Today in Comics History, June 6, 1924: Commissioner Gordon gets sheepskin; sheep is furious

from Super DC Calendar 1976 (DC, 1975), letters by Ben Oda
Well, accordin' to the ol' clock on the wall Super DC Calendar '76, today's the day James Gordon (that's Commissioner Gordon to those of you on this side of the blinking red hotline phone) got his law degree, and excuse me if I'm a little bit skeptical. I mean, you assign those dates at random, SupeCal, but do they really have a basis in canon? Has this date even ever appeared previously in a comic book?


from "The Private Life of Commissioner Gordon" in World's Finest Comics #53 (DC, August 1951), script by David Vern, pencils by Dick Sprang, inks by Charles Paris
Oh! Huh! Well, whaddaya know.

Happy law school graduation anniversary to you, Commissioner Gordon, the finest 122-year-old detective on the force!

Today in Comics History, June 6: Happy birthday, Ring Lardner!

Born today in 1885: prolific and acclaimed author Ring Lardner [Sr.], sports writer, journalist, satirist and author of dozens of books including You Know Me Al: A Busher’s Letters, Gullible's Travels, Etc., The Big Town, June Moon, Young Immigrunts, Regular Fellows I Have Met, and The Lardner of the Rings. I made up that last one to see if you were paying attention, because Ring doesn't get a lot of play in the comics books. i guess he isn't popular today among the kids. Or is it the children who are wrong?


"The Purple Prose of Springfield" from Simpsons Comics #9 (Bongo, March 1995), script by Andrew Gottlieb, pencils by Luis Escobar, inks by Tim Bavington, colors by Electric Crayon, letters by Richard Starkings
Happy birthday, Pop Ring! Tune in again on August 19 to see if I can find any comic book references to his song, Ring Lardner, Jr.!

Today in Comics History, June 6, 1936: Indiana Jones enters Tibet, declares entire country should be in a museum

credits page of Indiana Jones and the Tomb of the Gods #1 (Dark Horse, June 2008), pencils by Steve Scott, inks by Nathan Massengill, colors by Michael Atiyeh

Today in Comics History, June 6: Happy birthday, Jerry Dumas!

Born on this day in 1930: cartoonist Jerry Dumas, frequent collaborator with Mort Walker and co-creator with him of the syndicated cartoon Sam's Strip. Dumas also wrote and drew political cartoons and illustrations for magazines and newspapers nationally. (Jerry's at the drawing board below!)


from Sam's Strip (Fantagraphics, January 2008), script by Mort Walker, pencils and inks by Jerry Dumas

Today in Comics History, June 6, 1936: Lucky Luciano plussed, too

from "Lucky Luciano" in Sensational Police Cases #2 (Avon, March 1954), creators uncredited and unknown

Today in Comics History, June 6, 1961: Warren Ellis creates evil Fantastic Four, self-pronounces the idea "f***ing brilliant"

from Planetary #6 (WildStorm, November 1999), script by Warren Ellis, pencils and inks by John Cassaday, colors by Laura Martin and David Baron, letters by Ali Fuchs

Today in Comics History, June 6, 1998: Guinness Book of World Records Award: Most times the phrase "Up and Atom!" has been said during a honeymoon

from The Fall and Rise of Captain Atom #2 and 3 (DC, April-May 2017), script by Cary Bates, pencils and inks by Will Conrad, colors by Ivan Nunes, letters by Saida Temofonte

Today in Comics History, June 6, 1994: Tony Stark is really proud of his new floaty desk

from "The Media Takes On Tony Stark" in Iron Man Annual (1976 series) #15 (Marvel, 1994), text by Len Kaminski and Scott Benson, pencils and inks by Kevin Hopgood

Today in Comics History, June 6, 19XX: A good day for everyone except Raymond Sanders

from Avengers (1963 series) #61 (February 1969), script by Roy Thomas, pencils by John Buscema, inks by George Klein, letters by Sam Rosen

Today in Comics History, June 6, 1944: D-Day: Do or do not; there is no try

To wrap up my memorial to D-Day in comic books today, let's look another war tale from the folks at EC Comics, who brought us unflinching, often incerdibly realistic (or at least highly believable) tales of combat in comic form. (It also doesn't hurt that the art by John Severin is absolutely gorgeous.)


from "D-Day!" in Two-Fisted Tales #27 (EC, May 1952), script by Harvey Kurtzman, pencils and inks by John Severin, colors by Marie Severin, letters by Ben Oda
The theme throughout is the doubt and fear of the men tasked with landing on Normandy that their invasion will be met and repelled, or worse yet, that they're all charging into a trap.


reasonable fears, but they threaten to escalate into sheer terror. Not what you need from the soldiers at the front of an invasion.


