Today in Comics History, June 9, 2036: Diary of boxer who had to fight four men to be Most Beautiful Participant in Mermaid Parade

from eJunky (Scout, Septmber 2023), script by Nicholas Tana, art by Kyle Faehnrich

Today in Comics History, June 9, 1899: Coney Island bout determines Most Beautiful Participant in Mermaid Parade

"In This Corner" from Joe Palooka Comics (1945 series) #80 (Harvey, November 1953), creator uncredited and unknown

Today in Comics History, June 9, 1952: "Peter de Diable! have you been out late again with your Diary of Whores!?!"

Yesterday, we learned that Peter de Diable was transformed into an old man!


from Diary of Horror #1 (Avon, December 1952), writer unknown, pencils and inks by Alvin Hollingsworth
I'm pretty sure that second entry is supposed to be "June 10," but hey, I'm as happy to wrap this thing up as you are.









Wait...what did that all have to do with the cover?!?


cover of Diary of Horror #1 (Avon, December 1952), pencils and inks by Alvin Hollingsworth

Today in Comics History, June 9, 1944: G-Day

You pretty much knew that's what today would be like after yesterday, didn't you?


from "Every Day Is D-Day!" in All-American Men at War (1952 series) #74 (DC/National, October 1959), script by Hank Chapman, pencils and inks by Jack Abel
Better tomorrow? What do you think?

This post was suggested by faithful reader and frequent commenter Blam, who's provided a lot of date references in comics that I'll spotlight throughout 2023 in this series. Thanks, Blam!

Today in Comics History, June 9: Happy birthday, Robert Cummings!

Born on this day in 1910: film and TV actor Robert Cummings (Kings Row, Saboteur, Dial M for Murder, The Devil and Miss Jones, The Bob Cummings Show, and others)!



from Miss Beverly Hills of Hollywood #4 (DC, September 1949), pencils and inks by Bob Oksner
As good pal Andrew Weiss, paragon of pop culture, pointed out to me, Bob also starred alongside future Catwoman Julie Newmar in the 1964 CBS comedy My Living Doll, "a show that paralleled the Doc Magnus/Platinum relationship," Andrew says.



Say!



"Cue to Cummings" in Sweet Sixteen #12 (Parents' Magazine Press, December 1947), text by Kay Deane"
How popular is Bob Cummings? So popular that even Batman is a fan!


from All-Star Squadron Annual #3 (DC, September 1984), script by Roy Thomas, pencils by Don Newton, inks by Mike Machlan, colors by Gene D'Angelo, letters by David Cody Weiss and L. Lois Buhalis
Happy birthday, Bob!

Today in Comics History, June 9: Happy birthday, Otto Nicolai!

Why not celebrate the birth of German composer Otto Nicolai (b. 1810) by reading about one of the most Tuetonic operas of all time: The, uh, Merry Wives of Windsor! Ach du lieber!


"Famous Operas: The Merry Wives of Windsor" from Classics Illustrated #70 (Gilberton, April 1950), text by Eleanor Kidofsky

Today in Comics History, June 9: Happy birthday, George Pérez!

Oh boy, this is a hard one to get through.

Born on this day in 1954: the late, great comic book writer and penciller George Pérez (accent on the first E!), who passed away so very recently (May 6, 2022). George has drawn...well, let's just say every comic book character at Marvel and DC. Sometimes even all on the same cover. And: one of the nicest people in the business! Oh boy, do I miss him.


from FOOM #8 (Marvel, December 1974)

Today in Comics History, June 9, 2015: To earn a little money, you've gotta spend a lot of money

from Yellow Cab (IDW, May 2022), by Christophe Chabouté, based on the novel by Benoît Cohen
(PS: Besides giving me lots of dates to make posts about recently, this is a really great graphic novel with lots of New York City flavor ("the way I like it!"). Check it out!)

Today in Comics History, June 9: It's an Invasion of Savings this weekend at Klyntar's World of Bargains!

from Spectacular Spider-Man Super Special #1 one-shot (Marvel, September 1995), script by David Michelinie, pencils by Darick Robertson, inks by Arne Starr, colors by Tom Smith, color separations by Malibu, letters by Bill Oakley; NJQ

Today in Comics History, June 9: Happy birthday, Pamela Rutt!

