Today in Comics History, March 26: Happy birthday, Duncan Hines!

Born on this day in 1880: restaurant/hotel and food critic and founder of the baked goods company that would eventually give us, even through today, boxed Duncan Hines cake and dessert mixes!


from "Recommended by Huncan Dines" in From here to Insanity (1955 series) #12 (Charlton, October 1955), pencils and inks by Carl Hubbell
Mister Hines didn't appear in many comic books, but I'm including him in my birthday posts because I like cake.


Duncan Hines appears on To Tell the Truth (Goodson-Todman Productions/CBS, September 10, 1957), hosted by Bud "Superman" Collyer
Happy birthday, D.H.! We chipped in together and bought you a pizza, because we couldn't think of a different food to serve at a birthday party.

Today in Comics History, March 26: Happy birthday, Diana Ross!

Born on this day: actress, singer, and iconic Motown diva (in the best sense of the word), Diana Ross! C'mon, sing along with her huge number of hits, both with the Supremes and solo: "Where Did Our Love Go," "Baby Love," "Come See About Me," "Stop! In the Name of Love,", "Love Child," "Touch Me in the Morning," "Theme from Mahogany (Do You Know Where You're Going To)," "Love Hangover," "Upside Down," "Endless Love," "I'm Coming Out," "Why Do Fools Fall in Love," and countless more! (Well, I suppose you couldcount 'em, but there's a whole heckuva lot of 'em.) Not to mention her silver screen appearances in films Lady Sings the Blues, Mahogany, and The Wiz! Miss Ross certainly has kept busy, so today on her birthday she's entitled to sit back and put her feet up, and only record five or six songs.

"...Diana Ross and the Squadron Supreme!" from Marvel Age #82 (Marvel, December 1989), by Fred hembeck
(Click picture to doobedood’ndoobe, doobedood’ndoobe, doobedood’ndoo-size)
Happy birthday, Miss Ross!


"The Happening" by The Supremes (Motown, 1967), written by Holland–Dozier–Holland (Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Eddie Holland) and Frank De Vol

Today in Comics History, March 26: Happy birthday, Brian Bolland!

Born on this day: Brian Bolland, British comics artist of Judge Dredd, Camelot 3000, Batman: The Killing Joke, Green Lantern, House of Hammer, Mr. Mamoulian and more, and about a gazillion comic book covers!


from Direct Currents #24 (DC, December 1989)

Today in Comics History, March 26, 1944: God, I hope I get it / I hope I get it / How many people does he need?

from Don Newcombe one-shot (Fawcett, 1950), script by Charles Dexter

Today in Comics History, March 26: Happy birthday, Bob Elliott!

Happy 101st birthday today (born in 1923) to one of my favorite comedians, Bob Elliott, one-half of comedy team Bob & Ray! Bob's appeared in countless radio and record comedy sketches, as well as movies and television as diverse as Cold Turkey, Quick Change, Saturday Night Live, Happy Days, Newhart, King of the Hill and more, not to mention roles in Cabin Boy and Get a Life!, which both starred his son, comedian Chris Elliott.

But didja know that Bob (and Ray) were also Comic book creators and characters? Why, yes! The early years of the black-and-white MAD magazine in the 1950s were full of strips written by comics and humorists like Ernie Kovacs, Orson Bean, Danny Kaye, Henry Morgan, and Wally Cox (or their writers), and Bob & Ray were no exception. Beginning in MAD #34, the duo penned and starred in a a series of comics over the next couple of years, drawn by Mort "You Ain't Nobody 'Til You've Been Drawn By" Drucker, one of the greatest artist MAD ever chained to a drawing table! Here, Bob (lighter hair, shorter) plays Mr. Science, and Ray (dark hair, large) plays Jimmy.


from "Mr. Science" in MAD #34 (July 1957), script by Bob Elliott and Ray Goulding, pencils and inks by Mort Drucker

Today in Comics History Future, March 26, 2073: Darn post-apocalyptic liberal media

from "Daily Survivor" in Crazy Magazine #1 (Marvel, October 1973); text by Tony Isabella, Gerry Conway, Steve Skeates, and Carla Conway; pencils and inks by Marie Severin and Dave Hunt

Today in Comics History, March 26, 1968: Paul's leaving India, bye bye

from The Beatles in Comics! (NBM, November 2018); script by Richard Di Martino; translation by Joe Johnson; pencils, inks, and colors by Martin Trystram; letters by Ortho


from Rock 'n' Roll Comics: The Beatles Experience (Revolutionary/Bluewater, 2010), script by Todd Loren, art by Mike Sagara

Today in Comics History, March 26, 1941: Sgt. Pepper takes James Bond to a pretty lousy petting zoo

from James Bond: Origin #2 (Dynamite, October 2018); script by Jeff Parker; pencils, inks, and colors by Bob Q; letters by Simon Bowland

Today in Comics History, March 26: Zatanna cancels her show because of the money

from Zatanna: Everyday Magic one-shot (DC/Vertigo, May 2003), script by Paul Dini, pencils and inks by Rick Mays, colors by Brian Miller, letters by Comicraft

Today in Comics History, March 26, 1942: The Pacific Fleet sets sail under the cover of Lotte Reiniger

from "The Raid on Saint-Nazaire" Combat! #19 (Dell, March 1966), scripter and artist unknown