The May 1968 2024 Calendar for This Menacing Year

I'm afraid to let you know that as the year goes on, it just keeps on getting even more menacing. By the beginning of November 2024 I will probably be announcing this blog to you over a megaphone as we're all paraded through teh streets on our way to re-education and attitude adjustment, and by the end of the year I promise I'll chisel it into any the rock that hasn't melted from the nuclear fire.

Naw, forget all that: I'm an optimistic bull, so for the moment let's look on the bright side of life. After all, look at America's favorite teen sixty-five years running: Superboy! He's certainly going to have a great May, including May the 4th (looks at calendar), uh, maybe not that day. Well, by the 31st he will probably have had a great month and OH CUT THAT OUT CALENDAR.


cover of Superboy (1949 series) #165 (DC/National, May 1970), pencils by Curt Swan, inks by Murphy Anderson, letters by Gaspar Saladino
Speaking of cutting-out: you can cut that cover of Giant Superboy #165 and hang it on your wall to use as a calendar for May 2024, or, if you like your comic book heroes smaller, younger, and loving root beer, there's no other option than to use this 1968 Dennis the Menace calendar, which works perfectly for 2024! Whoda thunkit?

"May 1968" from Dennis the Menace Giant #51 [Dennis the Menace Christmas Special] (Hallden/Fawcett, Winter 1967), creators unidentified and unknown
(Click picture to Mr. Wilson's back surgery bill-size)
Dennis, you scamp! That's as delightful as it was the day you did that to Charles Xavier and Niles Caulder!

Today in Comics History, June 19: Happy birthday, Thomas Fuller!

Born (or hey, at least baptized) on this day in 1608: Thomas Fuller, churchman and historian, author of Worthies of England, and probably the first professional writer, but not of Superboy, who quotes him:


from "Brotherly Hate!" in Superboy (1949 series) #172 (DC/National, March 1971), script by E. Nelson Bridwell, pencils and inks by George Tuska, letters by Joe Letterese
Happy birthday, Thomas Fuller, and even if you can't actually appear in a comic book, feel honored that you've been name-dropped by the one and only Kid Kal-El, teenage teen of the thirtieth century, who is obviously reading ahead of his class level! Geez, Clark, stop showin' off. Read some Hardy Boys once in a while.

Also, he lived in the seventeenth century, ya gigantic superdweeb.

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, Second Week of August: Happy Klordny Week, everybody!

Klordny Week! It's a tradition 1,000 years from now, in the future of the Legion of Super-Heroes! It generally takes place the second week of August, so we're in Klordny Season now! (I missed Klordny Eve, sorry.)



from Superboy & the Legion of Super-Heroes #232 (DC, October 1977), cover by Mike Grell, script by Gerry Conway, pencils by Ric Estrada, inks by Jack Abel, colors by Elizabeth Safian, letters by Clem Robins
So, whadaya do during Klordny Week? I think the answer to that is...what don't you do during Klordny Week?



Ha ha! It's fun to make the boy from relatively medieval times guess and guess and never tell him the answer! Stop hazing Superboyu, Legion.


So, Klordny Festival means peace and love and freedom and understanding between all the United Planets and its beings and HEY STOP THAT RIGHT NOW


(Bored with drawin' the story, Ric Estrada?)


Oh, and don't forget: do it for the frunt of it! Frunt, everyone. Frunt, won't you?


Yes indeed, 1,000 years in the future, everybody loves Klordny Festival!

EXCEPT SALU DIGBY*, MISS BRING-DOWN of 2977.


*Shrinking Violet's real name is Salu Digby. — Editor.

Today in Comics History, January 21: Happy birthday, Pete Ross!

