Today in Comics History, April 1, April Fool's Day: No foolin'...Jimmy's a jerk

from "Superman's Enemy!" in Superman's Pal Enemy Jimmy Olsen (1954 series) #35 (DC, March 1959), script by Otto Binder, pencils by Curt Swan, inks by Ray Burnley

Today in Comics History, April 1, April Fool's Day: Mmmmmm, bat pie

from Batman (1940 series) #63 (DC, February 1959), script by Bill Finger, pencils by Dick Sprang, inks by Charles Paris, letters by Ira Schnapp

Today in Comics History, April 1, 198X, April Fool's Day: You Are Foolishly Invited....

from Ambush Bush Stocking Stuffer #1 (one-shot) (DC, February 1986), script by Robert Loren Fleming, pencils by Keith Giffen, inks by Bob Oksner, colors by Anthony Tollin, letters by John Costanza

Today in Comics History, April 1, April Fool's Day: Dennis Knows Foolin'

from "April Antics" in Dennis the Menace Bonus Magazine Series #151 (Hallden/Fawcett, April 1976), creators uncredited and unknown
Yes, Dennis knows when April Fool's Day is! Unless he doesn't.


from Dennis the Menace Bonus Magazine Feature #160 (Hallden/Fawcett, January 1977)

Today in Comics History, April 1, April Fool's Day: Everybody plays the fool

from "Crime-of-the-Month Club!" in Batman (1940 series) #110 (DC, September 1957), script by Dave Wood, pencils by Dick Sprang, inks by Charles Paris, letters by Pat Gordon

Today in Comics History, April 1: Those were the days, my friend

from Batman: The Long Halloween #11 (DC, October 1997), script by Jeph Loeb, pencils and inks by Tim Sale, colors by Gregory Wright, letters by Richard Starkings

Today in Comics History, April 1: Batman takes all the holiday decorations down from the Wayne Manor attic at once

from Batman: The Long Halloween #7 (DC, June 1997), script by Jeph Loeb, pencils and inks by Tim Sale, colors by Gregory Wright, letters by Richard Starkings
(Click picture to long holiday weekend-size)

Today in Comics History, April 1: Cruel April Fool's prank pulled on Steve Lombard? I'm...going to allow it.

from "If I'm Here...What Am I Doing Over There?" in Action Comics #472 (DC, June 1977), script by Bill Kunkel, pencils by John Calnan, inks by Tex Blaisdell

Today in Comics History, April 1: "Who's the more foolish? The fool or the fool who follows her?"

from "Easter Hunt" in Love and Rockets (1982 series) #42 (Fantagraphics, August 1993); script by Gilbert Hernandez; pencils, inks, and letters by Jaime Hernandez

Today in Comics History, April 1: April Fool around and find out

As we saw last night, the night of March 31 (HINT HINT HINT), scientist Victor Gattling has turned himself into the police for murdering his best friend and co-worker Joe, startling all the boys in blue, especially when Vic tells them Joe murdered him first! How could such a thing even be possible?!? Well, first, it's a tale from an EC comic. Second...


from "This'll Kill You!" in Crime SuspenStories #23 (EC, June 1954), script by Otto Binder, pencils and inks by Reed Crandall, colors by Marie Severin, letters by Jim Wroten
Joe fell and accidentally injected Vic with Hypno-Helio-Static-Stasis (containing X-4) Virus Y-44-Gamma, so you'll expect he's about to turn into Victor-Hulk. Sadly, no, it just means what it means in the real world: Vic's gonna die. No antidote, no tomorrow, no picnic in the park this Saturday, no seeing the opening of The Bowery Boys Meet the Monsters in a few weeks, even though it's sure to be the #1 box-office draw for the entire summer blockbuster season.

Notably, Joe's all broken up about it. So, for slightly better reason, is Vic.


Knowing you have only 24 hours to live, what would you do? Make peace with your family? Go speak to a minister? Eat all the cookies you could possibly hold? Naw, not Vic. He goes back later to the lab and murders Joe todeath with a microscope! (A small crime, then. They oughta let him slide for that. certainly none of his actions could magnify his crime. Um...ah...microscope!)


