Today in Comics History, August 6, 1951: Newspaper hits porch so hard it's seeing stars

from "Newspaper items" in Big Town #11 (DC/National, November 1951), by Mort Drucker

Today in Comics History, August 2: Happy birthday, Peter O'Toole!

Born on this day in 1932: acclaimed British actor Peter O'Toole (insert joke from Diamonds Are Forever by Sean Connery), who you've seen in such movies (if you're lucky!) as The Lion in Winter, Goodbye, Mr. Chips, The Stunt Man, My Favorite Year, Man of La Mancha, What's New Pussycat?, Lawrence of Arabia, Troy, and, ahem, Thomas Kinkade's Christmas Cottage (and lots more).


photo cover of Goodbye, Mr. Chips one-shot (Gold Key/Western, June 1970)

Today in Comics History, April 29: Happy birthday, Kate Mulgrew!

Born on this day: actor Kate Mulgrew, who starred in Ryan's Hope, Orange Is the New Black, Mrs. Columbo aka Kate Columbo aka Kate the Detective aka Kate Loves a Mystery, but today we salute her mainly using comic books about her role as Captain Kathryn Janeway in Star Trek: Voyager, because there were no Mrs. Columbo comic books and I can't get to my Ryan's Hope comic books (Gold Key, 1975-1983, 47 issues) ever since the "R" section of my Underground Comics Vault collapsed late last year in a freak Ravage 2099 incident.


cover of Star Trek: Voyager (1966 series) #14 (Marvel/Paramount, February 1998), pencils by Terry Pallot, inks by Al Milgrom

Today in Comics History, March 31: Happy birthday, Richard Chamberlain!

Born today: actor Richard Chamberlain (Dr. Kildare, Shōgun, The Thorn Birds, The Bourne Identity, The Three Musketeers, The Swarm and more)! Chamberlain has also performed classical stage roles and worked in m)! Seen here in the middle of a triptych of heartthrobs (with Elvis Presley and Tony Curtis)!


from "Midnight Cinderella!" in Girls' Love Stories #109 (DC/Arleigh, February 1965), script by Robert Kanigher, pencils and inks by Bob Oksner

Today in Comics History, March 27: Happy birthday, David Janssen!

Born on this day in 1931: David Janssen, star of movies and TV including To Hell and Back, Francis in the Haunted House, King of the Roaring 20s, The Green Berets, Shoes of the Fisherman, Marooned, Richard Diamond: Private Detective; O'Hara, U.S. Treasury, Harry O., and of course the series that made every kid in America want to go on the run searching for the One-Armed Man: The Fugitive!


from "The Phewgitive" in MAD #89 (September 1964), script by Stan Hart, pencils and inks by Mort Drucker

Today in Comics History, March 26: Happy birthday, Bob Elliott!

Happy 101st birthday today (born in 1923) to one of my favorite comedians, Bob Elliott, one-half of comedy team Bob & Ray! Bob's appeared in countless radio and record comedy sketches, as well as movies and television as diverse as Cold Turkey, Quick Change, Saturday Night Live, Happy Days, Newhart, King of the Hill and more, not to mention roles in Cabin Boy and Get a Life!, which both starred his son, comedian Chris Elliott.

But didja know that Bob (and Ray) were also Comic book creators and characters? Why, yes! The early years of the black-and-white MAD magazine in the 1950s were full of strips written by comics and humorists like Ernie Kovacs, Orson Bean, Danny Kaye, Henry Morgan, and Wally Cox (or their writers), and Bob & Ray were no exception. Beginning in MAD #34, the duo penned and starred in a a series of comics over the next couple of years, drawn by Mort "You Ain't Nobody 'Til You've Been Drawn By" Drucker, one of the greatest artist MAD ever chained to a drawing table! Here, Bob (lighter hair, shorter) plays Mr. Science, and Ray (dark hair, large) plays Jimmy.


from "Mr. Science" in MAD #34 (July 1957), script by Bob Elliott and Ray Goulding, pencils and inks by Mort Drucker

Today in Comics History, March 24: Happy birthday, Norman Fell!