Born on this day in the DC Universe, according to the Super DC Calendar '76: Pete Ross, boy pal of Smallville!


from Super DC Calendar 1976 (DC, 1975r), letters by Ben Oda
Yes, that's Pete Ross, the only kid in Smallville smart enough to detect that Clark Kent was Superboy!




from "The Boy Who Betrayed Clark Kent!" in Superboy (1949 series) #86 (DC, January 1981), script by Robert Bernstein, pencils and inks by George Papp
Aw, who am I kiddin'? He didn't detect nuthin'. Pete found out because he was peepin' at Clark on a camping trip. Lucky break, Pete!


from "Pete Ross' Super-Secret!" in Superboy (1949 series) #90 (DC, July 1961), script by Otto Binder or Robert Bernstein (?), pencils and inks by George Papp
Later Pete became Vice-President and then President. There was probably some stuff in between. Let's check his data sheet that he has to share with Lana Lang from the Who's Who nobody likes, the three-ring binder one that they never finished!

from Who's Who in the DC Universe (1990 series) #14 (November 1991), text by Roger Stern, pencils by Curt Swan, inks by Jerry Ordway, colors by Tom McCraw
(Click picture to Largeville-size)

Happy birthday, Pete Ross! Stop peeping at people while they're changing.

Superboy Calendar for September 2021: A Month in the Super-Life

Oh boy! It's an entire month of fun and frivolity for li'l Clark Kent, aka Superboy, bceuase it's an entire month you can use as a calendar for September 2021! All this stuff an' more obviously occured this same month, like the time he gave Teen Luthor a haircut, went skinny-dipping with Pete Ross, and accidentally blew the barn over with a super-sneeze, smushing all of Pa Kent's cows! (They got better.) Ah yes, all of these dates to be remmebered and celebrated and...(looks at the 31st)...yeesh.


house ad from Detective Comics #399 (DC/National, May 1970)
Here's what it looks like in all its full-color cover glory:


cover of Superboy (1949 series) #165 (DC/National, May 1970), pencils by Curt Swan, inks by Murphy Anderson, letters by Gaspar Saladino
Remember: Be like Superboy: Kiss Teen Lois this month! Maybe twice!

365 Days of Defiance, Day 293: We Are Legion, Day Eight: That's Just Super

Spotlighting our Sensational Second Week of We Are Legion! Don't worry too much, Legion non-fans, it won't last much longer. (Mainly 'coz I think Darkseid just won.)


Panels from Legion of Super-Heroes (1980 series) #294 (December 1982), co-plot and script by Paul Levitz, co-plot and pencils by Keith Giffen, inks by Larry Mahlstedt, colors by Carl Gafford, letters by John Costanza
But for those of you who wear a ring with an "L' on your finger and always finish off the pnrase "Long Live the..." with a word that rhymes with "region," the battle of rebellion to stop Darkseid is getting bigger and louder and more intense until you just gotta ask who else could they throw into the mix? Maybe some certain ones who haven't even appeared in the Legion book for the past couple years? Talk about your special guest appearance because you demanded it...it's the Wonder Twins Superboy and Supergirl!


Oh no, Superboy's down! Who can save us now?


Supergirl?


Mmmmmmaybe!
(Big-Ass Great Darkness Conclusion tomorrow!)

There Is No Hope in Crime Alley, Night 11: On that night, Bruce vowed to sob

Panels from "The Forging of Young Batman!" in Superboy (1949 series) #181 (February 1972), script by Leo Dorfman, pencils by Bob Brown, inks by Murphy Anderson

A Month of... Pancakes! Day 24: God, it looks like Mon-El, must be the Kryptonite in my eyes

Pal-in-blogging Mike Sterling, the man so nice they named him after a great comic book shop, pointed my fuzzy and be-ringéd nose in the direction of a post he made years ago featuring Superboy and his hetero lifemate Mon-El eating lotsa pancakes (thus showing that Mike is way ahead of us all on the flapjack curve). Here's my salute and homage to that classic post. Thanks, Mike!


Panels from "Vengeance of the Super-Villains" in Superboy [starring the Legion of Super-Heroes] (1949 series) #208 (April 1975); script by Cary Bates, pencils and inks by Mike Grell, letters by Ben Oda
Well, isn't that nice of Ma and Pa Kent? They sure take care of their boy...and his pal from one thousand years in the future who only knows pancakes in pill form. Yes, Pa and Ma Kent are the best parents ever who found a baby on the side of the road and took it home and claimed it as their own.


OH THAT'S NOT GOOD. Don't you know, Pa, that statistics say if you have a futuristic sci-fi raygun in the home, you're 93% more likely to use it against a super member of your own family?


The explanation, Superboy? Cary Bates is the explanation.

