Today in Comics History, October 4: Happy birthday, Marcus McLaurin!

Born on this date: comic book writer, artist and editor Marcus McLaurin, who's worked on Cage, Marvel Comics Presents, The Punisher, What The--?, and, as editor on Alpha Flight, What If...?, the Epic and Razorline imprints, and developing and editing the 1994 painted series Marvels.


from Marvel Age #94 and 106 (Marvel, November 1990 and November 1991), text by Chris Eliopoulis and Barry Dutter (#94) and Mike Lackey (#106); pencils and inks by Ron Zalme, colors by Renee Witterstaetter

Today in Comics History, September 23: Happy birthday, Paul Ryan!

Born today in 1949: comic book artist Paul Ryan (Fantastic Four, Fantastic Five, D.P. 7, The Flash, Iron Man, The Amazing Spider-Man, The Phantom comic strip, The Amazing Spider-Man Sunday comic strip, various Superman and Batman titles, The Avengers, Maximum Security and many more)! How great is Paul Ryan? So great he got two different Marvel Pro Files!



(top) from Marvel/New Universe comics cover-dated January 1988;
(bottom) Marvel Age #93 (Marvel, October 1990)
Now for birthday party games: seek and find Paul Ryan in the crowd at the El/Lane nuptial event below!:

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 to you, Paul!

Today in Comics History, February 6: Happy birthday, Mark Bernardo!

Born on this day: comics writer, colorist, and editor Mark Bernardo (X-Man, Spectacular Spider-Man, Spider-Man Unlimited, Webspinners: Tales of Spider-Man, and the Spider-Man Peanut Butter promo comics, among others!


"Marvel Pro File" from "Bullpin Bulletins" in Marvel Comics cover-dated April 1997

Today in Comics History, December 28: Happy birthday, Ralph Macchio!

Born on this day: Ralph Macchio!


"Glory of Love" by Peter Cetera (Warner Bros., 1986), from the movie The Karate Kid Part II (Delphi V Productions, 1986), starring Ralph Macchio and Noriyuki "Pat" Morita
No, no, no...that's the wrong Ralph. We're talkin' about comics writer and editor Ralph Macchio (writer on Marvel Two-in-One, Thor, Avengers, X-Men Adventures; editor for Marvel's black-and-white series, Daredevil, Spider-Man line, Ultimate Comics; and much more)!

Sharin' your birthday can be tough, so let's get some Ralph love in here. (Caution: definitions of "Ralph Love" may vary from county to county. Please check local and municipal restrictions before engaging in Ralph love.)


from Marvel Age #36 (Marvel, March 1986), text by Jim Salicrup, pencils and inks by Ron Zalme, colors by Adam Philips

Today in Comics History, November 15: Happy birthday, Mike Gustovich!

Born on this day: comics artist and writer Mike Gustovich (creator of Justice Machine; he's also pencilled and inked Avengers, Defenders, New Mutants, and a long stretch inking the Milestone series Icon)!


from Marvel/New Universe comics cover-dated October 1988
Happy birthday, Mike!


from Marvel Age #139 (Marvel, August 1994)

Today in Comics History, November 15: Happy birthday, Michael Gallagher!

Born on this day: comic book writer/artist Michael Gallagher, who's worked on ALF, Madballs, Sonic the Hedgehog, Guardians of the Galaxy, and he's written and pencilled Marvel's comic book version of Heathcliff...


from Marvel kids' comics cover-dated April 1988
...which is an all in the family connection, as Michael is not only the son of gag cartoonist John Gallagher, but the nephew of George Gately, creator of Heathcliff!


from Marvel Age #39 (Marvel, June 1986)
Happy birthday, Michael!

Today in Comics History, November 7: Happy birthday, Rodney Ramos!

Born on this day: comics penciller/inker Rodney Ramos (Conan the Barbarian, Toxic Avenger, Green Lantern, Gotham Nights, Countdown, Transmetropolitan, L.E.G.I.O.N., Peter Parker: Spider-Man, What If...?. Detective Comics, and more)!


from Marvel Age #95 and 107 (Marvel, December 1990 and December 1991), text by Chris Eliopoulis and Barry Dutter (#95) and Mike Lackey (#107), pencils and inks by Ron Zalme, colors by Renee Witterstaetter

Today in Comics History, September 3: Happy birthday, Pat Redding!

Born on this day: assistant editor at Marvel and comic book inker (occasionally penciller, colorist and/or scripter) Pat Redding Scanlon (Conan, Spider-Man, The Screwtape Letters, and more!)


from Marvel Age #33 and 57 (Marvel, December 1985 and December 1987); text by Jim Salicrup (#33) and Mike Carlin (#57); pencils and inks by Ron Zalme; colors by Adam Philips (#33) and Paul Becton (#57)

Today in Comics History, August 17: Happy birthday, Alex Saviuk!

Born on this day: comic book artist Alex Saviuk, known for his work on Marvel's spideriest character (Amazing, Web and the Spidey comic strip), plus Action Comics, World's Finest Comics, Detective Comics, The Flash, Green Lantern, and more!


from Marvel Age #104 (Marvel, September 1991), text by Chris Eliopoulis and Barry Dutter, pencils and inks by Ron Zalme, colors by Renee Witterstaetter

Today in Comics History, August 7: Happy birthday, Mark Bagley!

