Today in Comics History, January 30: Happy birthday, Phil Collins!

Born on this day: Millie "The Model" Collins's cousin Phil Collins*!


from "When Friends Fall Out!" in Millie the Model #176 (Marvel, November 1969), script by Stan Lee, pencils by Stan Goldberg, inks by John Verpoorten (?), letters by Artie Simek
Still, there's gotta at least be one good thing about Phil Collins, right?


Other things Phil became famous for: as a singer, drummer, songwriter, record producer and actor. And, according to MAD magazine, for one joke and one joke only:


from "Hot Albums of the 1990’s...A Look Back" in MAD #282 (October 1988), script by Russ Cooper, pencils and inks by Rick Tulka
Isn't that right, MAD?


from "Really Appropriate Sponsors for Rock Tours" in MAD #286 (April 1989), script by Charlie Kadau
Anyway, Happy birthday, Phil Collins, and sussudio to you, too! Here, I bought ya a comic book. I think you'll actually enjoy it.


cover of The Story of the Alamo: An Illustrated History of the Siege and Fall of the Alamo (Frederic Ray, 1955), artist uncredited and unknown
*There is no actually proof in the story that this poor guy's last name actually is Collins**, but hey, anything for a joke, huh?

**Yes, I actually submitted a correction to the "characters" list on Comics.org for this.

Today in Comics History, May 5: Happy birthday, Stan Goldberg!

Born this day in 1932: comic book artist and colorist Stan Goldberg! Among his many accompaishments, he was the uncredited colorist for a huge number of the 1960s Marvel books!


from (left) Marvel Tales Annual #1 (Marvel, September 1964);
(right) Fantastic Four Annual #7 (Marvel, November 1969), photograph by Al Hewetson

Today in Comics History, October 24, 1945: And she'll have UN UN UN 'til her daddy takes the General Assembly away

Today in Comics History (as we like to say around here)...well, something something this!


from Four Color #1349 [Yogi Bear Visits the U.N.] (Dell, January 1962), script by Paul S. Newman, pencils and inks by Fred Fredericks
Yep, it's United Nations Day! Founded on this date in 1945, the UN has been in a lotta comic books. (Almost as many as Wolverine!) In the absence of any other material tonight, let's front-load this puppet-town cow blog with a whole Dag Hammarskjöldfull of appearances by everyone's slim, tall building on the east side of Manhattan to celebrate United Nations Day! It also happens to be the same date from 1260, when Saif ad-Din Qutuz, third Mamluk Sultan of Egypt, is assassinated by Baibars, a fellow Mamluk leader, who seizes power for himself. But I can't find any of my comic books about that.

Let's UN-wind by kicking off a series of DC comic book PSAs telling us how nifty the United Nations is!

Paper Doll Month, Day 1: We'll miss you, Stan Goldberg

It's September 1! (Did you remember to say "rabbit, rabbit" first thing this morning?) That means it's time for another month-long feature to amuse and edumacate you while I try to untangle all the files that make up the long-on-hiatus 365 Days of KirbyTech feature. This month, all month, you'll need a printer, cardboard, a glue-stick, and sharp scissors (or, a parent or guardian with sharp scissors). That's right, it's a month during which you can create your very own personal papyrus platoon based on this feature — it's Paper Doll Month! And I absolutely promise you: no Katy Keene!

That said, it's a bittersweet beginning to the feature as we salute one of the greatest artists of comics in all genres (but especially teen and comedy books), Stan Goldberg, who passed away yesterday. Stan was an extraordinary artist who, altho' he frequently drew within a publisher or line's house style, gave his own distinctive and energetic feel to his work. Even if he was uncredited (or, in the case of Marvel's teen/comedy/romance titles, frequently credited as Sol Brodsky), you could identify his art. Just as Carl Barks was commonly known as "The Good Duck Artist" in Disney comics before creator credits were printed, I've always considered Stan Goldberg as "The Good Archie Artist." (I really like Dan DeCarlo too, but so many fo my favorite stories are by Goldberg.)

He was an accomplished colorist responsible for the vast majority of the covers of the Atlas and early Marvel Age, and he was fluent in several styles. Here's examples of his paper doll work for Marvel's Patsy Walker and supporting characters:




Paper doll pages from Patsy and Hedy #107 (August 1966), art by Stan Goldberg, letters by Sam Rosen
Okay, okay, maybe these aren't "technically" paper dolls and they don't have tabs, but it's my blog and I say it's paper dolls and to heck with it.

