Today in Comics History, April 4, 1968: I can literally hear the sound effect at the end of this page

from Quantum Leap #1 (Innovation, September 1991), script by George Broderick, art by Mark Jones, colors by Scott Rockwell, letters by Vickie Williams

Today in Comics History, March 25, 1968: "You're here to stop Elvis from eating all those Twinkies."

from Quantum Leap #1 (Innovation, September 1991), script by George Broderick, art by Mark Jones, colors by Scott Rockwell, letters by Vickie Williams

Today in Comics History, August 15, 1958: Sam Beckett buys cheap beer with his new fake ID

from Quantum Leap #4 (Innovation, April 1992), script by Steven Dorfman, illustrated by Mark Jones and Andy Price, colors by Scott Rockwell, letters by Vickie Williams

Today in Comics History, December 24, 1963: Christmas Eve: The Christmas Santa Brought Everyone the Same Face

from Quantum Leap #3 (Innovation, March 1992), script by John Holland, art by Andy Price, colors by Scott Rockwell, color assist by Chris Ballard, letters by Vickie Williams

Today in Comics History, December 22, 1963: Ah, the patented third-act Donald Bellisario cliffhanger

from Quantum Leap #3 (Innovation, March 1992), script by John Holland, art by Andy Price, colors by Scott Rockwell, color assist by Chris Ballard, letters by Vickie Williams

Today in Comics History, December 21, 1963: Ho ho oh boy

from Quantum Leap #3 (Innovation, March 1992), script by John Holland, art by Andy Price, colors by Scott Rockwell, color assist by Chris Ballard, letters by Vickie Williams

Today in Comics History, November 14, 1957: Could be worse; you could be Clark Kent on November 18, 1992

from Quantum Leap #5 (Innovation, May 1992), script by Terry Collins, art by Rob Davis, colors by Scott Rockwell, letters by Vickie Williams

Today in Comics History, September 16, 1963: Yeah, yeah, yeah

Today in 1963: The single "She Loves You" by The Beatles is released in America!


from "He Knows If You've Been Bad or Good..." in Quantum Leap #3 (Innovation, March 1992), script by John Holland, pencils and inks by Andy Price, colors by Scott Rockwell assisted by Chris Ballard, letters by Vickie Williams
Sing along! You know the words!


"She Loves You" by The Beatles (Parlophone/Swan 1963), written by John Lenon and Paul McCartney

Today in Comics History, June 22, 1969: To put right what once went wrong

from "Up Against a Stonewall" in Quantum Leap #9 (Innovation, February 1993), script by Andy Mangels, pencils and inks by Deodato Borges as Mike Deodato, Sr., colors by Scott Rockwell, letters by Vickie Williams
This is another one of those stories that showed up now-and-then on the Quantum Leap TV series, especially in the latter seasons, where Sam's actions in the past intersected, if not necessarily caused, real-life events. (Remember him leaping into the body of Lee Harvey Osward?)

The date and title of Dr. Sam Beckett's leap into the past in this story ought to hint that it takes place in the run-up to the Stonewall Riots (June 28-July 3, 1969). Quantum Leap stories which insert themselves into real-life events have the potential to offer a bit of cringe and heavy-handedness, but this story's pretty solid and well-written, thanks to being scripted by openly gay comics writer Andy Mangels, who's been a major force in advocating for greater gay and lesbian visibility in media including comics. (He's also a pretty great writer who's done several of my favorite comics and Star Trek novel stories.) Andy provides an introduction and background to the story, explaining that this story itself is set up as a sequel to a TV episode with an offensively violent portrayal of a lesbian character, and attempted to "put right" that character;'s storyline with a more nuanced and open portrayal.


Note that weirdly washing-our-hands Innovation editorial disclaimer that this is only Mangels's point of view, not Innovation's or the creators of Quantum Leap. It's probably legally enforced on them for being a licensed comic book, but it still comes off, especially today, as a timid "cover our butts" aside. I don't have access to any further Quantum Leap letters pages, so I don't know if the company received positive or negative mail and if any of it was ever printed. I hope it was overwhelmingly supporting...but unfortunately I know that lots of people aren't.

Today in Comics History, June 11, 1962: Enterprise is cancelled

from Quantum Leap #1 (top) and 2 (middle and bottom) (Innovation, September 1991); script by George Broderick; pencils and inks by Mark Jones; colors by Scott Rockwell; letters by Vickie Williams

Today in Comics History, March 5: Happy birthday, Dean Stockwell!

Born on this day in 1936: Dean Stockwell, film, television and stage actor with a career spanning over 70 years. (Wow!) From child actor roles in Abbott and Costello in Hollywood, Song of the Thin Man (he was Nick Charles, Jr.!) and The Boy with Green Hair, to his later appearances in Long Day's Journey into Night, The Dunwich Horror, Paris, Texas, Dune, Blue Velvet, Married to the Mob and Air Force One, Dean pretty much kept working from 1945 to 2014! His TV roles include The Tony Danza Show, JAG, Battlestar Galactica, as Admiral Al Calavicci in the cult favorite Quantum Leap, and an episode of Star Trek: Enterprise alongside Quantum Leap co-star Scott Bakula. Stockwell's represented in the comics by his characters, but he's not always done favors by his likenesses in the artwork:




from Battlestar Galactica: Gods & Monsters #4 (Dynamite, February 2017), script by Karl Kesel, pencils and inks by Dan Schkade, colors by Chris O'Halloran, letters by Tom Napolitano
Scott Bakula is especially kinda ill-served by this cover, tho' the interior likeness of him and Stockwell are cleaner:




from Quantum Leap #9 (Innovation, February 1993), cover: painting by C. W. Taylor; interior: script by Andy Mangels, pencils and inks by Deodato Borges (Mike Deodato, Sr.), colors by Scott Rockwell, letters by Vickie Williams
Happy birthday, Dean Stockwell!


from The Incredible Hulk (1968 series) #386 (Marvel, October 1991), script by Peter David, pencils by Dale Keown, inks by Mark Farmer, colors by Glynis Oliver, letters by Joe Rosen