Today in Comics History, August 17: Happy birthday, Rachel Pollack!

Towards the middle of 1992, as Grant Morrison began to wind down their groundbreaking run on Doom Patrol, a curious set of missives began to appear on its letters page:



from letter columns in Doom Patrol (1987 series) #57 and 60 (DC, July and October 1992)

Today in Comics History, August 17: Happy birthday, Jonathan Franzen!

Born on this day: award-winning novelist and essayist Jonathan Franzen, author of The Corrections, Freedom, Crossroads, and more. He's also written essays published in The Best American Comics Criticism and The Complete Peanuts!


from The Complete Peanuts v.4: 1957-1958 (Fantagraphics, September 2005
So a very happy birthday to ya, Jonathan!


"Jonathan Franzen Says No" in Baking with Kafka (D+Q, October 2017), by Tom Gauld

Today in Comics History, August 17: Happy birthday, Rudy York!

Born on this day in 1913, Major League baseball player and manager Rudy York! With one-eighth Cherokee ancestry and less-than-perfect fielding abilities, York prompted sportswriter Wayne Minshew to declare: "He is part Indian and part first baseman."


from "Indian Sluggers" in King Comics #67 (David McKay, November 1941), pencils and inks by Jack Burnley
And he enjoyed the iconic Breakfast of Champions: Wheaties!


Wheaties advertisement from DC Comics cover-dated January 1949
Happy birthday, Rudy!

y

Today in Comics History, August 17 (1988?): Hijacked plane lands safely at invisible airport

from Wolverine (1988 series) #1 (Marvel, November 1988), script by Chris Claremont, pencils by John Buscema, inks by Al Williamson, colors by Glynis Oliver, letters by Tom Orzechowski
No, I can't read the year on that newspaper either, but it takes place in Wolverine #1, so I assume it's supposed to be 1988 or thereabouts.

Today in Comics History, August 17, 1991: We now return to Chandler Bing, NYPD.

from Madonna #1 (Personality Comics, September 1991), script by Steven Spire III, pencils and inks by Jimmy Palmiotti, letters by Dave Sharpe

Today in Comics History, August 17, 1955: Agent Felix Franklin reports to his FBI superior, Charlie Brown

from The Vain #3 (Oni, December 2020), script by Eliot Rahal, pencils and inks by Emily Pearson, colors by Fred C. Stressing, color assists by Macy Kahn, letters by Crank!

Today in Comics History, August 17: Happy birthday, John Romita, Jr.!

Born on this day: comics artist John Romita, Jr., son of John Romita Sr. (natch) and artist on...oh, everything. Iron Man, Spider-Man, X-Men... (inhale)


from Mighty Marvel Calendar 1979 and 1980 (Marvel, 1978-1979)
...(exhale) Superman, DKIII, Hulk, Avengers, Batman, Black Panther, Eternals, Wolverine...


from Marvel Age #32, 56, 92 and 104 (Marvel, November 1985, November 1987, September 1990, and September 1991); text by Jim Salicrup (#32), Mike Carlin (#56) and Chris Eliopoulis and Barry Dutter (#92 and 104); pencils and inks by Ron Zalme; colors by Andy Yanchus (#32), Paul Becton (#56) and Renee Witterstaetter (#104)

Today in Comics History, August 17, 1865: See, now, Alanis, this is what irony means

"The Pioneer" from M.D. #3 (EC, August 1955), writer uncredited and unknown

Today in Comics History, August 17: Happy birthday, John Cadbury!

Born on this day in 1801: John Cadbury, founder of Cadbury, the chocolate manufacturer! Whom I love, very, very, very much.


But sorry, no, he was never in comic books. Unless one of his descendants became this guy!:


cover of Richie Rich #5 (Harvey, January 1979), artist uncredited and unknown
Happy birthday, John Cadbury! Now please excuse me while I nosh on this jpg.

Today in Comics History, August 17, 1942: Makin' Whoopee

Quietly? He's noisier than Sgt. Fury and the Howling Commandos!


from "Carlson’s Raiders" in It Really Happened #3 (Pines, 1944), creators uncredited and unknown
Sayyyyy, does that "Carlson's Raiders" logo look kinda familiar?

Today in Comics History, August 17: Happy birthday, Alex Saviuk!

Born on this day: comic book artist Alex Saviuk, known for his work on Marvel's spideriest character (Amazing, Web and the Spidey comic strip), plus Action Comics, World's Finest Comics, Detective Comics, The Flash, Green Lantern, and more!


from Marvel Age #104 (Marvel, September 1991), text by Chris Eliopoulis and Barry Dutter, pencils and inks by Ron Zalme, colors by Renee Witterstaetter

Today in Comics History, August 17, 1943: Art being cut off to make room for an ad? This is why comics needs a union

"He Tip-Toed over Germany" from Heroic Comics #22 (Eastern Color, January 1944), creators uncredited and unknown
"Based upon a true story!"


A rare WWII with a happy ending. EXCEPT FOR YOU, HITLER!

Today in Comics History, August 17, 1954: Comics Code Authority greeted with old woman shouting "Boo! Boo!"

from Comic Book Comics #3 (Evil Twin, February 2008); script by Fred Van Lente; pencils, inks, and letters by Ryan Dunlavey


from Apache Trail #3 (Farrell, February 1958)

Today in Comics History, August 17, 1952: Newbie gamer mistakenly sets difficulty on "hard"

from "The Town!" in Battle Action #14 (Marvel/Atlas, December 1954), pencils and inks by Russ Heath
Also: we don't need a Zen master of koans in the Army, Sarge.

Today in Comics History, August 17, 1955: Newspapers finally have ears so now they can wear cool sunglasses

from "Odd News Items!" in Big Town #39 (DC, May 1956), creators uncredited and unknown;
as reprinted in Blackhawk (1957 series) #155 (DC, December 1960)
And that's finally the end of this weird bit.

Today in Comics History, August 17: Happy birthday, Lois Lane!

Born on this day in the DC Universe (according to their 1976 calendar): the star of probably the longest-running DC comic star who didn't have super-powers (most of the time): Lois Lane!


from Super DC Calendar 1976 (DC, 1975), letters by Ben Oda

Today in Comics History, May 17: This should probably be on August 17, but hey, go with the date in the panel

from Legends of the Dark Knight (2021 series) #5 (DC, November 2021), script by Brandon Thomas, pencils and inks by Giannis Milonogiannis, colors by Jordie Bellaire, letters by Deron Bennett

Today in Comics History, August 17, 1975: Satana causes a car accident by wearing a skintight bodysuit while hitchhiking, again

from Marvel Premiere #27 [Satana] (Marvel, December 1975), script by Chris Claremont, pencils and inks by "The Tribe" (a group of Filipino artists that included Tony DeZuniga, Yong Montano, and Ernie Chan, among others), letters by Pablo Marcos, colors by Janice Cohen
But say, what day did that fatal story take place, Essential Marvel Horror, Volume 1?


from "Deathsong," re-printed in black-and-white in Essential Marvel Horror v.1 (Marvel, 2006)
Which only goes to prove: this sort of thing happens to Satana at least twice a year.

Today in Comics History, August 17: Even master criminals cannot figure out who killed the chauffeur in The Big Sleep

from "The Diary of a Desperado" in Adventure Comics #145 (DC, October 1949), script by Otto Binder, pencils and inks by George Papp