Today in Comics History, December 25, 1776: Looks like George Washington picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue

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

Today in Comics History, November 2, 1990: Today's surprise headline. Turns out he's really a girl!

from Superman: Secret Identity #1 (DC, January 2004), script by Kurt Busiek; pencils, inks, and colors by Stuart Immonen; letters by Todd Klein

Today in Comics History, March 15: Kid Batman tracks down Pisces, the Fish Killer*

from "The Forging of Young Batman!" in Superboy (1949 series) #182 (DC, February 1972), script by Leo Dorfman, pencils by Bob Brown, inks by Murphy Anderson
*This is actually a pretty accurate description of this story.

Today in Comics History, February 18: Superboy thwarts the crime of Jupiter aligning with Mars

from "The Forging of Young Batman!" in Superboy (1949 series) #182 (DC, February 1972), script by Leo Dorfman, pencils by Bob Brown, inks by Murphy Anderson

365 Days of KirbyTech, Day 17: The Mountain of Judgment

Say, what is this Mountain of Judgment, anyway?


Panels from Jimmy Olsen #134 (December 1970), script and pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Vince Colletta, most Superman and Jimmy Olsen faces re-pencilled and inked by Al Plastino, letters by John Costanza
Oh...okay, well, that's helpful, Guy who looks like Ben Grimm as Blackbeard. Thank you so very much.

The Entire Silver Age in One Comics Panel

Panel from "The Stolen Identities" in Adventure Comics #270 (March 1960), script by Jerry Siegel, pencils and inks by George Papp

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 339: The He-Man Woman-Hater's Club comes runnin' for the great adventures of Superboy

"Dig What's Coming" house ad for Superboy (1949 series) #149 (July 1968); printed in Adventures of Jerry Lewis #107 (July 1968)
"Dig What's Coming" pencilled, inked, and lettered by Henry Boltinoff
I can never resist showing a beautiful Neal Adams cover:


Cover of Superboy #149, pencils and inks by Neal Adams, letters by Gaspar Saladino

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 334: November comes in like an explosion and goes out like an explosion

House ad for Justice League of America #139 and DC Super-Stars #12 [Superboy] (both February 1977) printed in World's Finest Comics #243 (February-March 1977)
Comic cover art: JLA #13: pencils and inks by Neal Adams, colors by Anthony Tollin
DC Super-Stars #13: pencils by Curt Swan, inks by Murphy Anderson, colors by Tatjana Wood
Ad designed and lettered by Gaspar Saladino

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 324: Great sun of Krypton, why? Why didn't I run this on July 3rd?*

House ad for Superboy (1949 series) #159 (September 1969); printed in Wonder Woman #184 (September-October 1969)
Ad designed and lettered by Gaspar Saladino
*Because I hadn't found it yet. Instead, I'm still happy to have posted this house ad, which asked the musical question "Where's Flop?"

But right now, a super-gorgeous cover by the greatest hero of the Expanding Earth, Neal Adams!


Cover of Superboy #159, pencils and inks by Neal Adams, letters by Gaspar Saladino
This cover falls square into the theme of that old familiar comic trope: "This scene does not appear in this comic book!" There is no "rain of the Supermen" (see what I did there?). Superboy sends out four, count 'em, four Superboy robots around the world. And they never fall from the sky at the same time. However, this comic does feature the first DC Universe Earth-1 appearance of The Giant RKO Logos! Seriously, these things are taller than Italy. That means each of these gargantuan radio masts is more than 800 miles tall! Their giant footprint casts a shadow that withers over two billion bushels of crops! To build them took the entire mining output of Asia, Europe, and Africa for six hundred years! They extend to outermost layer of the atmosphere, the "exosphere!" (Thank you, Wikipedia, for that last fact.)


Panel from Superboy #159, script by Frank Robbins, pencils by Bob Brown, inks by Wally Wood
Also in this comic book: this scene!

The Entire Silver Age in One Comics Panel

Panel from the what-it-says-on-the-tin "When Krypto Was Superboy's Master!" in Adventure Comics #310 (July 1963), script by George Kashdan, pencils and inks by George Papp, letters by Joe Letterese
6,500.

Today in Halloween Comics History, October 31: Thank Gourd It's Halloween

from "The Holiday Hijackers" in Adventure Comics #145 (DC, October 1949), script by Edmond Hamilton, pencils and inks by John Sikela