Still, after that amoeba-disturbin' murder, Vic comes to his senses and realizes he's going to have to live the rest of his life (less than 24 hours) with that guilt. He drags Joe's body to the police station — geez, there wasn't a trolley in that lab? — and confesses to the crime. But what can they do to him? Vic will die anyway (checks watch)...slightly less than at the beginning of this paragraph.


Give yerself a gold star or a No-Prize or one of the coverted EC Irony Awards if you, the reader, has sussed out exactly what happened and what day this is happening...


Good Lord! Choke!

Today One Thousand Years in the Future in Comics, April 1, 2993: That one never goes out of style

from Legion of Super-Heroes (1989 series) #41 (DC, March 1993), script by Tom Bierbaum and Mary Bierbaum, pencils by Chris Sprouse, inks by Karl Story, colors by Tom McCraw, letters by John Workman

Today in Comics History, March 31: Ben Grimm Goes to DashCon

Hey hey hey Baxter Building Boosters! What day is it?

Today the Human Torch plays a April Fool's joke on the Thing, in one of the finest Ben Grimm stories put down on paper! (Seriously, you need to get it. It's in Marvel Fanfare #15, and I don't know why it hasn't been reprinted twenty times. Ask for it by name!


from Marvel Fanfare #15 (Marvel, July 1984); script, pencils, inks, and colors by Barry Windsor-Smith; letters by Jim Novak
But wait, Bully! (you're saying) Why are you posting this a day too early? Have you made a mistake? (you ask). Well, no (I say). I'm not the one who made a mistake.


In any case, get a good night's sleep, and have a peaceful and serene April Fool's Day tomorrow. Don't do anything too extreme: I don't think our hearts can stand it this year.

Today in Comics History, April 1, 1948: Jealous of Batman's success, Green Lantern also gets himself a joke-themed nemesis

from "The April Fool's Day Crimes!" in Comic Cavalcade #27 (DC, June 1948), script by John Broome, pencils and inks by Alex Toth
Oh hey! Today also appears to be the day Doiby Dickles was killed by gangsters.

Other heroes that Green Lantern appear to be jealous of include Fawcett's Captain Marvel, what with Billy Batson working in a radio station...


And, despite the fact that they would not premiere for another thirteen years...the Fantastic Four and their trademark flare alert!


Jealous, jealous, Alan Scott. No wonder they called him the Green Lantern!

That supervillain the Fool certain is some kind of criminal joker, isn't he? (nudge nudge wink wink)


Eh, on closer inspector, he really is much more of a Riddler. Your compulsion to leave clues will continue to be your downfall, guys! I'm jus' sayin'.


Anyway, all's fool that ends fool! Happy April Fool's Day!

Today in Comics History, April 1: First appearance, Fake-Ass Mr. Mxyzptlk of Earth-57780

from "There's No Fool Like an April Fool" in Spidey Super Stories #10 (Marvel, July 1975), script by Jean Thomas, pencils by Win Mortimer, inks by Mike Esposito and Tony Mortellaro, letters by Artie Simek

Today in Comics History, April 1, 1992: A harmless little April Fool's prank goes horribly, horribly wrong

So, what could possibly happen when Jules and Verne Brown decide to play a little gentle April Fool's Day trick on their dad, "Reverend" Jim Ignatowski "Doc" Emmett Brown, who just so happens to have invented the time machine and knows a thing or two about thinking fourth dimensionally, huh? Pretty innocent, right? What's the worst that could happen?


from Back to the Future (1991 series) #4 (Harvey, June 1992), story by Peyton Reed and Mark Cowen; adapted by Dwayne McDuffie; penciks, inks, colors, and letters by Nelson Dewey
Well, this is what happened. Are we all laughing now, Jules and Verne? Is it oh so funny that the fabric of time and space got pretty much destroyed, huh? Is it just a harmless prank for you to enjoy anymore? Are you not entertained?



Why don't they look? Why don't they look?!?


from Age of Ultron #10 (Marvel, August 2013), script by Brian Michael Bendis, pencils and inks by oh, take your pick, colors by Paul Mounts and Richard Isanove, letters by Cory Petit
So, if the next time machine I stop happens to be yours...don't tell me that you were speeding a little, only breaking the law a little...only doing something a little bit wrong, save that for somebody else, brother! Because I've seen too many "little bit" follies, and they end up a little bit dead! Now I'm gonna grab me a little bit of lunch!


