Today in Comics History, April 28: Happy birthday, Dick Ayers!

Born on this day in 1924: Dick Ayers, comics penciller/inker (Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commanders, Two-Gun Kid, Strange Tales, Rawhide Kid, Tales to Astonish, Journey into Mystery,The X-Men, The Avengers, etc.) and co-creator of the Golden Age Ghost Rider (Magazine Enterprises), Asbestos Man, Plantman, Red Raven, the Leatherneck Raiders, and Sharon Carter, and more!


from (L) Marvel Tales Annual #1 (Marvel, September 1964),
(R) Fantastic Four Annual #7 (Marvel, November 1969)

Today in Comics History, June 4, 1942: "You people, you're all astronauts in some kind of...star wars."

Today in Comics History? Yes! It is history, because note the year: 1941! And today, it's...well, todat is not December 7, 1941, not in this panel (see ya again in December, panel!)...


from What If? (1977 series) #14 (Marvel, April 1979), script by Don Glut, pencils by Herb Trimpe, inks by Pablo Marcos, colors by "D. R. Martin", letters by Tom Orzechowski
Yes, it's the infamous issue of What If? that gives us SGT. FURY IN SPAAAAAAACE(aaaace aaaace aaaace)!

Today in Comics History, January 18: Happy birthday, Martin Goodman!

Born on this day in 1908: publisher Martin Goodman, but we ought to also say born on this day: Marvel Comics, because without Goodman there wouldn't be no Captain America, Sub-Mariner, Human Torch...Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, Daredevil, X-Men, Squirrel Girl, Obnoxio the Clown...you get the picture?


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

Today in Comics History, January 5, 1972: Q: How do you get to Carnegie Hall? A: Create Ravage 2099.

Today! (In 1972!):


from The Mighty Marvel Calendar 1977 (Marvel, 1976)


from Bullpen Bulletins in Marvel Comics cover-dated June 1972



from letter column in Sgt. Fury (1963 series) #110 (Marvel, May 1973), by Adrienne Roy
Wait...Adrienne Roy, the acclaimed colorist for DC Comics? No wonder she didn't get work at Marvel!

Edited to add on January 5, 2022 (in green)

Abraham Riesman's recent Stan biography tells a more brutal story:


from True Believer: The Rise and Fall of Stan Lee (Crown, February 2021), by Abraham Riesman

365 Days of Defiance, Day 157: D-Day (Today in Comics History, June 6, 1944)

Yesterday we saw Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos invade the beachhead at Normandy early, clearing the path for the invading Allied forces on this morning, June 6, 1944. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby set up this presence of the Commandos as early as in their first appearance, in a quick one-panel flash-forward in Sgt. Fury #1.


from Sgt. Fury [and His Howling Commandos] #1 (Marvel, May 1963), script by Stan Lee, pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Dick Ayers, colors by Stan Goldberg, letters by Artie Simek
It took until three real-world years later that Marvel presented the tale of Fury and his First Attack Squad, in Sgt. Fury "King-Size Special" — technically, Annual #2.


cover portion of Sgt. Fury [and His Howling Commandos] Annual #2 (Marvel, May 1963), pencils and inks by Dick Ayers, colors by Stan Goldberg (?), letters by Sam Rosen
The Howlers spend the day and night of June 5 surreptitiously clearing the beach and up to the Nazi's defensive Atlantic Wall of enemy advance guards. Throughout the night, more than 13,000 paratroopers land behind enemy lines to do the same. The Germans are deceived by disinformation leaked to distract them into defending a different area, and Allied planes begin aerial bombing pre-dawn. All this is in preparation for the full scale invasion across the entire stretch of the French coast: American forces landing at code-named Utah and Omaha beaches, British infantry divisions at Gold and Sword Beaches, the Canadian 3rd Infantry at Juno Beach.


from "A Day of Thunder!" in Sgt. Fury [and His Howling Commandos] Annual #2 (Marvel, August 1966), script by Roy Thomas, pencils by Dick Ayers, inks by John Tartaglione, letters by Sam Rosen
Most of the rest of the story is, of course, based on true history but putting the fictional Sgt. Fury at the forefront of the action.






It's a Comic Code Approved product of its time, so Dick Ayers doesn't show us any deaths. But there were over 10,000 Allied casualties, and nearly 4,500 confirmed dead. About half of these men were killed in the first hour of fighting.


Thomas and Ayers allowed the Howlers a moment of sheer triumph chasing down the fleeing German troops. but that's towards the end of a comic book story. It was far from the end of the war, and it's a long way from Normandy to Berlin.


But at the end of the story, Fury and Company are allowed a moment to reflect on the importance of this day: what it means for the Allies, for the war effort, for the world, for the future. May we always remember that, as well as its terrible cost.


My dad was a Navy man, and he fought in the Pacific Theatre, not in Europe. But he had nothing but the highest regard and admiration for the men who stormed the beaches on D-Day. I wish I could have taken him to see Saving Private Ryan or watched Band of Brothers alongside him; I like to think he was have appreciated them, as of man of that time, as a United States sailor. I salute him and every man and woman fighting for freedom on the side of the Allies on this day, but especially the men of D-Day. To do otherwise is to disrespect their honor; to throw away the freedom and the future they brought us is even more disrespectful.


