Today in Comics History, June 17, 1989: I can't wait, I can't wait / And I've got to know when I can see you again

from from Realworlds: Batman one-shot (DC, May 2000), script by Christopher Golden and Tom Sniegoski, pencils by Marshall Rogers, inks by John Cebollero, colors by Dave Stewart, letters by Bob Lappan

Today in Comics History, June 15: Happy birthday, Neal Adams!

This is an expanded and updated version of a post originally published June 15, 2022.

Born on this day in 1941: the recently passed (April 28, 2022) and still unsurpassed comics artist Neal Adams (Batman, The Spectre, X-Men, Strange Adventures, The Avengers, Superman vs. Muhammad Ali, National Lampoon, the award-winning Green Lantern/Green Arrow among many others). He's the co-creator of Ra's al Ghul, Man-Bat, Hellgrammite, Green Lantern John Stewart, Ms. Mystic, and more!


from (L) Mighty Marvel Memory Calendar 1977 (Marvel, 1976)
(right) 1975 Mighty Marvel Convention Program Book (1975), photograph by Michele Wiofman

Today in Comics History, June 14: Happy birthday, Jordi Bernet!

Born on this date: Spanish comics artist Jordi Bernet, known for his sublime work on European comics like Wat 69, Andrax, Sarvan, Kraken, Torpedo, Tex Willer, and more, sexy comics I can't read like Clara de noche and Cicca Dum-Dum, and over here in the USA, Batman, 100 Bullets, and a many issues of Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti's acclaimed Jonah Hex series!


from Torpedo #1 (IDW, January 2010)
Bernet was spotlighted in an entire issue of the I-wish-they'd-continue-it DC series Solo:



from Solo #6 [Jordi Bernet] (DC, October 2005)
Happy birthday, Jordi! I betcha you're gonna have some fun guests at your birthday party...oh, yes you are.


cover of The Best of Jordi Bernet's Clara (Aaud, May 2006), pencils and inks by Jordi Bernet

Today in Comics History, June 14: There's text, and there's subtext, and then there's supertext

The curvaceous Cobweb and her cutie companion Clarice can't remember why June 14 is a notable date for them! Hmmm, ladies, maybe you oughta get yourself some Vitamin B to help your memories!


from "Doom Date of the Dusk Duo!" in Tomorrow Stories Special #1 (America's Best Comics, January 2006), script by Steve Moore, pencils and inks by Melinda Gebbie, colors by Tony Avina, letters by Todd Klein
Could it be...Flag Day? Um, nope!


Huh. Maybe it's...the day the Multiverse was invented?


Golly. Have y'all considered it might be the anniversary of the day a giant duck turned itself in to the police?


No! It's Cobweb and Clarice's Anniversary! Awe, that's sweet. Let's keep the comic going so we can see their celebrations with cake and presents and...hey, wha'happen to the rest of the comic?

This post was suggested by faithful reader and frequent commenter Blam, who reads a lot of comic books I'm not 'llowed to, 'cause i'm only seven. To repeat, Golly!

Today in Comics History, June 14, Flag Day Bonus: You'll put your eye out with that thing, Bucky

from "North Africa — Ahoy!" in Young Allies #8 (Marvel/Timely, July 1943); pencils by George Klein, Al Gabriele, or Mike Sekowsky; inks by Allen Bellman; or Don Rico

Today in Comics History, Flag Day Bonus: Betsy Ross murders George Washington

cover of Wimmen's Comix #6 (Last Gasp, December 1975), by Shary Flenniken

Today in Comics History, June 14, Flag Day Bonus: Son quickly learns to stop asking his dad questions

PSA comic "New Stars for "Old Glory" from DC Comics cover-dated November 1959, script by Jack Schiff, pencils and inks by Bernard Baily, letters by Ira Schnapp

