Today in Comics History, November 2: Happy birthday, Steve Ditko!

Born on this day in 1927: comics writer/artist Steve Ditko, who created and co-created "a few" characters along the way of his lengthy career...


"DC Profiles #58" from DC Comics cover-dated April 1980

Today in Comics History, October 24: Happy birthday, Al Feldstein!

Born on this day in 1925: comic book writer, editor, artist and cover designer Al Feldstein (Haunt of Fear, Crime SuspenStories, Tales from the Crypt, Vault of Horror, Shock SuspenStories, Weird Science, Weird Fantasy, Weird Science-Fantasy, and many more) and executive editor of MAD magazine from 1956 to 1985. As the kid standing before the poster of superheroes said, wow!


from Crime SuspenStories (1950 series) #10 (EC, April 1952), text by Al Feldstein (signed as Wm. M. Gaines)

Today in Comics History, October 13, 1937: Even cartoon funny animals agree every workplace should have a union

from Comic Book Comics #1 (Evil Twin, November 2016); script by Fred Van Lente; pencils, inks, and letters by Ryan Dunlavey

Today in Comics History, May 31: Happy birthday, Bert Christman!

Born on this day in 1915: Bert Christman, comic book writer and illustrator as well as WWII naval aviator. Christman was writer and artist on the popular newspaper strip Scorchy Smith, of which many adventures were reprinted in Easter Color's Famous Funnies comic book, plus work on the Three Aces feature in Action Comics, Funny Picture Stories, and Adventure Comics. That last one's pretty important, because t'was in the pages of Adventure that Bert created, along with Gardner Fox, Wesley Dodds — the Golden Sandman. Yes, the Sandman Mystery Theatre version. Here's his first appearance!


from "[The Tarantula Strikes]" in Adventure Comics #40 (DC, July 1939), script by Gardner Fox as Larry Dean, pencils and inks by Bert Christman; shown here in a recolored reprint from Justice League of America #94 (DC/National, November 1971)

Today in Comics History, May 12: Happy birthday, Charles Biro!

Born on this day in 1911: comic book writer and artist Charles Biro, who started up at the Harry Chesler Shop, Hillman Publications (where he co-created Airboy) and MLJ (Archie) Comics, but he's become best known as one of the great creatives of Lev Gleason Comics, where he worked extensively on Daredevil Comics, co-created Crime-Buster, and edited and created for the seminal Crime Does Not Pay.


"The 3 That Gave You the Big 3: Daredevil, Boy, Crime Does Not Pay" from Lev Gleason Comics cover-dated September 1946

Today in Comics History, May 9: Happy birthday, William Moulton Marston!

Born today in 1893: William Moulton Marston aka Charles Moulton, psychologist, polyamorist, developer of the modern lie detector. Oh yeah, he co-created a hero you may have heard of called Wonder Woman.


from Fifty Who Made DC Great one-shot (DC, 1985)

Today in Comics History, March 1, 1938: Comic industry sets a precedent for the rest of its life

from "The Grabbers" in Comic Book Comics #5 (Evil Twin, March 2011); script by Fred Van Lente; pencils, inks, and letters by Ryan Dunlavey
Or, as The Onion plainly put it:


from The Onion: Our Dumb Century (Three Rivers, March 1999)

Today in Comics History, February 4: Happy birthday, Dez Skinn!

Born on this day: British comics editor, scripter, and publisher Dez Skinn! He was the editor-in-chief at Marvel UK during its heyday in the late '70s, and later founded and edited Starburst and the influential and vital UK comic Warrior which included among its serialized strips Alan Moore's Marvelman (Miracleman) and V for Vendetta! He holds a Guinness World Records certificate and credit for creating the world's longest-lasting TV tie-in magazine: Doctor Who Weekly, and founded and ran Quality Comics, a famous London SF/fantasy shop, and the publishing line named for it, Quality Communications!

It's fair to say that without Dez Skinn on this Earth, we woulda never got the 1980s British Invasion of comics that so transformed DC and led to the founding of Vertigo.


from "1986 AD" in Comic Book Comics #5 (Evil Twin, March 2011); script by Fred Van Lente; pencils, inks, and letters by Ryan Dunlavey. Read the entire chapter (in color!) over at Ryan Dunlavey's website

Today in Comics History, January 23, 1942: Rest in Peace, Bert Christman

I've written more about comic book writer and illustrator Bert Christman (and his untimely death in war) in his birthday salute on May 21.


from Comic Book Comics #2 (Evil Twin, October 2008); script by Fred Van Lente; pencils, inks, and letters by Ryan Dunlavey

Today in Comics History, December 21, 1937: Small animation start-up will never go anywhere

from Comic Book History of Animation #4 (IDW, December 2020); script by Fred Van Lente; pencils, inks, and letters by Ryan Dunlavey; colors by Adam Guzowski


from Comic Book Comics #1 (Evil Twin, March 2008); script by Fred Van Lente, pencils, inks, and letters by Ryan Dunlavey

Today in Comics History, October 18, 1896: Born on this day: The COMIC STRIP!