Born on this day: comics artist Mark Bagley, co-creator of Ultimate Spider-Man (and lots of its supporting characters) and Thunderbolts, artist of Amazing Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, Venom, New Warriors, Batman, Justice League and many more!



from Marvel Age (top) #112 (Marvel, May 1992), and (bottom) #127 (August 1993)

Today in Comics History, July 22: Happy birthday, Mike Rockwitz!

Born on this day: Mike Rockwitz, assistant editor, colorist (also at Image), and occasional scripter on Marvel books in the late '80s through the '90s (Marvel Comics Presents, Marvel Super-Heroes, Machine Man, Saga of the Sub-Mariner, The Defenders, Conan the King, Wolverine, Nova, Grifter and more)! And, apparently, as tall as Shooter!


from Marvel Age #31, 55, and 91 (Marvel, October 1985, October 1987, and August 1990); text by Jim Salicrup (#31), Mike Carlin (#55) and Chris Eliopoulis and Barry Dutter (#91); pencils and inks by Ron Zalme; colors by Andy Yanchus (#31), Paul Becton (#54) and Renee Witterstaetter (#91)

Today in Comics History, July 13: Happy birthday, Tom Palmer!

(One of) Today's birthday boy(s): Tom Palmer, comics artist and especially inker! He's done long runs on lots of books including The Avengers, Star Wars, Tomb of Dracula, Doctor Strange, Daredevil, X-Men, Thor, Captain Britain, House of Mystery, Star Trek: The Next Generation and many more! And Marvel just loves to celebrate Palmer's birthday, it seems!:


from Mighty Marvel Calendar, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, and 1980 (Marvel, 1975-1979),
Marvel Age #31, 55, and 91 (Marvel, October 1985, October 1987, and August 1990; text by Jim Salicrup (#31), Mike Carlin (#55) and Chris Eliopoulis and Barry Dutter (#91); pencils and inks by Ron Zalme; colors by Andy Yanchus (#31), Paul Becton (#55) and Renee Witterstaetter (#90)

Today in Comics History, July 9: Happy birthday, Craig Anderson!

Born on this here today: Craig Anderson, Marvel Comics Managing Editor in the 1980s and '90s, and occasional scripter (Amazing Spider-Man, Savage Sword of Conan). He and Paty Cockrum created the hero Red 9! Also, I guess he wore plaid pants a lot!


from Marvel Age #31, 55, 91, and 103 (Marvel, October 1985, October 1987, August 1990, and August 1991); text by Jim Salicrup (#31), Mike Carlin (#55) and Chris Eliopoulis and Barry Dutter (#91 and 103); pencils and inks by Ron Zalme; colors by Andy Yanchus (#31), Paul Becton (#54) and Renee Witterstaetter (#91 and 103)

Today in Comics History, June 8: Happy birthday, Michael Higgins!

Let's all gather around a cake for Michael Higgins today and celebrate the birthday of the Marvel Comics writer, inker, colorist, letterer, and editor on series like Marvel Comics Presents, Conan the Barbarian, Excalibur, Daredevil, The Punisher, and lots 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)

Today in Comics History, June 1: Happy birthday, James DiGiovanna!

Born on this day: Marvel comics editor in the '90s James DiGiovanna (The Incredible Hulk, Sensational She-Hulk, G.I. Joe, Nth Man, more)! He's also been a film and comics critic for Tucson Weekly (here's a short piece about Jimmy Olsen comics that made me giggle) and is now a college professor.


from "Bullpen Bulletins" in Marvel Comics cover-dated February 1990
Happy birthday, James!

Today in Comics History, February 9: Happy birthday, Danny Bulanadi!

Born on this day in 1946: comics inker and occasional penciller Danny Bulanadi (Fantastic Four, Nova, Transformers, Micronauts, Daredevil, Captain America, D.P. 7, Masters of the Universe, and lots more)!


from Marvel Age #98 and 110 (Marvel, March 1991 and March 1992), text by Chris Eliopoulis and Barry Dutter (#98) & Mike Lackey (#110), art by Ron Zalme (#98) and Darren Auck (#110), colors by Renee Witterstaetter (#98)
A very happy birthday to ya, Danny!


from Marvel/New Universe comics cover-dated July 1988
Update on 2/9/2023: We lost Danny Bulanadi in November 2022. Rest in Peace, Danny.

Today in Comics History, January 22: Happy birthday, Howard Mackie!

Born on this day: comics writer and editor Howard Mackie! Co-creator of the Danny Ketch Ghost Rider! Assistant editor to the legendary Mark Gruenwald! Editor of the New Universe! Writer for Amazing Spider-Man, Peter Parker: Spider-Man, and Web of Spider-Man, not to mention too many other comics series to, um...mention, like X-Factor, Mutant X, Marvel Comics Presents, Spirits of Vengeance, Gambit, a couple Venom miniseries, and yep, even more! (Oh wait, was that a mention?)


from Marvel Age #49, 86, and 97 (Marvel, April 1987, March 1990, and February 1991); text by Mike Carlin (#49), & Chris Eliopoulis and Barry Dutter (#86 and 97); pencils and inks by Ron Zalme; colors by Paul Becton (#49), & Gregory Wright (#86) and Renee Witterstaetter (#97)