Today in Comics History, February 29: Happy birthday, Gioachino Rossini!

Yes, here it is, the event we've all waited four years for: Gioachino Rossini's birthday, born on this day in 1792, which means he's only... (does math with hoofs, wishes I had more that four hoofs)...fifty-eight years old this year! That's mighty young at heart for the classic composer of the famous operas William Tell aka The Lone Ranger, Otello (please don't be mad at him just because he misspelled Shakespeare's tragic Moor), and of course The Barber of Seville, a hair-raising comic opera:


from "Famous Operas: The Barber of Seville" in Classics Illustrated #55 (Gilberton, January 1949), creators uncredited and unknown
Of course, we're all familiar with the plot and music of The Barber of Seville thanks to that famous short cartoon featuring a wascally animal character, right? And here it is!

excerpt from Looney Tunes "Rabbit of Seville" (Warner Bros., 1950), story by Michael Maltese, directed by Chuck Jones, starring the voices of Mel Blanc and Arthur Q. Bryan, with the music of Gioachino Rossini
Okay, actually the original gag of that last paragraph was going to lead you unexpectedly to not a Bugs Bunny cartoon, but one with Woody WOodpecker, until I actually watched it and went yeeeeeesh at its dodgy depiction of a Native American. (Look at it at your own risk.)

Happy birthday, Gioachino Rossini!