Today in Comics History, August 11: Happy birthday, Jim Lee!

Born on this day: Jim Lee, prolific comic book writer and artist (Uncanny X-Men, X-Men, Superman, Superman Unchained, Batman, All Star Batman & Robin, the Boy Wonder, Justice League, WildC.A.T.s, Alpha Flight, The Punisher War Journal, Fantastic Four, The Intimates, Deathblow, Divine Right, and about one bajillion covers, among (whew!) many others. He co-created Gen¹³, Omega Red, Hush, Mr. Majestic, Stormwatch, WildC.A.T.s, and Gambit, although we won't hold that last one against you, Jim. He's also a founding member of Image Comics and WildStorm Productions, and is now Chief Creative Officer and Publisher of DC Comics. Whew, Jim! Take a vacation and give yourself some "you" time!


cover of Marvel Age #104 (Marvel, September 1991), pencils and inks by Jim Lee




Jim's here (in the orange shirt and ball cap at the head of the table) at a DC meeting where Dan DiDio pitches a wild idea and Harley Quinn pitches industrial levels of poop at their window:


from Harley Quinn (2014 series) #8 (DC, September 2014), script by Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti, pencils and inks by Chad Hardin, colors by Alex Sinclair, letters by John J. Hill
In fact, what with being the poster child for sexy mischief on the DCU, Harley's a bit obsessed with Jim. Here she is summoning him out of the ther to draw a page of her book! Don't complain too much about it, just hush.


from Harley Quinn (2014 series) #0 (DC, January 2014), script by Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti, pencils by Jim Lee, inks by Scott Williams, colors by one'a these guys, letters by John J. Hill
Harley stalks Jim for her portfolio review at San Diego Comic-Con:



from Harley Quinn Invades Comic-Con International: San Diego #1 one-shot (DC, September 2014), script by Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti, pencils and inks by Marco Failla, colors by Brett Smith, letters by John J. Hill
However, it's mainly for his creative and editorial work that Jim Lee gets featured in comic books, so take it away, interviews and promo pages!



Interview pages about the 1996 "Heroes Reborn" project, from Marvel Comics cover-dated August 1996


"The Storm Front," promo page from WildStorm Comics cover-dated December 2006 Jim photographed alongside what I like to disparagingly call "more fun friends":


(L) Bob Harras and Jim Lee from Marvel Age # 112 (Marvel, May 1992);
(R) Dan DiDio and Jim Lee from DC Comics cover-dated July 2006
Happy birthday, Jim Lee!


from WildStorm Comics cover-dated July 1997