Today in Comics History, May 31: Happy birthday, Bert Christman!

Born on this day in 1915: Bert Christman, comic book writer and illustrator as well as WWII naval aviator. Christman was writer and artist on the popular newspaper strip Scorchy Smith, of which many adventures were reprinted in Easter Color's Famous Funnies comic book, plus work on the Three Aces feature in Action Comics, Funny Picture Stories, and Adventure Comics. That last one's pretty important, because t'was in the pages of Adventure that Bert created, along with Gardner Fox, Wesley Dodds — the Golden Sandman. Yes, the Sandman Mystery Theatre version. Here's his first appearance!


from "[The Tarantula Strikes]" in Adventure Comics #40 (DC, July 1939), script by Gardner Fox as Larry Dean, pencils and inks by Bert Christman; shown here in a recolored reprint from Justice League of America #94 (DC/National, November 1971)

Today in Comics History, May 31: Batman didn't keep his Dark Knight Returns poster in mint condition

from Detective Comics #937 (DC, September 2016), script by James Tynion IV, pencils by Álvaro Martínez Bueno, inks by Raúl Fernández, colors by Brad Anderson, letters by Marilyn Patrizio

Today in Comics History, May 31: "That's just my luck. I finally get rid of Bing and now I'm stuck with Denise Crosby."

from The Adventures of Bob Hope #103 (DC, February 1967), script by Arnold Drake, pencils by Carmine Infantino, inks by Mike Esposito, letters by Gaspar Saladino

Today in Comics History, May 31, 1918: Woo hoo! Senior road trip!

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, May 31, 2994: Brainiac 5 cracks the glass on his iPad 3000

from Legionnaires (1993 series) #0 (DC, October 1994); co-plot by Mark Waid; co-plot, script by, and colors by Tom McCraw, pencils by Jeff Moy; letters by Pat Brosseau

Today in Comics History, May 31, 1942: Vince Colletta attacks

from Young All-Stars #17 (DC, October 1988), script by Roy Thomas and Dann Thomas, pencils by Michael Bair, inks by Tony DeZuñiga, colors by Gene D'Angelo, letters by Jean Simek

Today in Comics History, May 31, 1889: It Isn't Always Sunny in Philadelphia

from "The City That Was Drowned" in Real Fact Comics #12 (DC, January 1948); script by Jack Schiff, Mort Weisinger, and/or Bernie Breslauer; pencils and inks by Howard Sherman (?)

Today in Comics History, May 31, 1942: Antifascist polar bear considers attacking Nazis but runs offs to get fighting advice from The Punisher

from Young All-Stars #16 (DC, September 1988), script by Roy Thomas and Dann Thomas, pencils by Michael Bair, inks by Malcolm Jones III, colors by Gene D'Angelo, letters by Jean Simek

Today in Comics History, May 31, 1944: Then the Gallup sank like a stone

from "The Coast Guard Lady" in Real Fact Comics #4 (DC, September 1946), script by Jack Schiff, Mort Weisinger, and/or Bernie Breslauer; artist uncredited and unknown

Today in Comics History, May 31, 1998: He believed he could fly

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, May 31, 1984: Hugh Newel Jacobsen writes for The New York Times but desperately wants do a Batman comic

from Gotham Nights #3 (DC, May 1992), script by John Ostrander, pencils by Mary Mitchell, inks by Bruce Patterson and Mike DeCarlo, colors by Adrienne Roy, letters by John Costanza

Today in Comics History, May 31: Penguin is nervous because the street has turned to oatmeal

from Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #71 (DC, November 2013), script by Marc Guggenheim, pencils and inks by Federico Dallocchio, colors by Alejandro Sanchez, letters by Saida Temofonte

Today in Comics History, June 6: Tom Taylor sells out one-man show of him staring at his shoes for ninety minutes

from The Unwritten #37 (DC/Vertugo, July 2012); plot, pencils, and inks by Peter Gross; script by Mike Carey; colors by Chris Chuckry

Say, what date is An Evening with Tom Taylor at the Queensland Performing Arts Center again? June 6, you say?


from The Unwritten #40 (DC/Vertigo, October 2012); plot, pencils, and inks by Peter Gross; script by Mike Carey; colors by Chris Chuckry; letters by Todd Klein

Today in Comics History, May 31: Gandalf attends his first rock concert

from The Unwritten #40 (DC/Vertigo, October 2012); plot, pencils, and inks by Peter Gross; script by Mike Carey; colors by Chris Chuckry; letters by Todd Klein

Today in Comics History, May 31, 1996: The Avengers franchise just throws its hands up in the air and says "Oh, screw it."

from Avengers #400 (July 1996), script by Mark Waid, breakdowns by Mike Wieringo, finishes by Tom Palmer, colors by John Kalisz, letters by Bill Oakley