"There is one great thing that you men will all be able to say after this war is over and you are home once again. You may be thankful that twenty years from now when you are sitting by the fireplace with your grandson on your knee and he asks you what you did in the great World War II, you won't have to cough, shift him to the other knee and say, 'Well, your Granddaddy shoveled shit in Louisiana.'" ― General George S. Patton, Jr. to his troops on June 5, 1944


So no complaining about our work today. Compared to these guys, none of us have had a hard day today.


"We know that progress is not inevitable. But neither was victory upon these beaches. Now, as then, the inner voice tells us to stand up and move forward. Now, as then, free people must choose." — President Bill Clinton

Today in Comics History, June 5, 1944: C-Day

It is the day before D-Day (hence the witty post title), and Sergeant Nicholas Susan Fury and his Commandos Who Make a Loud Noise That Is Not Unlike Howling® storm...I mean, sneak onto the beaches of Normandy, and most of them have forgotten their buckets and spades.

In the very first issue of Sgt. Fury waaaay back in 1963, Lee and Kirby promised in the very last panel that one day (June 6, 1944, it be exact) the Howlers would fight in the Battle of Normandy, where Allied troops invaded occupied France to begin the push to Berlin. The event finally showed up in Nick's second annual three years later. Turns out Fury and the Furettes were actually sent a day before. Their mission: to clear the beaches of beer cans, lost car keys, and Nazis. (And their dog.)


from "A Day of Thunder!" in Sgt. Fury [and His Howling Commandos] Annual #2 (Marvel, August 1966), script by Roy Thomas, pencils by Dick Ayers, inks by John Tartaglione, letters by Sam Rosen

A Month of... Celebrities in Comics, Day 26: Project: U.S.O.

Whoa, Sgt. Nick Fury and his Howling Commandos are at the most star-studded U.S.O. show ever! From my vantage point sitting up in one of those palm trees in the distance, I can spot expy celebrity Dino Manelli in panel one. Dino is a Marvel Universe generic version in both looks and mannerisms of Dean Martin, who had his own comic book over at DC. No wonder Dino had to go under an assumed name at Mighty Marvel!


Panels from Sgt. Fury [and His Howling Commandos] #43 (June 1967), script by Dick Ayers and Gary Friedrich, pencils by Dick Ayers, inks by John Tartaglione, letters by Sam Rosen
But the real celebs step on stage and the show begins in panel two. We've got Western warbler and cowboy star Gene Autry, accompanied by Glenn Miller and his Orchestra! (Only Dick Ayers knows why Glenn himself is holding what looks liek a bugle or trumpet while conducting rather than his usual instrument, the trombone.) Mister USO himself, Bob Hope brings along the laffs, if not his comedy partner Bing Crosby. And if you don't get the "Marjorie Main in a bikini" joke: Ms. Main was prominently known for playing "Ma" in the Ma and Pa Kettle movie series, and she looks like this:


Panel four features crazy comedian (and frequent Hope sidekick) Jerry Collona, accompanied by the glamorous and no doubt wolf-whistled Betty Grable, Dorothy Lamour, and Lana Turner! My little buttons eyes bug out to eight times their size, my heart thumbs through my chest, and steam comes out my ears as I make the AW-OOOOOOO-GAH sound!

And even though that's the end of the show, it's not the end of the real-life cameo appearances in this comic, because Nick and the H.C.s are about to meet the Desert Fox himself, Erwin Rommel! (Disclaimer: Rommel does not actually meet Nick Fury or the Howling Commandos.)


Rommel! I read your comic book, you magnificent guest star!

366 Days with J. Jonah Jameson, Day 142: Spider-Man Bombs Pearl Harbor!

The strrrrrrrrretching timeline of the Marvel Universe means that pretty much all the events of the MU have taken place in the last, say, 12-15 years. My usual criteria for determining how many years they've been adventuring are the relative ages of Franklin Richards, who was "born" in 1968, and Kitty Pryde, who was 13½ in 1980 and turned 14 in space in Uncanny X-Men #165. And yet Franklin's still at least under 10, and Kitty's old enough (21) to bartend in Mekanix #1 (2002). Which only goes to prove: don't try to apply real-world aging logic to the Marvel Universe.

The real problem happens when stories try to tie events in the Marvel Universe to real-life events or persons. If Captain America got frozen in 1945, then the Avengers unfroze him in Avengers #4 in 1963. That means he's barely eighteen years a man out of time. But if we guesstimate that in today's Marvel Universe, Capsicle got thawed circa 2000 at the earliest — well, he missed a whole a lot more, including the presidency of Ronald Reagan, who, according to canon, got turned into a snake under his watch (Cap #344, 1988). That means that Ben Grimm and Reed Richards, who began their careers described as WWII veterans...ain't. Not anymore.

Which explains how, in 1973, you could actually believe that J. Jonah Jameson had been around the Daily Bugle since the war years, right?



Panels from Sgt. Fury #110 (May 1973), script by Gary Friedrich, pencils by Dick Ayers, inks by Vince Colletta, letters by Herb Cooper
There's some other small references elsewhere in the book, which also shows that Nick Fury knows Jameson:
So, it's canon, fanboys: J. Jonah Jameson is functionally immortal because he has taken the Infinity Formula.

Glad I could clear that up for you.

War is Noisy