It's the birthday of Pamela Rutt, production person and Marvel's public relations director in the 1980s!


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)
Happy birthday, Pam!

Today in Comics History, June 9, 1918: Cruel German captors rescind escaping privileges

from "Daredevils of Destiny" in Reg'lar Fellers Heroic Comics #6 (Eastern Color, May 1941), script by Frank Rentfrow, pencils and inks by Don Dickson

Today in Comics History, June 9, 1939: I'm pretty sure that font didn't come along until 1965, but I'm willing to overlook it if you are

Averting my usual tag of "newspapers don't look like that!," here's a comic book newspaper that actually does look like that — I mean, kinda realistic!


from "The Secret Origin of the Golden Age Sandman" in Secret Origins (1986 series) #7 (DC, October 1986), co-plot and script by Roy Thomas, co-plot by Dann Thomas, pencils by Michael Bair, inks by Steve Montano, colors by Carl Gafford, letters by David Cody Weiss
There's such a lot of fine detail to this one-shot that I've taken these pictures from a digital edition rather than the original muddied newsprint copy. It's well worth picking this up as an e-book.

Oh, they are so not a fun couple:


It's true: I learned much of my World War II history from Roy Thomas expository dialogue.

Today in Comics History, June 9, 1938: He courtshipped himself to death

from "Geri Hamilton" in Extra! #3 (EC, July 1955), pencils and inks by Reed Crandall, colors by Marie Severin

Today in Comics History, June 9, 1954: Geez, he's been lying there since last night; somebody pick him up or cover him with a sheet or somethin'

from Doomsday Clock #10 (DC/Black Label, July 2019), script by Geoff Johns, pencils and inks by Gary Frank, colors by Brad Anderson, letters by Rob Leigh

Today in Comics History, June 9, 1950: A bad day to be Theodore J. Warren

from "Impending Doom!" in Tales from the Crypt #20 (EC, October 1950); script, pencils, and inks by Johnny Craig; colors by Marie Severin; letters by Jim Wroten
(The birthday of Theodore Warren is this story is actually the same birthday as author and artist Johnny Craig, as shown in my April 25 birthday post for him!)

Today in Comics History, June 9, 1993: You oughtn't to buy Chicken McNuggets while they're still alive

from (L) "V for Vendetta: Book One, Chapter Ten: Venom" in Warrior #11 (Quality Communications, July 1983), script by Alan Moore, pencils and inks by David Lloyd, letters by Jenny O'Connor;
(R) from V for Vendetta #3 (DC, November 1988); colors by David Lloyd, Siobhan Dodds, and Steve Whitaker

Today in Comics History, June 9: Happy birthday, Anita Duncan!

Today we celebrate the birthday of Anita Duncan, Marvel Production Manager in the mid-1980s! A prolific artist, Anita worked as a college and elementary school textbook designer, book editor, photo researcher and director of editorial licensing, and was named Picture Professional of the Year by The American Society of Picture Professionals in 2005. She passed away in 2018.


from "Newswatch" in Marvel Age #38 (Marvel, May 1986), pencils by Paul Becton, inks by Jack Abel
Happy birthday wishes to you, Anita!

Today in Comics History, June 9, 1821: 19th Century DoorDash delivery is surprisingly efficient

from Carnage (2016 series) #11 (Marvel, October 2016), script by Gerry Conway, pencils and inks by Mike Perkins, colors by Andy Troy, letters by Joe Sabino

Today in Comics History, June 9, 2004: Newspaper recaps comic book; J. Jonah Jameson demands Spider-Man's head

from She-Hulk (2004 series) #4 (Marvel, August 2004), script by Dan Slott, pencils by Juan Bobillo, inks by Marcelo Sosa, colors by Chris Chuckry, letters by Dave Sharpe

Today in Comics History, June 9: Robin instantly snaps into immediate action, 17 days later

from "The Parking Lot Bandit Strikes Again!" in Detective Comics #451 (September 1975), script by Bob Rozakis, pencils by Al Milgrom, inks by Terry Austin