Today in Comics History, September 29: Happy birthday, Greer Garson!

Let's all wish a very happy birthday to the beautiful and vivacious Greer Garson!


from Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Deluxe Edition (1985 series) #13 (Marvel, December 1986); text by Mark Gruenwald, Peter Sanderson, and Steve Saffel; pencils by Stan Drake; inks by Joe Rubinstein and James Fry; colors by Andy Yanchus; letters by Brenda Mings
Oh! Oh, I have made another one of my silly mistakes. That is in fact Greer Nelson, the Avenger known as Tigra. Today's birthday belongs to actor Greer Garson, born on this day in 1904 and star of Goodbye Mr. Chips (Academy Award nominee), Mrs. Miniver (Acadamy Award winner), Madame Curie, Mrs. Parkington, The Valley of Decision (all three of those Oscar nominees), Pride and Prejudice, The Little Foxes, The Little Drummer Boy, and many more, including multiple appearances on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In! (How very innnnteresting!) Here's Greer complimenting soon-to-be-star Jane Powell on her work!


from "Jane Powell: The Road to Stardom" in Miss Beverly Hills of Hollywood #9 (DC/National, July 1950), credators uncredited and unknown
Here's Greer Garson at a Presidential fund-raising event starring The Rocketeer! Greer's wearing the black hat in the first and third panels.


from "War Hero" in Rocketeer Adventures [2] (2012 series) #4 (IDW, June 2012), script by Louise Simonson, pencils by Walter Simonson, inks by Bob Wiacek, colors by Jordie Bellaire, letters by John Workman
So a very happy birthday to you Greer Garson, and congratulations to you on being one of the leading voices of second-wave feminism and writing the book The Female Eunuch.

I'm so sorry, I've made another one of my silly mistakes.

Today in Comics History, June 9: Happy birthday, Robert Cummings!

Born on this day in 1910: film and TV actor Robert Cummings (Kings Row, Saboteur, Dial M for Murder, The Devil and Miss Jones, The Bob Cummings Show, and others)!



from Miss Beverly Hills of Hollywood #4 (DC, September 1949), pencils and inks by Bob Oksner
As good pal Andrew Weiss, paragon of pop culture, pointed out to me, Bob also starred alongside future Catwoman Julie Newmar in the 1964 CBS comedy My Living Doll, "a show that paralleled the Doc Magnus/Platinum relationship," Andrew says.



Say!



"Cue to Cummings" in Sweet Sixteen #12 (Parents' Magazine Press, December 1947), text by Kay Deane"
How popular is Bob Cummings? So popular that even Batman is a fan!


from All-Star Squadron Annual #3 (DC, September 1984), script by Roy Thomas, pencils by Don Newton, inks by Mike Machlan, colors by Gene D'Angelo, letters by David Cody Weiss and L. Lois Buhalis
Happy birthday, Bob!

I bet you can't get through this post without singing to yourself "Dog heads, dog heads, roly-poly dog heads..."

Sure, kids today get a bad rap for all their crazy habits and fads like planking and jowling and hoodying and katnissing and all that, but really, is it any crazier than the obsessions of kids of the immediate post-war period...your parents or grandparents, maybe?

No. No, it is not.


Advertisement for "Listerine Toothpaste Dog Heads" from Miss Beverly Hills of Hollywood #2 (May-June 1949)

Yep! Remember when all of America was obsessed with collecting the full set of dog heads that smelled vaguely like Listerine and wearing them around their wrists as a taunt to all their peers that you ain't nobody if you don't have the full set of dog heads? Remember the waves of kid-on-kid violence that erupted across American towns and cities as children refused to trade "Sandy the Scottie" for "Wally the Collie?" Like slap bracelets, jellybands, Japanese erasers and Wacky Packages, all the kids wanted 'em, but parents just didn't understand.

So, next time you're emptying your junk drawer or cleaning out the glove compartment in your Oldsmobile Cutlass, take a closer look...for the Dog Heads of Yesteryear.

In conclusion: they were "beautifully modeled by a famous sculptor." He doesn't like to admit it, but it was Henry Moore.



So. Collect dog heads...won't you?