Today in Comics History, April 5: Happy birthday, Renee Witterstaetter!

Born on this day: Renee Witterstaetter, Marvel editor, writer, and colorist! Her work includes: being head editor of Marvel Age! Okay, that makes her cool in my book!


from Marvel Age #88 and 100 (Marvel, May 1990 and May 1991), text by Barry Dutter and Chris Eliopolous (#88) and Mike Lackey (#100); pencils and inks by Ron Zalme; colors by Gregory Wright (#88) and Renee Witterstaetter (#100)

Today in Comics History, February 24: Happy birthday, Abe Vigoda!

This is an expanded and updated version of a post originally published February 24, 2022.

Born on this day in 1921, so it's the 102nd birthday of Abe Vigoda, who gets to be in this blog feature not only because I like him, but also because he's appeared in comic books! More specifically, here's his Barney Miller character Fish, in an issue of Iron Fist:


from Iron Fist (1975 series) #8 (Marvel, October 1976), script by Chris Claremont, pencils by John Byrne, inks by Dan Adkins, colors by Bonnie Wilford, letters by Joe Rosen
So, who d'you think that artist "Byrne" is that Fish is talking about? MAKE A GUESS.

Today in Comics History, August 31: Tonight's Episode: The Writer's Barely-Disguised Fetish

It's August 31 and members of the Doom Patrol have travelled back in time to put right what once went wrong! Actually, they manifested themselves in their older bodies but with their modern minds. Make sense? Of course it doesn't. Anyway, it's thirteen years ago and Cliff Steele has not yet had the accident that forces him to become Robotman:


from Doom Patrol (2004 series) #13 (DC, August 2005), script and pencils by John Byrne, inks by Terry Austin, colors by Alex Bleyaert, letters by Jared K. Fletcher
Also meanwhile at the same time thirteen years ago, Rita Farr (the Elasti-Girl who's not married to Craig T. Nelson) travels back to inhabit her own teen-age body. Annnnnnnnnd she's a teen-age fangirl for racer Cliff Steele. Gosh, John Byrne, I sure hope you don't take advantage of this and portray yet another of your inappropriate teen/adult kiss-crushes:


OH FOR F---'S SAKE JOHN BYRNE

Today in Comics History, July 6: Happy birthday, John Byrne!

Born on this day: prolific comic book writer and artist John Byrne! X-Men, FF, Superman, Spidey, Captain America, Namor, Hulk, Batman, Hulk, She-Hulk, Wonder Woman, Iron Man, What If?...you name it, he's probably worked on it!


from Mighty Marvel Calendar 1979 and 1980 (Marvel, 1978-1979), Marvel Age #31 (Marvel, October 1985) and #91 (Marvel, August 1991)

Today in Comics History, July 6: Say, John Byrne...what day does the Calgary Stampede start?

...could it be on July 3?:



from Iron Fist (1975 series) #8 (Marvel, October 1976), script by Chris Claremont, pencils by John Byrne, inks by Dan Adkins, colors by Bonnie Wilford, letters by Joe Rosen
Well, maybe, but that was in 1976. In 1979 it's today!



from [Uncanny] X-Men (1963 series) #121 (Marvel, May 1979), co-plot and script by Chris Claremont, co-plot and pencils by John Byrne, inks by Terry Austin, colors by Glynis Oliver, letters by John Costanza
Now, John Byrne, you surely didn't pick July 6 because it's your birthday, didja?

Today in Comics History, July 3: John Byrne can't resist putting himself and the Calgary Stampede into a panel

from Iron Fist (1975 series) #8 (Marvel, October 1976), script by Chris Claremont, pencils by John Byrne, inks by Dan Adkins, colors by Bonnie Wilford, letters by Joe Rosen

Today in Comics History, December 19, 1987, 10:37 AM: John Byrne kills a man just for schnorring too loud

from Star Brand #12 (Marvel/New Universe, March 1988), script and breakdowns by John Byrne, finishes by Tom Palmer, colors by Andy Yanchus, letters by Joe Rosen
Also this issue, later in the day: Byrne, Howard Mackie, and Mark Gruenwald die! Plus everybody at the comic book convention. Whew, glad I stayed home that day!



Hey, kids...Comics!

Today in Comics History, July 15, 1942: John Byrne subtlely plugs his new crossover

Oh no! Golden Age Flash Jay Garrick has been trapped by the Fiddler! Which, I think we'll all agree, is better than being fiddled by the Trapster.


from "A Stranger with My Face" in Speed Force one-shot (DC, November 1997); script, pencils, inks, and letters by John Byrne; colors by Noelle Giddings
Luckily a mysterious stranger who looks kind of like a relative is able to release Flash, but not being telling him to remember the date. You know, Mysterious Stranger, you could have at least given him a Post-It™ note with the date of 7/15/42 on it.