The Seven Deadly Sins of Chili Storm

And let us not forget:

Pop Will Eat Itself

In its ever-insatiable hunger to publish the most lucrative comic book franchises to sink our teeth into, Marvel Comics has brought us Marvel Zombies...



...Squadron Supreme Zombies...



...Christmas Carol Zombies...



...Disco Marvel Zombies...



... and even Spider-Ham Zombies!



But I believe that I've come up with a fresh new line for Marvel to move into, something that has never been done before, something that'll attract boys and girls and comics buyers of all ages (that is, 32-45)...

Zombie Millie the Model!

Panel from A Date with Millie v.2 #6 (August 1960), script by Stan Lee, pencils and inks by Stan Goldberg
Millie's outfit by Andre Cohen, Brooklyn NY; Chili's dress by Carlton Grubbs, Leakville, NC.

Yep, that's an actual unretouched panel from a Millie the Model comic book. (Trust me, context wouldn't help one bit.) And yeah, I know, that's actually Chili the Model getting all bitey in that panel. But then again, in an all-out post-apocalyptic catfight kick-ass brawl, don't you think conniving and treacherous Chili would come out on top? That is, if Veronica Lodge didn't eat her brains first.

So don't buy Abercrombie, buy Zombie...Marvel Comics' Millie the Zombie Model, that is! (Call me, Axel Alonso—I gotta lot more great pitches like this for you!)

Comics Within Comics Week, Day 1: It's Modelin' Time!

The Mid-Day Matinee this week, all week: Comics Within Comics! Every now and then you spot a comic book character actually reading a comic book...but it's usually, in fact often, a fictional comic. (Aren't they all?) Let's instead look at those meta-riffic occasions when a comic book character is reading a comic book that we own...which must mean that we are all in the same universe! Or, we are all made of stars, depending on which Moby song you listen to. Fold back the cover, cut out the coupon, and check out, all this week, Comics Within Comics!




Page from Modeling with Millie #54 (June 1967), script by Gary Friedrich, pencils and inks by Ogden Whitney, letters by Tony Ferme



Cover of Fantastic Four #63 (June 1967), cover art by Jack Kirby and Joe Sinnott



"Don't gimme no lips."

Stan Lee Saturdays #3: The Time Millie the Model Considered Having an Affair with Stan Lee

Stan Lee and Stan Goldberg pin-up page from Millie the Model Annual #1 (1962), by Stan Lee and Stan Goldberg, starring Stan Lee and Stan Goldberg

Juke Box Fury

Well, I was talking last night...



...about Sgt. Fury's Lonely Heart's Club Band. But despite the military theme of the Beatles' famous album, I have the feeling that Nick Fury probably wasn't a huge fan of that LP. Yep, even though it sometimes looks as if some of Nick's adventures were inspired by the same illicit substances that gave us "Within You, Without You" and "A Day in the Life"...


Page from Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.* #7 (December 1968), co-plot and dialogue by Archie Goodwin; co-plot, pencils and inks by Frank Springer, letters by Artie Simek

...Yes, it looks as if Nick Fury has ingested a little too much tea in that panel.

Anyway: as psychedelic as Fury's '60s adventures were, he probably wasn't, unlike Ben Grimm, a big fan of the Beatles. (Forget the idea that Ben was at that point a contemporary of Nick.) Besides, the 33 1/3 12-inch LP of Sgt. Pepper probably didn't fit on Nick's 78rpm gramophone.

No, here's some entertainment that's more up Nick Fury's avenue:


Panels from Sgt. Fury [and His Howling Commandos] #43 (June 1967), script by Dick Ayers and Gary Friedrich, pencils by Dick Ayers, inks by John Tartaglione, letters by Sam Rosen

Holy cow! This USO show is full of more talent than the unemployment agency four or five months after the DC Implosion of June 2012! (Mark my words.) Check it out starting in the second panel...there's oatster Gene Autry and professional Clark Kent impersonator Glen Miller (go back by boat, not plane, okay, Glen?). Panel three has good old Bob "How much can I sue Stan Lee for using my likeness" Hope, and there's Hope's frequent second banana Jerry Colonna in the last panel. He's the one with the mustache, and the lovely ladies are Betty Grable, Lana Turner and Dorothy Lamour, which is certainly more A-list star-power in just one page of this comic book than any other Marvel cover-dated June 1967, with the possible exception of Modeling with Millie, which appears to guest-star that ginchy gal Gwen Stacy and another band Nick Fury wouldn't have cared for, the groovy Gears! Is it any coincidence that Modeling with Millie was cancelled with that very same issue?


