Today in Comics History, June 4, 1916: J.R.R. Tolkien arrives for his guest appearance on Blackadder Goes Forth

from Tolkien: Lighting Up the Darkness (Ablaze, February 2024), script by Willy Duraffourg, art by Giancarlo Caracuzzo, colors by Flavia Caracuzzo and Joël Odone

Today in Comics History, June 4, 1971: She's leaving home, bye-bye...the nice version

from Fantastic Four (2023 series) #1/694 (Marvel, January 2023), script by Ryan North, pencils and inks by Iban Coello, colors by Jesus Aburtov, letters by Joe Caramagna

Today in Comics History, June 4, 8:30 AM: Explorers on the Moon; alcoholics on the Earth

from Tintin v.14: Explorers on the Moon (Little Brown, September 1976), script, pencils, and inks by Hergé; translation by Leslie Lonsdale-Cooper and Michael Turner

Today in Comics History, June 6, 1944: D-Day: Do or do not; there is no try

To wrap up my memorial to D-Day in comic books today, let's look another war tale from the folks at EC Comics, who brought us unflinching, often incerdibly realistic (or at least highly believable) tales of combat in comic form. (It also doesn't hurt that the art by John Severin is absolutely gorgeous.)


from "D-Day!" in Two-Fisted Tales #27 (EC, May 1952), script by Harvey Kurtzman, pencils and inks by John Severin, colors by Marie Severin, letters by Ben Oda
The theme throughout is the doubt and fear of the men tasked with landing on Normandy that their invasion will be met and repelled, or worse yet, that they're all charging into a trap.


reasonable fears, but they threaten to escalate into sheer terror. Not what you need from the soldiers at the front of an invasion.


And nothing is working as perfectly as had been planned or hoped.


They planned and planned, but they couldn't plan for everything.


But the lesson is, still, whatever obstacles on the way: keep moving, keep working, keep fighting. And they did.

Today in Comics History, June 4, 1942: Post-Crisis replacement for Golden Age Batman apparently just hoverin' there

from Young All-Stars #20 (Winter 1988), script by Roy Thomas and Dann Thomas, pencils by Ron Harris, inks by Tony DeZuñiga, colors by Gene D'Angelo, letters by David C. Weiss

Today in Comics History, June 4, 2016: One year later, cab successfully hailed without cat

from Yellow Cab (IDW, May 2022), by Christophe Chabouté, based on the novel by Benoît Cohen

Today in Comics History, June 4, 2015: Don't be silly, cats can't be taxi drivers

from Yellow Cab (IDW, May 2022), by Christophe Chabouté, based on the novel by Benoît Cohen

Today in Comics History, June 4, 1942: "You people, you're all astronauts in some kind of...star wars."

Today in Comics History? Yes! It is history, because note the year: 1941! And today, it's...well, todat is not December 7, 1941, not in this panel (see ya again in December, panel!)...


from What If? (1977 series) #14 (Marvel, April 1979), script by Don Glut, pencils by Herb Trimpe, inks by Pablo Marcos, colors by "D. R. Martin", letters by Tom Orzechowski
Yes, it's the infamous issue of What If? that gives us SGT. FURY IN SPAAAAAAACE(aaaace aaaace aaaace)!

Today in Comics History, June 4, 1942: Key kept under welcome mat flies away

from Locke & Key: Guide to the Known Keys one-shot (IDW, July 2011), script by Joe Hill, pencils and inks by Gabriel Rodriguez, colors by Jay Fotos

Today in Comics History, June 4: Aquaman lends a hand

variant cover of Heroes in Crisis #4 (DC, March 2019), art by Ryan Sook
WHO PHOTOGRAPHED THIS?!?



from Aquaman (1994 series) #2 (September 1994), script by Peter David, pencils by Martin Egeland, inks by Brad Vancata, colors by Tom McCraw, letters by Dan Nakrosis

Today in Comics History, June 4, 1998: A tense moment between Boy and Jack FroOH HEY LOOK BEEPERS OPEN 24 HOURS!!!

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

Today in Comics History, June 4, 1935: Curtiss Robin breaks the record formerly held by Alley Kirstie

from "Hop Harrigan's History of American Aviation" in All-American Comics #45 (DC, December 1942); script, pencils, and inks by Joe L. Blummer

Today in Comics History, June 4, 1951: Who is this mysterious man marrying Janet Leigh?

Aw, c'mon, his birthday was yesterday, weren't you paying attention? A: Tony Curtis.


from "Who Am I?" in Movie Love #14 (Eastern Color, April 1952), pencils and inks by Harold LeDoux

Today in Comics History, June 4, 2064: Fur and gas masks make a fashionable comeback

from "Class of 2064" in New Talent Showcase (1984 series) #2 (February 1984), script by Todd Klein, pencils and inks by Scott Hampton, colors by Shelley Eiber, letters by Todd Klein
And just in case you need a recap...


from "Class of 2064" in New Talent Showcase (1984 series) #3 (March 1984)

Today in Comics History, June 4: Happy birthday, Josef Rubinstein!

