Today in Comics History, September 17, 1881: Will no one rid me of this meddlesome text story?

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

Today in Comics History, September 17, 2017: That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore

from Batman/Catwoman #11 (DC/Black Label, June 2022), script by Tom King, pencils and inks by Clay Mann, colors by Tomeu Morey, letters by Clayton Cowles

Today in Comics History, September 17, 2015: Sales of No. 4 pencils drop precipitously

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

Today in Comics History, September 17, 1968: Toner cartridge runs out while printing sub-headline

from Daredevil (1964 series) #47 (Marvel, December 1968), script by Stan Lee, pencils by Gene Colan, inks by George Klein, letters by Artie Simek

Today in Comics History, September 17, 1977: A sister publication of the Gazetteville Bugle

from Isis #8 (DC, December 1977), script by Jack C. Harris, pencils by Mike Vosburg, inks by Al Milgrom, colors by Elizabeth Safian, letters by Ben Oda

Today in Comics History, September 16: "B"-Team undergoes usual hardships

from Young Justice (2011 series) #18 (DC, September 2012), script by Greg Weisman, pencils and inks by Christopher Jones, colors by Zac Atkinson, letters by Dezi Sienty

Now Playing: k.d. lang's Shadowland

Today in Comics History, September 16, 1944: That'll put a wrench in their plans

from "The Red-Headed Monster" in Crime Must Pay the Penalty #33/1 (Ace, February 1948). pencils and inks by Al Camy

Today in Comics History, September 16: Happy birthday, Lauren Bacall!

Born on this day in 1924: film and stage actor Lauren Bacall, Queen of my Heart (Golden Age Division). To Have and Have Not, Key Largo, The Big Sleep, How to Marry a Millionaire...I've taped 'em all off TCM!


from Girl in Dior graphic novel (April 2015); script, pencils and ink by Annie Goetzinger; translation by Joe Johnson; letters by Ortho

Today in Comics History, September 16, 2015: The riveting world of in-school education

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

Today in Comics History, September 16, 1963: Yeah, yeah, yeah

Today in 1963: The single "She Loves You" by The Beatles is released in America!


from "He Knows If You've Been Bad or Good..." in Quantum Leap #3 (Innovation, March 1992), script by John Holland, pencils and inks by Andy Price, colors by Scott Rockwell assisted by Chris Ballard, letters by Vickie Williams
Sing along! You know the words!


"She Loves You" by The Beatles (Parlophone/Swan 1963), written by John Lenon and Paul McCartney

Today in Comics History, September 16: Happy birthday, Mike Mignola!

Born on this day: comics writer/artist Mike Mignola (Rocket Raccoon, World of Krypton, Gotham by Gaslight, and the creator of Hellboy and his supporting cast)! Here he is (in glasses) with Bill Wray!


from "The Creation of Hellboy, Jr." in Hellboy, Jr. Halloween Special one-shot (Dark Horse, October 1997), script by Bill Wray and Mike Mignola, pencils and inks by Mike Mignola, colors by Dave Stewart, letters by John Costanza
Happy birthday, Mike! Draw more comics!


Mignola in "What Do Comic Book Icons Think of The Goon's First Issue?" in The Goon (2003 series) #1 (Dark Horse, June 2003); script, pencils, inks, colors and letters by Eric Powell, additional colors by Robin Powell and Barry Gregory

Today in Comics History, September 16, 1993: The poop is about to hit the fan

from (left) "V for Vendetta: Book One, Chapter Ten: Venom" in Warrior #11 (Quality Communications, July 1983), script by Alan Moore, pencils and inks by David Lloyd, letters by Jenny O'Connor;
(right) V for Vendetta #3 (DC, November 1988); colors by David Lloyd, Siobhan Dodds, and Steve Whitaker

Today in Comics History, September 16, 1964: Daily Globe, unable to gain first copyright on "Spider-Man, Threat or Menace?," goes after mutants instead

from [Uncanny] X-Men (1963 series) #14 (Marvel, November 1965), script by Stan Lee, layouts by Jack Kirby, pencils by Werner Roth, inks by Vince Colletta, letters by Artie Simek
How do we know the date? Because Alex Ross thoughtfully pencilled painted it in! (Based on Kurt Busiek's actual birthday today, I bet!)



from Marvels #2 (February 1994), script by Kurt Busiek, painted art by Alex Ross, letters by Richard Starkings and John Gaushell

Today in Comics History, September 16: Happy birthday, Keith Williams!

Born on this day: comics inker Keith Williams (Nova, Spider-Man, Spider-Man Unlimited, Web of Spider-Man, Superman, She-Hulk, Uber, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, The Phantom comic strip, and more!)


from Marvel Age #33, 93 and 105 (Marvel, December 1985, October 1990 and October 1991); text by Jim Salicrup (#33), Chris Eliopoulis & Barry Dutter (#93) and Mike Lackey (#105); pencils and inks by Ron Zalme; colors by Adam Philips (#33), Marie Javins (#93), and Renee Witterstaetter (#105)
Happy birthday, Keith!


from Marvel Age #112 (Marvel, May 1992)

Today in Comics History, September 16, 1348: The Vision evolves into Wikipedia

from Avengers (1963 series) #209 (Marvel, July 1981), script by J.M. DeMatteis, pencils by Alan Kupperberg, inks by Dan Green, colors by Barry Grossman, letters by Janice Chiang

Today in Comics History, September 16: Happy birthday, Brenda Mings!

