Today in Comics History, May 23: Happy birthday, John Bolton!

Born on this day: British comic and graphic artist John Bolton (Look-In, Classic X-Men, Anne Rice's The Vampire Lestat, Warrior UK, Kull, The Books of Magic, Man-Bat, The Black Dragon, and plenty more)!


from Marvel Age #29, 53, and 89 (Marvel, Spetember 1985, August 1987, and June 1990); text by Jim Salicrup (#29), Mike Carlin (#53), and Chris Eliopoulis and Barry Dutter (#89); pencils and inks by Ron Zalme; colors by George Roussos (#29), Paul Becton (#53), and Gregory Wright (#89)

Today in Comics History, May 23: Happy birthday, Chad Hardin!

Happy birthday to comics artist Chad Hardin, creator of Death Watch and artist on Harley Quinn, The Traveler, Warlord, Countdown to Mystery, The Spirit, Sabrina the Teenage Witch and more! Here, Harley gives a meta-critique of his art. Verdict: he is acceptable to the quintessential Ms. Q.!


from Harley Quinn (2014 series) #0 (DC, January 2014), script by Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti, pencils and inks by Chad hardin, colors by possibly one'a these guys, letters by John J. Hill
Happy birthday, Chad!

Today in Comics History, May 23, 1751: Pedantics of the Eighteenth Century

from "Death and Venice" in The Sandman: Endless Nights (DC/Vertigo, November 2003), script by Neil Gaiman, pencils and inks by P. Craig Russell, colors by Lovern Kindzierski, letters by Todd Klein

Today in Comics History, May 23, 1965: I'm beginning to suspect the Millford Tribune's motto may be ironic

from House of Secrets (1996 series) #12 (DC/Vertigo, September 1997), script by Steven T. Seagle, pencils and inks by Guy Davis, colors by Kevin Somers, color separations by Heroic Age, letters by Todd Klein

Today in Comics History, May 23, 2022: Everybody hates Peggy Carter*

*Except me. I love ya, Peggy!


from Captain Carter #5 (Marvel, October 2022), script by Jamie McKelvie, pencils and inks by Marika Cresta, colors by Matt Milla, letters by Clayton Cowles

Today in Comics History, May 23, 1960: Almost as confusing a rebranding as HBO to Max

from "Solar Rise, Part Two: Scared to Death" in Doctor Solar, Man of the Atom (2010 series) #6 (Dark Horse, April 2011); script by Jim Shooter; pencils, inks, and colors by Agustin Alessio; letters by Nate Piekos

Today in Comics History, May 23-24, 1955: NASA launches the first of many football-shaped probes...oh, I'm sorry, I thought that said "NFL Rockets."

"NRL Rockets" from Space War #6 (Charlton, August 1960), creators unidentified and unknown

Today in Comics History, May 23, 1993: First they came for the apathetic, and I didn't care

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, May 23: You broke my heart and you made me cry / You said that I couldn't dance / But now I'm back to let you know / That I can really make romance

from "Heartline" in Chamber of Chills Magazine #23 (Harvey, May 1954), pencils by Manny Stallman, inks by John Giunta, letters by Joe Rosen

Today in Comics History, May 23, 1936: Welcome to New York, Indiana Jones; hope you survive the experience

credits page of Indiana Jones and the Tomb of the Gods #1 (Dark Horse, June 2008), pencils by Steve Scott, inks by Nathan Massengill, colors by Michael Atiyeh

Today in Comics History, May 23, 1942: So that's why they call it Metropolis

from Young All-Stars Annual #1 (DC, July 1988), script by Roy Thomas and Dann Thomas, pencils and inks by Mike Gustovich, colors by Gene D'Angelo, letters by David Cody Weiss

Today in Comics History, May 23, 1948: Happy birthday, Robert Markham! Hope you don't get turned into a monster with extremely high blood pressure...oh.

from Moon Knight (1980 series) #12 (Marvel, October 1991), script by Doug Moench, pencils and inks by Bill Sienkiewicz, colors by Christie Scheele, letters by Joe Rosen

Today in Comics History, May 23, 1983 and 2001: Bad News, Good News

There are newspapers! Of course there are. Well, let's read the terrible headline first:


from Back to the Future: Biff to the Future #5 (IDW, June 2017), story and script by Bob Gale and Derek Fridolfs, pencils by Alan Robinson, inks by Alan Robinson and Jaime Castro, colors by Maria Santaolalla, letter by Shawn Lee
GREAT SCOTT! How's Doc Brown gonna get out of this one? Oh! (sees there is one issue left) Well, it's not like a comic book ever served up a cliffhanger before, but I'll wait and see.

Meanwhile, here's the good news, or at least the puff piece. Really, was it that newsless in Metropolis on that day, Perry?



from Wonder Woman (1987 series) #170 (July 2001), script by Phil Jimenez and Joe Kelly, pencils by Phil Jimenez, inks by Andy Lanning, colors by Patricia Mulvihill, color separations by Heroic Age, letters by Comicraft
Geez, why doncha marry her, Lois?

Today in Comics History, May 23: Those jerks in the Giant JLA ignore exploding sun

from JLA: Act of God #1 (DC, November 2000), script by Doug Moench, pencils by Dave Ross, inks by George Freeman, colors by Ben DiMagmaliw, letters by Kurt Hathaway

Today in Comics History, May 23: Extremely precise expository dialogue sets the scene

from Secret #2 (Image, June 2012), script by Jonathan Hickman, pencils and inks by Ryan Bodenheim, colors by Michael Garland, letters by Rus Wooton

Today in Comics History, May 23, 1804: Comic book continues to be viewed from a bird's POV

from Manifest Destiny #2 (Image, December 2013), script by Chris Dingess, pencils and inks by Matthew Roberts, colors by Owen Gieni, letters by Pat Brosseau

Today in Comics History, May 23, 1804: Comic book is narrated entirely by heron

from Manifest Destiny #1 (Image, November 2013), script by Chris Dingess, pencils and inks by Matthew Roberts, colors by Owen Gieni, letters by Pat Brosseau

Today in Comics History, May 23, 2003: As the media surges forward, Hank McCoy looks on with trepidation

from Batman: Orphans #1 (DC, February 2011), script by Eddie Berganza, pencils by Carlo Barberi, inks by Juan Vlasco, colors by Chuck Pires, letters by John Workman, Jr.

Today in Comics History, May 23, 1958: Barry's cousin Van makes an important scientific discovery

from Super 8 one-shot insert (DC, August 2011), story by J.J. Abrams and David Baronoff, script by Peter Tomaso, pencils, inks and colors by Tommy Lee Edwards; letters by John Workman

Today in Comics History, May 23: Excessive champagne consumption knocks comic book color off-register

from "The Flying City Room" in Big Town #2 (DC, February 1951), script by France Herron, pencils by Dan Barry, inks by Sy Barry
And then they all drove out and got on the first flight of the Flying City Room. On champagne!


Happy first appearance, Flying City Room!