Today in Comics History, October 5, 1967: Aliens somehow force an astronaut to back over a cliff

from "Who Is Murdering Our Astronauts?" in UFO Flying Saucers #3 (Western/Gold Key, November 1972), pencils and inks by Luis Dominguez

Today in Comics History, October 5: Happy birthday, Edmund William Starling!

Born on this day in 1875: Sergeant Edmund William Starling, personal Presidential bodyguard and Jokester to the Commander-in-Chief!


"Crack Shot" from Big Town #3 (DC/National, March 1951), by Stookie Allen

Today in Comics History, October 5: Happy birthday, Chris Carlson!

Born on this date: comic book inker Chris Carlson (Alpha Flight, Cable, X-Men, Avengelyne Armageddon, Masters of the Universe, and more)!


from New Talent Showcase (1984 series) #5 (DC, May 1984)
Happy birthday, Chris!

Today in Comics History, October 5: Happy birthday, Steve Miller!

Born on this day: guitarist, singer, songwriter, joker, smoker, midnight toker Steve Miller!

But Bully! (you say) Musician Steve Miller has never been in a comic book!

You're wrong, Maurice! Let me now tell you the true story of Steve Miller through...comic books!


Steve Miller grew up a poor white boy in this text story about a mermaid mole. That's a mole that looks like a mermaid, BTW, not a creature that's mole on the top and fish on the bottom.


"The Mermaid Mole" in Adventures into the Unknown #2 (ACG, December 1948), creator uncredited and unknown

Today in Comics History, October 5: Happy birthday, Reuben Pharms!

A happy birthday today to born-in-1960 Reuben Pharms, who inked the "Cosmic Clinics" serial in New Talent Showcase and a story in Elvira's House of Mystery!


from New Talent Showcase (1984 series) #5 (DC, May 1984)
Hey, I betcha he's this guy praising X-Men #100!:


from ;etter column of [Uncanny] X-Men (1963 series) #102 (Marvel, December 1976
Happy birthday, Reuben!

Today in Comics History, October 5, 1918: "I don't get a million dollars to act out of a trench!"

from The Stretcher Bearers (Naval Institute Press/Dead Reckoning, April 2022), co-script and art by Reid Beaman, co-script and letters by Ryan Beaman

Today in Comics History, October 5, 1962: The Beatles release their successful debut single "Love Me Do," then immediately retire on the £12 2s 6d profit

from The Beatles: Their Story in Pictures (ITV, 1982), script by Angus P. Allan, art by Arthur Ranson (collected from the strip in Look-In)

Today in Comics History, October 5: Happy birthday, Ray Kroc!

Born on this day in 1902: businessman Ray Kroc (pictured), who revolutionized the American Way of Business: buying a pre-existing company and taking all the credit for it!


cover of Ray Kroc Comics and Stories #3 (Charlton, January 1971), art by Bill Yates
Happy birthday, Ray!

Today in Comics History, October 5, 1981: This is the worst version of the "Who's buried in Grant's Tomb" joke that I've ever seen

from Regarding the Matter of Oswald’s Body #1-5 (Boom, November 2021-March 2022), script by Christopher Cantwell, pencils and inks by Luca Casalanguida, colors by Giada Marchisio, letters by AndWorld Design

Today in Comics History, October 5, 1988: Urine big trouble there

from Psi-Force #29 (Marvel/New Universe, March 1989)), script by Fabian Nicieza, pencils by Rodney Ramos, inks by Chris Ivy, colors by Nel Yomtov, letters by Rick Parker

Today in Comics History, October 5: Happy birthday, Chester A. Arthur!

Born on this day in 1829: America's 21st president, Chester A. Arthur! (The "A" stands for "And my last name is Arthur.")

Here's everything that ever happened to him, in one easy-to-digest page:


from Life Stories of American Presidents one-shot (Dell, November 1957), pencils and inks by John Buscema, letters by Ben Oda

Today in Comics History, October 5: Well, he's got a good point thWHOA WHAT THE HECK PIRATE COMIC

from "Sea Dogs, Chapter Eight" in Daphne Byrne #1 (DC/Hill House, March 2020), script by Joe Hill, pencils and inks by Dan McDaid, colors by John Kalisz, letters by Wes Abbott

Today in Comics History, October 5: Happy 100th birthday, Bil Keane!

Born on this day in 1922: cartoonist and creator of The Family Circus: Bil Keane!

I don't have any appearances of him inside comic books, but happy birthday anyway, Bil!


from Popeye (1948 series) #48 (Dell, April 1959); script, pencils, and inks by Bud Sagendorf

Today in Comics History, October 5, 1943: Captain America will always be with us! Namor will always fight alongside us! And other sure bets, in today's Daily Bugle!

from Thunderbolts (1997 series) #164 (Marvel, December 2011), script by Jeff Parker, pencils and inks by Kev Walker

Today in Comics History, October 3: Happy birthday, Harvey Kurtzman!

Born on this day in 1924: the great Harvey Kurtzman, cartoonist and editor, founding editor of MAD, Humbug, and Help!, and writer/artist on so many great EC Comics and Timely's "Hey Look!".




from Harvey Kurtzman's Strange Adventures (Marvel/Epic (!), 1990), art by Harvey Kurtzman

Today in Comics History, Septober 5, 1940: Lousy Septober weather

from The Question: The Deaths of Vic Sage #3 (DC/Black Label, August 2020), script by Jeff Lemire, pencils by Denys Cowan, inks by Bill Sienkiewicz, colors by Chris Sotomayor, letters by Willie Schubert

Today in Comics History, October 5, 8 PM: Dan Didio finally gets through to tell Batwing his comic book is cancelled

from Batwing #24 (DC, December 2013), script by Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti, pencils by Eduardo Pansica, inks by Julio Ferreira, colors by Paul Mounts, letters by Taylor Esposito

Today in Comics History, October 5, 1617: The beautiful autumn colors bloom in Hell

from Hellboy in Hell #2 (Dark Horse, January 2013); script, pencils, and inks by Mike Mignola; colors by Dave Stewart; letters by Clem Robins

Today in Comics History, October 5, 10 AM: Batwing's mom doesn't want to break the news to him over the phone that his comic's been canceled

Panel from Batwing #24 (DC, December 2013), script by Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti, pencils by Eduardo Pansica, inks by Julio Ferreira, colors by Paul Mounts, letters by Taylor Esposito

Today in Comics History, October 5, 6 AM: Batwing grows ever closer to the phone message that his comic book is cancelled

from Batwing #24 (DC, December 2013), script by Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti, pencils by Eduardo Pansica, inks by Julio Ferreira, colors by Paul Mounts, letters by Taylor Esposito