Today in Comics History, December 10, 1984: The band Saga would like to assure you that they were based upon a true story

from Hot Valley Days and Cocaine Nights #3 (Antarctic, February 2021), script by Matthew Spradlin, pencils and inks by Farid Karami, colors by Andrew Crossley

Today in Comics History, December 10, 1950: Chinese Army marches hundreds of miles to put to shame you soft, Imperialistic, shopping American pig-dogs

from "Link-Up!" in Two-Fisted Tales (1950 series) #26 (EC, March 1952), script by Harvey Kurtzman, pencils by John Severin, inks by Will Elder, colors by Marie Severin, letters by Ben Oda

Today in Comics History, December 10, 1918: Worst Pacific Princess cruise ever

from The Stretcher Bearers (Naval Institute Press/Dead Reckoning, April 2022), co-script and art by Reid Beaman, co-script and letters by Ryan Beaman

Today in Comics History, December 10, 1942: "So you say these two machine guns were abandoned, Botcher?" "Abandoned...by the guys we shot, yes sir."

from "Fighting Back in New Guinea" in Combat (1961 series) #8 (Dell, April 1963), script by Paul S. Newman, pencils and inks by Sam Glanzman

Today in Comics History, December 10, 1941: Nazis and Mayans? Oh, not that old cliché again!

from All-Star Squadron #6 (DC, February 1982), script by Roy Thomas, pencils by Adrian Gonzales, inks by Jerry Ordway, colors by Carl Gafford, letters by Ben Oda

Today in Comics History, December 10, 1941, Dawn: US Military develops a meat grinder that can scream "AIR RAID" when you run a pig through it

from "The Hop Harrigan Quarterly Award for Flying Heroism: Meyer Levin" in Comic Cavalcade #3 (DC/All-American, Summer 1943), creators uncredited and unknown

Today in Comics History, December 9: Happy birthday, José Delbo!

Born on this day: comics artiost José Delbo (Wonder Woman, Detective Comics, Hogan's Heroes, The Monkees, Billy the Kid, Yellow Submarine, Batgirl, World's Finest Comics, The Twilight Zone, The Transformers, NFL SuperPro, many more)!


from DC Comics cover-dated September 1981


from Marvel/Star comics cover-dated June 1988
Happy birthday, José!

Today in Comics History, December 9, 1966: The economy crashed so quickly even this guy was taken by surprise

from The Flash (1959 series) #167 (February 1967), script by Gardner Fox, pencils by Carmine Infantino, cover inks by Joe Giella, interior inks by Sid Greene

Today in Comics History, December 9, 1942: AIEEE he's firing right at us!

from "Fighting Back in New Guinea" in Combat (1961 series) #8 (Dell, April 1963), script by Paul S. Newman, pencils and inks by Sam Glanzman

Today in Comics History, December 8, 1952: Happy birthday, Trigger Keaton...you #$@!%

from Six Sidekicks of Trigger Keaton #6 (Image, November 2021), script by Kyle Starks, art by Chris Schweizer, colors assists by Liz Trace Schweizer

Today in Comics History, December 8, 1952: EC's experimental new comic book Tales of Inconsequence is not a success

from "The End!" in Weird Fantasy (1951 series) #13 (EC, May 1952), script by Al Feldstein, pencils and inks by Wally Wood, colors by Marie Severin, letters by Jim Wroten

Today in Comics History, December 8, 1989: "Aurora Borealis!? At this time of year, at this time of day, in this part of the country, localized entirely within the Daily Bugle press room!?"

cover of Daily Bugle #3 (Marvel, February 1997), pencils by Karl Kerschl, inks by Greg Adams

Today in Comics History, December 8: Pink people in their pink sedan gather to hunt down the guy who squashed their brother

from New Mutants (1983 series) #99 (Marvel, March 1991); plot, pencils, and inks by Rob Liefeld, script by Fabian Nicieza, colors by Brad Vancata, letters by Joe Rosen

Today in Comics History, December 7: Happy birthday, Tom Waits!

Born on this day: Musician, composer, and actor Tom Waits, he of the barrel full o' smoked cigarettes voice and sad, sad life songs!


from "Ralph Carney" in American Splendor: Our Movie Year (Random House, December 2004), script by Harvey Pekar; pencils, inks, and letters by Gary Dumm

Today in Comics History, December 7, 2016: Baby, you can drive my cab (until today)

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

Today in Comics History, December 7: Amazing Colossal Man crushes neon pink Jeep

from The New Mutants (1983 series) #99 (Marvel, March 1991); plot, pencils, and inks by Rob Liefeld, script by Fabian Nicieza, colors by Brad Vancata, letters by Joe Rosen

Today in Comics History, December 7, 1993: Comic strip story progresses exactly one panel forward

from The Amazing Spider-Man comic strip (King Features Syndicate, December 7, 1993), script by Stan Lee, pencils by Larry Lieber, inks by Fred Kida

Today in Comics History, December 7, 1967: Only the second-biggest disaster to happen on December 7

from Marvel Comics Super Special #4 [The Beatles] (Marvel, 1978), script by Dave Kraft, additional dialogue by Don McGregor, pencils by George Pérez, inks by Klaus Janson and Joe Rubinstein, colors by Petra Goldberg, letters by Tom Orzechowski

Today in Comics History, December 7, 1934: Police shoot first, ask questions of twin brother later

from "Walter Leganza: The Tri-State Devil" in Crime Must Pay the Penalty #2 (Ace, June 1948), pencils by Ken Battefield

Today in Comics History, December 7, 1985: Director Wolf is directed, potentially by wolves

from The Black Monday Murders #2 (Image, November 2016), script by Jonathan Hickman, pencils and inks by Tomm Coker, colors by Michael Garland

