Today in Comics History, January 28: Happy birthday, Violet Gray! Maybe.

Hey, January 28 is Violet's birthday! Happy birthday, Violet Gray!


from Peanuts (United Feature Syndicate, January 29, 1955), by Charles M. Schulz
Or...is it on June 17?!? What kinda con game are you playing here, Violet?


from Peanuts (United Feature Syndicate, June 17, 1962), by Charles M. Schulz
(Be back here on June 17 to see these same strips in the opposite direction, I guess!)

Today in Comics History, January 28, 1725: Long-time companion outs dead man

from "Peter the Great, Father of Russia" in Real Life Comics #6 (Pines, July 1942), creators unknown

Today in Comics History, January 26, 1986: Newspaper page is laid out by avid scrapbooker

from Lois Lane (1986 miniseries) #2 (DC, September 1986), script by Mindy Newell, pencils and inks by Gray Morrow, colors by Joe Orlando, letters by Agustin Mas
Wow, 100 plastic gloves for under three bucks?!?

Today in Comics History, January 23, 1942-43: War is never "awesome," but this picture kinda makes it looks like that

from "Fighting Back in New Guinea" in Combat (1961 series) #8 (Dell, April 1963), script by Paul S. Newman, pencils and inks by Sam Glanzman

Today in Comics History, January 23, 1944: The Battle of Anzio continues, and doesn't have a happy ending for this guy

from "Corporal Stanford: The Hero of Anzio" in War Comics (1951 series) #2 (Marvel/Atlas, February 1951), pencils and inks by Pete Morisi

Today in Comics History, January 20, 1943: The only good Nazi is a dead Nazi

from The Vain #2 (Oni, November 2020), script by Eliot Rahal, pencils and inks by Emily Pearson, colors by Fred C. Stressing, color assists by Macy Kahn, letters by Crank!
(Click top picture to blitzkrieg-size)

Today in Comics History, January 20, 2001: Luthor is inaugurated; insolent puppies crash party

from Superman: The Man of Steel #110 (DC, March 2001), script by Mark Schultz, pencils by Doug Mahnke, inks by Tom Nguyen, colors by Wildstorm FX, letters by Ken Lopez

Today in Comics History, January 20, 1947: Happy birthday, Flash Thompson! Hope you survive the experience!

from Spider-Man: Life Story #2 (Marvel, June 2019), script by Chip Zdarsky, pencils by Mark Bagley, inks by Drew Hennessy, colors by Frank D'Armata, letters by Travis Lanham
It might just be the persective, but that is one big-ass tombstone. Well, it befits the man, the legend that is...Flash Thompson.

Today in Comics History, January 20, 2009: Obama is inaugurated; supervillain crashes party

from "Spidey Meets the President!" in Amazing Spider-Man #583 (Marvel, March 2009), script by Zeb Wells, pencils and inks by Todd Nauck, colors by Frank D'Armata, letters by Jared K. Fletcher

Today in Comics History, January 20, 1977: Carter is inaugurated; Fantastic Four crash party

from Marvel Two-in-One #27 (Marvel, March 1977), script by Marv Wolfman, pencils by Ron Wilson, inks by Pablo Marcos, colors by Len Wein, letters by John Costanza

Today in Comics History, January 16, 1942: Fellas, it's too rough to feed ya

How It Started:


from "Odyssey on a Raft" in Real Life Comics #11 (Pines, May 1943), creators unidentified
How It's Going:

Today in Comics History, January 14, 2009: J. Jonah Jameson is blissfully unaware the entire front page of the Daily Bugle has been turned over to recapping Spider-Man comics

recap page from Amazing Spider-Man #583 (March 2009), pencils by Barry Kitson, inks by Mark Farmer

Today in Comics History, January 12, 1912: United States Mail travels faster than today

from "Scoops...Pictures to Remember" in Real Facts Comics #4 (DC, September 1946), pencils and inks by George Roussos

Today in Comics History, January 12, 1989: Superhero is called a hockey puck

from Kirby: Genesis: Silver Star #1 (Dynamite, November 2011), co-plot by Alex Ross, co-plot and script by Jai Nitz, pencils by Johnny Desjardins, colors by Vinicius Andrade, letters by Simon Bowland

Today in Comics History, January 12, 1891: Wilkie Collins suddenly has an inspiration

from Eclipso: The Darkness Within #1* (DC, July 1992), co-plot and script by Robert Loren Fleming, co-plot and breakdowns by Keith Giffen, pencils by Bart Sears, inks by Randy Elliott and Mark Pennigton, colors by Tom McGraw, letters by Gaspar Saladino
*Yes, the one with the fake plastic black diamond glued to the cover that gouges a hole in whatever comic you have stored in front of it.

Today in Comics History, January 8, 1950: Manhattan takes the blue-tailed-fly

from Doomsday Clock #7 (DC, November 2018), script by Geoff Johns, pencils and inks by Gary Frank, colors by Brad Anderson, letters by Rob Leigh

Today in Comics History, January 7, 1977: Silver Star battles the Brat Pack

from Kirby: Genesis: Silver Star #1 (Dynamite, November 2011), co-plot by Alex Ross, co-plot and script by Jai Nitz, pencils by Johnny Desjardins, colors by Vinicius Andrade, letters by Simon Bowland

Today in Comics History, January 6, 1942: Corporal Jacob will later be disappointed because he mistakenly heard "Batman Peninsula"

from "One-Man Army" in Real Life Comics #9 (Pines, January 1943), creators unknown

Today in Comics History, January 5, 1972: Q: How do you get to Carnegie Hall? A: Create Ravage 2099.

