365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 97

House ad for Swing with Scooter #1 (June-July 1966); printed in Doom Patrol #104 (June 1966)
Comic cover art: pencils and inks by Joe Orlando, letters by Ira Schnapp
Ad designed and lettered by Ira Schnapp

Today in Comics History: Donald Duck crams for his Senate Confirmation Hearings

Splash panel from "The Crazy Quiz Show" in Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #99 (December 1948); script, pencils, inks and letters by Carl Barks

Today in Comics History: Every time a bell rings, a lumberjack makes the sieg heil salute

Panel from JLA #80 (June 2003), script by Joe Kelly, pencils by Duncan Rouleau, inks by Aaron Sowd, colors by David Baron, letters by Ken Lopez

Today in Comics History: Venn diagrams make the front page of all the papers

Panel from 100 Bullets #68 (March 2006), script by Brian Azzarello, pencils and inks by Eduardo Risso, colors by Patricia Mulvihill, letters by Clem Robins

Psylocke Psaturday #10: Why the long face, Miss Braddock?

Panels from the Captain Britain story "In All the Old Familiar Places" in The Mighty World of Marvel #16 (September 1984); plot, pencils, and inks by Alan Davis, script by Mike Collins; letters by Steve Craddock. Color version from Captain Britain trade paperback (1988), colors by Andy Seddon.
My admiration for Alan Davis's gorgeous artwork is second to no bull, but geez, Mister D, that second panel...ain't no way she's gonna be a supermodel with a nose and a chin like that. We'll just chalk it up to her being excited to see Braddock housekeeper Emma again, shall we?

This week's Psylocke Psurveillance Psummary:

• Hair: purple.
• Eyes: blue.
• Skirt: knee-length.
• Chin: tremendous.

Next week: Things start to get very bad. Start.


See?

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 96

House ad for House of Mystery #167 [Dial H for Hero] (June 1967); printed in Challengers of the Unknown #56 (June-July 1967)
Comic cover art: pencils and inks by Jim Mooney, letters by Ira Schnapp
Ad designed and lettered by Ira Schnapp

Today in Comics History, April 6, 1990: Scarlett Johansson is completely unaware that Darkseid is sneaking up on her

from Black Widow: The Coldest War graphic novel (April 1990); script by Gerry Conway; pencils by George Freeman; inks by Ernie Colon, Mark Farmer, George Freeman, Mark Harris, Val Mayerik, and Joe Rubinstein; colors by Lovern Kindzierski, letters by Ron Muns

Today in Comics History, April 6: Commissioner Gordon comforts the abnormally swollen head of Charlie Brown

from Batman #405 (March 1987), script by Frank Miller, pencils and inks by David Mazzucchelli, colors by Richmond Lewis, letters by Todd Klein

Meanwhile, on Earth-Acme...

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 95

House ad for Secret Hearts #112 (June 1966); printed in Falling in Love #83 (May 1966)
Comic cover art: pencils and inks by Gene Colan
Ad designed and lettered by Ira Schnapp

Today in Comics History, April 5: [INSERT ANOTHER JOKE ABOUT COMMISSIONER LOEB'S TALKING OFFICE DOOR HERE]

from Batman #405 (DC, March 1987), script by Frank Miller, pencils and inks by David Mazzucchelli, colors by Richmond Lewis, letters by Todd Klein

A Tinny Roman guns for the Challengers of the Unknown

Earlier today, we saw teen heartthrob Tino Mannary, winner of the 1967 Suspicious Name Award, plotting to kill each one of the Challengers of the Unknown! The team that lives on borrowed time! (Also, liver and onions.)


Panel from Challengers of the Unknown #56, (June-July 1967), script by Arnold Drake, pencils and inks by Bob Brown
It's also the issue where the Challengers experience bizarre LSD hallucinations!


Yep, it's the debut of all-around nogoodnik Tino Mannary...whose name is a labored anagram for Martin Ryan, little brother of The Brady Bunch star Robert Ryan the late Challenger of the Unknown Red Ryan! Gasp! Also, his name is an anagram for Yam or Tannin, and I think we all enjoy yams and/or tannin. Yam or tannin! It's what's for dinner.