And nothing is working as perfectly as had been planned or hoped.


They planned and planned, but they couldn't plan for everything.


But the lesson is, still, whatever obstacles on the way: keep moving, keep working, keep fighting. And they did.

Today in Comics History, June 6, 1944: D-Day: Innovative new fighter airplane can now fly across panel borders

from "Swing Verboten!" in War Is Hell (2019 series) #1 one-shot (Marvel, March 2019); script, pencils, and inks by Howard Chaykin; colors by Edgar Delgado; letters by Ken Bruzenak

Today in Comics History, June 6, 1944: D-Day: Hitler plussed

from "General George C. Marshall" in It Really Happened #7 (Pines, (February 1947), pencils by King Ward

Today in Comics History, June 6, 1944: D-Day: Yogi Berra attacks Third Reich with baseball metaphors

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

Today in Comics History, June 6, 1944: D-Day: Nazis taunted

from "The Super Race" in Fightin' Army #39 (Charlton, January 1961), script by Joe Gill (?), pencils by Bill Molno, inks by Vince Alascia

Today in Comics History, June 6, 1944: D-Day: Exciting D-Day story baited-and-switched

text story "A Day of Battle" from Valor (1955 series) #2 (EC, May 1955), writer uncredited an unknown
(See ya back here on August 26!)

Today in Comics History, June 6, 1944: D-Day: First issue published of Sgt. Rock/Ed McMahon Team-Up

PSA "The Toughest Ticket" ad from DC comics dated April 1984, pencils and inks by Joe Kubert

Today in Comics History, June 6, 1944: D-Day: Subtle, nuanced reflection on the D-Day Invasion somberly portrayed in comic books

from Cosmic Ghost Rider Destroys Marvel History #4 (Marvel, August 2019), script by Paul Scheer and Nick Giovannetti, pencils and inks by Todd Nauck, colors by Antonio Fabela, letters by Travis Lanham
(click bottom picture to The Big One-size)

Today in Comics History, June 6, 1944: D-Day: Invasion enjoyed by some

from "Shore Duty" in Fightin' Navy #82 (Charlton, March 1958), script by Joe Gill (?), pencils and inks by the aptly-named Ken Battefield

There Is No Hope in Crime Alley, Night 5: This is only the second-most frightening sight in the series

from Batman: Damned* #3 (DC/Black label, August 2019); script by Brian Azzarello; pencils, inks, and color by Lee Bermejo; letters by Jared K. Fletcher
*I am allowed to say that word here because it's in the title.

Today in Comics History, June 5: Happy birthday, Richard Scarry!

Born on this very day in Busytown, USA in 1919, when mice and cats and rabbits and bears roamed the city streets and a lowly worm drove a car made out of an apple, thus getting to his job and keep the doctor away from it: Richard Scarry, bestselling children's author and illustrator of over 300 books totalling sales of over 100 million worldwide. Take that, Brian Michael Bendis!

Richard Scarry may be familiar to most of 'you as a beloved creator of childrens' books, but did he ever make a comic book? Place your bets now, please...put 'em down on the table before I reveal to you...Richard Scarry's comic book work! Oh, sorry, I blew the reveal on that kinda early. All bets are off, all wagering is null and void.


from "The Shoemaker and the Elves" in Christmas at the Rotunda one-shot (Western, 1955), script by Elsa Jane Werner, pencils and inks by Richard Scarry
Why is this a Christmas story? Well, as Scarry would tell it, the elves convinced the Shooemaker and His Wife (Mrs. Thurston Howell Shoemaker III) to move up to the North Pole where they could forever be comfortable making suits for the elves. Suits?!? Why not shoes? What, couldn't they manage the little curly toes and the bells? I got questions, Scarry, and if it t'weren't your birthday, I'd be comin' after you with 'em.


Happy birthday, Richard Scarry!

Today in Comics History, June 5: Happy birthday, Wayne Boring!

