Today in Comics History, May 20: Happy birthday, Gardner Fox!

Born today in 1911: prolific and important writer Gardner Fox!, co-creator of The Atom, Doctor Fate, the Golden Age Flash, Hawkman, Hawkgirl, the JLA, Zatanna, and Snapper Carr (well, nobody's perfect).


from Fifty Who Made DC Great one-shot (DC, 1985)




With a pedigree like that, Fox's influence on the superhero comic can't be overstated. He's estimated to have written over 4.000 comics!



(top) "Boys & Girls: Meet the Author and Artist of The Flash -- Fastest Man Alive!" in All-Flash Quarterly #1 (DC/J.R. Publishing, Summer 1941), text by Sheldon Mayer;
(bottom) "Inside the Atom" in Showcase #35 (DC/National, November 1961), pencils by Gil Kane, inks by Murphy Anderson
Here he is (with artist Hibbard on the left) in an early meta Earth-2 appearance! Only guessing, but I imagine the interactions between writer and artist are much the same today.


from "The Man Who Unleashed the Past!" in All-Flash #14 (DC/Jolaine, Spring 1944), script by Gardner Fox, pencils and inks by E.E. Hibbard
Gardner Fox has also saved the world on a number of occasions! Check him out here with not-getting-a-birthday-celebration-in-this-feature editor Julius Schwartz.





from "The Strange Adventure That Really Happened" in Strange Adventures #140 (DC/National, May 1962), script by Gardner Fox, pencils and inks by Sid Greene
Schwartz won't even let him have credit for saving the world. Aw, go eat yer bean soup, ya creep.


Gardner teamed up with his creation the Atom for an adventure! Content warning: Julius Schwartz in these panels, too.




from "Ride a Deadly Grenade!" in DC Comics Presents: The Atom #1 one-shot (DC, October 2004), script by Dave Gibbons, pencils by Pat Olliffe, inks by John Livesay, colors by Tom McCraw, letters by Jared K. Fletcher
And with Hawkman!



from "Visitors Day" in DC Comics Presents: Hawkman #1 one-shot (DC, September 2004), script by Cary Bates, pencils by John Byrne, inks by Lary Stucker, colors by Mike Atiyeh, letters by Jared K. Fletcher
Yes, without Gardner Fox, even Batman himself would be impossible!


from "The Strange Death of Batman!" in Detective Comics #347 (January 1966), script by Gardner Fox, pencils by Carmine Infantino, inks by Joe Giella, letters by Gaspar Saladino
Later in life, Gardner Fox retired and , with John Broome, opened a lamp store.


from "Détente" in Action Comics Weekly #631 (DC, December 20, 1988), co-plot and script by Christopher Priest, co-plot and pencils by M. D. Bright, inks by Romeo Tanghal, colors by Anthony Tollin, letters by Albert DeGuzman
And don't forget: as the writer of "Flash of Two Worlds," GARDNER FOX INVENTED THE FREAKIN' DC MULTIVERSE.


from DC Comics Presents: The Atom #1
A very happy birthday to you, Mister Fox! Thanks for ALL the wonder!