Today in Comics History, December 6, 1920: Opium addict also debt addict

from The Dollhouse Family #5 (DC/Hill House, May 2020), script by Mike Carey, layouts by Peter Gross, finishes by Vincent Locke, colors by Cris Peter, letters by Todd Klein

Today in Comics History, December 6, 1908: Minky Woodcock gets into manual calculation NFTs

from Minky Woodcock: The Girl Who Electrified Tesla #3 (Titan, July 2021); script, pencils, inks, and colors by Cynthia von Buhler; letters by Jim Campbell

Today in Comics History, December 6, 1941: Time Storm finally begins to clear up; Per Degaton puts away his rubber time boots

from All-Star Squadron #2 (DC, October 1981), script by Roy Thomas, pencils by Rich Buckler, inks by Jerry Ordway, colors by Carl Gafford, letters by John Costanza
Yes, I know the panel takes place on December 7.

Today in Comics History, December 6, 1936: Actually Doc Brown's just happened upon the weekend of the Hill Valley Classic Car Show and a theatre still playing Mia Hansen-Løve's "Things to Come" (2016)

from Back to the Future: Biff to the Future #5 (IDW, May 2017), co-plot and script by Bob Gale, co-plot by Derek Fridolfs, pencils and inks by Alan Robinson, additional inks by Jaime Castro, colors by Maria Santaolalla, letters by Shawn Lee

Today in Comics History, December 5, 1945: Pilot flies from pages of Our Fighting Forces into Weird War Stories

from Doom Patrol (1987 series) #38 (DC, November 1990), script by Grant Morrison, pencils by Richard Case, inks by Mark McKenna, colors by Daniel Vozzo, letters by John Workman

Today in Comics History, December 5, 1853: Opinions split

from "Ghost Ship!" in Crypt of Terror (1950 series) #19 (EC, August 1950); script, pencils, and inks by Al Feldstein, letters by Jim Wroten

Today in Comics History, December 5, 1942: They're clearly using the same definition of "unsinkable" that the White Star Line did

from "U.S.S. Minneapolis: Unsinkable Ship" in True Comics #43 (Parents' Magazine Press, Spring 1945), creators uncredited and unknown

Today in Comics History, December 5, 1804: The fog creeps in on little cat arsonists' feet

from Manifest Destiny #31 (Image, October 2017), script by Chris Dingess, pencils by Matthew Roberts, inks by Tony Akins, colors by Owen Gieni, letters by Pat Brosseau

Today in Comics History, December 5, 1906: Mighty man-pig commands his troops with authority

from "Daredevils of Destiny" in Reg'lar Fellers Heroic Comics (1947 series) #6 (Pines, March 1948), script by by Frank Rentfrow, pencils and inks by Don Dickson

Today in Comics History, December 5: Whoa, that's gonna leave a mark

variant cover of Heroes in Crisis #5 (DC, March 2019), by Ryan Sook
(Wait a minute...who took that Poloroid?)

Anyway, that means today is the day this took place:


from Batman #427 (DC, Winter 1988), script by Jim Starlin, pencils by Jim Aparo, inks by Mike DeCarlo, colors by Adrienne Roy, letters by John Costanza
However, see April 27 for a conflicting date of these events!

In either case, Mike Sterling over at Progressive Ruin turns the whole she-bang into a nifty gif! Thanks, Mike! It shall remain in my nightmares.

Today in Comics History, December 5: We now return to Plot Convenience Newspaper, already on sale

from "About Phase" in Crime SuspenStories #19 (EC, October 1953), co-plot by Bill Gaines, co-plot and script by Al Feldstein, pencils and inks by George Evans, colors by Marie Severin, letters by Jim Wroten

Today in Comics History, December 4: Happy birthday, Pamela Stephenson!

Born on this day: actor, comedian, and psychologist Pamela Stephenson (Lady Connolly) from Not the Nine O'Clock News, Saturday Night Live, Mel Brooks's History of the World Part 1, Strictly Come Dancing, and in Superman III as Lorelei Ambrosia!




from Superman [III] Movie Special one-shot (DC, September 1983), script by Cary Bates, pencils by Curt Swan, inks by Sal Amendola, colors by Carl Gafford, letters by Ben Oda
Even tho' you look like a hologram in these panels — maybe that transparency is courtesy of Superman's X-ray vision? — happy birthday, Pamela!

Today in Comics History, December 4, 1783: First meeting of the George Washington Clone Club

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, December 4: Happy birthday, Jeff Bridges!

Born on this day: Academy Award-winning actor and producer Jeff Bridges! Gee, he looks familiar...oh, that's right! We saw him in Iron Man as Obadiah Stane, kickin' off the MCU! Here he is (right):


photo variant cover of Invincible Iron Man (2008 series) #1 (Marvel, July 2008)

Today in Comics History, December 4, 1951: Ex-convict seized, apparently upside-down

from "Crime Without Motive" in Crime Fighting Detective #19 (Star, June 1952), pencils and inks by R. Louis Golden
Wait, why is a newspaper reporting a 10-month old story?

Today in Comics History, December 4: Happy birthday, "Pappy" Boyington!

Born on this day in 1912: Lt. Colonel Gregory "Pappy" Boyington, Marine and WWII Flying Ace in the Pacific front.



from "'Pappy' Boyington" in It Really Happenedi #8 (Pines, April 1947), creators uncredited and unknown
Pretty much every other panel in that 3-page story is filled with racist slurs (including the bottom of the first panel), so why not instead watch Robert Conrad as Pappy in the 1976-78 NBC-T series Baa Baa Black Sheep (aka Black Sheep Squadron). Gotta be better than the comic.



Pappy birthday, Happy! Oh, you know what I mean.