Today in Comics History, March 19: Happy birthday, Bruce Willis!

Born on this day: actor Bruce Willis (Moonlighting, Die Hard, Hudson Hawk, The Fifth Element, 12 Monkeys, Unbreakable and many more)! Happy birthday, Bruno!

He gets around in comics. Here he is (with tuff guy pals Arnie and Sly) being intimidated by Lobo! Why, that's at least one and one quarter action movie heat right there in those three guys alone!


from Guy Gardner: Warrior #29 (DC, March 1995), script by Beau Smith, pencils by Phil Jimenez, inks by John Stokes and Dan Davis, colors by Gene D'Angelo, letters by Albert DeGuzman



Over in the -616, Ghost Bruce attanded Deadpool's funeral (with sidekick Haley Joel Osment)!


from Deadpool (1997 series) #61 (February 2002), script by Frank Tieri, pencils by James Calafiore, inks by Jon Holdredge, colors by Tom Chu's Color Dojo, letters by Dave Sharpe
And here's Bruce playin' the ol' blues burger (I'm sure that's not a dirty phrase). Hey look, vocalist Jim Belushi!


from "Chicago" in Eightball #7 (Fantagraphics, November 1991), by Daniel Clowes
What If...?™...Bruce Willis was a pig? Well, what then? how about it?


from "TV or not TV: Read a Good Book Lately?, Part 1" in Marvel Tales (1964 series) #205 (Marvel, November 1987), script by Michael Eury, pencils by Ron Zalme, inks by Pierre Fournier, colors by Andy Yanchus, letters by Rick Parker
The arrival of Bruce Willis complicates the Impossible Man's life:


from "Where Is Stan The Man When You Need Him?" in Stan Lee Meets Dr. Strange #1 one-shot (Marvel, December 2006), script by Brian Michael Bendis, pencils by Mark Bagley, inks by Andrew Hennessy, colors by Studio F, letters by Dave Lanphear
Salvador Larocca based the look of John Tensen (Justice) upon Willis in the New Universe remagining newuniversal:


cover of newuniversal #6 (Marvel, July 2007), pencils and inks by Salvador Larroca



from newuniversal #1 (Marvel, February 2007), script by Warren Ellis, pencils and inks by Salvador Larroca, colors by Jason Keith, letters by Rus Wooton
A storyline in 2004's Tsunami series Sentinel features an off-duty cop who happens to get tangled up in a airplane disaster and who's cryptically named "John." And he didn't die easily.


from Sentinel (2003 series) #8 (Marvek/Tsunami, December 2003), by all these people
There was even a McClane prequel comic book, about Die Hard's days as a rookie cop!



from Die Hard #1 (Boom!, August 2009), cover art by Dave Johnson, script by Howard Chaykin, pencils and inks by Stephen Thompson, colors by Matthew Wilson, letters by Ed Dukeshire
And of course, because he's a big Hollywood superstar, he's been in MAD magazine more than a few times! Unfortunately, none of those appearances were drawn by star-maker Mort Drucker.




from (top) "Die Hard With No Variance" in MAD #340 (October 1995), script by Dick DeBartolo, pencils and inks by Drew Friedman;
(middle) "Ahm-A-Gettin’ (The Hell Outta Here!)" in MAD #375 (November 1998), script by Arnie Kogen, pencils and inks by Angelo Torres;
and (bottom) "The Sick Sense" in MAD #380 (January 2000), script by Dick DeBartolo, pencils and inks by Angelo Torres
Well, we all wish you a happy birthday, Bruce!