Today in Comics History, June 14: Flag Day Special: Correct and Incorrect Flag Display Etiquette in a Comic Book Universe

Correct flag display in a comic book universe:

Incorrect flag display in a comic book universe:

Do not leap through flag.





Do not shoot flag.





Do not set flag on fire.





I said, do not set flag on fire.





What did I just tell you?!?





Do not erect any flags higher than the American flag.





If you win a a big comic book crossover battle,
don't use the flag to be a total dick about it.





Do not use the flag as a cheap variant cover stunt.

What will happen if you use incorrect flag display in a comic book universe:

This guy will get pissed at you.

Today in Comics History, June 14, 1920: Underwhelming superhero with world's stupidest birthmark is born

from Our Flag Comics #2 (Ace, October 1941), pencils by Harry Anderson
Then, twenty-one years later...


WHOA THAT'S QUITE A JUMP CUT


Man, Lincoln there looks like he's about to hand down the death sentence, doesn't he? Luckily, Flag McFlagg not his real name knows what to do with this amazing new superpower: financially benefit himself! Oh, wait, no, fight crime.


Thus began the popular criminal custom of burning the American flag.

There Is No Hope in Crime Alley, Night 13

Panel from Batman #459 (February 1991), script by Alan Grant, pencils by Norm Breyfogle, inks by Steve Mitchell, colors by Adrienne Roy, letters by Todd Klein

There Is No Hope in Crime Alley, Night 12

Pages from Batman #622 (February 2004), script by Brian Azzarello, pencils and inks by Eduardo Risso, colors by Patricia Mulvihill, letters by Clem Robins

Today in Comics History, June 12, 1989: Just another normal day at the First National Bank of San Simian

from Angel and the Ape (1991 series) #1 (April 1991), script and pencils by Phil Foglio, inks by Keith Wilson, colors by Tom Ziuko, letters by John Workman

There Is No Hope in Crime Alley, Night 11

Panels from Batman and the Outsiders (1983 series) #1 (August 1983); script by Mike W. Barr;
pencils, inks, and letters by Jim Aparo

Here's my problem with the New 52 art style

AIEEEEEEEE VICKY VALE HAS BEEN INJECTED WITH JOKER VENOM


Panel from Batman Eternal #5 (July 2014), co-plot by Scott Snyder, co-plot and script by James Tynion IV, pencils and inks by Andy Clarke, colors by Kevin Senft, letters by Nick J. Napolitano

Today in Comics History, June 11, 1983: It's Rabbit Season Duck Season

from Ambush Bug #3 (DC, August 1985), plot and pencils by Keith Giffen, script by Robert Fleming, inks by Bob Oksner, colors by Tony Tollin, letters by John Costanza

There Is No Hope in Crime Alley, Night 10

Panels from Batman Confidential #42 (May 2010); script, pencils, and inks by Sam Kieth; colors by Jose Villarrubia and Sam Kieth; letters by Sal Cipriano
7,000.

Today in Comics History, June 10: Man jumps to conclusions after reading blank newspaper

from "Dial...City Morgue!" in Strange Tales (1951 series) #4 (December 1951), pencils and inks by Sol Brodsky, letters by Joe Letterese

There Is No Hope in Crime Alley, Night 9

Panel from Batman #644 (Late October 2005), script by Bill Willingham, pencils by Giuseppe Camuncoli, inks by Sandra Hope, colors by Jason Wright, letters by Jared K. Fletcher

Today in Comics History, June 9: Robin instantly snaps into immediate action, 17 days later

from "The Parking Lot Bandit Strikes Again!" in Detective Comics #451 (September 1975), script by Bob Rozakis, pencils by Al Milgrom, inks by Terry Austin

So long, Rik.

