Today in Comics History, January 30: Happy birthday, Bill Vigoda!

Born on this day in 1920: comics artist (primarily for the M.L.J./Archie comics lines) Bill Vigoda (Hangman Comics, Black Hood Comics, Laugh Comics, Archie Comics, Archie's Pal Jughead, Pep Comics, Wilbur Comics and many more)! He's the brother of actor Abe Vigoda, but Abe already got his birthday wishes on February 24, so this one's for you, Bill!

And yes, Bill actually appears in the comics, in this fourth-wall bustin' adventure of Dusty, the Boy Who Would Not Clean His Apartment! Note that Bill appears only silhouetted against the startling background of Crisis on Infinite Earths, with the visual anonymity that comics usually reserve for the President or God. Also, he appears to be crouching or perhaps frightened of the top of the panel.


from "[Bill Vigoda Unfair To Villains!]" in Black Hood Comics #10 (Archie/MLJ, Spring 1944), pencils and inks by Bill Vigoda

Today in Comics History, January 30: Happy birthday, Yumi Yoshimura!

Born on this day: singer/musician Yumi Yoshimura, one-half of the band Puffy [AmiYumi]. She and partner Ami Onuki had their own (heavily fictionalized and exaggerated) American cartoon and yes, comic book! (She's the one with blue hair here!)


cover of Hi Hi Puffy Amiyumi #2 (Johnny DC, May 2006), pencils and inks by Phil Moy
お誕生日おめでとう!, Yumi!



from (top) "Everyone's Cool in Mermaid Pants™!" in Cartoon Network Block Party #22 (DC/Johnny DC, August 2006), script by J. Torres, pencils by Christopher Cook, inks by Al Nickerson, colors by Heroic Age, letters by Travis Lanham;
(bottom) "Kaz Superstar" in Cartoon Network Block Party #24 (DC/Johnny DC, October 2006), script by Abby Denson, pencils by Christopher Cook, inks by Al Nickerson, colors by Heroic Age, letters by Ryan Cline

Today in Comics History, January 30: Happy birthday, Phil Collins!

Born on this day: Millie "The Model" Collins's cousin Phil Collins*!


from "When Friends Fall Out!" in Millie the Model #176 (Marvel, November 1969), script by Stan Lee, pencils by Stan Goldberg, inks by John Verpoorten (?), letters by Artie Simek
Still, there's gotta at least be one good thing about Phil Collins, right?


Other things Phil became famous for: as a singer, drummer, songwriter, record producer and actor. And, according to MAD magazine, for one joke and one joke only:


from "Hot Albums of the 1990’s...A Look Back" in MAD #282 (October 1988), script by Russ Cooper, pencils and inks by Rick Tulka
Isn't that right, MAD?


from "Really Appropriate Sponsors for Rock Tours" in MAD #286 (April 1989), script by Charlie Kadau
Anyway, Happy birthday, Phil Collins, and sussudio to you, too! Here, I bought ya a comic book. I think you'll actually enjoy it.


cover of The Story of the Alamo: An Illustrated History of the Siege and Fall of the Alamo (Frederic Ray, 1955), artist uncredited and unknown
*There is no actually proof in the story that this poor guy's last name actually is Collins**, but hey, anything for a joke, huh?

**Yes, I actually submitted a correction to the "characters" list on Comics.org for this.

Today in Comics History, January 30: Happy birthday, James Watt!

Happy birthday today to James Watt (born 1736), inventor, chemist, and mechanical engineer (and not Reagan's Secretary of the Interior, who would still be out there burning down trees if trees hadn't managed to kill him in 2023). This Watt was instrumental in the Industrial Revolution through the development of his Watt steam engine, without which we'd still just be using steam to open up billet doux. Sadly, I could only find one single appearance of Watt in the funny books, and that's in a biographical story about Steamboat Guy Robert Fulton. Watt's face isn't even shown, which furthers my Ted Talk argument that he was also DC's Unknown Soldier.


from "Robert Fulton, Father of the Steamship" in Real Life Comics v.2 #1/4 (Pines, April 1942), pencils and inks by Frank Frollo
Happy birthday, Mister Watt! Which is the generic version of Doctor Who.

Today in Comics History, January 30: Happy birthday, Denys Cowan!

Born on this day: comics artist, television producer, and one of the founders of Milestone Media: Denys Cowan (The Question, Hardware, Deathlok, Batman, Shaft, Thriller, Nightcat, Prince, Steel, Power Man and Iron Fist, Green Arrow and many more)!


from Marvel Age #97 (Marvel, February 1991), text by Chris Eliopolous and Barry Dutter, pencils and inks by Ron Zalme, colors by Renee Witterstaetter
Here's a quick interview with, and some cool shots of the studio of, Denys!


from Marvel Age #112 (Marvel, May 1992), interview by Barry Dutter
But by far the coolest look at Denys Cowan is the finest celebrity endorsement advertisement connected to comic books (that's right; get outta here, Levi's 501 guy!): an official Dewar's Scotch Whiskey Profile!


"Dewar's Profile: Denys Cowan" (1992)
Happy birthday, then, to Denys Cowan, The Coolest Dude in Comics™!

Today in Comics History, January 30, 1969: Little-known musical band can't afford recording studio

from The Beatles in Comics! (NBM, November 2018); script by Richard Di Martino; translation by Joe Johnson; pencils, inks, and colors by Virginie de Lambert; letters by Ortho

Today in Comics History, January 30: Jimmy Olsen wishes he could go back to his limited series because that was so much more fun

from Action Comics #1007 (DC, March 2019), script by Brian Michael Bendis, pencils and inks by Steve Epting, colors by Brad Anderson, letters by Josh Reed

Today in Comics History, January 30, 1945: Publication of General MacArthur's Five-Star Battle Comics #1

from General Douglas MacArthur one-shot (Fox, 1951), creators uncredited and unknown

Today in Comics History, January 30, 1649: Axe me no questions

from "The Ghost Warriors" in Ripley's Believe It or Not! (1965 series) #11 (Western/Gold Key, November 1968), script by Paul S. Newman, inks by Sal Trapani, letters by Herb Field

Today in Comics History, January 30, 1986, 1987, 1989 and 1996: Spider-Man goes berserk; Daily Bugle runs out of black ink

cover of Web of Spider-Man #13 (Marvel, April 1986), pencils by Mark Beachum, inks by Joe Rubinstein

Today in Comics History, January 30, 1934: In Soviet Russia, balloon crashes you

On this day in 1934: Soviet soldiers make a bold step forward in the space race with their Lenin-riffic super-balloon!


from "Journey into Space" in Eagle Comics #1 (Rural Home, February 1945), creators unknown
Let's salute this daring endeavor and the giant leaps ahead in air transportation...


Whoops. Well...(you know the rest).