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.

The 1978 2017 2023 DC Calendar of Super-Spectacular Disasters: August Ablaze

This is an expanded and updated version of a post originally published August 1, 2017.

"August: Black Lightning" in The 1978 Calendar of Super-Spectacular Disasters (DC, 1977); artwork by Rich Buckler and Vince Colletta
(Click picture to I'm-just-talkin'-'bout-Black-Lightning-size)

Today in Comics History, March 10: Happy birthday, Slug!

Happy birthday, Slug!
No, no, no! I mean Ulysses X. Lugman, the obese supervillain called The Slug, born on this day (according to the possibly non-canon source of the Marvel Age, but we have no other references for his birthday, so let's use this one, huh?). Yes, today's the "big" day. Or, very possibly, judging from this calendar, today and the next three days. Folks, he's just that large.


from Marvel Age #111 (Marvel, April 1992), text by Mike Lackey, art Darren Auck
Why, he makes the Kingpin look like Slim Goodbody! Let's look in on his first waddlin' welcome into the Marvel Universe. And now that he's such a major player in the Captain America mythos...ah ha ha ha ha ha! Sorry, I couldn't even finish that sentence for the usual joke.


from Captain America (1968 series) #325 (Marvel, January 1987), script by Mark Gruenwald, pencils by Paul Neary, inks by John Beatty, colors by Ken Feduniewicz, letters by Diana Albers
Nomad targets the Slug! Well actually, how could he miss?


I'm as big an admirer of Mark Gruenwald's writing as anybody, but yeah, there are times when it felt like he was scrapin' the bottom of the old idea barrel. At least this storyline didn't stretch on for several issues and become "The Slug Saga!" Very appropriately, it's only one issue long.


Yes, that's The Slug, the villain who takes up so much horizontal space that they completely revised the format of the OHOTMU for him!


from Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Master Edition (1990 series) #7 (Marvel, June 1991), pencils by Keith Pollard, inks by Joe Rubinstein, colors by Andy Yanchus
Happy Birthday, Slug! Please don't eat me.


Nancy (August 14, 1957), by Ernie Bushmiller

366 Days with J. Jonah Jameson, Day 217: Just the Facts, Jonah

J. Jonah Jameson entry from Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Spider-Man 2005 one-shot (April 2005), art by Gregg Schigiel

365 Days of KirbyTech, Day 59: Doctor Doom's Device [Unidentified KirbyTech]

I dunno what this furschlugginer contraption Doomsie is pulling the switch on is, but you can bet it has something to do with destroying the accursed Richards! Or, it's a cookie-making machine. Either/or.


Pin-up from Fantastic Four Annual (1963 series) #1 (September 1963), script by Stan Lee, pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Sol Brodsky, colors by Stan Goldberg, letters by Artie Simek
When this pin-up was reprinted in Giant Size Super-Stars #1, the inset picture was replaced with some trivia and, to then, a complete checklist of his appearances. Remember when Doom had appeared only 47 times? Me neither.


Pin-up from Giant-Size Super Stars #1 (May 1974)
These info-packed pin-up gallery pages were the forerunners of what would eventually become The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe!


"Doctor Doom" from Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe (1983 series) #3 (March 1983), script by Mark Gruenwald and others, pencils by John Byrne, inks by Joe Rubinstein, colors by Andy Yanchus, typeset text

Hellcow Week, Day 5: Milking This Character for One Final Day

When we last saw her (yesterday), Hellcow had returned to life to face off against the Merc with a Monthly Comic or Two, Deadpool! Which begs the musical question...how will the 'Pool survive?





Panels from Deadpool Team-Up #885 (April 2011), script by Rick Spears, pencils and inks by Phillip Bond, colors by Dan Brown, letters by Jeff Eckleberry


Special Hellcow Bonus! Altho' it's general convention wisdom that you don't get an entry in The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Handbook unless you've made at least three appearances in Marvel Comics, check out all these entries for Hellcow in the OHOTMU!


"Vampires" entry from Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe v.1 #14 (March 1984), text by Mark Gruenwald, pencils by Kyle Baker, inks by Joe Rubinstein, colors by Andy Yanchus


Half-page from Marvel Legacy: The 1970s Handbook one-shot (2006)


Half-page from Marvel Pets Handbook one-shot (2009)

365 Days with the Warriors Three, Day 222

Page from Thor & Hercules: Encyclopedia Mythologica one-shot (2009)

Professor X: He's Smarter Than You!

