Today in Comics History, November 15: Darn, I wish I was your lover

Hey, today is Sadie Hawkins Day! By tradition, a day when women ask men out for dates, dining, dancing, and a little bit o' dis 'n' dat, instead of the other way round. Seriously, these days you can do this any time, kind ladies, and I hope you do. (Waiting by my telephone.)

Sadie Hawkins Day was created and popularized by extraordinary cartoonist and terrible person Al Capp in the classic comic strip Li'l Abner.


L'il Abner (November 14, 1935), by Al Capp

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 15: Happy birthday, William Herschel!

Born on this day in 1738: astronomer, composer, and discovery of Uranus (tee hee hee hee) William Herschel! Yes, he looked up in the sky and saw Uranus! hee hee hee


from Four Color #866 (Dell, December 1957), script by Don R. Christensen, art by Tony Sgroi, colors by Western Publishing Production Shop
So let's wish Herschell a happy birthday and remember he's the one who first looked into Uranus BWAH-HA-HA-HA-HA hee hee okay I'm all right now.


from "Planetary Names" in Showcase #19 (DC, March 1959), creators uncredited BWAH-HA-HA and unknown hee hee. It's funny because it's Uranus BWAH-HA-HA-HA-HA

Today in Comics History, November 15, 1987: And now it's time for another episode of that America's popular forestry game show, "FELL! THAT! TREE!"

from "Choices" in D.P.7 #21 (Marvel/New Universe, July 1988), script by Howard Mackie, pencils by Ron Frenz, inks by Joe Sinnott, colors by Steve Buccellato, letters by Ken Lopez

Today in Comics History, November 15: Happy birthday, Martin Nodell!

Born on this day in 1915: comic book artist Martin Nodell, co-creator (with Bill Finger) of the Golden Age Green Lantern!


from Green Lantern (1941 series) #1 (Fall 1941)

Today in Comics History, November 15, 1853: Twitter finally ends

from "Ghost Ship!" in Crypt of Terror (1950 series) #19 (EC, August 1950); script, pencils, and inks by Al Feldstein, letters by Jim Wroten

Today in Comics History, November 15: Happy birthday, Ed Asner!

Born on this day in 1929: actor and activist Ed Asner (The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Lou Grant, Roots, Up, Freakazoid!, Superman, and much more!)




from MAD #149 (March 1972), 155 (December 1972), and 205 (March 1970), scripts by Tom Koch and art by Angelo Torres on all
Ed has been an inspiration to many of us with his progressive views and forward thinking. Also, his choice of reading material is sublime. We miss ya lots, Ed!


from MAD (2018 series) #10 (DC, December 2019)
Please join me in wishing Ed Asner a very happy birthday!


from Simpsons Comics #103 (Bongo, February 2005), script by Ian Boothby, pencils by Phil Ortiz, inks by Mike DeCarlo, colors by Art Villanueva, letters by Karen Bates

Today in Comics History, November 15, 1940: Since paper is made with wood, you could beat Green Lantern to death with this newspaper

from "[Fix the Fight Game]" in All-American Comics (1939 series) #22 (DC/All-American, January 1941), script by Bill Finger, pencils and inks by Marty Nodell as Mart Dellon, letters by Carrie Nodell

Today in Comics History, November 15, 1940: No one tells Matt Murdock that Vince Colletta erased the entire background

from She-Hulk (2014 series) #9 (Marvel, December 2014), script by Charles Soule, pencils and inks by Javier Pulido, colors by Muntsa Vicente, letters by Clayton Cowles