Yes, without today we wouldn't have Heathcliff and his ham helmet.



from The Comic Book History of Comics #1 (IDW, November 2016), script and letters by Fred Van Lente, pencils and inks by Ryan Dunlavey, colors by Adam Guzowski

Today in Comics History, October 11: Happy birthday, Joe Simon!

Born on this day in 1913: comics legend (writer, artist, editor, publisher) Joe Simon, co-creator of Captain America and Bucky, the Newsboy Legion and Boy Commandos, Boys' Ranch, Prez, Brother Power the Geek...


from Boys' Ranch #1 (Harvey, October 1950)

Today in Comics History, September 21: Happy birthday, M.C. Gaines!

Born on this day in 1894: Max Ginzberg, later known (especially to us comic book fans) as M.C. Gaines, the man comic books call "Dad!"


from Fifty Who Made DC Great one-shot (DC, 1985)

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, July 10: Happy birthday, Joe Shuster!

Born on this day in 1914: Joe Shuster, who...well, without him, we probably wouldn't still have comic books today, period.


from Fifty Who Made DC Great one-shot (DC, 1985)

Today in Comics History, May 7, 1937: Remember, folks: if they don't want us to have unions, they don't want us to have rights

from Comic Book Comics (2016 series) #1 (Evil Twin, March 2008); script by Fred Van Lente; pencils, inks, and letters by Ryan Dunlavey


from Comic Book History of Animation #2 (IDW, December 2020); script by Fred Van Lente; pencils, inks, colors and letters by Ryan Dunlavey

Today in Comics History, April 24, 1954: Comics are doomed

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

Today in Comics History, April 14: Happy birthday, Dave Gibbons!

Born today, so wish him a happy birthday as you cycle down the lane: Dave Gibbons, comics writer, artist, and letterer (2000 AD, Watchmen, the Martha Washington series, Doctor Who, Green Lantern, World's Finest, The Secret Service, "For the Man Who Has Everything," and much more!


from Power Comics #3 (Eclipse/Acme, July 1988)
Did I mention Watchmen? Let me mention Watchmen again.



from Comic Book Comics #5 (Evil Twin, March 2011); script by Fred Van Lente; pencils, inks, and letters by Ryan Dunlavey
Here's Dave as Tornado super-editor Big E! And League of Extraordinary Gentlemen artist Kevin O'Neill as "Billy!"! (No ID yet on Percy or Sam — let us know if you know!)


cover of Tornado #8 IPC, 12 May 1979)
Happy birthday, Big E! You too, Dave!

Today in Comics History, January 20: Happy birthday, Phil Seuling!

Without this man there probably wouldn't be a comic book industry today (certainly not at the scale we have), so as you're reading your Wednesday pick-ups, raise a comic book or two and give a birthday wish to Phil Seuling, father of the Direct Market and your local comic book shop! And, uh, also all those problems with Diamond Distributors, but that's one's not really his fault.


from Comic Book Comics #6 (Evil Twin, November 2011); script by Fred Van Lente; pencils, inks, and letters by Ryan Dunlavey
Hey, didja know that the sheriff in this story (the first appearance of El Diablo) was a caricature of Phil Seuling?


from "The Devil Has Two Faces!" in All-Star Western (1970 series) #2 (DC, October 1970), script by Robert Kanigher, pencils and inks by Gray Morrow, letters by Ray Holloway (?)
Happy birthday, Phil!


from Fifty Who Made DC Great one-shot (DC, 1985)

Today in Comics History, January 19: Happy birthday, Janis Joplin!

Born today in 1943: singer, songwriter, and rock legend Janis Joplin! (I shall refrain from posting the doctored Angel Love panel here out of respect.) And yes, she's appeared in comic books and in comic art!


from Comic Book Comics #4 (Evil Twin, October 2009); script by Fred Van Lente; pencils, inks, and letters by Ryan Dunlavey
One of the weirdest, and probably the least seen, Janis cameos appears in this hallucinatory sequence from a Clive Barker-inspired comic book:




from Ectokid #6 (Marvel/Razorline, February 1994), script by Larry Wachowski, pencils by Steve Skroce, inks by Bob Dvorak, colors by Mike Thomas, letters by Gaspar Saladino
And of course, Janis's most famous comic art portrayal (I'm not gonna reproduce the whole cover; you've seen it before and you'll know why).


cover detail of Cheap Thrills by Big Brother and the Holding Company (Columbia, August 1968), by Robert Crumb
Singin' her own tune, gone far too soon. Happy birthday, Janis.