Today in Comics History, April 26: Happy birthday, John Paul Leon.

Comic book artist John Paul Leon was born today in 1972, but it doesn't seem like much of a celebration because he's not here for us to throw a party. He passed away in 2021 at the age of 49 following a 14-year battle with cancer. That's far too young. But he left us an impressive and grogeous body of work on titles such as DMZ, Earth X, Shadow Cabinet, Challengers of the Unknown, Static, John Constantine: Hellblazer, Sheriff of Babylon, Detective Comics, Action Comics, The Further Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix, RoboCop: Prime Suspect and many more. Though his art enlivens many books, there aren't a lot of portrayals of him in comics, the usual approach these birthday posts take. But here's a portait of John Paul with Batman:


from Batman/Catwoman Special #1 one-shot (DC, March 2022); pencils, inks, and colors by Lee Bermejo

Today in Comics History, April 5: Happy birthday, Victor Gorelick!

Born on this day in 1941: Editor-in-Chief of Archie Comics Victor Gorelick!




from (top) "Editor's Notebook" in Archie (1959 series) #369 (Archie, August 1989);
(middle and bottom) Marvel Age #136 and #138 (Marvel, April 1994 and July 1994)

Today in Comics History, October 25, 1859: Happy birthday, Lady Johanna Constantine!

Not to just repeat the header, but...Happy birthday, Lady Johanna Constantine!


from The Dreaming (1996 series) #7 (DC/Vertigo, December 1996), script by Peter Hogan, pencils by Steve Parkhouse, inks by Dick Giordano, colors by Daniel Vozzo, letters by Annie Parkhouse
Hope you survive the...oh.


Still, you outlived pretty much everybody except Hob Gadling, and that's nothing to sneeze at.

Lady Johanna Constantine
October 25, 1760 - October 25, 1859
This post was suggested by faithful reader and frequent commenter Blam, who's provided a lot of date references in comics that I'll spotlight throughout 2023 in this series. Thanks, Blam!

Today in Comics History, October 17, 1967: The Funeral of Brian Epstein

from The Beatles in Comics! (NBM, November 2018); script by Richard Di Martino; translation by Joe Johnson; pencils, inks, and colors by Richard DiMartino; letters by Ortho
Rest in peace, Brian.

Today in Comics History, October 12: Happy birthday, Doris Grau!

Born on this day in 1924: Doris Grau, actor, voice artist, and script supervisor. You may remember her from such roles and voices in Babe, Cheers, DuckTales, The Critic as Jay Sherman's make-up artist Doris Grossman and The Simpsons as Lunchlady Doris and other characters. Following Grau's death in 1995, the character was retired from the show, although recently a similarly diesned character named Lunchlady Dora has appeared, voiced by Tress MacNeille.


"The Bongo beat" from Bongo Comics cover-dated February 1996
Happy birthday, Doris! We miss you.

Thanks for the thrills, David.

advertisement from Tower Comics cover-dated December 1966
Close Channel D.

David McCallum
September 19, 1933 - September 25, 2023
Rest in Peace

Today in Comics History, August 22: Happy birthday, Kevin O'Neill!

A very happy birthday — and we wish he were here to celebrate it with us — to Kevin O'Neill, born on this day in 1953 and passed away late last year. He's written, drawn, and colored stories in 2000 AD, Toxic, Buster, Green Lantern (the infamous back-up story that resulted in him being banned by the Comics Code Authority from ever drawing a Code-approved story every again) and more! And he's the co-creator of Nemesis the Warlock, Ro-Busters, Metalzoic, Marshal Law and,...you know where I'm going with this...one of the early twenty-first century's most important comics, his collabpration with Alan Moore on several series of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. In the pentiumtulare series Ctury, he provided portraits of Moore and himself throughgout the titular century:


"Rogues in the Gallery" from The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Century: Century: 1910 (Top Shelf/Knockabout, April 2009), pencils by Kevin O'Neill

Today in Comics History, August 22: Happy birthday, Bob Brown!

Born on this date in 1915: Bob Brown, who drew Tomahawk, Tales of the Unexpected, Challengers of the Unknown, Superboy, Detective Comics, Action Comics, Daredevil, The Avengers, and many more)! He's also the co-creator of Talia al Ghul, Beast Boy, Rawhide Kid, Silver Samurai, Space Ranger and others (like district attorney Blake Tower)! Please ignore the "24" on this calendar panel: he was born on August 22.


from Marvel Comics Memory Album 1977 (Marvel, 1976)
Sadly, Bob doesn't seem ti have appear in any comics as himself, but here's a touching obituary for him and fellow creators Edmond Hamilton and John Rosenburger.


from DC Comics cover-dated August 1977, text by Mike Gold
A very happy birthday to you, Bob.

Today in Comics History, July 23, 1930: Poor guy didn't even get a picture next to his obit in a comic book

from "Hop Harrigan's History of American Aviation" in All-American Comics (1939 series) #26 (DC/J.R. Publishing, May 1941); text, penils, and inks by Jon Blummer

Today in Comics History, June 19: Happy Birthday, Mick Anglo!