Born on this day in 1924: Norman Fell, the sad-eyed actor in Ocean's 11, The Graduate, Bullitt, Catch-22, The Killers and more, and of course as the long-suffering homophobic landlord Stanley Roper on Three's Company and its short-lived spin-off The Ropers.



from "He's Company" in MAD #196 (January 1978), script by Arnie Kogen, pencils and inks by Angelo Torres
Unfortunately, most of the other panels from this MAD spoof feature gay panic jokes I'm not gonna reproduce here, including a useage of the full-out six-letter f-word slur for gay men. Sadly, this exact same issue also includes the instance of Star Wars' Artoo Detoo actually using the three-letter f-word (as discussed here by Mike Sterling). A lot of MAD magazine has aged well, so it's startling when you see pieces that have aged so poorly they've become offensive.

Today in Comics History, January 29: Tom Selleck! We celebrate his birthday twice!

Born today in comics and television (and a few not-that-bad movies) history: Tom Selleck! Yes, yes, I know: we've already celebrated Tom's birthday today by looking at the Magnum, P.I. Annual 1982...but that was an update of an older post that was more spotlighting the annual itself than the man. As I mentioned briefly in the other post, you may cringe at his politics (a Republican and supporter of the G.O.P. and lifelong member of the NRA), but instead I'm going to focus on the happiness his work has brought me, especially all those episodes of the original Magnum, P.I.. Among other things, Magnum was my late mother's favorite TV show (and Selleck her favorite actor), so the guy is to me, barring any terrible specific potential disclosures, A-OK by me.

What's more, Thomas Magnum, Private Investigator, has been heavily featured in comic books, and that's what we're all here for, right?


from Uncanny X-Men (1963 series) #167 (Marvel, Marvel 1983), script by Chris Claremont, pencils by Paul Smith, inks by Bob Wiacek, colors by Andy Yanchus and Glynis Oliver, letters by Tom Orzechowski

Today in Comics History, October 14: Happy birthday, Roger Moore!

Born on this day in 1927: cinema's only James Bond, Sir Roger Moore (picture, below, hanging out with his good pal Ben Grimm).


house ad from Fantastic! #45 (IPC UK, 23 December 1967)

Today in Comics History, September 29: Happy birthday, Madeline Kahn!

A very happy birthday today to Miss Madeline Kahn, born in 1942 and memorable from such classic movies as What's Up, Doc?, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, High Anxiety, History of the World, Part I, Paper Moon, The Muppet Movie, Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood, and many more!

I couldn't find more than this one appearance of her in comics/ But being drawn by Mort Drucker surely must make up for that!


from "Caper Goon" in MAD #164 (January 1974), script by Larry Siegel, pencils and inks by Mort Drucker
Happy birthday, Madeline!

Today in Comics History, September 22: Happy birthday, E. Nelson Bridwell!

Born on this day in 1931: E. Nelson Bridwell, comics writer and editor (MAD, Super Friends, the Batman comic strip, Action Comics, Adventure Comics, Shazam!, Superman, The Superman Family, World's Finest Comics, The Legion of Super-Heroes and more)! Bridwell co-created some of the greatest B-list characters at DC, including the Inferior Five, The Maniaks, the Secret Six, Angel and the Ape, Fire and Ice, and more! He was an early advocate of continuity between titles, and in his role as assistant editor to Mort Weisinger and Julius Schwartz on the Superman titles, he edited the letters columns and developed the Kryptonese language and characters. So yeah: he's pretty important! Why not read more about him in this post? Sure, we all do!


from the editorial page of Showcase #62 [The Inferior Five] (DC/National, May 1966), text by Jack Miller

Today in Comics History, September 21: Happy birthday, Larry Hagman!

Born on this day in 1931: actor (and director and producer) Larry Hagman! You know him from a whole lotta film and TV shows, and especially from that time he had his house saved by Iron Man:


from Iron Man (1968 series) #222 (Marvel, September 1987), co-plot and script by David Michelinie, co-plot and finishes by Bob Layton, breakdowns by M. D. Bright, colors by Bob Sharen, letters by Janice Chiang
This scene was slightly adapted into 2013's Iron Man 3 movie, and the only reason it didn't co-star Larry Hagman was that Robert Downey felt Hagman would be too awesome for the film. And also, Hagman died in 2012.

Today in Comics History, August 20: Happy birthday, Jacqueline Susann!

