Today in Comics History, April 1, April Fools' Day: Woke up, got out of bed, dragged a comb across my head

from Superman (1987 series) #181 (DC, June 2002), script by Jeph Loeb, pencils by Ed McGuinness, inks by Cam Smith, colors by Richard Horie and Tanya Horie, letters by Comicraft

Today in Comics History, April 1, 1930, April Fools' Day: I'm gonna make you read these text pages....April Fool!

from Crime Must Pay the Penalty #5 (Ace, December 1948), creator uncredited and unknown

Today in Comics History, April 1, 2003, April Fool's Day: Don't know about you, but I'd be happy if the Iraq War was just a victimless prank

from Combat Zone: True Tales of GIs in Iraq graphic novel (Marvel, 2005), script by Karl Zinsmeister, pencils by Dan Jurgens, inks by Sandu Florea, colors by Raúl Treviño, letters by Virtual Calligraphy

Today in Comics History, April 1, April Fools' Day: Won't you turn your radio down / Respect the seven second delay we use

from Sandman #5 (1989 series) (DC, May 1989), script by Neil Gaiman, pencils by Sam Kieth, inks by Malcolm Jones III, colors by Robbie Busch, letters by Todd Klein


opening theme from Alfred Hitchcock Presents (Revuew/Universal, 1955), ("Funeral March of a Marionette" by Charles Gounod)

Meanwhile, In Brooklyn...: Garbage Milk

Greetings from Brooklyn...from Garbage Milk!


GARBAGE MILK!

Today in Comics History, March 31: Happy birthday, Robert Lippert!

Born on this day in 1909: cinema chain owner and film producer (that first one really helps out the second one) Robert L. Lippert! You may remember him from such films featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000 as Rocketship X-M, Lost Continent, Jungle Goddess, King Dinosaur, Radar Secret Service and Last of the Wild Horses!

He (not pictured) also helped singer/actor Brenda Lee get her start in Hollywood!


from Brenda Lee: Life Story one-shot (Dell, July 1962), pencils and inks by Tony Tallarico (?)
...which leads to stuffed animals getting their start in motion pictures, so it's indirectly thanks to Robert Lippert that I might be in a movie someday!


So happy birthday and thank you, Robert Lippert, for making us laugh at movies...again.


from Mystery Science Theater 3000 [King Dinosaur], season two, episode 10 (Best Brains, December 22, 1990)

Today in Comics History, March 31: Happy birthday, Richard Chamberlain!

Born today: actor Richard Chamberlain (Dr. Kildare, Shōgun, The Thorn Birds, The Bourne Identity, The Three Musketeers, The Swarm and more)! Chamberlain has also performed classical stage roles and worked in m)! Seen here in the middle of a triptych of heartthrobs (with Elvis Presley and Tony Curtis)!


from "Midnight Cinderella!" in Girls' Love Stories #109 (DC/Arleigh, February 1965), script by Robert Kanigher, pencils and inks by Bob Oksner

Today in Comics History, March 31: Happy birthday, Pablo Marcos!

Born on this day: Pablo Marcos, comic book artist and commercial illustrator! He's drawn Star Trek: The Next Generation, James Bond, The Avengers, Dracula Lives, Marvel Two-in-One, Detective Comics, The Defenders and more, but he's especially known for his gorgeous black-and-white artwork on the Marvel magazine line like Zombie and The Savage Sword of Conan!


"Zombie Feature Page" from [Tales of the] Zombie (1973 series) #4 (Marvel/Cadence, March 1974)
Happy birthday, Pablo!



from The Savage Sword of Conan (1974 series) #21 (top) and 23 (bottom) (Marvel/Magazine Management Co., August 1977 and October 1977)

Today in Comics History, March 31: Happy birthday, Ericka Mitchell!

Born on this day in 1951: Ericka "Erie" Mitchell, receptionist at Marvel Comics from 1985 to 1991! After Stan, the most important person at Marvel — without her okay, not even Hulk is getting in!


from Marvel Age #88, and 111 (Marvel, April 1990 and April 1992); text by Chris Eliopoulis and Barry Dutter (#88 and 99), and Mike Lackey (#111); pencils and inks by Ron Zalme; colors by Gregory Wright (#88)
Can you find Ericka keeping the riff-raff out of the Marvel Bullpen?

from Marvel Age #120 (Marvel, January 1993), art by Rick Parker
(Click top picture to Bullpen-size)
Happy birthday, Ericka!


from Marvel Age #112 (Marvel, May 1992)

Today in Comics History, March 31, 1994: The Punisher is perfectly disguised as Ed Sheeran

from "Eurohit '94" in The Punisher Annual (1988 series) #7 (Marvel, October 1994); script by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning; pencils by Doug Braithwaite; inks by Al Williamson, Fred Fredericks, and Art Nichols; colors by Christie Scheele; letters by Ken Lopez

Today in Comics History, March 31: Happy birthday, Robbin Brosterman!

Happy birthday today to Robbin Brosterman! He was in production at Marvel Comics from 1987-1989 and an art director for DC Comics from 1990-1999.


from Marvel Age #27 (Marvel, June 1985), text by Jim Salicrup, pencils and inks by Ron Zalme, colors by George Roussos
Happy birthday, Robbin! Um...do you still have any of that Archie Goodwin cake left for a little stuffed bull?

Now Playing: Against the Wind by Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band

John's favorite album to play on his birthday.

"I'm older now and I'm still runnin' against the wind."


Bully is listening to Against the Wind (Capitol, 1980), by Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band
Happy birthday, John!

Today in Comics History, March 28: Happy birthday, Randy Brooks!

