365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 165: Gee, what a real swell guy

House ad for Jimmy Olsen #95 (September 1966); printed in Batman #183 (August 1966)
Comic cover art: pencils by Curt Swan, inks by George Klein
Ad designed and lettered by Ira Schnapp

Bear Attack! Month, Day 14: Batteries > Bears

Ray-O-Vac battery ad from Detective Comics #156 (February 1950), creators unknown

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 164: A Life More Olsen

House ad for Jimmy Olsen #104 (September 1967); printed in Batman #194 (August 1967)
Comic cover art: pencils by Curt Swan, inks by George Klein, letters by Ira Schnapp
Ad designed and lettered by Ira Schnapp
Wait, what's this? Huh, it looks like the word WEIRDeST has been pasted on top of this ad!:


Hmm, I wonder what the word underneath it was before they posted "weirdest" on top. I'm going to make an educated guess, actually: because turning into a turtle or a witch doctor or Elastic Lad is just another day in the life of James Susan Olsen, I'm guessing it was probably this:


Tomorrow: Even more Olsen!

Bear Attack! Month, Day 13: For Wolverine, diplomacy fails yet again

Panels from Wolverine (1982 limited series) #1 (September 1982), script by Chris Claremont, breakdowns by Frank Miller, finishes by Joe Rubinstein, colors by Glynis Wein, letters by Tom Orzechowski

6,000.

Today in Comics History, June 13, 1943: Following a terrible mishap with spilled red ink, the tiny golf pencil is invented

cover of Sgt. Rock #372 (DC, January 1983), pencils and inks by Joe Kubert, letters by Gaspar Saladino

Today in Comics History, June 12, 2003: Titles for posts of this series become increasingly become increasingly uncomfortable to write

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.

Today in Comics History, June 12: Mrs. van Dell begins to regret naming her son "Strangler"

from "The Flying City Room" in Big Town #2 (DC, February 1951), script by France Herron, pencils by Dan Barry, inks by Sy Barry

Today in Comics History, June 12: Despite serious architectural subsidence, the Vandermeer ball goes on

from Batman #272 (DC, February 1976), script by David Vern, pencils by José Luis Garcia-López, inks by Ernie Chan, letter by Ben Oda

The Uncanny Prescience of Jason Todd

Panels from Batman #370 (April 1984), script by Doug Moench, pencils by Don Newton, inks by Alfredo Alcala, colors by Adrienne Roy, letters by Ben Oda

Today in Comics History, June 12, 2010: Slumping otters make the news

from Animal Man (2011 series) #20 (DC, July 2013), script by Jeff Lemire, pencils and inks by John Paul Leon, colors by Lovern Kindzierski, letters by Jared K. Fletcher

Today in Comics History, June 12, 1933: Pickpockets stalk the gold mine camp

from Doc Savage (1975 magazine series) #5 (Marvel, July 1976), script by Doug Moench, pencils and inks by Tony DeZuniga, letters by Irving Watanabe

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 163: Collect 'Em All

House ad for Batman #327 and Superman #351 (both September 1980);
printed in World's Finest Comics #264 (August-September 1980)
Comic cover art: Batman #327: pencils and inks by Joe Kubert, colors by Tatjana Wood
Superman #315: pencils by Ross Andru, inks by Dick Giordano

Ad designed and lettered by Gaspar Saladino

(Click picture to 8-more-pages-size)

Bear Attack! Month, Day 12: Manhunter's Martian Mitts Maul Monstrous Man-Bear

Panels from "The Last Days of J'onn J'onzz" in Detective Comics #306 (August 1962), script by Jack Miller (?), pencils and inks by Joe Certa
And now, the Three Greatest Lines of the Entire Silver Age!:

Batman Did It First: You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)

Hey, I bet you remember this exciting action sequence from the worst James Bond movie, Octopussy Moonraker, in which 007 is trapped in one of NASA's high-speed G-force test centrifuges, in which the astronauts not only train but they also mix their delicious, cold refreshing Tang. How will James get out, how will he get out?


Oh. He used a gadget. Cheatypants. James Bond is a big cheatypants!

Well, that was pretty impressive, Mr. Simon Templar, but I think that you know what we say around here: Batman Did It First! And he did it in this story entitled "Batman Pounds a Beat!" Not to be confused with the tale of financial espionage and how Bruce Wayne supported the United Kingdom's move from cash sterling to the euro, entitled "Batman Beats the Pound!"