Still, I keep coming back to this panel featuring Tony Rain Man Tino Mannary's hit list:


Just for fun, I thought, What If™... Yarn Moat Inn Tino Mannary had picked four other famous targets to put on his death-list shortlist! (And I think it would go something like this.)


Or maybe he'd focus in on a quartet that owes absolutely nothing to the Challengers of the Unknown, uh uh, no way, absolutely no influence or inspiration at all, nosiree:


Or maybe he's like to bump off a more radical group of four:


Here's a happy quartet that could in the crosshairs of Any Minor Ant Tino Mannary:


And I think it's about time these four paid for their crimes against humanity:


Here, why don't you try one? Extra credit for using anagrams of "Tino Mannary"!


Here's a last bonus one: Annoy Martin Tino Mannary is out to assassinate rock band Loverboy!


Yes, it's true that Loverboy has not four but five members. But they get a bonus for performing the official theme song of Trainman Yon Tino Mannary! Play us off, Meek Iron Mike Reno, Dual Pane Paul Dean, Good John Sun Doug Johnson, Fart Meet Tent Matt Frenette, and Sire Dean Penknives Ken "Spider" Sinnaeve!

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 94

House ad for Challengers of the Unknown #56 (June-July 1967); printed in Detective Comics #363 (May 1967)
Comic cover art: pencils and inks by Bob Brown, letters by Ira Schnapp
Ad designed and lettered by Ira Schnapp

Inset art adapted from this interior panel:


Panel from Challengers of the Unknown #56, script by Arnold Drake, pencils and inks by Bob Brown
Nope, that's not Slade Wilson Jr., Kid Deathstroke, but rather Tino Mannary, pop star, super-genius, innovative inventor, racecar driver and business wunderkind! Yep, this guy was Kitty Pryde before Kitty Pryde was Kitty Pryde! All hail the sensational Marty Stu find of 1967: Tino Mannary!



Can't get enough fannery of that wonderful Tino Mannary? Check back later tonight, cats and kittens! (Also: humans.)

Today in Comics History, April 4: Commissioner Gordon regrets going to Gotham City's new 52-Car Drive-Through Auto Wash

from Batman #405 (March 1987), script by Frank Miller, pencils and inks by David Mazzucchelli, colors by Richmond Lewis, letters by Todd Klein

Today in Comics History, April 4, 1988: When Daredevil orders a pizza, you can bet it gets there in under thirty minutes

from Black Widow: The Coldest War graphic novel (Marvel, April 1990); script by Gerry Conway; pencils by George Freeman; inks by Ernie Colon, Mark Farmer, George Freeman, Mark Harris, Val Mayerik, and Joe Rubinstein; colors by Lovern Kindzierski, letters by Ron Muns

Worst. Logo. EVER.

Yeah, we may complain about some of the bad logos on contemporary comics, but take a big steaming gander at this one:


Cover of ?????????* #1 (November 1985), painted cover by Garry Leach
Gee, it's like they were purposefully trying to kill Todd Klein, isn't it?

*Laser Eraser and Pressbutton

Today in Comics History, April 3: Science discovers that electricity = Monster from Hell

from Atomic Robo and the Shadow from Beyond Time #1 (Red 5, April 2009, top) and #2 (May 2009, bottom), script by Brian Clevinger, pencils and inks by Scott Wegener, colors by Ronda Pattison, letters by Jeff Powell

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 93

House ad for Who's Who in the DC Universe (1985); printed in World's Finest Comics #314 (April 1985)
Atomic Knight art by Murphy Anderson, from Who's Who #1:


Page from Who's Who: The Definite Directory of the DC Universe v.1 #1 (March 1985), pencils and inks by Murphy Anderson
And if you can't get enough Who ('s Who) excitement, you really need to check out Siskoid's Blog of Geekery and his "Who's This?" feature, focusing on the C-listers in Who's Who and forgotten DC Universe heroes and villains of the past! Like, say, this fellow they call "Bat-Man"—he puzzles me!

Today in Comics History, April 3: Dr. Alec Holland unwisely selects Cleveland as his vacation getaway

from Swamp Thing Annual (2012 series) #1 (DC, December 2012), script by Scott Snyder and Scott Tuft, pencils and inks by Becky Cloonan, colors by Tony Avina, letters by Carlos M. Mangual

What If™...Taylor Swift Lived in the Marvel Universe?