Today in Comics History, June 8, 1938: Not these guys again

from "The Death-Cheaters of Gotham City!" in Batman (1940 series) #72 (DC, August 1952), script by David Vern, pencils and inks by Jim Mooney, letters by Ira Schnapp
Yep: John Grant, who, according to that panel above, died today, June 8...


OH COME ON STORY IT'S THE VERY NEXT PANEL

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 159: Who wrote the copy for this ad...Dr. Thirteen?

House ad for Sensation Mystery #111 (September-October 1952)
and The Phantom Stranger (1952 series) #1 (August-September 1952),
printed in House of Mystery #6 (September 1952)
Comic cover art: Sensation Mystery #111: pencils by Carmine Infantino, inks by Sy Barry
The Phantom Stranger #1: pencils by Murphy Anderson, girl figure pencilled by Frank Giacoia, inks by Sy Barry

Ad designed and lettered by Ira Schnapp

Bear Attack! Month, Day 8: Just be glad I spared you the panel of the bear cleaving a raccoon in half

Panels from The Unwritten #43 (January 2013); co-plot and script by Mike Carey; co-plot, pencils, and inks by Peter Gross, colors by Chris Chuckry, letters by Todd Klein

The Seven Deadly Sins of Chili Storm

And let us not forget:

Today in Comics History, June 7: Roy Raymond successfully detects glue

from "The Most Amazing Club in the World!" in Detective Comics #219 (DC, May 1955), pencils and inks by Ruben Moreira

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 158: DC takes out advertising space on Wonder Woman's rear end*

Two-page house ad for World of Krypton #2 (August 1979), All-Out War #1 (September-October 1979), and Time Warp #1 (October-November 1979), printed in Batman #313 (July 1979)

Comic cover art: World of Krypton #2: pencils by Ross Andru, inks by Dick Giordano
All-Out War #1: pencils and inks by Joe Kubert, colors by Tatjana Wood
Time Warp #1: pencils and inks by Mike Kaluta

(Click picture to Rao-size)

A couple observations: the ad appears to say that the World of Krypton issue is #3, but that's actually the cover to #2.


And notice that two of the captions on the ad version of All-Out War are changed by the time the comic goes to press: "The Viking from Hell" becomes "The Viking Commando"; seeing as this is his first appearance, it's a good thing they decided on a name that wouldn't have the comic taken away from newsstands by parents irate over the double hockey-sticks word. (Altho' you could definitely buy the comic book Son of Satan.) And thankfully, "Soul Brother with Wings" become just "Brother with Wings." Also: The Viking Commando got an Army helmet pasted onto his head. All he needs now is a pair of little wings pasted onto the helmet.



*Once you've seen it, you can't unsee it.

Today in Comics History, June 7, 2003: Teenage girl tragically snaps in two at waist

from Batman: Orphans #1 (DC, February 2011), script by Eddie Berganza, pencils by Carlo Barberi, inks by Juan Vlasco, colors by Chuck Pires, letters by John E. Workman, Jr.

Bear Attack! Month, Day 7: Once again Batman's life is saved by a gun

Panels from "The North Pole Crimes!" in World's Finest Comics #7 (Autumn 1942), script by Bill Finger, pencils by Bob Kane, inks by Jerry Robinson
A great panel deserves an encore:

Feeling listless, run down and tired in the summer?

Maybe you aren't eating enough meat!


Advertisement from the American Meat Institute, from Life (June 23, 1952)

Today in Comics History, June 6: Tom Taylor sells out one-man show of him staring at his shoes for ninety minutes

from The Unwritten #37 (DC/Vertugo, July 2012); plot, pencils, and inks by Peter Gross; script by Mike Carey; colors by Chris Chuckry

Say, what date is An Evening with Tom Taylor at the Queensland Performing Arts Center again? June 6, you say?


from The Unwritten #40 (DC/Vertigo, October 2012); plot, pencils, and inks by Peter Gross; script by Mike Carey; colors by Chris Chuckry; letters by Todd Klein

Today in Comics History, June 6, 1916: Bat ears are installed on the original Wayne Manor

from Sandman (1989 series) #1 (DC, January 1989), script by Neil Gaiman, pencils by Sam Kieth, inks by Mike Dringenberg, colors by Robbie Busch, letters by Todd Klein

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 157: You knocked my block off!