Born on this day: typesetter for Marvel in the eighties, Brenda Mings!


from Marvel Age #33 and 57 (Marvel, December 1985 and December 1987); text by Jim Salicrup (#33) and Mike Carlin (#57); pencils and inks by Ron Zalme; colors by Adam Philips (#33) and Paul Becton (#57)
Without her, you could never have read The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe!


from Marvel Age #46 (Marvel, January 1987)
Happy birthday, Brenda!


from Marvel/New Universe comics cover-dated 8/87

Today in Comics History, September 16, 1776: The cartoon menace was...no more

from "The Story of the War of Independence" in Picture Stories from American History #2 (EC, 1946), script by M. C. Gaines and W. W. D. Sones, pencils and inks by Allen Simon

Today in Comics History, September 16, 2013: At last, Spider-Man and Richard Nixon have something in common

from The Amazing Spider-Man: Who Am I? #1 one-shot (Marvel, July 2014), script by Joshua Hale Fialkov, storyboards by J.L. Mast and Geoffrey Beaulieu, pencils and inks by Juan Bobillo, colors by Andres Mossa, letters by Chris Eliopoulos
See you for this panel again here on July 14!

Today in Comics History, September 16, 1829: First Wegman's coupon is clipped

Today in 1829: the first issue of the Onondaga Standard, a newspaper serving Syracuse and Central New York, is published.


Why is this important in comics? Well, it's important at least to me: I grew up in Syracuse, and after several mergers, the Standard became the Syracuse Post-Standard in 1899. I grew up reading this paper, and more important, the funnies page, where I got my first education in comics!



So why is this important? Because I believe this is the only time my hometown newspaper has appeared in comic books!:


from Fantastic Four (1961 series) #31 (Marvel, October 1964), script by Stan Lee, pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Chic Stone, color by Stan Goldberg, letters by Sam Rosen
Happy birthday, Syracuse Post-Standard! Here's hoping you keep on telling us about the MONY Building for another 130 years!

Today in Comics History, September 15, 2015: Opening day of Rhianna's "Shut Up and Drive" Taxi License School

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


"Shut Up and Drive" by Rihanna (Def Jam/SRP, 2007), by Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris, Gillian Gilbert, Carl Sturken and Evan Rogers; music video directed by Anthony Mandler
Why, she's not even wearing safety glasses! Please do not take this as actual car repair instruction.

Today in Comics History, September 15: Happy birthday, Fay Wray!

Born on this day in 1907: actress Fay Wray, star of a whole bunch of films and TV (The Most Dangerous Game, The Richest Girl in the World, The Countess of Monte Cristo and more), but perhaps best known for monkeyin' around.



from King Kong one-shot (Western/Gold Key, September 1968), painted cover by George Wilson

Today in Comics History, September 15, 1776: Suddenly, Washington's wooden teeth start tingling

from "Washington!" in Two-Fisted Tales #29 (EC, September), script by Harvey Kurtzman, pencils by John Severin, inks by Will Elder, colors by Marie Severin, letters by Ben Oda

Today in Comics History, September 15: Happy birthday, Lance Tooks!

Born on this day: comics artist/illustrator/editor Lance Tooks (Danger Funnies, The Black Panthers for Beginners, Narcissa, and more)!


from What If...? (1977 series) #34 (August 1982), script by Mike Carlin, pencils by Lance Tooks, inks by Ron Zalme, letters by Rick Parker
Happy birthday, Lance!

Today in Comics History, September 15, 1986: The comic book adaptation of Olivia Newton-John's "Physical" is not successful

from D.P.7 Annual #1 (Marvel/New Universe, November 1987), script by Mark Gruenwald, pencils by Lee Weeks, inks by Tony DeZuniga, colors by Paul Becton, letters by Phil Felix

Today in Comics History, September 15, 1950: Generals continue to play dice with men

from The 'Nam #45 (Marvel, June 1990), script by Doug Murray, breakdowns by Wayne Vansant, finishes by Tony DeZuñiga, colors and letters by Phil Felix

Today in Comics History, September 15: Happy birthday, Isaac Cates!

Born on this: very good pal Dr. Isaac Cates, editor of and contributor to the wonderful fantasy anthology Cartozia Tales, which I love a lot! (You can check it out and order at the Cartozia.com website!)


Happy birthday, Isaac!




"Bully," artwork by Isaac Cates

Today in Comics History, September 15, 2043: Geez, just get some Post-It Notes, dude

from Savage Avengers (2019 series) #24-25 (Marvel, November-December 2021), script by Gerry Duggan, pencils and inks by Patrick Zircher, colors by Java Tartaglia, letters by Travis Lanham

Today in Comics History, September 15, 1951: Happy birthday, Adrian Chase!

Born on this day in 1951: bouncing baby vigilante Adrian Chase!


from Vigilante (1983 series) #50 (DC, February 1988), script by Paul Kupperberg, pencils by Steve Erwin, inks by Jack Torrance, colors by Liz Berube, letters by John Costanza
(Be back here on October 6 to see that panel again!)

Happy birthday, Adrian!

"Vigilante II" from Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe (1985 series) #25 (DC, March 1987), pencils by Tod Smith, inks by Rick Magyar
(Click picture to Punisher-size)

Today in Comics History, September 15: I have not gained 12 pounds...oh, it says Billy, not Bully. Nevermind.

from "Lady Cop" in Gang Busters #9 (DC, April 1949), script by Phil Evans, pencils and inks by Dan Barry

Today in Comics History, September 15: Happy birthday, Chris Wildgoose!

Born on this day: comics artist Chris Wildgoose (Batman: Nightwalker, Batgirl, All-New Firefly, Gotham Academy, Proctor Valley Road, more!)


from DC Comics cover-dated November 2019
Happy birthday, Chris!