Rick: I feel sorry for you, you zeros! You nobodies! What's going to live on after you die? I'll tell you — nothing! That's what! [struggling to hang himself] Oh, this is pathetic!
[he gives up trying to hang himself, then sees a jar of pills and attempts to overdose]
Neil: [upon seeing Rick eating the pills] Vyv, Vyv — er, can you, like, actually kill yourself with laxative pills?
Vyvyan: I don't know, Neil, but I'm going to stay and find out!
Neil: I think I'm going up to my room for a bit!
[Rick swallows pills in front of Neil as he leaves]
Rick: This house will become a shrine, and punks and skins and rastas will all gather round and hold their hands in sorrow for their fallen leader. And all the grown-ups will say, "But why are the kids crying?" And the kids will say, "Haven't you heard? Rick is dead! The People's Poet is dead!"
[Vyvyan crouches down to watch Rick's rear as he talks]
Rick: And then one particularly sensitive and articulate teenager will say, "Other kids, do you understand nothing? How can Rick be dead when we still have his poems?" And then another kid will say... [he then farts loudly and realises what he's been taking]



Rik Mayall
1958-2014

There Is No Hope in Crime Alley, Night 8

Panel from Batman: Cacophony #3 (March 2009), script by Kevin Smith, pencils by Walt Flanagan, inks by Sandra Hope, colors by Guy Major, letters by Jared K. Fletcher

Today in Comics History, June 8, 1954: German man gazes wistfully into the window of "Sausages, Coils, Steins and Armadillos 'Я' Us"

from "For Services Rendered!" in Yellow Claw #1 (Marvel/Atlas, October 1956), script by Stan Lee, pencils and inks by Werner Roth

There Is No Hope in Crime Alley, Night 7

Panels from Batman (2011 series) #29 (May 2014), script by Scott Snyder, pencils by Greg Capullo, inks by Danny Miki, colors by FCO Plascencia, letters by Steve Wands

Today in Comics History, June 7, 1989: Woody Harrelson launched into space

from "Starlord: First House: Earth!" in Marvel Preview #4 (Marvel, January 1976), script by Steve Englehart, pencils and inks by Steve Gan

There Is No Hope in Crime Alley, Night 6

Panels from Batman #603 (July 2002), script by Ed Brubaker, pencils and inks by Sean Phillips, colors by Gregory Wright, color separations by Wildstorm F/X, letters by John Costanza

Today in Comics History, June 6: Black Mask rethinks his decision to buy two twin beds

from Batman #387 (DC, September 1985), script by Doug Moench, pencils and inks by Tom Mandrake, colors by Adrienne Roy, letters by John Costanza

Today in Comics History, June 6: A T-Rex slowly, stealthily sneaks up on the Dynamic Duo

from Batman #387 (DC, September 1985), script by Doug Moench, pencils and inks by Tom Mandrake, colors by Adrienne Roy, letters by John Costanza

Today in Comics History, June 6, 1970: Once again, Peter Parker doesn't get a byline for his photographs

from "The Widow and the Militants" in Amazing Adventures (1970 series) #3 (Marvel, November 1970), script by Gary Friedrich, pencils by Gene Colan, inks by Bill Everett, letters by Artie Simek

Today in Comics History, June 6: Black Baron gets pwned by Princess Peach

from "The Diary of a Desperado" in Adventure Comics #145 (October 1949), script by Otto Binder, pencils and inks by George Papp

There Is No Hope in Crime Alley, Night 5

Panel from Year One: Batman/Scarecrow #2 (August 2005), script by Bruce Jones, pencils and inks by Sean Murphy, colors and color separations by Lee Loughridge, letters by Nick J. Napolitano

There Is No Hope in Crime Alley, Night 4

Panel from Detective Comics #593 (December 1988), script by Alan Grant, pencils by Norm Breyfogle, inks by Steve Mitchell, colors by Adrienne Roy, letters by Todd Klein

There Is No Hope in Crime Alley, Night 3

Panels from Batman and the Outsiders (1983 series) #13 (August 1984), script by Mike W. Barr, pencils by Dan Day, inks by Pablo Marcos, colors by Adrienne Roy, letters by Ben Oda

There Is No Hope in Crime Alley, Night 2

Panels from Legends of the Dark Knight #36 digital comic (February 2013), script by Peter Milligan, pencils and inks by Riccardo Burchielli, colors by Wendy Broome with Randy Mayor, letters by Saida Temofonte

There Is No Hope in Crime Alley, Night 1

Panels from Batman #613 (May 2003), script by Jeph Loeb, pencils by Jim Lee, inks by Scott Williams, colors by Alex Sinclair, letters by Richard Starkings

Today in Comics History, June 1, 1990: Spider-Man somehow becomes a shill for Barbara Bush

inside front cover house ad from Adventures in Reading Starring the Amazing Spider-Man #1 one-shot PSA comic (Marvel, 1990), pencils and inks by John Romita Sr. (?)