Well, luckily, as you see in the caption above, we can find out the answer to this puzzling conundrum (or, as we in the bloggin' business say, puzzdrum) within the pages of Wonder Woman #129, only a few months later!

Oh wait...hope you didn't buy Wonder Woman #129, because the story actually continued in Wonder Woman #130. Whoopsie.


Panels from Wonder Woman v.2 #130 (February 1998); script, pencils, inks, and letters by John Byrne; colors by Patricia Mulvihill
Oh, so the M.S. was the white-templed Jay Garrick of 1998 who traveled back to 1942 and released the Jay Garrick of that time so that he could survive into 1998 and go back in time to save himself in 1942 so he could...look, you guys all know how time travel works. Everything is predestined. Unless it isn't.

So, thank you John Byrne, for helping us laugh at July 15...again!

365 Days with Ben Grimm, Day 167

Pin-up page from from Fantastic Four Special Edition #1 (May 1984), art by John Byrne

Separated at Byrne-th Month #4: "Why so negative?"

As April winds to a close, we bid farewell to all the usual events that April brings: April Fool's Day, Tax Day, Easter, Shakespeare's Birthday, National Eggs Benedict Day, Eight-Track Tape Day...farewell, we shall never see their likes again. (Until next year.) I'm sure you're all sorry to see National Eraser Day go (especially this guy) but will you miss Separated at Byrne-th Month? In the words of Asia, only time will tell. So let's ring out the double-fortnight of Byrney Goodness with a pair of maple-flavored, hockey-infused, Kraft dinner-lickin' good covers from the only comic book you now need a passport to read legally: Alpha Flight!

L: Alpha Flight #11 (June 1984), art by John Byrne
R: Alpha Flight #25 (August 1985), art by John Byrne
(Click picture to Yukon-size)

Legend has it that if you place these two covers on top of each other, the universe implodes. Luckily I have them bagged and boarded separately!

Separated at Byrne-th Month #3: "Trapped like a spider in a Klein bottle!"

Welcome back to Separated at Byrne-th Month, where every Saturday we're taking a wide-eyed peek at some of the cover pastiches, homages, and parodies of the man with the mouth, the person with the pencil, Mister John Byrne. You may choose to like him or lump him—he's a controversial figure among fandom. Me? I like his artwork, don't subscribe to many of his views, and try to keep my little befurred behind off the Byrne Robotics discussion group. That said, the man's gotta lotta fans, but even he takes a misstep in the comic book field now and then. Case in point: the much-reviled Spider-Man: Chapter One maxiseries, which was supposed to re-invent the Spider-nibbling origin of Mister P. Parker for the modern age, 25 years past his introduction. Unfortunately, much of fandom rejected it soundly (quite soundly, judging from the grumbling still heard in many corners about it). Me, I liked some of it, didn't care for it all, but enjoyed it as an alternate take on the first adventures of that guy with the Spider on his chest. Possibly one of the errors Marvel made in marketing it was making any suggestion whatsoever that this was now the official origin of Spider-Man of Earth-616: us fans don't like retconning of Lee/Ditko stories, no sirree we don't! A few years later Brian Michael Bendis took an alternative and much-expanded look at Spidey's origins, but by this time, Marvel had learned its lesson: the story and this Peter Parker were safely webbed up in an alternate (and ultimate) universe. Byrne's series might be overlooked now, but his artwork is bright and energetic, and there's some lovely homages to the work of Ditko, and, in the case of the covers below, an imaginative reinventing of a scene from an alternate angle, which gives us a dynamic and fresh look at an iconic Kirby/Ditko cover without slavishly copying it. Shall we look?

L: Amazing Spider-Man #1 (March 1963), art by Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko
R: Spider-Man: Chapter One #2 (Late December 1998), art by John Byrne
(Click picture to chapter-size)

Separated at Byrne-th Month, Week 2: A Treemendous Fight

Welcome back, my friends, to the fun that never ends...until April 26, at least. It's Week Two of the increasingly exciting Separated at Byrne-th Month!, celebrating, ceremonializing, and contemplating the many cover tributes, salutes, and parodies of that ol' Canucklehead himself, John Byrne! This week: in the midst of his sprawling saga returning Danny Rand to the Marvel Universe (without which we'd not have this, so we owe Byrne a debt of thanks for that), Mister Johnny B sneakily snuck in a homage to the iron one's second issue in Namor's twenty-second issue. (Holy Harvey Dent!) Sure, maybe it ain't easy being green, but clobber that photosynthetic parasite, Danny and Nammy! If giant man-eating plant monsters who won't...heh heh heh...won't leaf you alone are your kinda thing, then check this out!:

L: Iron Fist #2 (December 1975), art by Gil Kane and John Romita
R: Namor #22 (January 1992), art by John Byrne
(Click picture to Audrey II-size)

Separated at Byrne-th Month, Week 1: "How'd you like a nice Canadian Punch?" "Sure, bub!"