Today! (In 1972!):


from The Mighty Marvel Calendar 1977 (Marvel, 1976)


from Bullpen Bulletins in Marvel Comics cover-dated June 1972



from letter column in Sgt. Fury (1963 series) #110 (Marvel, May 1973), by Adrienne Roy
Wait...Adrienne Roy, the acclaimed colorist for DC Comics? No wonder she didn't get work at Marvel!

Edited to add on January 5, 2022 (in green)

Abraham Riesman's recent Stan biography tells a more brutal story:


from True Believer: The Rise and Fall of Stan Lee (Crown, February 2021), by Abraham Riesman

Today in Comics History, January 5: This is clearly a job for Squirrel Girl

from "The Big Heist" in Gang Busters #26 (DC, February 1952), pencils and inks by John Lehti

Today in Comics History, January 4, 1975: Nighthawk crosses over to DC Universe; steals Silver St. Cloud from Bruce Wayne

from Giant-Size Defenders #4 (Marvel. April 1975), script by Steve Gerber, pencils by Don Heck, inks by Vince Colletta, colors by Petra Goldberg, letters by Gaspar Saladino

Today in Comics History, January 4, 2002: So long, Vesper Fairchild...looks like you didn't survive the experience!

cover of Batgirl #27 (DC, June 2002), art by Damion Scott, Robert Campanella, and Patrick Martin

Today in Comics History, January 1, 1943: And that's why they call it the Nazi Party

from Jenny Sparks: The Secret History of the Authority #4 (WildStorm, November 2000), script by Mark Millar, pencils by John McCrea, inks by James Hodgkins, colors by Ian Hannin, letters by Bill O'Neil

Today in Comics History, January 1, 1776: Maybe you oughta take the Union Jack outta your flag, George

from "The Story of Old Glory" in Real Life Comics #4 (Pines, April 1942), creators uncredited

Today in Comics History, January 1: Aunt May gave Peter new luggage for Christmas

from Spider-Man Unlimited (1993 series) #15 (Marvel, February 1997), script by Tom DeFalco, pencils by Joe Bennett, inks by Tim Dzon, colors by Ian Laughlin, letters by Jack Morelli

Stuff Bully Got (for Christmas): Jigsaw Puzzle!

My Aunt Lorrie (John's sister) sent us this cool jigsaw puzzle for Christmas! Thank you, Aunt Lorrie!


But what is this strange antique object in the picture?!? I'm sure I've never seen any such thing in my whole life!

Today in Comics History, January 1, 1913: Hitler is fired

from Jenny Sparks: The Secret History of the Authority #4 (WildStorm, November 2000), script by Mark Millar, pencils by John McCrea, inks by James Hodgkins, colors by Ian Hannin, letters by Bill O'Neil

Today In Comics History, January 1, 1863: Whoa, don't cross that off your "finished" list yet, Lincoln

from "The Case of the Patriotic Crimes!" in All-Star Comics #41 (DC, June-July 1948), script by John Broome, pencils by Carmine Infantino, inks by Frank Giacoia

Today in Comics History, January 1, 1913: Happy birthday, Jenny Sparks!

Jenny Sparks celebrates her 13th birthday with a Knickerbocker Glory and a Camel!


from Jenny Sparks: The Secret History of the Authority #4 (WildStorm, November 2000), script by Mark Millar, pencils by John McCrea, inks by James Hodgkins, colors by Ian Hannin, letters by Bill O'Neil

Today in Comics History, January 1, 1989: Cult building conveniently painted bright orange

from D.P. 7 #31 (Marvel/New Universe, May 1989), script by Mark Gruenwald, pencils by Paul Ryan, inks by Danny Bulanadi, colors by Paul Becton, letters by Janice Chiang

Today in Comics History, January 1, 2000, New Year's Day: Why not 2 K?

from "Triumph Over Tragedy" in Superman: Lex 2000 one-shot (DC, January 2001), script by Jeph Loeb, pencils by Tony Harris, inks by Ray Snyder, colors by Tanya Horie and Richard Horie, letters by Comicraft
(Click top picture to Tobor, Radar Robot-size)

Today in Comics History, New Year's Day, January 1, 2021: A stately pleasure-dome reliquary

And after sixty seconds...we're back!


from "Deadly New Year-- 2021!" in Superman (1939 series) #368 (DC, February 1982), script by Bob Rozakis, pencils by Alex Saviuk, inks by Frank Chiaramonte, colors by Tom Ziuko, letters by John Costanza
Hah! As if the kids today even know about the droid members of the Royal Canadians.


What? According to this comic book published in 1982, everybody died in 2020 of some sort of virulent disease. Ya don't say, DC Comics.

Happy New Year and continue to stay safe, everybody.

Today in Comics History, New Year's Eve, December 31, 2020: I saw this film about some people who lived in a dome / In a beautiful field next to a river of foam

Old Man Kent wishes you a Happy New Year! He also wishes those dang kids would get off his dome.


from "Deadly New Year-- 2021!" in Superman (1939 series) #368 (DC, February 1982), script by Bob Rozakis, pencils by Alex Saviuk, inks by Frank Chiaramonte, colors by Tom Ziuko, letters by John Costanza
How will it all end? Find out...in sixty seconds!