-26)

Today in Comics History, June 11, 1998: This modern-dress version of the Book of Genesis is weird


from (top) "V for Vendetta: Book Two, Chapter Seven: Visitors" in Warrior #21 (Quality Communications, August 1984), script by Alan Moore, pencils and inks by David Lloyd; and
(bottom) V for Vendetta #5 (DC, Winter 1988); colors by David Lloyd, Siobhan Dodds, and Steve Whitaker; letters by Jenny O'Connor

Today in Comics History, June 11, 1903: Dean Wormer lets "Kegger" MacArthur graduate just to get rid of him


from General Douglas MacArthur one-shot (Fox, 1951), creators uncredited and unknown

Today in Comics History, June 11, 1998: Cue the Benny Hill music


from (top) "V for Vendetta: Book Two, Chapter Seven: Visitors" in Warrior #21 (Quality Communications, August 1984), script by Alan Moore, pencils and inks by David Lloyd; and
(bottom) V for Vendetta #5 (DC, Winter 1988); colors by David Lloyd, Siobhan Dodds, and Steve Whitaker; letters by Jenny O'Connor

Today in Comics History, June 11, 1948: Sports exposition subtly deployed


from "Bob Mathias: The World's Greatest Athlete" in True Comics #79 (Parents' Magazine Press, October 1949), creators uncredited and unknown

Today in Comics History, June 11, 1962: Enterprise is cancelled




from Quantum Leap #1 (top) and 2 (middle and bottom) (Innovation, September 1991); script by George Broderick; pencils and inks by Mark Jones; colors by Scott Rockwell; letters by Vickie Williams

Friday, June 10, 2022

There Is No Hope in Crime Alley, Night 10: Well, at least Bruce got to see a Zorro movie...what, huh?!?


from Batman: Overdrive (DC, April 2020), script by Shea Fontana, pencils and inks by Marcelo DiChiara, colors by Hilary Sycamore, letters by Corey Breen

Today in Comics History, June 10, 1942: Filming commences on The Fast and the Furious: Summer of '42


from Young All-Stars #22 (DC, January 1989), script by Roy Thomas and Dann Thomas, pencils by Ron Harris, inks by Bob Downs, colors by Gene D'Angelo, letters by Jean Simek

Today in Comics History, The Day Before Father's Day (June 10): Jimmy Olsen discovers the terrifying future fate of his beautiful, beautiful red hair

This is an expanded and updated version of a post originally published June 10, 2014.


from "The Mystery of Convict 313!" in Jimmy Olsen #75 (DC/National, March 1964), script by Leo Dorfman, pencils and inks by John Forte

Today in Comics History, June 10, 1968: General Westmoreland goes east; more land


from The 'Nam #29 (Marvel, April 1989), script by Doug Murray, pencils by Wayne Vansant, inks by Frank Springer, colors by Steve Mellor, letters by Phil Felix

Today in Comics History, June 10: Happy birthday, Charles Vess!

Born on this day: artist and comic book illustrator Charles Vess (Sandman, Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess' Stardust, Spider-Man, The Books of Magic, The Warriors Three, Rose, The Book of Ballads and Sagas, Blueberry Girl, and much more!)


from Marvel Age #54 and 90 (Marvel, September 1987 and and July 1990); text Mike Carlin (#54) and Chris Eliopoulis and Barry Dutter (#90); pencils and inks by Ron Zalme; colors by Paul Becton (#54) and Renee Witterstaetter (#90)

Happy birthday, Charles!


photo with Jeff Smith from Bone: Coda (Cartoon Books, 2016)

Today in Comics History, June 10, 1881: Exciting blue background attempts to distract you from dreary, doom-filled text story



"The Fight That Failed" from Jumbo Comics #105 (Fiction House, November 1947), text by Henry Wysham Lanier

(See you again on June 18!)

Today in Comics History, June 10: Happy birthday, Scott McCloud!

Happy birthday to comics writer, artist, and theorist Scott McCloud (Zot!, Destroy!!, The Sculptor, Understanding Comics, Reinventing Comics, and Making Comics)!

But sorry: I can't include any pictures of him in this post because he has never ever appeared in any comic books.









What are you waiting around here for? I told you, he's never been a character protrayed in comic books.