Also: DON'T DATE ROBOTS!

Today in Comics History, April 1: The instructions for suggested use of ketchup are disregarded

from The Spirit Section (Register and Tribune Syndicate, March 30 (not 20), 1947), script by Will Eisner, pencils and inks by Will Eisner and Jerry Grandenetti, letters by Martin DeMuth

Today in Comics History, April 1: The day Superman dropped LSD: The day Superman dropped LSD

As you may have seen last night, March 31: Superman has the most boring-ass diary in the world!


from "The Night of March 31st!" from Superman #145 (DC, May 1961), script by Jerry Siegel, pencils by Curt Swan, inks by Sheldon Moldoff
You know, what is it that Supergirl has or hasn't done between this story back to her arrival on Earth in Action #252 (May 1959) to deserve being still hidden under a Kryptonite curtain? I'm guessing Kal-El needed that extra time in order to clear all the legal ownerships on that "S" shield so Kara can never make any money off her likeness. Wow, that clever, clever Clark! Also: that dirty, rotten Clark!

Superman hurries to the Planet and does his best impersonation of Kool-Aid:



Apparently Lori Lemaris has grown a pair...of legs! Say, I wonder if that singing crab is anywhere around here?


Ha ha ha! It's just as I predicted...Supergirl reveals herself! She's had it up to there...no, there...wait...here, with Kal-El! You can tell he's mad because he took some time to change into his comfortable Sears casual slacks.


Then, ownership of Super-Pets is transferred! This might be a weird, weird, day. Still, any appearance of Streaky the Super-Cat is welcome as far as I'm concerned. And it isn't even Caturday!


It's a madhouse, I tell you! A MADHOUSE!


Anticipating that issue of John Byrne's Superman where Lois dates Mr. Mxyzptlk, Lois...um...dates Mr. Mxyzptlk! Yep, it's true...chicks dig the fifth dimension.


Consternation, uproar! Supes and Mxy square off! Hey, judge...he's got a foreign object in the ring...a ball o' Red Kryptonite! Oh no! Superman will turn into a clock or a grand piano or Senator Estes Kefauver! You just can never predict what Red Kryptonite will do to Superman unless you look at the cover of the comic book.


Oh, there's a poster in it! I wonder what that poster will be!


No, no, no. Not that poster, this poster:


Now, let's visit Lana Lang, who is now acting like a complete jerk. So, regular ordinary Lana Lang, then.


Superman's pals arrive to save the day! Notably absent: Jimmy Olsen, fair-weather friend that he is.


Thus: THE GREATEST PANEL IN COMIC BOOK HISTORY:


Yes, folks, it's the only Superman story* that ends with a "plop!" *Aside from some copies of "For the Man Who Has Everything."


Now, 'round about this time the Duke Boys were in a mess o' trouble you may be wondering What the Sam Scratch is going on here? Characters acting out of character, drawn incorrectly, canon completely violated...why yes, it's a Rob Liefeld story!

No, actually, to save you the trouble of turning your computer monitor upside-down (I tried it and I do not recommend it), here's the editorial explanation: those Superman creators just gone plain insane!


Why, it's an April Fool's gag with lots of deliferate mistales. Can you spot them all? Well, I did notice Lois said "sorry" to Clark...now that's out of character!

I wonder how much of this story was inspired by DC's letter columns at the time, which mostly seemed to consist of readers complaining that they'd spotted a mistake in the comic book. It only costs a dime, you ingrates!


Yep, here's the editors baiting the readers. "G'wan, ya comic book-readin' ninnies! We dare you to spot the mistakes!"


A few issues later (in Supes #148), the fans react!


Now here's the round-up and the winners. Say, Linda Strickland, we sure hope you still have that gorgeous Curt Swan original art! I'll take it off your hands for a couple bucks.


This still is not in any way the complete list of mistakes in the story. I highly recommend hunting down the full story and finding the mistakes yourself! (It was republished in Adventure Comics #339, The Greatest Superman Stories Ever Told, and Showcase Presents: Superman v.2. It's well worth checking out...it's a fun story, and that's what we here at Comics Oughta Be Fun! love the best. And that's no April Fool!