Today in Comics History, April 23: Happy birthday, James Buchanan!

Born on this day in 1791: the 15th President of the United States James Buchanan, who, let's face it, wasn't all that great. More to the point, it's nigh-impossible to find actual references to him in comic books because search results are clogged up by you know who. But I did find a couple comic appearances. Hey, comic books: can you sum up the entirely of his career in two pages? You bet they can!:



from Life Stories of American Presidents one-shot (Dell, November 1957), pencils and inks by John Buscema, letters by Ben Oda
Following his death, General Córdova was pressed flat and turned into a stamp of a lion by Colonel Gumm.


"All-American Stamp Page" from All-American Comics (1939 series) #25 (DC/J.R. Publishing, April 1941), creators uncredited and unknown
Much later, like all Presidents, he became a zombie and fought Deadpool.


from Deadpool (2013 series) #4 (Marvel, March 2013), script by Gerry Duggan and Brian Posehn, pencils and inks by Tony Moore, colors byt Val Staples, letters by Joe Sabino
There. That's all you need to know about James Buchanan.

Today in Comics History, November 19, 1863: Superman swerves to avoid the giant heads of the Founding Fathers and Charles Xavier

from "The World's Most Perfect Girl!" in Action Comics (1938 series) #133 (DC/National, June 1949), script by Dorothy Woolfolk, pencils and inks by Al Plastino

Today in Comics History, September 24: Happy birthday, Ham Fisher!

This is an expanded and updated version of a post originally published September 24, 2022.

Born on this day in 1900 or 1901: comics writer and artist Ham Fisher, creator of the mega-popular newspaper strip strip and comic book Joe Palooka!

Today in Comics History, July 18: Happy birthday, John Glenn!

Born on this date in 1921: a cat who's really far out there! I mean, he's totally up in the air, folks! You might even say that this freakzoid was the first American to orbit the Earth, in 1962! TAnd yeah, this hoopy frood was the third American in space! And a U.S. Senator (okay, that one's less cool). And he went back into space in 1997 at the age of 77! Okay, that one's totally awesome! I'm talkin' of course, about fighter and test pilot/astronaut John Glenn! Also, if you grew up in Syracuse like I do, you might know him from the totally excellent but extremely short John Glenn Boulevard, which also gave name to the area around it, thus the frequent refrain heard in our household "I'm going over to the John Glenn Wegman's." Yeah, baby!


cover of Newsday's Comics on the News with Chip Tracer #1 one-shot (Newsday, 1998); pencils, inks, and colors by Steve Geiger; background photos by NASA and Associated Press

Today in Comics History, Flag Day Bonus: Betsy Ross murders George Washington

cover of Wimmen's Comix #6 (Last Gasp, December 1975), by Shary Flenniken

Today in Comics History, July 14, Flag Day Bonus: Betsy Ross sues Superboy for trademark theft

from "George Washington's Drum!" in Superboy (1949 series) #2 (DC/National, May 1949), pencils by John Sikela, inks by Ed Dobrotka

Today in Comics History, May 7, 1915: German murder boat refuses to give a fair chance

This is an expanded and updated version of a post originally published May 7, 2021 and May 7, 2022.


from "The Life of Woodrow Wilson" in Real Life Comics #2 (Pines, December 1941), script and art creators uncredited and unknown, letters by Ed Hamilton

Today in Comics History, April 12, 1945: The soothing mists of Vicks Vape-O-Roosevelt will keep you breathing free all day!

from "See the Doomed Spirit" in Ghosts (1971 series) #82 (DC, November 1979); pencils, inks, and letters by Bill Payne, colors by Adrienne Roy
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, February 6: Snaky birthday, Ronald Reagan!

Born on this day in 1911, the 40th President of the United Snakes, Ronald Reagan. I'm absolutely no fan of Reagan, so I'm definitely not gonna wish him a happy birthday (more like...). But I do choose to salute him the way I remember him best...


cover of Captain America (1968 series) #344 (Marvel, August 1988), pencils by Ron Frenz, inks by Al Milgrom
...as a slithering snake-man Captain America got to punch in the face.

Today in Comics History, February 6, 1778: Ridiculous French accent is invented

from "The Story of the War of Independence" in Picture Stories from American History #2 (EC, 1946), script by M. C. Gaines and W. W. D. Sones, pencils and inks by Allen Simon

Today in Comics History, January 20, 1977: For some reason I bet they still made Jimmy Carter give up his peanut farm

from Back to the Future: Biff to the Future #4 (IDW, April 2017), co-plot and script by Bob Gale, co-plot by Derek Fridolfs, pencils by Alan Robinson, inks by Alan Robinson and Jaime Castro, colors by Maria Santaolalla, letters by Shawn Lee

Today in Comics History, January 1, 1863: American journalism gets paper cut; bleeds all over newspapers

from "The Union Preserved" in Picture Stories from American History #4 (EC, Summer 1947), script by Jerry Coleman, pencils and inks by Allen Simon

Today in Comics History, December 24, 1941, Christmas Eve: FDR promises America one thing: Hawkeye ain't gettin' anywhere near this tree

from All-Star Squadron #7 (DC, March 1982), script by Roy Thomas, pencils by Adrian Gonzales, inks by Jerry Ordway, colors by Carl Gafford, letters by John Costanza

Today in Comics History, December 22, 1941: All I want for Christmas is the A.S.S.

from All-Star Squadron #7 (March 1982), script by Roy Thomas, pencils by Adrian Gonzales, inks by Jerry Ordway, colors by Carl Gafford, letters by John Costanza

Today in Comics History, December 12, 1941: Churchill flees war-torn England to, I dunno, kick some Zulus, maybe?

from All-Star Squadron #7 (DC, March 1982), script by Roy Thomas, pencils by Adrian Gonzales, inks by Jerry Ordway, colors by Carl Gafford, letters by John Costanza

Today in Comics History, December 4, 1783: First meeting of the George Washington Clone Club

from "The Story of the War of Independence" in Picture Stories from American History #2 (EC, 1946), script by M. C. Gaines and W. W. D. Sones, pencils and inks by Allen Simon

Today in Comics History, December 1, 1859: Way to commit to a cause without waffling, Abe

from "John Brown" in Real Life Comics #4 (Pines, April 1942), creators uncredited and unknown

Today in Comics History, November 24: Happy birthday, Zachary Taylor!

Born on this day in 1784, America's only twelfth President, Zachary Taylor!


from "Gen. Zachary Taylor" in Real Life Comics #29 (Pines, March 1946), creators unknown

Today in Comics History, November 23, 1963: World's Smartest Man totally forgets to watch the premiere of Doctor Who

from Before Watchmen: Ozymandias #4 (DC, January 2013), script by Len Wein, pencils and inks by Jae Lee, colors by June Chung, letters by John Workman

Today in Comics History, November 22, 1940: Geoff Johns Ruins Everything

from Doomsday Clock #7 (DC, November 2018), script by Geoff Johns, art by Gary Frank, design by Amie Brockway-Metcalf, colors by Brad Anderson, letters by Rob Leigh
...which, thanks to Geoff Johns' fetish for giving dates to historical but vague DC events, means that this happened today.



from All-Star Comics #3 (DC/All-American, Winter 1940), script by Gardner Fox, pencils and inks by E. E. Hibbard, aditional dialogue by yours little stuffed truly
So thanks, I guess, Geoff Johns, for making it canon that the first meeting of the Justice Society of America was on November 22, 1940. (Which was not Thanksgiving, but the Friday before it.)