Today in Comics History, April 4: Happy birthday, Joe Orlando!

Born on this date in 1927: artist, writer, editor and publisher Joe Orlando, whose extensive work at EC, DC, MAD, and Atlas have cemented his status as a grand master of comics art.


from Weird Fantasy (1951 series) #12 (EC, March 1952), written by Al Feldstein

Today in Comics History, April 4: Happy birthday, Bob Rozakis!

Born on this day: Bob Rozakis, DC Comics writer (Action Comics, The New Adventures of Superboy, Detective Comics, World's Finest comics, The Batman Family, 'Mazing Man, Freedom Fighters and lots more), editor, and "The Answer Man"; DC's Executive Director of Production, co-creator of Mister E, Bumblebee, 'Mazing Man, Hero Hotline, Quakemaster, and more!


from Amazing World of DC Comics #1 (DC, July 1974)

Today in Comics History, April 4, 1968: I can literally hear the sound effect at the end of this page

from Quantum Leap #1 (Innovation, September 1991), script by George Broderick, art by Mark Jones, colors by Scott Rockwell, letters by Vickie Williams

Today in Comics History, April 4, 2063: The Enterprise crew must help a pig win a medal to avoid Borg conquest

from Star Trek: First Contact #1 one-shot (Marvel/Paramount, November 1996), script by John Vornholt, pencils by Terry Pallot and Rod Whigham, inks by Philip Moy, color design by Shannon Blanchard, colors by Malibu, letters by Edd Fear

Today in Comics History, April 4, 1851: Whatever happened to Jules Verne?

from Planetary #18 (WildStorm, February 2004), script by Warren Ellis, pencils and inks by John Cassaday, colors by Laura Martin, letters by Richard Starkings

Today in Comics History, April 4: Charlotte is surprised by something immediately to her left just as the photo is taken

from Assassinistas #2 (IDW, December 2017), script by Tini Howard, pencils and inks by Gilbert Hernandez, colors by Rob Davis, letters by Aditya Bidikar

Today in Comics History, April 4, 1922: Happy birthday, Raymond Sanders...oh.

from Avengers (1963 series) #61 (February 1969), script by Roy Thomas, pencils by John Buscema, inks by George Klein, letters by Sam Rosen

Today in Comics History, April 4, 2020: Reed Richards misunderstands CDC recommendations to shelter in place; thought they said "shelter in space"

from Empyre #1 (Marvel, September 2020), script by Al Ewing and Dan Slott, pencils and inks by Valerio Schiti, colors by Marte Gracia

Today in Comics History, April 4, 1821: Giant tree is chopped down to manufacture comic book that has one panel commemorating its namesake Native American

from "Historical Almanac" in Real Fact Comics #20 (DC, May 1949), creators unknown

Today in Comics History, April 4, 1960 (Oscar Night): Charlton Heston clubs a damn dirty ape to death with his Oscar

Hey look, it's Celebrity in Comics Charlton Heston, making on of his early and rare four-color appearances years before he would get a title of his own in Marvel's Planet of the Apes series! Don't shoot us, Chuck! Heh heh heh heh. Ehhhhh.


from Back to the Future: Biff to the Future #2 (February 2017), co-plot and script by Bob Gale, co-plot by Derek Fridolfs, pencils by Alan Robinson, inks by Alan Robinson and Jaime Castro, colors by Maria Santaolalla, letters by Chris Mowry

Today in Comics History, April 4, 1959 and 1988: Debut, Max Lord of Earth-555

Curiously, April 4 is a quiet day on Earth-616, in the Marvel Universe. On a peaceful day like today, the X-Men play softball, Peter Parker goes out for a lovely picnic with his best girl (Gwen Stacy, Mary Jane Watson, Debra Whitman, Felicia Hardy, Cindy Moon, or any assortment or one or another), and Jarvis continues his spring cleaning.

But April 4 is not a quiet day in the New Universe of Earth-148611, just down the road and outside your window (oh no! someone has stolen your window!) You see, everyone's been caught in The Draft, which is an ill wind that blows nobody any good. And Windy has stormy eyes that flash at the sound of lies! It's her paranormal power ever since the White Event.



from (top) The Draft one-shot (Marvel/New Universe, July 1988), script by Mark Gruenwald and Fabian Nicieza; pencils by Herb Trimpe; inks by Kyle Baker, Mike Gustovich, Klaus Janson, Lee Weeks, and Keith Williams; colors by Michael Higgins; letters by Jim Novak
and (bottom) Psi-Force #23 (Marvel/New Universe, September 1988), script by Fabian Nicieza, pencils by Graham Nolan, inks by Mike Witherby, colors by Nelson Yomtov, letters by Rick Parker
Not to mention that The Pitt (a big hole in the ground where Pittsburgh used to be) is slowly settling into sludge, making it even more difficult to fill with rich delicious My-T-Fine chocolate pudding:


tText page diagram from Justice #24 (Marvel/New Universe, October 1988)
Meanwhile (meaning 29 years previously), in the newer newuniverse (Earth-555, where is where they make all the fictional phone calls to), young Tony Stark is having the best day ever!



from newuniversal #1 (Marvel/New Universe, September 2008), script by Kieron Gillen, pencils and inks by Greg Scott and Kody Chamberlain, colors by Val Staples, letters by Ed Dukeshire
Oh wait. I did that wrong. Worst day ever. Worst day.

(whistles "Iron Man" theme as I walk away)

Today in Comics History, April 4: Commissioner Gordon regrets going to Gotham City's new 52-Car Drive-Through Auto Wash

from Batman #405 (March 1987), script by Frank Miller, pencils and inks by David Mazzucchelli, colors by Richmond Lewis, letters by Todd Klein

Today in Comics History, April 4, 1988: When Daredevil orders a pizza, you can bet it gets there in under thirty minutes

from Black Widow: The Coldest War graphic novel (Marvel, April 1990); script by Gerry Conway; pencils by George Freeman; inks by Ernie Colon, Mark Farmer, George Freeman, Mark Harris, Val Mayerik, and Joe Rubinstein; colors by Lovern Kindzierski, letters by Ron Muns