Today in Comics History, July 14, Flag Day Bonus: Betsy Ross sues Superboy for trademark theft

from "George Washington's Drum!" in Superboy (1949 series) #2 (DC/National, May 1949), pencils by John Sikela, inks by Ed Dobrotka

Today in Comics History, June 14: Flag Day Bonus: Batman: Fightin' Mad About Flags

from "The First American Detective!" in Batman (1940 series) #44 (DC/National, December 1947), script by Bill Finger (?), pencils by Jim Mooney, letters by Ira Schnapp

Today in Comics History, June 14: Flag Day Bonus: This Totally Am Not Flag Day

from "The Shame of the Bizarro Family!" in Adventure Comics #285 (DC/National, June 1961), script by Jerry Siegel, pencils by Wayne Boring, inks by Stan Kaye

Today in Comics History, June 14: Happy Flag Day!

Just don't forget that according to the MMFTVMU (Marvel Made-for-TV=Movie Universe) that FLAG stands for "Full Latent Ability Gain!" How does that make you feel about Cap now?


from Marvel Age #90 (Marvel, July 1990), text by Chris Eliopoulis and Barry Dutter, pencils and inks by Ron Zalme; colors by Renee Witterstaetter

Today in Comics History, June 13: Happy birthday, Ally Sheedy!

Prepare to swoon in teen romance, kids, because today is the birthday of Brat Pack superstar actor Ally Sheedy, one of the infamous Brat Pack group of actors and starred in The Breakfast Club, Short Circuit 1 and 2, St. Elmo's Fire, Single Drunk Female and many other TV and movie roles, including 1983's nuclear-war-just-for-the-fun-of-it extravaganza WarGames!:


from "Warped Games" in MAD #244 (January 1984), script by Larry Siegel, pencils and inks by Mort Drucker
Happy birthday, Ally Sheedy! Please wish her a great day, and don't forget: be nice to mice!


Now available in long-playing record format!

Today in Comics History, June 12, 1771: Yellow Lantern George Washington fights off half-naked Green Arrow Charles Xavier

"Wonderworld Stamp Club" in Wonderworld Comics #27 (Fox, July 1941), pencils by G. Harris
Following his death, Captain Cook was pressed flat and turned into a stamp by Colonel Gumm.

Today in Comics History, June 11: Happy birthday, Steve Moore!

Today in 1949 was born Steve Moore, the visionary British comics who taught Alan Moore how to write comics scripts, but it's his birthday and we won't hold that against him. The co-creator with Alan M. of Axel Pressbutton, S. Moore also wrote several series for 2000 AD including Dan Dare, Tharg's Future Shocks, Red Fang and his own creation, Tales of Telguuth. Sadly, despite dozens of Telguuth stories within the pages of the UK's thrillpower overloaded comic, it appears that it never once got the cover feature. Boo! For Marvel UK, Steve wrote Doctor Who, the Hulk, Captain Britain, and Nick Fury, and for Moore (A's) America's Best Comics contributed scripts for Tom Strong and Jonni Future. So closely has his comics career been connected to Alan Moore that if anybody was actually going to write Watchmen Babies: V for Vacation, it likely woulda been Steve Moore!

Here's the first couple pages of an extensive interview with Steve Moore from the pages of Warrior magazine. Please not that interviewer "Pedro Henry" is Steve Moore!

from Warrior #15 (Quality Communications, November 1983)
(Click picture to pressbutton-size)
Following Steve's early death in 2014, Rebellion/2000 AD has republished some of his classic Tales of Telguuth stories in trade paperback. I highly recommend 'em! More info here.


Happy birthday, Steve. You're much missed.

Today in Comics History, June 11, 1944: I-Day, right? (counts on hoofs) Yep, I-Day.

And things aren't any better than yesterday!


from "Every Day Is D-Day!" in All-American Men at War (1952 series) #74 (DC/National, October 1959), script by Hank Chapman, pencils and inks by Jack Abel
Let's give Private Bad Predictions a few days off, shall we? Catch up with him here on June 16!

