Today in Comics History, January 5: Happy birthday, Russ Manning!

Happy birthday today to master illustrator and cartoonist Russ Manning, born in 1929. He's the creator of Magnus, Robot Fighter, illustrator of Tarzan, Korak, Wyatt Earp, Ricky Nelson, Ben-Hur, Rawhide, 77 Sunset Strip, Roy Rogers and Trigger, Star Wars, and more!


"Yes, There Is a Tarzana..." from Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan of the Apes (1962 series) #155 (Western/Gold Key, December 1965)
Happy birthday, Russ!

Today in Comics History, January 5: Happy birthday, Zebulon Pike!

Born on this day in far-off 1779: American brigadier general and explorer Zebulon Pike, who discovered the source of the Mississippi River and Pike's Peak. He is also the inventor of the name "Zebulon."


from Ben Bowie and His Mountain Men #9 (Dell, November 1956), creators uncredited and unknown

Today in Comics History, January 5: Happy birthday, Hayao Miyazaki!

Born on this date: animator, filmmaker, and manga creator Hayao Miyazaki (Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service, Porco Rosso, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle and more)!




from Comic Book History of Animation #4 (IDW, February 2021); script by Fred Van Lente; pencils, inks, and letters by Ryan Dunlavey; colors by Adam Guzowski
A very happy birthday to you, Hayao Miyazaki!

Today in Comics History, January 5, 1854: Diary entry sounds pretty important but doesn't even get an illustrated panel to go with it

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, January 5: Happy birthday, Luke Sewell!

Born on this day in 1901: Major League Baseball player and manager Luke Sewell! Here represented with an odd feature reflecting on how poorly his team had been performing and how much pressure was on him to bring the '42 St. Louis Browns to a higher performance. Yes, even in WWII: moneyball!


"Sport Features" in King Comics #73 (David McKay, May 1942), by Jack Burnley
The St. Louis Browns finished their season in third place in the American League.

"Because of the shortage of major league players during the Second World War, Sewell served as a player-manager during the 1942 season, appearing in six games. He played his final game as a player on August 1, 1942 at the age of 41." — Wikipedia

Happy birthday, Luke!

Today in Comics History, January 4: Happy birthday, George Selkirk!

Born on this day in 1908: Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame member George Selkirk, Major League baseball player and MLB front office executive, who inherited Babe Ruth's famous No. 3 uniform during his stint with the New York Yankees.


"Sports Features" from King Comics #16 (David McKay, July 1937), pencils and inks by Jack Burnley
Happy birthday, George!

Today in Comics History, January 4, 1918: This sex-swapped version of the Pandora story is weirdly unsettling

from the Atomictot story in All Humor Comics #13 (Quality, Spring 1949), pencils and inks by Gill Fox
This post was suggested by faithful reader and frequent commenter Blam, who's provided a lot of date references in comics that I'll spotlight throughout 2023 in this series. Thanks, Blam!

Today in Comics History, January 4, 1939: W.B. Yeats has a hard time starting his thank-you letter for the Christmas socks

from The Dreaming (1996 series) #35 (DC/Vertigo, April 1999), script by Caitlín Kiernan, pencils and inks by Rebecca Guay, colors and color separations by Daniel Vozzo, letters by Todd Klein

Today in Comics History, January 4, 1854: We won't be marooned as long as we've got a Johnson

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, January 4, 2016: ♫ Woke up / Got out of bed / Grabbed a cab / As aforesaid ♫

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

Today in Comics History, January 3: After two excruciating days, Sluggo returns to his regular lovable self

Nancy (United Feature Syndicate, December 31, 1944), by Ernie Bushmiller
A special big-ass thank you as usual to Twitter pal @JohnnyCallicutt for bringing my attention to this strip!

Today in Comics History, January 3, 1854: Mealtime of the Ancient Mariner

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, January 1, 2016: Alex Reiger: Who He Is and How He Came to Be

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

Today in Comics History, January 1, 1940, New Year's Day: Have Yourself a Happy Little New Year

See, it's a Little New Year because Al Pratt is short. But I kids the Al Pratt.


from ["The Origin of the Golden Age Atom]" in Secret Origins (1986 series) #25 (DC, April 1988); script by Roy Thomas; pencils by Mike Clark; inks by Bob Downs; colors by Carl Gafford; letters by Jean Simek, Susan Kronz, and Janice Chiang
Which, because Roy Thomas has an entensive collection of key Golden Age comics, means this version of the classic tale took place on the vey same day:


from "Introducing the Mighty Atom" in All-American Comics #19 (DC/All-American, October 1940), script by Bill O'Connor, pencils by Ben Flinton, inks by Leonard Sansone
The 1940s: they were just plain cruel, weren't they?