Born on this day in 1918: novelist Jacqueline Susann, author of books like Valley of the Dolls, The Love Machine, Once Is Not Enough, and other novels that truly put her at the forefront of twentieth-century literature as one of the giants.




from "Valley of the Dollars" in MAD #121 (September 1968), script by Larry Siegel, pencils and inks by Mort Drucker
Happy birthday, Jacqueline! Hang on, I'll throw away all those Tic-Tacs you dropped.


from Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (Paramount, 1986), directed by Leonard Nimoy

Today in Comics History, July 13: Happy birthday, Cheech Marin!

Happy birthday today to Cheech Marin, comedian, actor (Up in Smoke, Nice Dreams, From Dusk Till Dawn, Tin Cup my favorite in-flight movie, more), voice artist (Oliver & Company, Ferngully: The Last Rainforest, The Lion King, Cars, etc.), writer (Cheech Is Not My Real Name...But Don't Call Me Chong!), and long-time partner to Tommy Chong in their famous cannabis-related comedy team Cheech & Chong! (deep inhale) Below at right!


from "Mad's Academy Awards Show" in MAD #231 (June 1982), script by Stan Hart, pencils and inks by Mort Drucker
Oh man. Just by posting this, I think I got a contact high.

(giggles)

Today in Comics History, June 13: Happy birthday, Ally Sheedy!

Prepare to swoon in teen romance, kids, because today is the birthday of Brat Pack superstar actor Ally Sheedy, one of the infamous Brat Pack group of actors and starred in The Breakfast Club, Short Circuit 1 and 2, St. Elmo's Fire, Single Drunk Female and many other TV and movie roles, including 1983's nuclear-war-just-for-the-fun-of-it extravaganza WarGames!:


from "Warped Games" in MAD #244 (January 1984), script by Larry Siegel, pencils and inks by Mort Drucker
Happy birthday, Ally Sheedy! Please wish her a great day, and don't forget: be nice to mice!


Now available in long-playing record format!

Today in Comics History, June 10: Happy birthday, Gina Gershon!

Born on this day: actor Gina Gershon (Showgirls, Bound, Red Heat, Demonlover, Riverdale and other things I'm not allowed to watch). Of course, being an actor gets you into the pages of MAD magazine...even drawn by Mort Drucker!


from "CrockTale" in MAD #285 (March 1989), script by Dick DeBartolo, pencils and inks by Angelo Torres


from "F*!@/Off" in MAD #363 (November 1997), script by Dick DeBartolo, pencils and inks by Mort Drucker
Happy birthday, Gina!

Stuff Bully Got: Record albums

Anyway, I did get some cool LPs today:


A showtunes album featuring The Goon Show star Harry Secombe!


The Beyond the Fringe cast LP autographed by Jonathan Miller!


Also, I'm pretty sure that's MORT DRUCKER drawing Bob and Ray on the B&R record I got!


Happy listening ahead, I hope.

Today in Comics History, February 24: Happy birthday, Abe Vigoda!

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

Born on this day in 1921, so it's the 102nd birthday of Abe Vigoda, who gets to be in this blog feature not only because I like him, but also because he's appeared in comic books! More specifically, here's his Barney Miller character Fish, in an issue of Iron Fist:


from Iron Fist (1975 series) #8 (Marvel, October 1976), script by Chris Claremont, pencils by John Byrne, inks by Dan Adkins, colors by Bonnie Wilford, letters by Joe Rosen
So, who d'you think that artist "Byrne" is that Fish is talking about? MAKE A GUESS.

Today in Comics History, February 13: Happy birthday, Kim Novak!

Born on this day: film and telvision actor Kim Novak (Picnic, The Man with the Golden Arm, Pal Joey, Vertigo, Bell, Book and Candle, Strangers When We Meet, Of Human Bondage, and lots more!)

And now, Kim Novak as drawn by Wally Wood. Please do not drool on my blog.


from "Scenes We Never Got To See" in MAD #42 (November 1958), script by Albert Meglin, pencils and inks by Wally Wood

Today in Comics History, October 31: Happy birthday, John Candy!

Born today in 1950: actor/comedian John Candy, member of the SCTV comedy group who acted in many movies: Planes, Trains, and Automobiles; Splash; Stripes; Uncle Buck and many more!


I've been a huge fan of John since the very early SCTV days, and I've loved him in his film appearances. So naturally, you'll find him in MAD magazine!


from "Mad's Celebrity Supermarket" in MAD #258 (October 1985), script by Joe Raiola and Charlie Kadau, pencils by Bob Clarke