Today in Comics History, July 16, 1993: Andy Warhol stars in Birdemic

from "Notes from the Underground" in Miracleman #19 (Eclipse, November 1990), script by Neil Gaiman, pencils by Mark Buckingham, inks and colors by Sam Parsons, letters by Wayne Truman

A Month of... Pancakes! Day 16: Harleycakes

Panels from Harley Quinn (2014 series) #22 (January 2016); script by Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti, pencils and inks by Chad Hardin, colors by Alex Sinclair, letters by Tom Napolitano
I don't know if she ever got any, but if I were you, I'd give Harley Quinn some pancakes.

366 Days with J. Jonah Jameson, Day 197: Are your ready for your Mysterio Date?

Panels from Amazing Spider-Man (1963 series) #13 (June 1964), script by Stan Lee, pencils and inks by Steve Ditko, colors by Stan Goldberg, letters by Artie Simek

Today in Comics History, July 16, 1992: Spider-Man appears on a really high-stakes game show

from Spectacular Spider-Man (1976 series) #211 (Marvel, April 1994), script by Mike Lackey, pencils and inks by Sal Buscema, colors by Bob Sharen, letters by Joe Rosen

A Month of... Pancakes! Day 15: Thirty thousand pounds of pancakes

Hey, we all remember that time Deadpool make more than a quarter million (but fewer than a half million) pancakes, right? Capturing the Eisner Award for "Most Pancakes in a Single Issue?"


Panels from Deadpool (2008 series) #16 (December 2009); script by Daniel Way, pencils by Paco Medina, inks by Juan Vlasco, colors by Marte Gracia, letters by Joe Sabino
Why'd he'd do that, huh? So that if/when Domino falls in through his skylight, she has something to cushion her fall. (Something "else.")



Then, after Domino has her leather-clad body all over 'em, you can eat 'em for breakfast! Instead of, y'know, bagging them in Mylar.

366 Days with J. Jonah Jameson, Day 196: I went to an iron party to reminisce with my old friends

Panels from Iron Man (1998 series) #1 (February 1998), script by Kurt Busiek, pencils by Sean Chen, inks by Eric Cannon, colors by Liquid!, letters by Richard Starkings and Dave Lanphear

A Month of... Pancakes! Day 14: Fighting Hitler...with Pancakes!

Let's all take a look at pancakes in Archie #1! No, not the recent rebooted post-Crisis non-zombie Archie that all the cool cats are lovin' and readin'...but the original Golden Age Archie, back when he was related to the World War II Squirrel Girl!


Panels from "Pancakes in a Blackout" in Archie Comics #1 (Winter 1942); script (?), pencils and inks by Bob Montana. (Obviously re-lettered for its modern reprint here.)
Y'see, kiddos and kidettes, back in the Big W-W-2, home front Americans had to have nighttime blackout drills, ine which entire cities would shut off all the lights to let Hitler think they weren't at home. Now imagine tryin' to make pancakes in a blackout! Why, the hilarity that would ensue...I can't imagine it! Which is a good thing that Bob Montana did it for us. (Your extra fun fact trivioid for today: Bob Montana was not born in Montana. He was born in California. You're thinking of Bob California.)


It's funny because we all lived through it! Not me, though: I'm only six years old.


"Don't worry, [Mary]," Fred Andrews says. "Archie can take care of himself in a blackout." To which there are two possible responses.

1. The Firesign Theatre Response: "He's not your son, Fred."
2. The Meta Response: "Take care of himself? Have you ever read an Archie comic book, Fred?"

And then Archie was imprisoned in the Army compound for wasting valuable wartime food.

366 Days with J. Jonah Jameson, Day 195: Not many people remember when JJJ had a family sitcom on ABC's TGIF

from Spider-Woman (Marvel, 1999 series) #12 (September 1999), script by John Byrne, pencils by Bart Sears, inks by Randy Elliott and Raymond Kryssing, colors by Mike Atiyeh, letters by Richard Starkings and Liz Agraphiotis

A Month of... Pancakes! Day 13: Ben Grimm Wants Pancakes, Part 3

Okay, let's try this thing one more time. Third time lucky to get Ben Grimm some pancakes? Old Blue Eyes is even making them himself, comics!



Panels from Marvel Two-in-One #69 (November 1980); script by Mark Gruenwald and Ralph Macchio, pencils by Ron Wilson, inks by Gene Day, colors by George Roussos, letters by John Costanza
I object to the portrayal of Ben Grimm using pre-boxed pancake mix! He oughta have a great made-from-scratch recipe that Aunt Petunia taught him! Anyway, thanks Suzie, fer savin' the pancakes. IT'S SLOBBERIN' TIME!

