Today in Comics History, July 18: Happy birthday, Screamin' Jay Hawkins!

Born today in 1929: Screamin' Jay Hawkins, singer-songwriter and musician ("I Put a Spell on You," "Alligator Wine," "Constipation Blues" (because no one had written a blues song before about "real pain"), "Orange Colored Sky," and more)! And also actor (American Hot Wax, A Rage in Harlem, Mystery Train, more)! And film producer! And...did I read this right? Boxer? He was the middleweight boxing champion of Alaska?!? Wowzers, I never knew screaming could be such a lucrative career! (goes around apartment screaming at the top of my lungs, or at least until John and Randi make me stop)


from "Loathsome Lore" in Creepy (2009 series) #8 (Dark Horse, April 2012), script by Dan Braun, pencils and inks by Kyle Baker, letters by Nate Piekos
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MISTER SCREAMIN'!


"I Put a Spell on You" performed by Screamin' Jay Hawkins (Okeh, 1956), song written by Screamin' Jay Hawkins and Herb Slotkin

Today in Comics History, July 18: Happy birthday, John Glenn!

Born on this date in 1921: a cat who's really far out there! I mean, he's totally up in the air, folks! You might even say that this freakzoid was the first American to orbit the Earth, in 1962! TAnd yeah, this hoopy frood was the third American in space! And a U.S. Senator (okay, that one's less cool). And he went back into space in 1997 at the age of 77! Okay, that one's totally awesome! I'm talkin' of course, about fighter and test pilot/astronaut John Glenn! Also, if you grew up in Syracuse like I do, you might know him from the totally excellent but extremely short John Glenn Boulevard, which also gave name to the area around it, thus the frequent refrain heard in our household "I'm going over to the John Glenn Wegman's." Yeah, baby!


cover of Newsday's Comics on the News with Chip Tracer #1 one-shot (Newsday, 1998); pencils, inks, and colors by Steve Geiger; background photos by NASA and Associated Press

Today in Comics History, July 18: Happy birthday, Dion!

Born on this day: Dion DiMucci, better mononymically known as Dion, singer/songwriter ("Runaround Sue," "The Wanderer," "Ruby Baby," "Lovers Who Wander," and more)!


"Harvey Pekar's Lost and Found" from Entertainment Weekly (Time-Warner, 2003), reprinted in from American Splendor: Our Movie Year (Random House, December 2004); script by Harvey Pekar; pencils, inks, and letters by Gary Dumm
Happy birthday, Dion!


"Runaway Sue" by Dion (Laurie, 1961), written by Dion DiMucci and Ernie Maresca

Today in Comics History, July 18, 1950: We now return to Shaft in Korea, already in progress

from The 'Nam #45 (Marvel, June 1990), script by Doug Murray, breakdowns by Wayne Vansant, finishes by Tony DeZuñiga, colors and letters by Phil Felix

Today in Comics History, July 18, 1876: The End, that is, for this dumb jerk

from "Showdown in Abilene" in Crime Must Pay the Penalty #7 (Ace, April 1949), pencils by Sy Grudko (?), inks by Bill Walsh (?)

Today in Comics History, July 18: Sunfire needs a datebook

from Avengers West Coast #71 (Marvel, June 1991); script by Roy Thomas and Dann Thomas; pencils by David Ross and Tom Morgan; inks by Danny Bulanadi, Chris Ivy, and Don Hudson; colors by Bob Sharen; letters by Nel Yomtov

Today in Comics History, July 18: Happy birthday, Jean Thomas!

Born on this day: Jean Thomas, Marvel office assistant, comic book scripter (My Love, Night Nurse, Our Love Story, Spidey Super Stories, more) and colorist, and co-plotter or co-scripter with her (now ex-)husband Roy Thomas (Crazy Magazine, Marvel Spotlight, more).


from Mighty Marvel Calendar 1976 (Marvel, 1975)

Today in Comics History, July 18, 1998: She's coming to get you, Barbra

from The Invisibles (1997 series) #17 (DC/Vertigo, August 1998), script by Grant Morrison, pencils by Chris Weston, inks by Ray Kryssin, colors by Daniel Vozzo, letters by Todd Kleing

Today in Comics History, July 18, 1997: Whoops, sorry 'bout that, William Rouse

from (top) "V for Vendetta: Book One, Chapter Ten: Venom" in Warrior #10 (Quality Communications, April 1983), script by Alan Moore, pencils and inks by David Lloyd, letters by Jenny O'Connor;
(bottom) V for Vendetta #3 (DC, November 1988); colors by David Lloyd, Siobhan Dodds, and Steve Whitaker

Today in Comics History, July 18, 1921: Just another ordinary corpse-buryin' day for Professor Hardin

from Young All-Stars #10 (DC, March 1988), script by Roy Thomas and Dann Thomas, pencils and inks by Brian Murray, colors by Gene D'Angelo, letters by Jean Simek

Today in Comics History, July 17-18, 1898: Santiago surrenders control but will not surrender his ridiculous comic accent

from "The Spanish-American War" in Picture Stories from American History #4 (EC, Summer 1947), script by Jerry Coleman, pencils and inks by Allen Simon

Today in Comics History, July 18: Manhattan Criminal Courtroom 3 is ankle-deep in drool

from Punisher: The Trial of the Punisher #1 (Marvel, November 2013), script by Marc Guggenheim, pencils and inks by Leinil Francis Yu, colors by Sunny Gho, letters by Cory Petit

Today in Comics History, July 18, 1744: Burial spot of treasure marked with X proportionately fifty miles long

from "X Marks the Mystery!" in Detective Comics #215 (DC, January 1955), script by Otto Binder, pencils and inks by Joe Certa