Today in Comics History, May 31: Penguin is nervous because the street has turned to oatmeal

from Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #71 (DC, November 2013), script by Marc Guggenheim, pencils and inks by Federico Dallocchio, colors by Alejandro Sanchez, letters by Saida Temofonte

Today in Comics History, May 30, 1951: George gets to work on time

from "The Shadow!" in Strange Tales #3 (Marvel/Atlas, October 1951), pencils and inks by Joe Maneely

Today in Comics History, May 27, 1804: Following a bloody battle, mice replace birds as comic book artists

from Manifest Destiny #3 (Image, January 2014), script by Chris Dingess, pencils and inks by Matthew Roberts, colors by Owen Gieni, letters by Pat Brosseau

Remember.

from Sgt. Rock #363 (DC, April 1982), script by Robert Kanigher, pencils and inks by Frank Redondo, colors by Tatjana Wood, letters by Esphid Mahilum

Today in Comics History, May 26, 1804: Comic book artists continue to be put out of work by birds

Panel from Manifest Destiny #3 (Image, January 2014), script by Chris Dingess, pencils and inks by Matthew Roberts, colors by Owen Gieni, letters by Pat Brosseau

Today in Comics History, May 23, 1804: Comic book continues to be viewed from a bird's POV

from Manifest Destiny #2 (Image, December 2013), script by Chris Dingess, pencils and inks by Matthew Roberts, colors by Owen Gieni, letters by Pat Brosseau

Today in Comics History, May 23, 1804: Comic book is narrated entirely by heron

from Manifest Destiny #1 (Image, November 2013), script by Chris Dingess, pencils and inks by Matthew Roberts, colors by Owen Gieni, letters by Pat Brosseau

At 13th Dimension: The Crazy Costumes of Kitty Pryde

Do you know what week it is? Why, yes indeed, it's the week of May 18th. Also this week, over at 13th Dimension, it's X-Men Week, which means they must have another movie comin' out or something. What is this, X-Men XXII: The Search for Maggott? In any case, my best pal John has written about The Crazy Costumes of Kitty Pryde, and you know the drill, yadda yadda yadda, I can't figger out why he left out this amazing costume: Baby Kitty Pryde!


Panels from Excalibur (1988 series) #6 (March 1989), script by Chris Claremont, pencils by Alan Davis, inks by Paul Neary, colors by Francois Mouly, letters by Tom Orzechowski
Oh, wait, I think I can guess why he left it out.

Today in Comics History, May 19, 1981: Death Row Criminal Uses Comics Lettering Barred I Correctly

from Fantastic Four (1961 series) #233 (August 1981); script, pencils, and inks by John Byrne, colors by Glynis Wein, letters by Jim Novak

Today in Comics History, May 16, 2002: Toyfare predicts a better movie than what we actually got

from "Mr. Spidey Goes to Coruscant" in Toyfare #26 (Wizard, October 1999), by Pat McCollum, Tom Root, and Douglas Goldstein

At 13th Dimension: Godzilla vs. the Marvel Universe!

ROWWWWWWWWWWR! "Dine-saw!" (as my little pal George Pig would say). Why, that's no mere dinosaur, that's the king of the dinosaurs, and that statement should enable you to complete the following analogy question from the B.S.A.T. (Bully's Special Aptitude Test):

Comic book artist:Jack Kirby :: dinosaur:???????

Why of course, the answer is GODZILLA! Yes, over at 13th Dimension, it's time to salute Godzilla, the big guy who destroys Tokyo with more flair and panache than any monster (I'm lookin' at you, Gamera). That's why my best pal John has written about The Ultimate Battle...GODZILLA vs. the Marvel Universe!, which is all about Big G's 1977-1979 Marvel comic book series and how he tramped across Earth-616's America from coast to coast! And yet as usual John left out my favorite moment in the series, Godzilla versus Cowboys!


Page from Godzilla #16 (November 1978), script by Doug Moench, pencils by Herb Trimpe, inks by Dan Green, colors by Francois Mouly, letters by Jean Simek
Whoa, that cowboy in the lower left is plum hopped up on loco weed, ain't he? Well, at least he probably won't try to do anything too stupid...


Once again, that's Godzilla vs. the Marvel Universe over at 13th Dimension! And while you're there, don't forget to enter to win a Dimaond Select Godzilla! (Because I can't.) RAWRRRRRRRRR!