Modeling with Millie #54 (June 1967), cover art by Ogden Whitney and John Romita Sr.

Yes. Yes, it probably is coincidence.

Interestingly enough, the same month you'd find Fury #43 and Millie #54 on the comic book spinner rack of your local Rexall you'd also be able to pick up, for a slim dime and two copper pennies, this:


The Adventures of Bob Hope #105 (June-July 1967)

Holy cow! You know what this means? With Bob Hope in both a Marvel and a DC comic book at the same time, I have discovered the first DC-Earth/Marvel Universe comic book crossover, nine years before that Superman/Spider-Man thing! Solid comic book archaeological history...that's what this blog is all about.

Also guest-starring in Sgt. Fury #43 is another big-name real-life historical character—the Desert Fox himself, Erwin Rommel!



But let's not count him. Rommel's LP never cracked the Billboard charts and was later found in remainder cut-out bins across Europe. He was, however, the author of a bestselling book. Here's a review of it:



Here's some final proof that Nick Fury has zero tolerance for that newfangled noise the kids today call music, when he attends a concert by psychedelic band Country Joe McDonald and the Fish!



You might argue that Fury objects to this protest song attacking President Johnson, but it's probably more likely Nick's probably just miffed that he doesn't get name-checked like the FF and Doctor Strange. Heck, even that fictional character Superman gets a shout-out. Or maybe Nick just doesn't care for the reference to the Spider-Man reboot "Brand New Day." Lyrics about sending an unpopular President who supported an unpopular war back to Texas to work on his ranch? Yes, that's definitely a trademark of the 1960s and absolutely no other recent decade at all.



So, my point...and I do have one...is that on Nick Fury's military-issued 1943 khaki-green fourteen-pound iPod you'll find Glen Miller, Tommy Dorsey, the Andrews Sisters, Johnny Mercer, Spike Jones, Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Vera Lynn, and Ella Fitzgerald...but you won't find a single Beatles album. Oddly enough, you will find the complete works of actor and vocalist David Hasselhoff. For some reason, Nick's got a soft spot for the Hoff.



*Sergeant Harlan I. Ellison's Litigious Dispute

Millie the Model in London, The Covers! #6

Cover of Millie the Model Super-Size Special #2 (February 1968*), art by Colleen Coover


Okay, okay, ya got me. Millie's not in London in this one. But it's got the version of the Sentry that everybody loves (or, more accurately, everybody doesn't hate), and it's by Colleen Coover! The only thing that could make it better would be if it was in London!

*And yes, although the cover doesn't give the year, this likely happened in '68, because it's after the 1967 wedding of Toni Turner (mentioned in the story), as chronicled in Millie the Model Annual #6. As I like to say: It's canon, fanboys!

Separated at Birth: You'd think she'd learn to not take her husband to the park

L: Millie the Model #154 (October 1967), art by Sol Brodsky
R: Millie the Model #201 (April 1973), art by Stan Goldberg (?)

(Click picture to mmmmega-size)

24 Hours with Jack Kirby: Hour 10

Here's a weird and wacky early Jack Kirby appearance...in, of all places, Millie the Model!

All panels are from Millie the Model #107 (March 1962), by Stan Goldberg

Say, I can't find that cover of Strange Tales anywhere in the pre-Human Torch early 1960s issues!

The modeling assignment for our glamour girl is simple: comics artist Jack Kirby is looking for a life model to pose for a story. (Overhearing this outside on the landing, a light bulb of inspiration appears over the head of young Nelson Alexander Ross.)


Millie's not too certain she wants to take the job. Aw, c'mon Mil...you ain't afraid of no ghost! Or, Atlas Monster.


Later at the spacious offices of KirbyConGlomerateCom, Millie's frightened of a larger-than life monster model in Jack's studio. I'm not certain whether she's scared of it, or that she's frightened that a grown man collects and displays monster models.


Meanwhile, Millie's conniving and still-in-the-closet rival, the spicy and heart-burning Chili, has Wile E. Coyotesque plans to frighten and steal the modeling assignment away from Millie! Yes, true to life model tales. This is actually how Cindy Crawford got the Revlon contract away from Paulina Poriskova.


But Chili herself is scared off because Jack's wearing a rubber monster mask. Haw haw! Comedy doors crack me up every time!


Later, Millie and Chili finally find common ground and one thing to agree upon: girls don't read comics.


(Well, at least until Sandman, Strangers in Paradise, and Gail Simone come along.)