Today in Comics History, June 4: Happy birthday, Josef Rubinstein!

Born today: comic book artist and inker Josef Rubinstein (Amazing Spider-Man, Silver Surfer, Uncanny X-Men, OHOTMU, Captain America, Wolverine, and many more)!


from Marvel Age #30, 54, and 90 (Marvel, September 1985, September 1987, and July 1990); text by Jim Salicrup (#30), Mike Carlin (#54) and Chris Eliopoulis and Barry Dutter (#90); pencils and inks by Ron Zalme; colors by Andy Yanchus (#30), Paul Becton (#54) and Renee Witterstaetter (#90)
Who knows what darkness hides in the blackness of inks? The Shadow of Joe Rubinstein knows (here with cute-as-a-button Ann Nocenti)!


from "Editori-Gal" in Marvel Fanfare (1982 series) #12 (Marvel, January 1984), script by Ann Nocenti (?), pencils and inks by Al Milgrom, letters by Rick Parker (?)
Guaranteed to make you feel old: the phrase "That was back in 1971 — Joe's pushing twenty now."


"DC Profiles" from DC comics cover-dated October 1977
Can you find Josef Rubinstein at Superman's wedding?

from Superman: The Wedding Album one-shot (DC, December 1996), pencils by Dan Jurgens, inks by Jerry Ordway, colors by Glenn Whitmore, letters by Bill Oakley
(Click top picture to honeymoon-size)
Happy birthday, Joe!

There Is No Hope in Crime Alley, Night 3: Crisis on Infinite Pearls

from Batman/Superman (2019 series) #1 (October 2019), script by Joshua Williamson, pencils and inks by David Marquez, colors by Alejandro Sánchez, letters by John J. Hill

Today in Comics History, June 3: Happy birthday, Tony Curtis!

Born on this day in 1925: screen and television actor Tony Curtis!!

Now, if'n you're a fan of Tony Curtis (and who ain't?), you can save your money and send away for his photo from comic book ads…



from DC Comics cover-dated September 1957 and September 1958
...or: do what I do! And clip his picture out of the comic books, perhaps decreasing the value of your comics, but certainly increasing the Tony Curtis Quotient of your walls!

(romantic sigh as I gaze at Tony)


cover of Thrilling Romances #24 (Pines, January 1954)

Today in Comics History, June 3: Happy birthday, Jerry Serpe!

Born on this day in 1919: Jerry Serpe, longtime DC Comics colorist (Unknown Soldier, Action Comics, G.I. Combat, Kamandi, Warlord, Wonder Woman, DC Comics Presents, Super Friends, and many more)!


from DC Comics cover-dated dated July 1979
Happy birthday, Jerry!

Today in Comics History, June 3: Happy birthday, Bob LeRose!

Born on this day in 1921: advertising artist and DC Comics colorist Bob LeRose (Action Comics, Detective Comics, Justice League of America, Legion of Super-Heroes, Batman Family, DC Special, Robin, World's Finest Comics, Secrets of Haunted House, G.I. Combat, Weird Western Tales, Who's Who, more; plus the cover artist or colorist of Mayfair Games's DC Heroes roleplaying games)!


from DC Comics cover-dated October 1978
Can you find Bob celebrating his birthday at the Superman/Muhammad Ali prize fight?

cover of All-New Collectors' Edition #C-56 (DC, March 1978), layout by Joe Kubert, pencils by Neal Adams, inks by Neal Adams (?) and/or Cory Adams (?), logo design by John Workman
(Click top picture to GOAT-size)
Happy birthday, Bob!

Today in Comics History, June 3, 2015: Hostile Architecture Comics and Stories #1 premieres

from Yellow Cab (IDW, May 2022), by Christophe Chabouté, based on the novel by Benoît Cohen

Today in Comics History, June 3, 1898: Captain Obvious issues the command to grow luxurious mustaches

from Picture Stories from American History #4 (EC, Summer 1947), script by Jerry Coleman, pencils and inks by Allen Simon

Today in Comics History, June 3: Dear National Lampoon, I did not give you permission to print my dating life

from "Boys Romances" in National Lampoon Magazine v.1 #21 (National Lampoon, December 1971), script by Doug Kenney, pencils and inks by Joe Orlando

Today in Comics History, June 4: Happy birthday, Sid Greene!