It's Separated at Byrne-th Month! It's a hoot and a half, it's a back-to-the-basics bonanza, it's more thrilling than paparazzi photos of the She-Hulk, it's more fun than the time the Watcher stole Jaunty John B. from his drawing desk to serve as a witness in the trial of Reed Richard (not covered on Court TV)! Yes, it's a month of Saturdays spotlighting the salutes, parodies, pastiches and homages of Mister John Byrne, so let's get started with a bang, shall we? Oh maybe I should say...with a bang, eh?

L: [Uncanny] X-Men #109 (February 1978), art by Dave Cockrum and Terry Austin
R: Alpha Flight #17 (December 1984), art by John Byrne ("after Cockrum")
(Click picture to ROG-2000-size)

365 Days with Ben Grimm: Day 89

from X-Men: The Hidden Years #8 (Marvel, July 2000), script, pencils and letters by John Byrne, inks by Tom Palmer and Joe Sinnott, colors by Greg Wright

Dumbass Things You Shouldn't Do in the Marvel Universe, Number 3

Here's a fair warning to those ordinary civilians of the Marvel Universe. Sure, Spidey's a friendly guy who'll wave at you as he swings over Manhattan, and Captain America will stop and shake your hand and remind you that folks like you are the real hero. Even The Thing will shoot back a gruff but charmingly witty rejoinder if you remind him about that time Terrax punched him through the Chrysler Building.

But never, ever, even dare to tell Namor the Sub-Mariner no shirt, no service...

All comics panels in this post are from Namor, The Sub-Mariner #3 (June 1990), script and pencils by John Byrne, inks by Bob Wiacek, colors by Glynis Oliver, letters by Ken Lopez

Because he'll give you the Atlantean Withering Gaze of Utter Disdain™.


So, remember. Don't do that thing.

And say hey, true bullievers, what magazine is that nurse reading anyway? Could it be the hot-off-the-newsstand latest issue of J. Jonah Jameson's Now (cover story: 'Spider-Man, His Makeup and Hairdo Tips: Are They Threat or Menace?")? Well, whatever the magazine is, let's take a little closer gander at its pages:


Hmmm, just who are those two guys spotlighted in the mag? Sadly, we never find out, as the Marvel Implosion of 1990 cancelled the debut issue Wisecracking Sassy Nurse #1 before it even came off the presses. (And she was dressing down Wolverine for eating a ham without a fork and knife in the first issue, too!) So, in the words of that Tootsie Pop narrator, "the world may never know."

But here's my guess...could it be...Namor inker Bob Wiacek and writer/penciller John Byrne (seen here in photos from the ComicVine.com entries on Wiacek and Byrne?:


Honestly, that's just a guess. I really don't know. And short of venturing into the wild, untamed territory of the Byrne Robotics Forum and posing a question for "JB" (remember, it's rude to answer the question before Mister B. gets a chance to!), I'm probably not gonna know.

But I like to think that in a word where Norse gods walk the earth and intelligent robots get to marry hot Balkan chicks who later go nutzoid and remake the world in the image of an issue of What If?, that maybe there are magazines that celebrate that cadre of creators at Marvels Comics who portray our amazing, uncanny, incredible, invincible, and fantastic heroes.

All the same, if Byrne and Wiacek walk into her hospital, they darn well better be wearing shirts.

365 Days with Ben Grimm: Day 74

from X-Men: The Hidden Years #9 (Marvel, August 2000), script, pencils, and letters by John Byrne, inks by Tom Palmer, colors by Greg Wright

And then there was the time the Avengers met Skrull Humphrey Bogart and his Skrull mobster gang on a blimp-shaped space-casino in another galaxy.

Page from Avengers Annual #14 (1985), script by Roger Stern, pencils by John Byrne, inks by Kyle Baker, colors by Christie Scheele, letters by John Workman
Click image to Sydney Greenstreet-size


Special bonus panel: Hercules approves!:

365 Days with Ben Grimm: Day 49

"How to Draw the Thing" page from The Thing #5 (November 1983), by John Byrne

365 Days with Ben Grimm: Day 23

Panels from Fantastic Four #238 (January 1982), written and pencilled by John Byrne, inked by terry Austin, colored by Bob Sharen, lettered by Joe Rosen

Hulk smash John Byrne!

Ever wonder how those classic Incredible Hulk comic books were brainstormed? Why, in story conference meetings with all the relevant Marvel personnel, of course!:

Fumetti (photo-comic) from The Incredible Hulk #316 (February 1986),
featuring John Byrne, Denny O'Neil, Don Daley, and The Hulk
(Click to make Gulk*-size)

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the pathway that led to
"World War Hulk."


*Grey Hulk.