Today in Comics History, July 18: Happy birthday, John Glenn!

Born on this date in 1921: a cat who's really far out there! I mean, he's totally up in the air, folks! You might even say that this freakzoid was the first American to orbit the Earth, in 1962! TAnd yeah, this hoopy frood was the third American in space! And a U.S. Senator (okay, that one's less cool). And he went back into space in 1997 at the age of 77! Okay, that one's totally awesome! I'm talkin' of course, about fighter and test pilot/astronaut John Glenn! Also, if you grew up in Syracuse like I do, you might know him from the totally excellent but extremely short John Glenn Boulevard, which also gave name to the area around it, thus the frequent refrain heard in our household "I'm going over to the John Glenn Wegman's." Yeah, baby!


cover of Newsday's Comics on the News with Chip Tracer #1 one-shot (Newsday, 1998); pencils, inks, and colors by Steve Geiger; background photos by NASA and Associated Press



Why, John Glenn's even a part of Brian Michael Bendis's Jinxworld! No, I don't know what that means, either.


"John Glenn in Space" from Jinx: Buried Treasures #1 one-shot (Image, 1998), by Brian Michael Bendis
Let us never forget that no less an authority than President John F. Kennedy upheld the belief that Colonel Glenn could totally outwrestle Superman in a fair match (i.e., under a red sun). But what JFK and Superman never suspected was that the kids of 1963 were willing to get high a different way than John Glenn had.


from "Superman's Mission for President Kennedy!" Superman (1939 series) #170 (DC/National, July 1964), script by Bill Finger and E. Nelson Bridwell, pencils and inks by Al Plastino
Now, all that is pretty silly, so we'll leave you with a series bit in the comics about John Glenn, which came from the most patriotic source of all: Britain.


"Spaceman's Portrait Gallery: John Glenn" from TV Century 21( (1965 series) #13 (City Magazines UK, April 17 "2065" [1965]), text by Roger Dunn (?)
And in that mode, let us leave our salute to John Glenn with something very respectful and sophisticated.


from "Hamburger's Little Helper" in Simpsons Comics #45 (Bongo, October 1999), script by Robert Graff and Jesse Leon McCann, pencils by Phil Ortiz, inks by Tim Bavington, colors by Nathan Kane, letters by Jeannine Crowell Black
Happy birthday, Colonel Glenn! i hope you and your pal, Martin Luther King Jr., found this post humorous.