Today in Comics History, July 16: Happy birthday, Stewart Copeland!

Born on this day: American drummer and composer Stewart Copeland of The Police (the only exception to ACAB)! Stewart has also scored many movies and TV shows including Talk Radio, Wall Street, Highlander II: The Quickening, She's Having a Baby, Good Burger, The Equalizer, Star Wars: Droids, Babylon 5, The Life and Times of Juniper Lee and more!


from Simpsons Comics #210 (Bongo, March 2014), script by Max Davison, pencils by Phil Ortiz, inks by Mike DeCarlo, colors by Art Villanueva, letters by Karen Bates
Happy birthday, Stew!

Today in Comics History, July 16: Happy birthday, Roald Amundsen!

Born on this date in 1872: Roald Amundsen, sailor, author, explorer, discoverer of the South Pole, first navigator of the Northwest Passage, and history's only acceptable Roald!


"Pioneers of Science: Roald Amundsen, Discoverer of the South Pole" from Classics Illustrated #76 (Gilberton, October 1950), creators uncredited and unknown
He probably also discovered penguins.

Today in Comics History, July 16: Happy birthday, Ida B. Wells!

Born on this day in 1862: Ida B. Wells, American investigative journalist, educator, and early leader in the civil rights movement. She was one of the founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).




from "Ida B. Wells: Tell the Whole Truth" in The CBLDF Presents Liberty Annual 2016 (Image, November 2016); co-script, pencils, inks, and colors by Paul Guinan; co-script and letters by Anina Bennett
It's important to not only celebrate the legacy of Ida B. Wells but continue it. C'mon, it's her birthday!



from Step Aside, Pops (D+Q, September 2015), by Kate Beaton
Happy birthday, Ida B. Wells!

Today in Comics History, July 16: Happy birthday, Mattson Tomlin!

Born on this day: Mattson Tomlin: screenwriter, producer, director, and also comic book writer (Batman: The Imposter, A Vicious Circle)!


"DC Nation" from DC Comics cover-dated June 2022
Happy birthday, Son of Matt!

Today in Comics History, July 16, 189X: This isn't going well, as the captions continue to tell you

And so it goes since July 6...


from Marvel Classics Comics #9 [Dracula] (Marvel, 1976), script by Naunerle Farr, pencils (and inks?) by Nestor Redondo
Next: July 24: It gets worse.

Today in Comics History, July 16, 1804: Month passes without incident

from Manifest Destiny #12 (Image, December 2014), script by Chris Dingess, pencils and inks by Matthew Roberts, colors by Owen Gieni, letters by Pat Brosseau

Today in Comics History, July 16, 1957: Beatles debut before puzzled crowd

from Lennon: The New York Years (IDW, May 2017), story by David Foenkinos, adaptation by Corbeyran, art by Horne, letters by Troy Little

Today in Comics History, July 16, 1940: Hundreds perish in tragic train wreck just so this guy can get a cool origin story

from "[The Origin of Green Lantern]" in All-American Comics (1939 series) #16 (DC/All-American Comics, July 1940), script by Bill Finger; pencils, inks, and letters by Martin Nodell
Here's that Earth-2 origin story retold in an eighties comic!


from "The Tale of the Green Lantern" in Secret Origins (1986 series) #18 (DC, September 1987), script by (who else?) Roy Thomas, pencils and inks by George Freeman, colors by Anthony Tollin, letters by Jean Simek
How do we know this happened on July 16? Why, thanks to this fly on the wall. OH YES THANK YOU VERY MUCH DOOMSDAY CLOCK rassing frassin Doomsday Clock


from Doomsday Clock #7 (DC/Black Label, November 2018), script by Geoff Johns, pencils and inks by Gary Frank, colors by Brad Anderson, letters by Rob Leigh
Well, I guess everything is okay herOH DOCTOR MANHATTAN YOU ARE A JERK


And so, Doctor Manhattan continues to be a jerk:


from Doomsday Clock #9 (DC/Black Label, May 2019), script by Geoff Johns, pencils and inks by Gary Frank, colors by Brad Anderson, letters by Rob Leigh
OH COME ON NOW DOCTOR JERKHATTAN


MAKE UP YOUR FREAKIN' MIND


from Doomsday Clock #12 (DC/Black Label, February 2020), script by Geoff Johns, pencils and inks by Gary Frank, colors by Brad Anderson, letters by Rob Leigh
And that's why Alan Scott was the first Green Lantern. DESPITE.

Today in Comics history, July 16, 1827: Thus was born the terrible crime duo of the Pirate and the Shark

from "Tardy the Terrible" in Crime Must Pay the Penalty #6 (Ace, February 1949), oencils and inks by Ken Battefield

Today in Comics History, July 16, 1969: Indicia fireproofed against rocket exhaust

from Marvel: The Lost Generation #6 (Marvel, September 2000), co-plot and script by Roger Stern, co-plot and pencils by John Byrne, inks by Al Milgrom, colors by Matt Hicks, letters by Jack Morelli

Today in Comics History, July 16, 1945: United States military explodes the first Kirby Bomb

This is an expanded and updated version of a post originally published July 16, 2016.



from Marvel Treasury Special Featuring Captain America's Bicentennial Battles #1 one-shot (Marvel, September 1976), script and pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by John Verpoorten, colors by Phil Rachelson, letters by John Costanza
And guess who else was there?


from You Are Deadpool #5 (Marvel, July 2018), script by Al Ewing, pencils and inks by Salva Espin, colors by Guru-eFX, letters by Joe Sabino
Whadda you have to say about this, cast of The Invisibles?




from The Invisibles (1997 series) #2 (DC/Vertigo, March 1997), script by Grant Morrison, pencils by Phil Jimenez, inks by John Stokes, colors by Daniel Vozzo, letters by Todd Klein
"I am become Death, the shatterer of worlds." — Robert Oppenheimer


from Real Life Comics #29 (DC, March 1946), creators uncredited and unknown

Today in Comics History, July 16, 1993: Andy Warhol stars in Birdemic

from "Notes from the Underground" in Miracleman #19 (Eclipse, November 1990), script by Neil Gaiman, pencils by Mark Buckingham, inks and colors by Sam Parsons, letters by Wayne Truman

Today in Comics History, July 16, 1992: Spider-Man appears on a really high-stakes game show

from Spectacular Spider-Man (1976 series) #211 (Marvel, April 1994), script by Mike Lackey, pencils and inks by Sal Buscema, colors by Bob Sharen, letters by Joe Rosen

Today in Comics History, July 16, 1995: From this date on, we shall never ever see any Captain Atom comic books ever again

from Armageddon 2001 #2 (DC, October 1991), script by Dennis O'Neil; pencils by Dan Jurgens; inks by Art Thibert, Steve Mitchell, and Dick Giordano; colors by Adrienne Roy; letters by John Costanza