Today in Comics History, April 23, 1970: Batman dies; DC Comics shuts down; Bob Kane disavows any knowledge of the Caped Crusader now that it has become unprofitable

from The Brave and the Bold (1955 series) #90 (DC/National, June 1970), script by Bob Haney, pencils by Ross Andru, inks by Mike Esposito, letters by John Costanza
This panel was brought to my attention on Bluesky by pal Gracious Greg A! Thanks, Greg!

Today in Comics History, April 23: Happy birthday, Sandra Dee!

🎵Look at me, I'm a L.S.B.🎵...and I'm here to wish a very happy birthday to Miss Sandra Dee, born on this day in 1942! You may remember Sandra from such fine movies as The Reluctant Debutante, A Stranger in My Arms, Gidget, That Funny Feeling, The Daughters of Joshua Cabe, and of course that "Tammy" movie that didn't star Debbie Reynolds or Beulah Bondi: 1961's Tammy Tell Me True, which was adapted into an ish of Dell's perpetual Four Color series.



cover and inside front cover of Four Color #1233 [Tammy Tell Me True] (Dell, September 1961)

Today in Comics History, April 23: Happy birthday, Michael Moore!

Born on this day: film director, producer, screenwriter and author Michael Moore of fame for Roger & Me, Bowling for Columbine, Fahrenheit 9/11, and let us not forget, Canadian Bacon (and more). Moore's movies have attracted controversial attention for his extreme liberal views and weighting his narrative through editing, which makes him a perfect character to appear in recent-years' issues of MAD magazine:


from "Idiotic Anti-Gun Control Arguments The NRA Hasn't Used - Yet!" in MAD #483 (November 2007), script by Jacob Lambert, pencils and inks by Peter Kuper

Today in Comics History, April 23: Happy birthday, Stephanie Phillips!

Born on this day: comics scripter Stephanie Phillips (Harley Quinn, Grim, Wonder Woman: Evolution, Taarna the Last Taarakian, A Man Among Ye, Nuclear Family, Capwolf & the Howling Commandos and many more)!


"DC Nation" from DC Comics cover-dated January 2022
Happy birthday, Stephanie!

Today in Comics History, April 23, 1945: It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Earth-2

from Last Days of the Justice Society Special #1 one-shot (DC, July 1986), co-plot and script by Roy Thomas, co-plot by Dann Thomas, pencils by David Ross, inks by Mike Gustovich, colors by Carl Gafford, letters by David Cody Weiss

Today in Comics History, April 23: Happy birthday, James Buchanan!

Born on this day in 1791: the 15th President of the United States James Buchanan, who, let's face it, wasn't all that great. More to the point, it's nigh-impossible to find actual references to him in comic books because search results are clogged up by you know who. But I did find a couple comic appearances. Hey, comic books: can you sum up the entirely of his career in two pages? You bet they can!:



from Life Stories of American Presidents one-shot (Dell, November 1957), pencils and inks by John Buscema, letters by Ben Oda
Following his death, General Córdova was pressed flat and turned into a stamp of a lion by Colonel Gumm.


"All-American Stamp Page" from All-American Comics (1939 series) #25 (DC/J.R. Publishing, April 1941), creators uncredited and unknown
Much later, like all Presidents, he became a zombie and fought Deadpool.


from Deadpool (2013 series) #4 (Marvel, March 2013), script by Gerry Duggan and Brian Posehn, pencils and inks by Tony Moore, colors byt Val Staples, letters by Joe Sabino
There. That's all you need to know about James Buchanan.

Today in Comics History, April 23, 1948: Blue Man Group Day at Briggs Stadium is a big success

from Larry Doby, Baseball Hero one-shot (Fawcett, 1950), script by Charles Dexter

Today in Comics History, April 23: Happy birthday, J. M. W. Turner!

Born on this day in 1775: Romantic painter (you mean, like Pepe le Pew?) J. M. W. Turner, known for his pastoral landscapes and his dramatic paintings of ships at sea. And not known for his appearances in comic books, of which I could find none, altho' he might be on the inside of this book, which I don't have.

