Bully Says: Comics Oughta Be Fun!

Saturday, May 13, 2023

Today in Comics History, May 13, 1965: Kevin Somers gets the hat color absolutely correct

from House of Secrets (1996 series) #12 (DC/Vertigo, September 1997), script by Steven T. Seagle, pencils and inks by Guy Davis, colors by Kevin Somers, color separations by Heroic Age, letters by Todd Klein
Same as it ever was.

Today in Comics History, May 13, 1918: Story about Houdini trying so hard to be a James Bond thriller

from After Houdini (Insight, October 2018), script by Jeremy Holt, illustrated by John Lucas, colors by Adrian Crossa, letters by A Larger World Studios

Today in Comics History, May 13, 1903: Floor-sleeper roused

from House of Secrets (1996 series) #10 (DC/Vertigo, July 1997), script by Steven T. Seagle, layouts by Christian Højgaard, finishes by Teddy Kristiansen, colors by Bjarne Hansen, color separations by Heroic Age, letters by Todd Klein

Friday, May 12, 2023

Today in Comics History, May 12: Happy birthday, Charles Biro!

Born on this day in 1911: comic book writer and artist Charles Biro, who started up at the Harry Chesler Shop, Hillman Publications (where he co-created Airboy) and MLJ (Archie) Comics, but he's become best known as one of the great creatives of Lev Gleason Comics, where he worked extensively on Daredevil Comics, co-created Crime-Buster, and edited and created for the seminal Crime Does Not Pay.

'Okay, up against the wall, youse mugs!'

'Okay, up against the wall, youse mugs!'

"The 3 That Gave You the Big 3: Daredevil, Boy, Crime Does Not Pay" from Lev Gleason Comics cover-dated September 1946

Today in Comics History, May 12: Happy birthday, Yogi Berra!

Born on this day in 1925: Yogi Berra, champion baseball player and manager, malapropist, and cartoon bear.

'It's a girl, Pietro.'

from Yogi Berra one-shot (Fawcett, 1951), script by Charles Dexter, pencils and inks by Kurt Schaffenberger

Today in Comics History, May 12-18: These...are The Days of the Week

'Captain, I think your calendar is defective...all the pages are falling off at once.' 'Blistering barnacles!'

from The Adventures of Tintin v. 16: Destination Moon (Methuen, 1959); script, pencils, and inks by Hergé; translation by Leslie Lonsdale-Cooper and Michael Turner

Today in Comics History, May 12, 1965: Millford town council eagerly endorses depths and lengths

I don't think it's pure coincidence that two different House of Secrets stories take place on May 12.

Today in Comics History, May 12, 989: That's not Old English, you twit

from "Second Choice" in House of Secrets (1956 series) #85 (DC, April 1970), script by Gerry Conway, pencils by Gil Kane, inks by Neal Adams, letters by John Costanza

Today in Comics History, May 12, 1810: Boy, he really didn't like that Kevin Costner movie

'Uh huh. That's nice, Say, d'you think my face looks like Kirby drew it?'

from "The Banshee Bride of Ballybrooke" in Ghosts (1971 series) #94 (DC, November 1980), script by Mimai Kin, pencils and inks by Win Mortimer, colors by Jerry Serpe, letters by Shelly Leferman
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!

Thursday, May 11, 2023

Today in Comics History, May 11, 1932: Blimps: The Silent Killer

This is one time when kung fu grip really gets you into trouble.

from "The Jinx That Rode the Skies" in Ghosts (1971 series) #23 (DC, February 1974), pencils and inks by Sam Glanzman
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, May 11, 1956: Mad scientist discovers there's an app for that

Wow, he really needs to paint a second coat on that wall.

from The Last Mechanical Monster (Abrams, October 2022), by Brian Fies

Today in Comics History, May 11, 1965: Here (Millford) There Be Monsters

Good think her thumb is covering up that they forgot to put a photograph on the front page.

Today in Comics History, May 11, 2005: Bill Everett apologizes to Daredevil that he couldn't draw more than one issue

from Daredevil: Redemption #6 (Marvel, August 2005), script by David Hine, pencils and inks by Michael Gaydos, colors by Lee Loughridge, letters by Cory Petit

Today in Comics History, May 11, 1986: Waffle House placemat cartoon map of Happy Waffletown not drawn to scale

from Back to the Future (2015 series) #25 (IDW, October 2017), co-plot and script by John Barber, co-plot by Bob Gale, pencils by Marcelo Ferreira and Athila Fabbio, inks by Maria Keane, colors by Jose Luis Rio, letters by Shawn Lee

Today in Comics History, May 11: Secret identity secretly flaunted

Dick's horse is wearing a Rorschach mask!

from "The Girl Who Hated Supergirl!" in Action Comics #305 (DC/National, October 1963), script by Leo Dorfman, pencils and inks by Jim Mooney and John Forte

Wednesday, May 10, 2023

Today in Comics History, May 10: Happy birthday, Steve Buccellato!

Born on this day: comics colorist (and writer, penciller, and editor) Steve Buccellato (The Uncanny X-Men , The New Mutants, Wolverine, Generation X, Captain America and more)! He's also done work for DC (Legends of the Dark Knight, Bat Lash, etc.), Image, Tokyopop and Tibet House US, and created the comics Weasel Guy and Joey Berserk and Claire!

Unfortunately all that comics work has keep Steve from appearing in very many comics themselves, but I did find a tiny photo that he's in! Get out your magnifying glasses and wish Steve a very happy birthday! Please don't yell and alarm him at the immense giant who is screaming at him.

'help me! i'm tiny!'

from Marvel Age #112 (Marvel, May 1992)
Happy birthday, Steve!

Today in Comics History, May 10, 1952: Oh it's such a perfect day / I'm glad I spent it with you

from "I Concentrate on You" in Solo (2004 series) #1 (DC, December 2004); script, pencils, inks, and colors by Tim Sale, letters by Richard Starkings

Tuesday, May 09, 2023

Today in Comics History, May 9: Happy birthday, William Moulton Marston!

Born today in 1893: William Moulton Marston aka Charles Moulton, psychologist, polyamorist, developer of the modern lie detector. Oh yeah, he co-created a hero you may have heard of called Wonder Woman.

Marston predicted a lot of trends in psychology, feminism, and comics, but he never predicted the most insidious of them all: Flexographic printing.

Marston predicted a lot of trends in psychology, feminism, and comics, but he never predicted the most insidious of them all: Flexographic printing.

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

Today in Comics History, May 9, 1754: The secret ingredient on tonight's Iron Chef is snake

'Dear Editor-in-Chief, Pennsylvania Gazette: I and my wife were shocked and stunned to see a cut-apart snake on the front page of your otherwise fine newspaper. Please cancel our subscription immediately. PS: You should cut down on the 'Spider-Man: Threat or Menace' op-eds as well.'

from "Scoops...Pictures to Remember!" in Real Fact Comics #6 (DC, January 1947), pencils and inks by George Roussos

Today in Comics History, May 9: Then I found out he had a heart in glass

Just my luck when I'm half asleep in the morning, I put this instead of strawberry jam on my toast.

from "Heartline" in Chamber of Chills Magazine #23 (Harvey, May 1954), pencils by Manny Stallman, inks by John Giunta, letters by Joe Rosen