Professor Charles Xavier sure knows a heck of a lot about mutants, superheroes and villains, and the whole dadburn Marvel Universe, doesn't he?






Wow, he knows everything! (I bet he even knows what color of underwear Psylocke is wearing!*) Where did he get this amazing knowledge which accounts for his own personal fortune through many weeks of suspicious wins on Hollywood Squares? Could it be because...Charles Xavier can read minds? No! No, of course not! Whatever gave you that idea?



No! I assure you: it's not because of his special but scary miiiiiiind powwwwwwerrsssssss (ahhhwwooooo!).

(Full disclosure sidebar: Professor X often uses his gift recklessly. And so do the others.)

But that's not why he knows everything. (Also, he did not consume Layla Miller and gain her power.) No, in fact you'll be heartened to know that Xavier got his special knowledge about Earth-616 the same way you and I did...

...He's a fanboy.

That's right! Charles Xavier reads The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe. Why wouldn't he? And he is telling you with his mighty mutant mind that you should too. After all, he gets a kickback from his good pal Stan Lee with every copy sold!



So don't flee, back Lee! By buying The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe today!



Just tell 'em the bald guy sent you!



*None.

365 Days with the Warriors Three, Day 85

Entry for The Warriors Three from The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition #14 (January 1987), written by Mark Gruenwald and Peter Sanderson; pencils by Sal Buscema; inks by Joe Rubinstein, James Fry, Mark McKenna, Phil Lord, Mark Alexander, and Art Nichols*; colors by Andy Yanchus, letters by Brenda Mings and Richard Bensam
*It takes a big team of inkers to ink a big Asgardian like Volstagg.

365 Days with Hank McCoy, Day 287

Beast's entry from The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Master Edition #14 (January 1992)

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About the Marvel Universe* (*But Were Afraid to Ask Stan Lee)

So...you're a new fan to reading Marvel Comics! You've picked up a comic book here and there and seen that Iron Man movie and probably can remember "Don't make me angry...you wouldn't like me when I'm angry" and you can sing 5/8ths of the lyrics to the 1967 Spider-Man cartoon theme song...well, welcome to the wonderful world of Marvel Comics. Each and every month Marvel publishes 350 comic books set in the "Marvel Universe" and starring their rich tapestry of heroes, villains, supporting characters, and Aunt May. If you're just coming aboard now with the new "Heroic Age" stories, there's a few basic things you need to know about Avengers Disassembled. And House of M. And Civil War. And The Death of Captain America. And, um, let's see...Planet Hulk, Annihilation, One More Day, World War Hulk, Messiah Complex, Dark Reign, Necrosha, War of Kings, The Wedding of Daredevil and Foggy Nelson, Punisher Gets Carved Up Like a Christmas Turkey, Wolverine-Fest '09, and Siege. Whew! That's a lotta comics. You pile those suckers on each other and you can reach all the way to the top of Uma Thurman. (And who wouldn't wanna?)

Then again, you may not want to read all those comic books. That's where The House of Ideas' useful line of Marvel Saga comic books come in. Rather than reading hundreds of comics, Marvel Saga abridges the major events in the Marvel Universe, only hitting the most important high points of its history. Trouble is, even in their well-intentioned attempt to give your only the highlights, sometimes Marvel Saga moves a little too quickly through history:









Maybe the extensive line of Official Handbooks of the Marvel Universe can help you out by filling in all the details, huh? Well, maybe not for the beginner. They tend to get bogged down in minutia and trivia. Remember these famous Marvel characters from movies, cartoons, and merchandising?



That's why I'm here, folks: to ease you into the modern post-Siege seventy-three Avengers-teamed foil-wrapped-Thor'd contemporary Marvel Universe, in a swift and easy way. Here, folks, is everything you need to know about the Marvel Universe...simplified!










































So, there ya go! Everything and everybody you need to know about to read all the Marvel comic books. Join me again tomorrow when I'll present The Legion of Super-Heroes: Simplified!



Also, where to find Waldo.