Today in Comics History, August 1: Happy birthday, Claudius!

Ave Claudius! And happy birthday to ya too, because today's your birthday (born August 1, 10 BC), Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus! Better known to the world as jus' plain Claudius, which makes it easier to write birthday cards to him, especially when you had to chistle 'em into slate tablets. "Happy birthday, Claude!" (thunk) Not that he wasn't mighty enough to pick 'em up:


from "[I Made an Airplane]" in Kid Eternity (1946 series) #5 (Quality, Spring 1947), pencils and inks by Pete Riss (?) or Witmer Williams (?)

Today in Comics History, June 25, 1876: In the dictionary, this is the picture next to the phrase "famous last words"

This is an expanded and updated version of a post originally published June 25, 2022.


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

Today in Comics History, March 12, 1918: Ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty or more / The Bloody Red Baron was rollin' up the score

from "red Knight!" in Two-Fisted Tales (1950 series) #29 (EC, September 1952), script by Harvey Kurtzman, pencils and inks by John Severin, colors by Marie Severin, letters by Ben Oda

Today in Comics History, January 24, 1917: Red Baron Pizza delivery turns deadly

from "Red Knight!" in Two-Fisted Tales (1950 series) #29 (EC, September 1952), script by Harvey Kurtzman, pencils and inks by John Severin, colors by Marie Severin, letters by Ben Oda

Today in Comics History, December 20, 1950: Nobody draws cities about to be bombed into rubble better than Wally Wood

from "Hungnam!" in Two-Fisted Tales (1950 series) #26 (EC, March 1952), script by Harvey Kurtzman, pencils and inks by Wally Wood, colors by Marie Severin, letters by Ben Oda

Today in Comics History, December 10, 1950: Chinese Army marches hundreds of miles to put to shame you soft, Imperialistic, shopping American pig-dogs

from "Link-Up!" in Two-Fisted Tales (1950 series) #26 (EC, March 1952), script by Harvey Kurtzman, pencils by John Severin, inks by Will Elder, colors by Marie Severin, letters by Ben Oda

Today in Comics History, December 3, 1950: Even more men continue to be afflicted by back ploks

from "Hagaru-Ri!" in Two-Fisted Stories (1950 series) #26 (DC, March 1952), script by Harvey Kurtzman, pencils and inks by Jack Davis, colors b6y Marie Severin, letters by Ben Oda

Today in Comics History, September 15, 1776: Suddenly, Washington's wooden teeth start tingling

from "Washington!" in Two-Fisted Tales #29 (EC, September), script by Harvey Kurtzman, pencils by John Severin, inks by Will Elder, colors by Marie Severin, letters by Ben Oda

Today in Comics History, June 16, 1775: The Battle of "Eh, Stifle It Edith" Hill is fought

Actually, the Battle of Bunker Hill was fought on the 17th. But preparations for the battle began on the 16th...


from "The Battle of Bunker Hill" in Jerry Drummer #11 (Charlton, July 1957), script by Joe Gill (?), pencils and inks by Maurice Whitman, letters by Jon D'Agostino
...but several comics use today's date for the battle itself.

Well, they're wrong.


from "The Story of Old Glory" in Real Life Comics #4 (Pines, April 1942), creators uncredited and unknown
Tomorrow, I'll feature comics stories that actually take place on the 17th, but for now, enjoy these slightly-misdated panels!


from "Bunker Hill!" in Two-Fisted Tales #25 (EC, January 1952), script by Harvey Kurtzman, pencils and inks by Wally Wood, colors by Marie Severin, letters by Ben Oda

Today in Comics History, June 6, 1944: D-Day: Do or do not; there is no try

To wrap up my memorial to D-Day in comic books today, let's look another war tale from the folks at EC Comics, who brought us unflinching, often incerdibly realistic (or at least highly believable) tales of combat in comic form. (It also doesn't hurt that the art by John Severin is absolutely gorgeous.)


from "D-Day!" in Two-Fisted Tales #27 (EC, May 1952), script by Harvey Kurtzman, pencils and inks by John Severin, colors by Marie Severin, letters by Ben Oda
The theme throughout is the doubt and fear of the men tasked with landing on Normandy that their invasion will be met and repelled, or worse yet, that they're all charging into a trap.


reasonable fears, but they threaten to escalate into sheer terror. Not what you need from the soldiers at the front of an invasion.


And nothing is working as perfectly as had been planned or hoped.


They planned and planned, but they couldn't plan for everything.


But the lesson is, still, whatever obstacles on the way: keep moving, keep working, keep fighting. And they did.

Today in Comics History, April 29, 1917: The Red Baron will happily sign autographs and merchandise, but please, no pizza boxes

from "Red Knight!" in Two-Fisted Tales #29 (EC, September 1952), script by Harvey Kurtzman, pencils and inks by John Severin, colors by Marie Severin, letters by Ben Oda