Today in Comics History, February 21: Happy birthday, Frank Brunner!

Born on this day: comics artist and animation artist Frank Brunner (Warp, Doctor Strange, Giant-Size Man-Thing, Creepy, Howard the Duck, Conan the Barbarian and more, plus movie and TV work on Jonny Quest, Batman '89, and the animated X-Men series, among others). But did he ever get his photo on a calendar square?


from Mighty Marvel Calendar 1977 (Marvel, 1976)
But Frank did appear when Iron Man crashed a comic book convention (where he won second prize in an Iron Man cosplay contest). He's the one in the blue-and-yellow (Donald Duck?) t-shirt in the background, just right of center, along with Roy Thomas, Mike Friedrich, Tom Orzechowski, and Frank wife's Jan Brunner!


from Iron Man #72 (Marvel, January 1975), script by Mike Friedrich, pencils by George Tuska, inks by Vince Colletta, additional pencils and inks by Neal Adams (Roy and Mike figures), Alan Kupperberg (Tom Orzechowski) and Frank Brunner (himself and Jan), colors by Stan Goldberg, letters by Tom Orzechowski
Happy birthday, Frank!


from 1975 Mighty Marvel Convention Program Book (Marvel, 1975), photograph by Michele Wolfman

Today in Comics History, February 21: Happy birthday, Léo Delibes!

Born on this day in 1836: opera and ballet composer Léo Delibes, who is not a figure you'd ordinarily expect to find in a comic book. His works include the ballets Coppélia and Sylvia and the opera Lakmé, which includes the well-known "Flower Duet." But suppose you know nothing (nothing!) of the opera Lakmé, and you're invited tonight to a Léo Delibes birthday party celebration and you're expected to make small talk with the great composer. You can't go to WIkipedia to bone up, because his evil-arch rival, Anti-Delibes, has spent all day sabotaging the entries on his work so that they now include Elmer Fudd and the 1819 Peach Revolt. Turn instead to a comic book, which we all know from experience, never lies!


"Famous Operas: Lakmé" in Classics Illustrated #65 (Gilberton, November 1949)
There! Now you're all set to converse with Léo Delibes. Just throw in a few references to how much you enjoyed his ballet Snoopy, Come Home, and you're in like Flynn!

Today in Comics History, February 21, 1944: Criminal mistakes attractive blonde for Tony

from "Zack Bodego, the Crusher!" in Martin Kane, Private Eye #2 (Fox, August 1950), pencils and inks by Lou Ferstadt

Today in Comics History, February 21: Happy birthday, Barry Kaplan!

Born on this day, Barry Kaplan, Marvel's Financial VP during the 1980s. They loved him so much he made it three times into the Mighty Marvel calendar!


from Marvel Age #50, 87 and 98 (Marvel, May 1987, April 1990, and March 1991), text by Mike Carlin (#50), and Chris Eliopoulis and Barry Dutter (#87 and 98); pencils and inks by Ron Zalme; colors by Gregory Wright (#87) and Renee Witterstaetter (#98)
You mission, should you choose to accept it, but why not?: Collect your Marvel paycheck (it has Spider-Man on it!) from Barry Kaplan. But...can you find him in the maze of cubicles that make up the Marvel Bullpen?

from Marvel Age #120 (Marvel, January 1993), art by Rick Parker
(Click top picture to Bullpen-size)
But that's the Barry Kaplan of our universe. Have you met the Barry Kaplan from Earth-616? He's not a Financial V.P., he's a modeling agent who knows a little jiu-jitsu! Take it away, Barry-616!


from The Avengers (1963 series) #212 (Marvel, October 1981), script by Jim Shooter, pencils by Alan Kupperberg, inks by Dan Green, colors by Barry Grossman, letters by Janice Chiang
Whichever universe you're in: happy birthday, Barry!

Today in Comics History, February 21: Batman hates bricks

from Batman #404 (DC, February 1987), script by Frank Miller, pencils and inks by David Mazzucchelli, colors by Richmond Lewis, letters by Todd Klein