Born on this day in 1916: comic book writer, artist, letterer and editor Mick Anglo (nee the appropriate Michael Anglo), creator of Marvelman (or, as Eclipse Comics and Marvel itself would latrer call him, Miracleman), founer of Gower Art Studios and Anglo Features, joke ghost writer for British comedian Tommy Cooper — a true renaissance man who made "Kimota!" the household word it is today in the Moran home.


from Marvel Comics cover-dated February 2012
Happy birthday, Mick!

What's Bully Reading?: John Romita, Sr.

Reading the work of a comics master. I miss him a lot already.


John Romita, Sr.
January 24, 1930 - June 12, 2023
Rest in Peace

Today in Comics History, February 20, 1895: Rest in Power, Frederick Douglass

from Classics Illustrated #169 [Negro Americans: The Early Years] (Gilberton, Spring 1969), pencils and inks by Norman Nodel

Today in Comics History, February 6: Happy birthday, Rich Buckler!

Born on this day in 1949: comics artist Rich Buckler (Justice League of America, All-Star Squadron, Mighty Crusaders, Secret Society of Super Villains, The Warlord, The Unexpected, World's Finest Comics, The Avengers, Astonishing Tales (where he created Deathlok), Black Panther (where he co-created Killmonger), Fantastic Four, The Spectacular Spider-Man, The Big Bang, Eerie, Creepy, and many more)! He's also the author of three books about working in the industry: How to Become a Comic Book Artist, How to Draw Superheroes, and How to Draw Dynamic Comic Books. He certainly was an expert in all three!


from Mighty Marvel Calendar 1976 and 1977 (Marvel, 1975 and 1976), and Marvel Age #98 (Marvel, March 1991), text by Chris Eliopolous and Barry Dutter, pencils and inks by Ron Zalme

Today in Comics History, December 21: Happy birthday, Ben Oda!

Born on this day in 1915: the great Ben Oda, longtime comics letterer at DC, EC, and many other houses! His distinctive lettering style enchanced thousands of comics, ncluding Detective Comics and Batman, Action Comics and Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern, Four Color, Baris Karloff Tales of Mystery, The Twilight Zone, Eerie, Vampirella, MAD, the Super DC Calendars, and hundreds more!


"DC Profiles #59" from DC Comics cover-dated February 1980

Today in Comics History, December 15, 1966: They never die, the old mice / They just fade and go on ice

from Comic Book History of Animation #4 (IDW, February 2021); script by Fred Van Lente; pencils, inks, and letters by Ryan Dunlavey; colors by Adam Guzowski

Today in Comics History, November 23: Happy birthday, Sol Harrison!

Born on this day in 1917: Sol Harrison, longtime art director, production manager and colorist at DC Comics.


from Fifty Who Made DC Great one-shot (DC, 1985)

Today in Comics History, October 16: Happy birthday, Joe Sinnott!

Born on this day in 1926: comics artist (best known as an inker) Joe Sinnott, who should always be included within the names that built the Marvel Age. He inked extensive runs on Fantastic Four, The Avengers, The Defenders, Thor, and has worked on pretty nearly every major Marvel title.


from Mighty Marvel Comics Calendar 1976-1979 (March, 1975-1978)
Joe was arguably the finest inker on Jack Kirby's Fantastic Four (and Thor!), and, I'd propose, on John Byrne's FF run too!

Aw geez, that pun in the last panel.


from Marvel Age #34, 58, and 94 (Marvel, January 1986, January 1988, and November 1990); text by Jim Salicrup (#34), Mike Carlin (#58), and Chris Eliopoulis and Barry Dutter (#94); pencils and inks by Ron Zalme; colors by Adam Philips (#34), Paul Becton (#58), and Marie Javins (#94)

Today in Comics History, August 27, 1967: Rest in Peace, Brian Epstein

from The Beatles in Comics! (NBM, November 2018); script by Richard Di Martino; translation by Joe Johnson; pencils, inks, and colors by Piero Ruggeri and Filippo Neri; letters by Ortho


from Marvel Comics Super Special #4 [The Beatles] (1978), script by Dave Kraft, additional dialogue by Don McGregor, pencils by George Pérez, inks by Klaus Janson and Joe Rubinstein, colors by Petra Goldberg, letters by Tom Orzechowski


from The Beatles: Their Story in Pictures (ITV, 1982), script by Angus P. Allan, art by Arthur Ranson (collected from the strip in (Look-In)

from The Fifth Beatle: The Brian Epstein Story (Dark Horse, November 2013); written by Vivek J. Tiwary; pencils, inks, and colors by Andrew C. Robinson; letters by Steve Dutro
(Click picture to enlarge)

Today in Comics History, July 21, 1992: Rest in peace, Tony Stark

from Marvel Age #116 (Marvel, September 1992)

Today in Comics History, June 5: Happy birthday, Frank Chiaramonte!

Born today in 1942: comics inker and occasional penciller Frank Chiaramonte (Action Comics, Superman, Werewolf by Night, The Flash, Detective Comics, Legion of Super-Heroes, Iron Fist, Captain America, Ghost Rider, working with Will Eisner on P.S. Magazine, and more).


"DC Profiles Number 62" in DC Comics cover-dated July 1980, by Mike W. Barr
Frank passed away in 1983 at the age of 40. That's far too young.


DC Comics cover-dated August 1983
You're missed, Frank. Happy birthday.