Today in Comics History, September 12: Happy birthday, Johnny Long!

Johnny Long! Sounds like a forgotten hero from a third-tier Golden Age comic book, doesn't he? Johnny Long: the Man Who Can Stand Thirteen Feet Tall! But I tell a lie. Johnny Long (born today in 1914) is actually an American violinist, bandleader, and actor, also as "The Man Who's Long on Music"...clever, Johnny, clever! A rare right-handed violinist with an origin that rivals Spider-Man: he learned violin at the age of six, but injured two fingers on his left hand when he was bitten by a pig. He then learned to use his right hand to play the violin.


from Juke Box Comics #5 (Eastern Color, November 1948), by Phil Berube
Johnny also received his own short feature story in comics...


from "Johnny Long" in Juke Box Comics #3 (Eastern Color, July 1948), pencils and inks by Ruth Atkinson
...which riffed on the fact that Johnny got no respect. No respect at all.




A very happy birthday to you, Mister Johnny Long! I'd shake your hand, but I can't reach up that far.


"A Shanty in Old Shanty Town" by Johnny Long and His Orchestra (Decca, 1946), by Ira Schuster and Jack Little with lyrics by Joe Young