Today in Comics History, October 25: Happy birthday, Katy Perry!

Born on this day: singer/songwriter/celebrity/whipped cream spokesmodel Katy Perry!


from Life with Archie (2010 series) #5 (Archie, January 2011), pencils by Dan Parent

Today in Comics History, October 25: Happy birthday, Pablo Picasso!

Born on this day in 1881: painter and artist Pablo Picasso, who did some blue stuff and also some square stuff. And he met Tarzan!


from Tarzan (1996 series) #11 (Dark Horse, May 1997), script by Lovern Kindzierski, pencils by Stan Manoukian, inks by Vince Roucher, colors by Perry McNamee, letters by Michael Taylor

Today in Comics History, October 25: Happy birthday, June Brigman!

Born on this day: comic book penciller June Brigman, co-creator and artist of Marvel's Power Pack and Ahoy's Captain Ginger, artist on Alpha Flight, Barbie, Meridian, Convergence, Supergirl, Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, Star Wars and more, plus the comic strips Brenda Starr and Mary Worth!


from Marvel Age #94 and 106 (Marvel, November 1990 and November 1991), text by Chris Eliopoulis and Barry Dutter (#94) and Mike Lackey (#106), pencils and inks by Ron Zalme, colors by Renee Witterstaetter

Today in Comics History, October 25: Happy birthday, Jeff Parker!

Born on this day: comic book scripter, penciller, inker, colorist, letterer (an all-around Renaissance Man here!) Jeff Parker (Thunderbolts, Hulk, Batman '66, X-Men: First Class, Dark Avengers, Aquaman, Future Quest, Agents of Atlas, The Age of the Sentry, Flash Gordon: Kings Cross, Exiles and many, many more)!

"Catching Up With Jeff Parker" from Hulk (2008 series) #50 (Marvel, June 2012)
(Click picture to gamma-size)
Let's Keep Our Jeff Parkers Straight Department: Just so you know, Jeff Parker of comic books is not the same Jeff Parker who is a editorial cartoonist, co-created the strip Dustin and has worked on Mother Goose & Grimm and Blondie. Nor is he the son of Wizard of Id co-creator Brant Parker and an artist on that strip. Frankly, I'm not even certain if those two Jeff Parkers are the same guy, but they're not "our" Jeff Parker.

Nor is comic books' Jeff Parker this guy:


from "Too Old for My Boyfriend!" in Love Letters #44 (Quality, January 1956), pencils by Sam Citron, inks by Dick Beck (?)
Happy happy birthday, Jeff!

Today in Comics History, October 25: Happy birthday, Georges Bizet!

Born on this day in 1838: composer Georges Bizet! If you thought he was a plumber, you're mistaken: that's actually his cousin, Georges Bidet.

Bizet died of cardiac arrest in 1875, so his career did not stretch a long as some of his peers. But he left us a majestic work that some acclaim as the most popular of all operas: Carmen. Or, as I like to call it on account of how horny it all is, Carmen Get It.


from Classics Illustrated #49 (Gilberton, July 1948), creators uncredited and unknown

Today in Comics History, October 25, 1854: Maybe if they'd only gone a quarter a league onward they might have saved some lives

You read it as poetry in high school, now read it in comic book form which you'll remember a lot longer: the story of the Charge of the Light Brigade!


from "Light Brigade!" in Frontline Combat (1951 series) #4 (EC, January 1952), script and vellum layouts by Harvey Kurtzman, pencils and inks by Wally Wood, letters by Ben Oda

Today in Comics History, October 25, 1859: Happy birthday, Lady Johanna Constantine!

Not to just repeat the header, but...Happy birthday, Lady Johanna Constantine!


from The Dreaming (1996 series) #7 (DC/Vertigo, December 1996), script by Peter Hogan, pencils by Steve Parkhouse, inks by Dick Giordano, colors by Daniel Vozzo, letters by Annie Parkhouse
Hope you survive the...oh.


Still, you outlived pretty much everybody except Hob Gadling, and that's nothing to sneeze at.

Lady Johanna Constantine
October 25, 1760 - October 25, 1859
This post was suggested by faithful reader and frequent commenter Blam, who's provided a lot of date references in comics that I'll spotlight throughout 2023 in this series. Thanks, Blam!

Today in Comics History, October 25, 2008: "Obsessed? But you're the one who keeps showing me dirty origami!"

from The Invisibles (1997 series) #21 (DC/Vertigo, January 1999), script by Grant Morrison, pencils by Chris Weston, inks by Ray Kryssing, colors by Daniel Vozzom, letters by Todd Klein

Today in Comics History, October 25: Happy birthday, Al Hartley!

Born on this day in 1921: comics writer and artist Al Hartley, who worked for Standard/Nedor/Pines and Marvel/Timely/Atlas, including more than a decade on the Patsy Walker books!


from "Meet the Gang in the Merry Marvel Bullpen" in Marvel Tales Annual #1 (Marvel, September 1964)

Today in Comics History, October 25, 1985: "Obsessed? But you're the one who keeps showing me dirty pictures!"

from Watchmen #6 (DC, February 1987); script by Alan Moore; pencils, inks, and letters by Dave Gibbons; colors by John Higgins

Today in Comics History, October 25, 1855: Frontier Ben and May Parker welcome Frontier Peter Parker

from Back to the Future (2015 series) #5 (IDW, February 2016), story by John Barber and Bob Gale, script by John Barber and Erik Burnham, pencils and inks by Marcelo Ferreira, colors by Diego Rodriguez, letters by Shawn Lee

Today in Comics History, October 25, 1962: The Three Halloween Ghosts manage to do it all in one night. Also, one week early.

from Back to the Future (2015 series) #2 (IDW, November 2015), story by Bob Gale and John Barber, script by John Barber, pencils and inks by Marcelo Ferreira, colors by Diego Rodriguez, letters by Shawn Lee