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, June 11: Happy birthday, Roger Bresnahan!

Born on this day in 1879: Major League baseball catcher and manager Roger Bresnahan, nicknamed "The Duke of Tralee," for his parents' hometown in Ireland, and also his habit of singing "Tra-lee! Tra-lee!" as he ran around the bases.


from "Oddities in Sports" in True Sport Picture Stories v.3 #7 (Street and Smith, May 1946); text, pencils, and inks by Thornton Fisher
Happy birthday, Roger!

Today in Comics History, June 11: Happy birthday, John Dokes!

Born on this day: John Dokes of the 1990s Marvel Editorial Planning Department (thank you, narrative caption) and Senior Vice President of Marvel's Integrated Sales and Marketing! And a comic book character as well — here he is carryin' the Big Red Book of Mighty Marvel Miracles:


from 101 Ways to End the Clone Saga #1 one-shot (Marvel, January 1997), script by Mark Bernardo, pencils by Ben Herrera, inks by Mike Christian, colors by Kevin Tinsley, letters by Janice Chiang
He's also a fan of, letter writer to, and reference poser for the beautiful Black Panther!


from letter column of Black Panther (1998 series) #2 (Marvel, December 1998
Here's more about John. And join me in wishing him a happy birthday!

Today in Comics History, June 11: Happy birthday, Ben Jonson!

Born on this day (or around it, I'm not gonna be too fussy) in 1572: Ben Jonson, one of the original Jo(h)nson boys, poet and playwright (Every Man in His Humour, Volpone, or The Fox, The Alchemist, and Bartholomew Fair, all Elizabethan/Jacobean-era plays that John, who majored in this stuff, has read and told me about). He was a pal and contemporary of William Shakespeare (hey, who wasn't), and this adventure of Blake and Mortimer suggests he helped cover up Shakespeare's supposed death in 1616, which is, at the very least, speculative fiction even more preposterous than What If...? Sgt. Fury Fought World War II in Space? This comic at least does make fun of Oxfordians, who are the criminals of the story. Oxfordians are those who believe that Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford was the true author of Shakespeare's plays (no, he wasn't), and to prove how wretched Oxfordians are in ways supported by comic books, John Byrne is an Oxfordian. See? You don't want to be in that company, do you?



from The Adventures of Blake & Mortimer Vol. 24: The Testament of William S. (Cinebook, March 2017), script by Yves Sente, translation by Jerome Saincantin, pencils and inks by André Juillard, colors by Madeleine DeMille, letters by Design Amorandi
Jonson's famous deication in the First Folio is thus revelaed to be a cryptic reference to Shakespeare still living! Well, that's definitely ironclad proof.


Ben Jonson makes a guest appearance...I think...in this Superman tale where Lois and Clark are zapped back in space and time to London in the Elizabethan era! And, because Lois knows Clark is there and Superman keeps showing up, Clark has to resort to silly gaslighting with Clark dummies and super-speed. You'd think he'd get William Shakespeare, who figures out Clark's secret identity, to pose as him. No, but Shakespeare blackmails Superman until Supes recites Macbeth for him to copy down and claim as his own, which raises the question: who wrote Macbeth in the first place?

Anyway, Clark spots Jonson in a tavern, but he doesn't even identify which of these Other Guys™ he is. Nice cameoing, Jonson! (snicker)


from "Shakespeare's Ghost Writer!" in Superman (1939 series) #44 (DC/Superman Inc., January 1947), script byt Don C. Cameron, pencils by Ira Yarbrough, inks by George Roussos (?)
This is supposedly the first Superman time travel story, before writers added his ability to fly hecka fast and go forwards or backwards through the years, so it's dependant on a crazy scientist and his time contraption. Luckily, at the end, Lois and Clark return to Metropolis and the office of cranky Perry White while Superman assures us, the readers, that Superman got back too. Somehow. Don't think too hard about it.


Happy birthday, Ben Jonson!