366 Days with J. Jonah Jameson, Day 194: He was making out like Charlie Sheen / He was a genius

Panels from "Electrical Problems" in Spider-Man Family #3 (August 2007), script by Paul Tobin, pencils and inks by Pierre Alary, colors by John Paul Fernandez, letters by Nate Piekos

Today in Comics History, July 13, 1976: Attention passengers of Flight 707: You are still alive.

from Marvel Spotlight (1971 series) #33 [Deathlok the Demolisher] (Marvel, April 1977); script by David Anthony Kraft; pencils by Rich Buckler, Michael Netzer, and Arvell Jones; inks by Klaus Janson; colors by Don Warfield; letters by Howard Bender; computer type by Beth Bleckley

A Month of... Pancakes! Day 12: Ben Grimm Wants Pancakes, Part 2

In which all of the Fantastic Four (excluding Reed, who's not even paying attention) are jerks to each other over breakfast:



Panels from "Anniversary" in Fantastic Four (1998 series) #50/479 (February 2002); script by Carlos Pacheco and Rafael Marin, pencils by Tom Grummett, inks by Scott Koblish, colors by Liquid!, letters by Richard Starkings

A Month of... Pancakes! Day 11: Ben Grimm Wants Pancakes, Part 1

Panels from Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Comics Magazine #7 (August 2001); plot by Erik Larsen and Eric Stephenson, script by Tom DeFalco, layouts by Erik Larsen, pencils by Graham Nolan, inks by Al Milgrom, colors by Eric Stephenson, letters by Comicraft
Tomorrow: maybe Ben Grimm will get a pancake. Yes, you heard me. One.

366 Days with J. Jonah Jameson, Day 194: Totally Awesome Spider-Man

Panels from Avengers (1963 series) #329 (February 1991), script by Larry Hama, pencils by Paul Ryan, inks by Tom Palmer, colors by Christie Scheele, letters by Bill Oakley

A Month of... Pancakes! Day 10: Jay Leno is too busy for a nutritious breakfast

Panels from Batman #535 (October 1996); script by Doug Moench, pencils by Kelley Jones, inks by John Beatty, background art assist by Mark G. Heike, colors by Greg Wright, letters by Todd Klein

366 Days with J. Jonah Jameson, Day 192: Safety Last

Panels from Avenging Spider-Man #3 (March 2012), script by Zeb Wells, pencils by Joe Madureira, colors by Ferran Daniel, letters by Joe Caramagna

Today in Comics History, July 9, 1917: Steve Rogers got 99 birthdays but a myth ain't one

Last week was Captain America's canonical birthday: July 4, a date which absolutely makes symbolic sense.

But here's evidence for breaking out the red-white-and-blue streamers and Fudgy the Whale ice cream cake today:


teaser page from Captain America: The Great Gold Steal novel (Bantam, July 1968)
A follow up to the previous year's Bantam paperback original novel The Avengers Battle the Earth-Wrecker, The Great Gold Steal is a lot of fun, pitting Cap against dastardly deeds in downtown Detroit New York, and I kinda pictured Steranko's Cap as the protagonist throughout it all. I highly recommend hunting down a copy if you're interested in that sort of thing, and who among us wouldn't be? Nazis, that's who. The Red Skull will not care for this book.


Still, try to avoid wincing when you see the dedication page. I'm pretty sure that Ted White had his heart in the right place (putting Kirby first is a sign of that), but I'd recommend taking the pen of your choice — I'm partial to the Bic Banana myself —


"Bic Banana" TV advertisement (1973), starring Charles Melson Reilly as Big Banana
...cross out "Stan Lee" and write "Joe Simon." There. As would later be heard in Marvel Comics: Justice is served.


Stan does provide a cheery and enthusiastic introduction, which you can absolutely hear in his voice. I'm just sorry that Captain America is no longer described as being "The Dazzling Human Dynamo" or having a "Glory-Studded Name." Also, as this is not a Choose Your Own Adventure book, we do not "fight side by side with the living legend of World War II." This has been another installment of "Fact-Checking Stan Lee." There will be another one in a wee bit, and yes, this will be on the test.


Here's another mention of Steve's birthday, and honestly, I'm pretty sure it is invalidated by 75 years of comics, not to mention that it doesn't say word one on his indoctrination into Hydra at a very young age*. (*Subplot liable to change due to Cosmic Cube activity.)


Fun fact: This book has jaunty referential footnotes from Stan Lee, just like the comics! You tell 'em, Steve-Stan!


"Then came Pearl Harbor, and war." says the book.


from "According to the Book" in Battle Stories #5 (Fawcett, September 1952), pencils by Carl Pfeufer (?), inks by Edd Ashe (?)
("Then...Korea!" is a registered trademark of Mike Sterling and ProgressiveRuin.com.)

Stan's not always on the ball, however, judging from this Maxwell Smartesque "missed it by that much" footnote:


I DEMAND A NO-PRIZE, STAN

Still: happy birthday, Steve! Happy, happy, happy fake birthday.

A Month of... Pancakes! Day 9: The Biggest Pancake in the World™

Panels from Itty Bitty Hellboy #3 (October 2013); script by Art Baltazar and Franco; pencils, inks, colors, and letters by Art Baltazar
In a comics-based flip o' the pancake to Hellboy's love of pamcakes (as shown daily in our annoying header), here's a charming all-ages tale of Itty Bitty Hellboy and his Itty Bitty Pancakes! (Hey, shouldn't that be Heckboy?) The pamcakes are then cooked by Itty Bitty Liz Sherman! They're all so cute! But hey, what if you want a bigger pamcake? Well, just itty bitty head on over to Itty Bitty Baba Yaga!


In the words of Morgan Spurlock: SUPER-SIZE IT!


Hey, kid from yesterday who claimed you made the world's biggest pancake? This is the world's biggest pancake. Boo-yah!


You too, Uncle Buck.

366 Days with J. Jonah Jameson, Day 191: Bless me Robbie, for I have sinned

Panels from "Embedded: Behind Enemy Lines" in World War Hulk: Front Line #5 (December 2007), script by Paul Jenkins, pencils and inks by Ramon Bachs, colors by Matt Milla, letters by Dave Sharpe