House ad for Batman #194 (August 1967); printed in Detective Comics #365 (July 1967)
Ad designed and lettered by Ira Schnapp
This classic cover, one of the most dynamic of Batman's "New Look" era, is too great to only see it in miniature in the house ad. Here's a better look:


Cover of Batman #194 (August 1967), pencils by Carmine Infantino, inks by Murphy Anderson, colors by Jack Adler (?), letters by Ira Schnapp
So, always remember:

Bear Attack! Month, Day 6: At least it wasn't a golden bear

Page from "The House That Fought Green Lantern!" in Green Lantern (1960 series) #28 (April 1964), script by Gardner Fox, pencils by Gil Kane, inks by Joe Giella, letters by Gaspar Saladino

Today in Comics History, June 5: Circus visitor murdered with custard pie and seltzer

from "The Man Who Couldn't Be Tried Twice!" in Batman #118 (DC, September 1958), script by Bill Finger, pencils by Bob Kane, inks by Ray Burnley, letters by Ira Schnapp

Stuff Bully Got: In the Bag

Pal Mike Sterling recently posted about Whitman comic book pre-packs, those wonderful treasure chests of fun pre-packaged inside plastic bags and sold for mere pennies at your local non-comics retailer (and here's another, earlier post on the pre-pack bags by Mike). I love/loved/will continue to love these packs; they were my first foray into back-issue buying with the Star Wars, Micronauts and Battlestar Galactica sets that Mike shows off. I never know what the technical term for those bags is called, but at least one publisher had their own specific terminology:


Comicpac ad printed in Detective Comics #306 (August 1962)

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 156: Here's that Batman/Daredevil crossover you asked for

House ad for Batman #204 (August 1968); printed in Batman #203 (August 1968)
Comic cover art: pencils by Irv Novick, inks by Irv Novick (?) or Mike Esposito (?), letters by Gaspar Saladino (?)
Ad designed and lettered by Gaspar Saladino

Bear Attack! Month, Day 5: OH BOTHER! GIMME THAT HUNNY!

Panel from "The Museum That Came To Life" in House of Mystery #73 (April 1958), pencils and inks by Bill Ely

Today in Comics History: Young man avoids gangs thanks to murky coloring

Panel from Batman: Orphans #1 (Early February 2011), script by Eddie Berganza, pencils by Carlo Barberi, inks by Juan Vlasco, colors by Chuck Pires, letters by John E. Workman, Jr.

Today in Comics History Future: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Safe

Panel from "Sorcerers of Space!" in Mystery in Space #39 (August-September 1957), script by John Broome, pencils by Sid Greene, inks by Joe Giella
Now tell me you wouldn't buy this comic book when you saw it on the newsstand:
Cover of Mystery in Space #39 (August-September 1957), pencils by Gil Kane, wash by Jack Adler

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 155: Won't it be exciting when we reach issue #900 oh wait

House ad for Detective Comics #400 (June 1970); printed in Detective Comics #398 (April 1970)

Today in Comics History: World's stupidest heist actually succeeds

Panel from Batman #315 (September 1979), script by Len Wein, pencils by Irv Novick, inks by Frank McLaughlin, colors by Glynis Wein, letters by Ben Oda

Today in Comics History: J'onn J'onnz makes sure no one forgets his birthday

Panels from the Martian Manhunter story "The Man With 20 Lives" in Detective Comics #227 (January 1956), script by Joe Samachson, pencils and inks by Joe Certa

Bear Attack! Month, Day 4: And Now Here's Clark Kent for the NRA

Panels from "Clark Kent, He-Man!" in Adventure Comics #305 (February 1963), pencils and inks by George Papp, letters by Joe Letterese

Today in Comics History: William Holden dies in a tragic horse-riding accident

Panel from "The Wild One" in Young Lovers #17 (Charlton, December 1956), creators unknown

Comics News for June 3, 2013

Sadistic Parrot is Sadistic, Archie Teams Up with Wasp, Ghost of Ronald Reagan Visits Brian Michael Bendis

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 154: Also, we have a comic book called Action, if you're interested in that

House ad for Flash #313, Arak, Son of Thunder #13, The Saga of the Swamp Thing #5, The Fury of Firestorm, The Nuclear Man #4, The House of Mystery #308 [I, Vampire] (all September 1982); printed in Wonder Woman #295 (September 1982)
Ad designed and lettered by Gaspar Saladino

Bear Attack! Month, Day 3: Nazi Bear attacks Wolf Squadron

Splash page from "Runaway Bear" in Showcase #2 [Kings of the Wild] (May-June 1956), pencils and inks by Russ Heath

Today in Comics History: Batman is at last able to show off his extensive knowledge of women's skill for walking in heels

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

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 153: And then Zatara made the sun explode

House ad for Action Comics (1938 series) #14 (July 1939); printed in Superman (1939 series) #1 (Summer 1939)
Comic cover art: pencils and inks by Fred Guardineer
And here's that framable Superman poster the ad promises in the lower right hand corner!:


Back cover pin-up from Superman (1939 series) #1 (Summer 1939), pencils and inks by Joe Shuster

Today in Comics History: Robin discovers Batman's inability to alphabetize

Panel from "The Robberies in the Bat-Cave" in Detective Comics #177 (November 1951), script by Bill Finger (?), pencils by Dick Sprang, inks by Charles Paris

Today in Comics History: Cereal company headquarters mysteriously burns to ground

Donald Duck gag strip from Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #132 (September 1951), script by Bob Karp, pencils and inks by Al Taliaferro

Bear Attack! Month, Day 2: The Cinnamon Bear's Revenge

Page from Batman #285 (March 1977), script by David Vern, pencils by Romeo Tanghal, inks by Frank Springer