Born today in 1921: comic book penciller and inker Sid Greene, (Batman, Detective Comics, Green Lantern, Justice League of America, Mystery in Space, From Beyond the Unknown, Strange Adventures, The Atom and many others), shown here in the purple suit (with writer Gardner Fox, editor Julius Schwartz, and DC production staffer Ed Eisenberg) and at the extreme right in the lower panel.


from "The Strange Adventure that Really Happened!" in Strange Adventures (1950 series) #140 (DC, May 1962), script by Gardner Fox, pencils and inks by Sid Greene
Happy birthday, Sid!

Today in Comics History, June 3, 1998: Room key fob at Cannibal Motel is not reassuring

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 3, 1992: Angry that Jupiter's Legacy is cancelled, Mark Millar pastes Midnighter to the wall

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, June 3, 1944: Joel and the Bots invade Normandy

from The Legend of Wonder Woman (2016 series) #8 (DC, September 2016), script and pencils by Renae De Liz; inks, colors, and letters by Ray Dillon

Today in Comics History, June 3, 1965: But everyone knew her as Nancy

from Briggs Land #1 (Dark Horse, August 2016), pencils and inks by Mack Chater, colors by Lee Loughridge and Jeremy Colwell, letters by Nate Piekos

Today in Comics History, June 3, 1959: Our iron man technology is lightyears behind

from newuniversal: 1959 #1 (Marvel/New Universe, September 2008), script by Kieron Gillen, pencils and inks by Greg Scott and Kody Chamberlain, colors by Val Staples, letters by Ed Dukeshire

There Is No Hope in Crime Alley, Night 2: Wolverine is jealous of Batman's origin

from Batman: Creature of the Night #4 (January 2020); script by Kurt Busiek; pencils, inks, and colors by John Paul Leon; letters by Todd Klein

Today in Comics History, June 2, 1885: In a world with Al Swearengen, the language of money is rated NC-17

from Two-Gun Kid: Sunset Riders #1 (Marvel, November 1995), script by Fabian Nicieza, pencils by Christian Gorney, inks by Michael Halblieb, colors by Marie Javins, letters by Richard Starkings

Today in Comics History, June 2, 1898: Britain just basically throws their hands up in the air and says the hell with it

back cover of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen #4 (America's Best Comics, November 1999), pencils and inks by Kevin O'Neill, colors by Benedict Dimagmaliw

Today in Comics History, June 2, 1941: We remember Lou Gehrig

No jokes or snark, folks, just saluting one of baseball's greatest players on the anniversary of his death.


from "Lou Gehrig: Baseball's Iron Horse" in It Really Happened #5 (Pines, October 1946), pencils and inks by Sam Cooper (?)

Today in Comics History, June 2, 1994: Tony Stark keeps his pants on for once

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 2: Happy birthday, Ruth Atkinson!

Born today in 1918: pioneering female cartoonist and comic writer/artist Ruth Atkinson: Lovers' Lane, Heroic Comics, Boy Meets Girl, Jungle Comics ("Tabu"), Wings Comics ("Wing Tips"), Club 16, and more. She created and first drew Marvel's Millie "The Model" Collins and co-created Patsy Walker in the pages of Miss America Magazine.


"Spotlight: Ruth Atkinson" in Girl Comics (2010 series) #2 (Marvel, July 2010)
If you think comics in the Golden Age were the sole work of white men, oh boy, wow, you got anothere think coming, brother. There's an entire pantheon of women cartoonists across comics strips and books, and Marvel had their own big names among 'em. Here's a short comic story that spotlights them, including Atkinson.




from "Golden Girls" in Fearless #4 (Marvel, December 2019); script by Trina Robbins; pencils, inks, and colors by Marguerite Sauvage; letters by Cardinal Rae
So who says that women don't belong in comics as either heroes or creators? Jerks. Jerks say that.

Happy birthday, Ruth!