We raise our hands and hearts in salute today to one of the great Superman artists, the incorrectly named Wayne Boring, born on this day in 1905! He's the artist who helped define the look of Superman and his surroundings and evolved an iconic look loved even today. As one of the ghost artists under the Joe Shuster name in the early days, Boring would eventually make this feature his own. Starting in 1943, alongside inker Stan Kaye, Boring's artwork on Superman was established as the major house style for the character well into the '60s.


from Fifty Who Made DC Great one-shot (DC, 1985)
Much-loved elements of the Superman mythos sprang from Boring as well: he's the co-creator of the Fortress Of Solitude, Lori Lemaris, Bizarro World. Plus, he drew the origin of the Earth-2 ("his!") Superman in Roy Thomas's Secret Origins #1, as well as a handful of other 1980s DC superhero comics before his death in 1987.




from "The Secret Origin of the Golden-Age Superman" in Secret Origins (1986 series) #1 (DC, April 1986), script by Roy Thomas, pencils by Wayne Boring, inks by Jerry Ordway, colors by Gene D'Angelo, letters by David Cody Weiss
Happy birthday, Wayne Boring!


from Superman #8 (DC, January 1941), pencils and inks by Wayne Boring

Today in Comics History, June 5, 1993: All Pokémon successfully caught

from (L) "V for Vendetta: Book One, Chapter Ten: Venom" in Warrior #11 (Quality Communications, July 1983), script by Alan Moore, pencils and inks by David Lloyd, letters by Jenny O'Connor;
(R) from V for Vendetta #3 (DC, November 1988); colors by David Lloyd, Siobhan Dodds, and Steve Whitaker

Today in Comics History, June 5: Happy birthday, David Gallaher!

Let's all wish a big happy birthday to David Gallaher (Green Lantern Corps, Darkstar and the Winter Guard, The Mighty Crusaders: The Shield, Box 13, The Only Living Boy and The Only Living Girl, Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, High Moon, and more)!

Here he is commemorated for all time in an issue of Hawkman! (He's the doctor in the green lab coat.) Let's hope he, like most of Hawkman's history, hasn't been retconned away several times.



from Hawkman (2002 series) #38 (DC, May 2005), script by Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti, pencils by Dale Eaglesham, inks by Lary Stucker and Wade von Grawbadger, colors by John Kalisz, letters by Pat Brosseau
Work in comics? Wanna make $500 (for the charity of your choice)? It's easy: just re-introduce Dr. Gallaher to the new DCU! David promises you!


Twitter post by David Gallaher (February 6, 2022), retrieved May 28, 2002)
Happy birthday, David! BRB, writing my Batman/Dr. Gallaher Team-Up pitch.

Today in Comics History, June 5, 1981: Bob Markham regrets waiting until June to have his yearbook photo taken

from Moon Knight (1980 series) #12 (Marvel, October 1991), script by Doug Moench, pencils and inks by Bill Sienkiewicz, colors by Christie Scheele, letters by Joe Rosen

Today in Comics History, June 5: Witness for the HOT-secution!

from "Jury Jest" in Archie's Joke Book Magazine #93 (Archie, October 1965), creators unidentified and unknown

Today in Comics History, June 5, 1919: Industry laments that Alan Moore barely seems to actually write comics these days

Really, Alan, just write a novel. What?...oh. Amazon ad


from Providence #11 (Avatar, November 2016), script by Alan Moore, pencils and inks by Jacen Burrows, colors by Juan Manuel Rodriguez, letters by Kurt Hathaway

Today in Comics History, June 5, 1998: Dr. Sivana takes advantage of his new Black Label-published status to drop the f-bomb

from The Invisibles (1997 series) #17 (DC/Vertigo, August 1998), script by Grant Morrison, pencils by Chris Weston, inks by Ray Kryssing, colors by Daniel Vozzo, letters by Todd Klein

Today in Comics History, June 5, 2019: Whoops

from Doomsday Clock #8 (DC, February 2019), script by Geoff Johns, pencils and inks by Gary Frank, colors by Brad Anderson, design by Amie Brockway-Metcalf

Today in Comics History, June 5: MySpace finally justified

from Hashtag: Danger #2 (Ahoy, June 2019); script by Tom Peyer; pencils, inks, colors, and letters by Chris Giarrusso
Me, I'm just disappointed Tom Peyer didn't build an entire Hashtag: Danger website at http://www.myspacestreaming.com/095563fh38zy06.

Today in Comics History, June 5: Happy birthday, Frank Chiaramonte!

Born today in 1942: comics inker and occasional penciller Frank Chiaramonte (Action Comics, Superman, Werewolf by Night, The Flash, Detective Comics, Legion of Super-Heroes, Iron Fist, Captain America, Ghost Rider, working with Will Eisner on P.S. Magazine, and more).


"DC Profiles Number 62" in DC Comics cover-dated July 1980, by Mike W. Barr
Frank passed away in 1983 at the age of 40. That's far too young.


DC Comics cover-dated August 1983
You're missed, Frank. Happy birthday.