Oh, okay, okay.





from Understanding Comics (Tundra, 1993), by Scott McCloud

Here's he is in a Valentino/Don Simpson parody:


from normalman/Megaton Man Special one-shot (Image, August 1994), script and art by Jim Valentino, Megaton Man art by Don Simpson

A interview with Scott that's so all-encompassing it had to be split up into two issues of Vertigo books! (Remember when Paradox Press published McCloud?)



from "Subculture" in DC/Vertigo comics cover-dated August and September 2000

Happy birthday, Scott!


photo from Bone: Coda (Cartoon Books, 2016)

Today in Comics History, June 10, 1901: This was a lenient sentence; the judge just wanted to proclaim it without any mercy for his soul


from "Heroes of the Mounties" in Real Life Comics #1 (Pines, September 1941), pencils and inks by Maurice Gutwirth

Today in Comics History, June 10: Well, 𝘭𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘪! 𝘴𝘵𝘺𝘭𝘵 𝘭𝘵𝘭? 𝘭𝘮𝘤𝘸 𝘢𝘤𝘥𝘧𝘦!< to you too, Superman!


from "The Super-Key to Fort Superman" in Action Comics #241 (DC, June 1958), script by Jerry Coleman, pencils by Wayne Boring, inks by Stan Kaye

Today in Comics History, June 10, 1942: Cannibalistic Humanoid Underwater Dwellers are discovered


from Young All-Stars #21 (DC, Holiday 1988), script by Roy Thomas and Dann Thomas, pencils by Ron Harris, inks by Bob Downs, colors by Gene D'Angelo, letters by Jean Simek

Today in Comics History, June 10, 1892: Six baseballs pitched simultaneously


from "Uncle Wilbert Robinson" in Jackie Robinson #2 (Fawcett, July 1950), creators uncredited and unknown

Today in Comics History, June 10, 2020: Amazon mobile website used to low-ball price book found in bookstore


from "Odyssey" in Detective Comics #1027 (DC, November 2020), script by Marv Wolfman, pencils by Emanuela Lupacchino, inks by Bill Sienkiewicz, colors by Jordie Bellaire, letters by Carlos M. Mangua

Thursday, June 09, 2022

There Is No Hope in Crime Alley, Night 9: All Of This Has Happened Before and Will Happen Again, 1492 edition




from Batman Annual #18 (DC, June 1994), script by Doug Moench, pencils by Frederico Cueva, inks by Alberto Pez, colors by Phil Allen, letters by Steve Haynie

Today in Comics History, June 9: Happy birthday, Robert Cummings!

Born on this day in 1910: film and TV actor Robert Cummings (Kings Row, Saboteur, Dial M for Murder, The Devil and Miss Jones, The Bob Cummings Show, and others)!



from Miss Beverly Hills of Hollywood #4 (DC, September 1949), pencils and inks by Bob Oksner

As good pal Andrew Weiss, paragon of pop culture, pointed out to me, Bob also starred alongside future Catwoman Julie Newmar in the 1964 CBS comedy My Living Doll, "a show that paralleled the Doc Magnus/Platinum relationship," Andrew says.



Say!



"Cue to Cummings" in Sweet Sixteen #12 (Parents' Magazine Press, December 1947), text by Kay Deane"

How popular is Bob Cummings? So popular that even Batman is a fan!


from All-Star Squadron Annual #3 (DC, September 1984), script by Roy Thomas, pencils by Don Newton, inks by Mike Machlan, colors by Gene D'Angelo, letters by David Cody Weiss and L. Lois Buhalis

Happy birthday, Bob!

Today in Comics History, June 9: Happy birthday, Otto Nicolai!

Why not celebrate the birth of German composer Otto Nicolai (b. 1810) by reading about one of the most Tuetonic operas of all time: The, uh, Merry Wives of Windsor! Ach du lieber!


"Famous Operas: The Merry Wives of Windsor" from Classics Illustrated #70 (Gilberton, April 1950), text by Eleanor Kidofsky

Today in Comics History, June 9: Happy birthday, George Pérez!

Oh boy, this is a hard one to get through.

Born on this day in 1954: the late, great comic book writer and penciller George Pérez (accent on the first E!), who passed away so very recently (May 6, 2022). George has drawn...well, let's just say every comic book character at Marvel and DC. Sometimes even all on the same cover. And: one of the nicest people in the business! Oh boy, do I miss him.


from FOOM #8 (Marvel, December 1974)