Today in Comics History, January 1, 1999: ♫ Goin' to the Space Chapel and we're / Gonna get space-married ♫

From across the vast comsic reaches of space!...he puts a ring on it. Great job persuading him, Galactica Beyoncé!


from "Wedding Gift" in Amazing Adventures (1950 series) #2 (Ziff-Davis, May 1951), pencils and inks by Murphy Anderson
Actually, the wedding isn't for four more future days in to that year of the distant fu...ture...1999. You must remembver this: a kiss is still a kiss meet back here in four days to head on over to the Future Magistrate! What, no fancy Star Wedding blessed by the Space Pope?


Oh no Earth is destroyed. He's always pullin' that to get out of marriage!


How will this end? Well, you might consider tuning in again on January 5!

Today in Comics History, January 1, 1863: American journalism gets paper cut; bleeds all over newspapers

from "The Union Preserved" in Picture Stories from American History #4 (EC, Summer 1947), script by Jerry Coleman, pencils and inks by Allen Simon

Today in Comics History, January 1, 1973, New Year's Day: What I have learned from this is: the Avengers don't subscribe to the Daily Bugle

from Fantastic Four (1961 series) #133 (Marvel, April 1973), plot by Roy Thomas, script by Gerry Conway, pencils by Ramona Fradon, inks by Joe Sinnott, colors by Stan Goldberg, letters by John Costanza
But who's got the best comment on today's news, hmm?

Today in Comics History, January 1, 1952 and 2000, New Year's Day: Love! Love will keep us together

from Fantastic Four (2023 series) #1/694 (Marvel, January 2023), script by Ryan North, pencils and inks by Iban Coello, colors by Jesus Aburtov, letters by Joe Caramagna

Today in Comics History, January 1, New Year's Day: Never write a resolution your mouth can't cash

from "Janyearary" in Dennis the Menace Bonus Magazine Series #160 [Dennis the Menace Yearbook] (Hallden/Fawcett, January 1977), creators uncredited and unknown

Today in Comics History, January 1, 1963: Anime immediately corrupts American youth

from Comic Book History of Animation #4 (IDW, February 2021); script by Fred Van Lente; pencils, inks, and letters by Ryan Dunlavey; colors by Adam Guzowski

Today in Comics History, January 1: Happy birthday, Anthony Winn!

Birthday greetings today to born-on-this-day comics artist, writer, illustrator and storyboard artist Anthony Winn (Brigade, Cyberforce, Wolverine covers and more)!


from "The Extreme Scene" in Image/Extreme Comics cover-dated December 1993
Happy birthday, Anthony!

Today in Comics History, January 1, New Year's Day: Don't put words in his mouth

from Batman: The Adventures Continue (2020 series) #8 (DC, March 2021), script by Alan Burnett and Paul Dini, pencils by Ty Templeton, inks by Sean Parsons, colors by Monica Kubina, letters by Josh Reed
Check out Robin's happy face!!!

Today in Comics History, January 1, 2007, 12:00 AM, New Year's Day: Lex Luthor enjoys the traditional thuds and splats ringing in the New Year

from 52 #35 (DC, March 2007); script by Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, and Mark Waid; breakdowns by Keith Giffen; pencils by Phil Jimenez and Dan Jurgens; inks by Andy Lanning and Norm Rapmund; colors by Hi-Fi; letters by Travis Lanham
(Click middle picture to Lex-er-size)
Oh Luthor, you nut, you crazy goofball! Kickin' off the New Year by slaughtering heroes! Will you ever learn?

Now, you may notice that this issue specifically identifies Week 35 of 52 (35 of 52? That's some weird-ass Borg name, isn't it?) as starting on January 1, 2007. That means we can identifies and pin down the exact date of every scene in 52, and I can now post panels from every single story in every single issue to add to the "Today in Comics History" feature starting now!

But I'm not gonna do that. You may now pause to exhale in relief.

(Maybe next year.)

Happy 2007, everybody!


from "DC Nation" in DC Comics cover-dated March 2007