Panels from "Batman Pounds a Beat!" in Batman #77 (June-July 1953), Batman and Robin figure pencils by Bob Kane, other pencils by Lew Schwartz, inks by Charles Paris
Whoa, mama! Batman did that in 1953, and James Bond didn't do that until 1979. Later if you watched it on the ABC Sunday Night Movie! In fact, since Ian Fleming published the book of Moonraker in 1954, maybe he stole the idea from Batman! Huh? Huh? Did you ever think of that? Fleming, ya rotten bat-plagiarist! Except the novel Moonraker had nothing to do with the movie and is in fact the only James Bond novel which takes place entirely in England, without a single scene in any exotic locale such as Hong Kong, Jamaica, or Gotham City. So I guess we can't pin this crime on Ian Fleming. (Darnit!) And the novel has been reprinted many, many more times than the Batman story.


Why, you might even say that Batman is...too hot to handle!


NOW CUT THAT OUT MISTER FLEMING

Play us off, Dame Shirley!

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 162: It'll Never Last

House ad for Lois Lane #86 (October 1968); printed in Teen Titans (1966 series) #17 (September-October 1968)
Comic cover art: pencils by Neal Adams, inks by Al Plastino

Bear Attack! Month, Day 11: Jack Nicklaus Attacks!

Panels from "Assignment: How I Spent My Summer Vacation" in Archie at Riverdale High #94 (December 1983), script by Rich Margopoulos, pencils by Stan Goldberg, inks by Rich Lapick, colors by Barry Grossman, letters by Bill Yoshida

I was going to do a big post for you tonight...

...but my copy of The Ditko Public Service Package arrived today!


You can order yourself up a copy here!

Today in Comics History, June 10: Jane gathers more to talk about with her therapist

from "The Wild One" in Young Lovers #17 (Charlton, December 1956), script by Joe Gill (?), pencils by Bill Molno (?), inks by Sal Trapani (?), letters by Jon D'Agostino

Today in Comics History, June 10, 1916: Ellie Marsten does not enjoy Fifty Shades of Grey

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 161: Today in 1969, DC totally gives up on attracting the female audience

House ad for Swing with Scooter #20 (August-September 1969)
and Jimmy Olsen #122 (September 1969); printed in Batman #214 (August 1969)

Comic cover art: Swing with Scooter #20: pencils and inks by Henry Scarpelli
Jimmy Olsen #122: pencils by Curt Swan, inks by Neal Adams

Ad designed and lettered by Gaspar Saladino

Bear Attack! Month, Day 10: Next up on PBS: Ken Burns's Animal Civil War

Panel from "George Washington's Teeth!" in Herbie #8 (March 1965), script by Shane O'Shea, pencils and inks by Ogden Whitney, letters by Ed Hamilton

Ten of a Kind: Hangin' Out in the 3-1-3

(More Ten of a Kind here.)

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 160: He knows his mind all right, your Anti-Superman

House ad for World's Finest Comics #159 (August 1966); printed in Batman #182 (July-August 1966)
Comic cover art: pencils by Curt Swan, inks by George Klein, letters by Ira Schnapp
What's this? Anti-Superman and Anti-Batman? Why, this sounds like the Silver Ageiest comic book of them all! Let's take a look!


Panels from "The Cape and Cowl Crooks" in World's Finest Comics #159 (August 1966), script by Edmond Hamilton, pencils by Curt Swan, inks by George Klein
Anti-Superman and Anti-Batman! They're Clark and Bruce's aunties evil doubles! They're paying Superman back for what he and Batman have done to "great men" like Luthor, Brainiac and Pen...BWAH-HA-HA-HA-HA! No, I'm sorry, I couldn't complete that sentence with the word "Penguin" and still keep a straight face.


Everything Superman and Batman aren't, they are! Like ruthless, evil, and disobedient of common traffic laws and courtesies. Here, Anti-Batman anti-swipes Batman into a statue of himself. Holy Antidisestablishmentarianism, Batman!


How distressing is this macabre chain of events? So distressing that Lois Lane can't get her job done! So...business pretty much as usual then, huh?


Anti-Batman: unmasked! Why, it appears to be the time-traveling young Officer Jim Gordon, fresh from his appearance in Batman: Year Minus Ten. And he would have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for you meddling caped crusaders!


Which can only mean that Anti-Superman can be but one single person: young Lex Luthor Perry White! After exposing themselves to a formula that turns them evil (aka Arby's Horsey Sauce), Jim and Perry decide to de-age themselves in order to create mischief and havoc for the World's Finest team. That...that makes sense...by Silver Age standards...kind of.



Anti-Superman and Anti-Batman! Beware, because they just might be...your closest friends! And maybe, just maybe, if you're good, they'll come back in the New 52. THIS I SWEAR.

Bear Attack! Month, Day 9: In which Nadia is a badass

Panel from Classics Illustrated #28 [Jules Verne's Michael Strogoff] (September 1948), script adaptation by Pat Adam, pencils and inks by Arnold Hicks