Born today: comic book artist and inker Josef Rubinstein (Amazing Spider-Man, Silver Surfer, Uncanny X-Men, OHOTMU, Captain America, Wolverine, and many more)!


from Marvel Age #30, 54, and 90 (Marvel, September 1985, September 1987, and July 1990); text by Jim Salicrup (#30), Mike Carlin (#54) and Chris Eliopoulis and Barry Dutter (#90); pencils and inks by Ron Zalme; colors by Andy Yanchus (#30), Paul Becton (#54) and Renee Witterstaetter (#90)
Who knows what darkness hides in the blackness of inks? The Shadow of Joe Rubinstein knows (here with cute-as-a-button Ann Nocenti)!


from "Editori-Gal" in Marvel Fanfare (1982 series) #12 (Marvel, January 1984), script by Ann Nocenti (?), pencils and inks by Al Milgrom, letters by Rick Parker (?)
Guaranteed to make you feel old: the phrase "That was back in 1971 — Joe's pushing twenty now."


"DC Profiles" from DC comics cover-dated October 1977
Can you find Josef Rubinstein at Superman's wedding?

from Superman: The Wedding Album one-shot (DC, December 1996), pencils by Dan Jurgens, inks by Jerry Ordway, colors by Glenn Whitmore, letters by Bill Oakley
(Click top picture to honeymoon-size)
Happy birthday, Joe!

Today in Comics History, June 4: Happy birthday, Sid Greene!

Born today in 1921: comic book penciller and inker Sid Greene, (Batman, Detective Comics, Green Lantern, Justice League of America, Mystery in Space, From Beyond the Unknown, Strange Adventures, The Atom and many others), shown here in the purple suit (with writer Gardner Fox, editor Julius Schwartz, and DC production staffer Ed Eisenberg) and at the extreme right in the lower panel.


from "The Strange Adventure that Really Happened!" in Strange Adventures (1950 series) #140 (DC, May 1962), script by Gardner Fox, pencils and inks by Sid Greene
Happy birthday, Sid!

Today in Comics History, June 4, 3333: Premiere of Manos 2: Torgo in the City

from Bleed Them Dry #5 (Vault, November 2020), script by Eliot Rahal, art by Dike Ruan, colors by Miquel Muetro, letters by Anfdworld

Today in Comics History, June 4, 1957: The Ginsu knife is invented

from newuniversal: 1959 #1 (Marvel/New Universe, September 2008), script by Kieron Gillen, pencils and inks by Greg Scott and Kody Chamberlain, colors by Val Staples, letters by Ed Dukeshire

Today in Comics History, June 4, 1962: Centralia's population goes down to 1,958

from Atomic Robo Free Comic Book Day 2014 one-shot (Red 5, May 2014), script by Brian Clevinger, pencils and inks by Scott Wegener, colors by Anthony Clark, letters by Jeff Powell

Today in Comics History, June 4, 2995: I Don't Like Fridays

Thank goodness it's Friday, huh? Hope you had an excellent June 4. You didn't? Today wasn't that great? You had a bad day? You're taking one down? You sing a sad song just to turn it around? You're coming home and you announce to the world at large, well, that was the worst June 4 in history.

Liar.

Because today we celebrate the negative nine hundred-eighty-fifth anniversary of the worst June 4 of all.


from Legion of Super-Heroes (1989 series) #38 (DC, December 1992); script by Keith Giffen, Tom Bierbaum, and Mary Bierbaum; breakdowns by Keith Giffen; finishes and script assist by Jason Pearson; inks by Karl Story; colors by Tom McCraw
Now, I'm not saying this to top-trump you one one-up you...sure, with your flat tire and your splattered suit and your parking ticket and your expired lunch meat, it wasn't a great day for you. But in the year 2995, they're looking back at your June 4th and saying what a picnic it was.


Yup, the Earth is gonna blow up. Puts your day in perspective, doesn't it? Makes your June 4 look like a date with Katy Perry, huh?* *This simile works best if you are Russell Brand.


Well, well, well. Your day is a walk in the park compared to this. Remember that Monty Python "Four Yorkshiremen" sketch (here, from the early At Last the 1948 Show)? Yup. That's what the Legion of Super-Heroes thinks about your day.


"The Four Yorkshiremen Sketch" from At Last the 1948 Show series 2, episode 6 (ITV, 31 October 1967), written by Tim Brooke-Taylor, John Cleese, Graham Chapman, and Marty Feldman
Still fuming about your crummy June 4? Well, at least you didn't have to be evacuated from the planet you were born on and tossed in a floating space ark with the small percentage of humanity that could be saved, did you? A: No, you did not.


And if you were lucky, you came home, switched on the TV, and watched a little Smallville or Friday Night Lights. You didn't have to see this on your June 4:


Also, I'm pretty much guessing you are not a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes with the oh-so-kawaii spectre of the Grim Reaper looming over you, especially if your name is Ferro Lad.


So, pop open a pint of Ben and Jerry's, sit back, put your feet up, and reflect how, in comparison, you had a pretty darn good June 4th. Maybe your boss yelled at you, maybe you broke a shoelace, maybe your well-planned multi-billion-dollar international jewel heist was foiled by a bumbling French Sûreté detective. I dunno.


My point...and I do have one...is that you never know when the Earth will blow up*, so treat each day as a celebration and a joy. *(June 4, 2995, actually.) Remember to be careful and have fun out there, kids. As one of the great philosophers of the last century once opined:




You know, I've really learned something today. June 4 isn't about flat tires, or fallen soufflés, or whether Shrinking Violet and Light Lass had a thing going on, or whether that guy's name was Mon-El, M'onel, Valor, or Ralph...it's about seizing the carp out of every day and sinking your teeth into life, enjoying every bite, just like Tenzil Kem.


So, Happy June 4. And sweet dreams!