On the other hoof, remember when yours little stuffed truly went to the Turner exhbit in Mystic, Connecticut? That was fun! See more here!



Happy birthday, J. M. W.! For your birthday, I hope you get some names to go with your initials.

Today in Comics History, April 23, 2020: At last, a Coca-Cola flavor we've been demanding

from 2020 Visions #1 (DC/Vertigo, May 1997), script by Jamie Delano, pencils and inks by Frank Quitely, colors by James Sinclair, letters by Ellie de Ville

Today in Comics History, April 23: Happy birthday, Ruggero Leoncavallo!

Born on this day in 1857, so sing loud if you're gonna do that birthday melody: Ruggero Leoncavallo, Italian opera composer and librettist, and composer of the famous clown opera Pagliacci, which we all know from 1940s cartoons and memes on Twitter. Oh: and from Batman comics:



from "The Grand Opera Murders!" in Batman (1940 series) #40 (DC, April 1947), script by Don C. Cameron (?), pencils by Dick Sprang, inks by Gene McDonald, letters by Joe Letterese (?)
A rare opportunity for the Joker to dress up as a clown, and he didn't! What's this world coming to?!?



from "The Joker's Crime Costumes!" in Batman (1940 series) #63 (DC, February 1951), script by Bill Finger, pencils by Dick Sprang, inks by Charles Paris, letters by Ira Schnapp
Altho' you can usually fit the entire plot of this opera into 280 characters, why not read more about it at your local library in an old comic book?


"Pagliacci" from Classics Illustrated #62 [Western Stories] (Gilberton, August 1949), creator unknown
So please jouously salute Ruggero Leoncavallo and wish him a happy, fun-filled birthday, and if you don't feel quite up to it, why not head down to your friendly neighborhood opera house and see Pagliacci, which ought to cheer you right up...oh, I'm so sorry, Signore Canio, I didn't know it was you.

Today in Comics History, April 23, 1944: But they forgot their wooden shoes and had to go back

from General Douglas MacArthur one-shot (Fox, 1951), creators unknown

Today in Comics History, April 23: Happy birthday, Paulette Breen!

Born on this day: actor and producer Paulette Breen! You may remember her from roles in Wonder Woman, All My Children, Happy Days, or (as seen on Mystery Science Theater 3000), Parts: The Clonus Horror (infamously ripped off by Michael Bay's The Island).




What does this have to do (you may ask) with comic books? Well: as Palisades Park Miss American Teenager, Paulette Breen starred in a DC PSA anti-smoking comic!


"Smoking Is for Squares!" from DC comics cover-dated October 1964, script by Jack Schiff, pencils and inks by Sheldon Moldoff


Palisades Park?!? Now that sounds familiar! Gosh, I hope she got in using a free admission ticket from Superman!


Happy Birthday, Paulette!

Today in Comics History, April 23, 2591: All future cops are still bastards

from "The Future Dies Now!" in Thor Annual #16 (Marvel, 1991), plot by Tom DeFalco, script by Len Kaminski, layouts by Alex Trimpe, pencils by Herb Trimpe, inks by Fred Fredericks, colors by Ed Lazellari, letters by Gary Fields and Chris Eliopoulos

Today in Comics History, April 23, 1960: Milton Bradley invents the game "Battleship"

from "Log of the Snorkel Wolf Pack" in Atomic War! #3 (Ace, February 1953), pencils and inks by Sol Brodsky (?), with Keuffel & Esser Leroy lettering

Today in Comics History, April 23: At last the bacon truck has arrived

from Richard Stark's Parker: The Score (IDW, July 2012); adapted from the novel by Richard Stark; script, pencils, inks, color, and letters by Darwyn Cooke

Today in Comics History, April 23: Jimmy Olsen finishes up the notes for his Lex Luthor fan fiction

from Action Comics #654 (DC, June 1990), script by Roger Stern, pencils by Bob McLeod, inks by Brett Breeding, colors by Glenn Whitmore, letters by Bill Oakley