Born on this day in 1917: jazz trumpeter and bandleader Randy Brooks, discovered at the age of 11 by Rudy Vallee and who played on hit records like "Tenderly," "Harlem Nocturne," and "The Man With The Horn." But for some reason, his comic book biography choose to focus instead on his...youth basketball career?!?




from Juke Box Comics #5 (Eastern Color, November 1948), pencils and inks by Henry C. Kiefer
So little respect did comic books give his trumpeting that when he appeared in a DC romance comic, they didn't even mention his musical career. Also, that's not him.


from "Tears for a Dream!" in Young Romance #162 (DC/National, October 1969), pencils (and inks?) by Werner Roth, letters by Ira Schnapp
Let's celebrate his birthday with some proper trumpet. Take us out, Randy!


"The Man with the Horn" by Randy Brooks and His Orchestra (Decca, 1945), written by Bonnie Lake, Eddie DeLange, and Jack Jenney

Today in Comics History, March 28: Happy birthday, Flora Robson!

Born on this day in 1902: British stage and screen actress Flora Robson, whose sixty-year acting career includes roles in Fire Over England, Wuthering Heights, The Sea Hawk, Black Narcissus, 55 Days at Peking, Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines, Clash of the Titans and many more, including the 1945 Vivien Leigh/Claude Rains version of Caesar and Cleopatra, which allows to her to appear exactly once in comic books!


from "Caesar and Cleopatra" in Picture News #4 (Lafayette Street Corporation, March 1946), creatprs uncredited and unknown
Happy birthday, Miss Robson! Congrats on breaking into comic books!

Today in Comics History, March 28: Happy birthday, Betty Betz!

Born on this day in 1920: cartoonist, magazine columnist, and television host Betty Betz, who created columns and artwork in the 1940s for Seventeen and Woman's Home Companion that eventually evolved into a line of cxards, books, dresses and staionary — think the 1940s equivalent of 1970s Holly Hobbie! Her cartoon creation "Dollface" was featured in an issue of Dell's Four Color. That's Betty herself on the cover (top photo):


cover of Four Color #309 (Dell, January 1951) [Betty Betz' Dollface and Her Gang], pencils and inks by Betty Betz

Today in Comics History, March 27: Happy birthday, Talisa Soto!

Happy birthday today to actress and model Talisa Soto from Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat Annihilation, The Mambo Kings, Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever, Vampirella, Harts of the West, and as Bond Girl Lupe Lamora in 1989's Licence to Kill! And the movie adaption to comics, too!


from Licence to Kill graphic novel (Eclipse, 1989); script by Richard Ashford; (adaptation); breakdowns by Mike Grell; pencils by Chuck Austen, Tom Yeates, and Stan Woch; inks by Tom Yeates and Stan Woch; colors by Sam Parsons, Sally Parsons, Mel Johnson, and Reuben Rude, letters by Wayne Truman
Altho' the graphic novel prominently features Lupe Lamora, it doesn't have any appearance by her pet iguana, and that's a darn shame.


Happy birthday, Talisa!

Today in Comics History, March 27: Happy birthday, David Janssen!

Born on this day in 1931: David Janssen, star of movies and TV including To Hell and Back, Francis in the Haunted House, King of the Roaring 20s, The Green Berets, Shoes of the Fisherman, Marooned, Richard Diamond: Private Detective; O'Hara, U.S. Treasury, Harry O., and of course the series that made every kid in America want to go on the run searching for the One-Armed Man: The Fugitive!


from "The Phewgitive" in MAD #89 (September 1964), script by Stan Hart, pencils and inks by Mort Drucker

Today in Comics History, March 27: Happy birthday, Carl Barks!

Born on this day in 1901: comic book writer, artist, painter and animation story director Carl Barks. He's the creator of Scrooge McDuck, Duckburg, The Beagle Boys, Flintheart Glomgold, the Junior Woodchucks, Gladstone Gander, Gyro Gearloose, Magica De Spell and many more, and has created hundreds of Donald Duck and Scrooge McDuck stories that chronicled the adventures of the Duck Family and laid the work for future artists and for the two DuckTales animated series. He is, quite simply, "The Good Duck Artist."


from Walt Disney's Donald Duck [Halloween Special] one-shot (Fantagraphics, 2011), art by Carl Barks
Happy birthday, Unca Carl!

Today in Comics History, March 26: Happy birthday, Duncan Hines!

Born on this day in 1880: restaurant/hotel and food critic and founder of the baked goods company that would eventually give us, even through today, boxed Duncan Hines cake and dessert mixes!


from "Recommended by Huncan Dines" in From here to Insanity (1955 series) #12 (Charlton, October 1955), pencils and inks by Carl Hubbell
Mister Hines didn't appear in many comic books, but I'm including him in my birthday posts because I like cake.


Duncan Hines appears on To Tell the Truth (Goodson-Todman Productions/CBS, September 10, 1957), hosted by Bud "Superman" Collyer
Happy birthday, D.H.! We chipped in together and bought you a pizza, because we couldn't think of a different food to serve at a birthday party.

Today in Comics History, March 26: Happy birthday, Diana Ross!

Born on this day: actress, singer, and iconic Motown diva (in the best sense of the word), Diana Ross! C'mon, sing along with her huge number of hits, both with the Supremes and solo: "Where Did Our Love Go," "Baby Love," "Come See About Me," "Stop! In the Name of Love,", "Love Child," "Touch Me in the Morning," "Theme from Mahogany (Do You Know Where You're Going To)," "Love Hangover," "Upside Down," "Endless Love," "I'm Coming Out," "Why Do Fools Fall in Love," and countless more! (Well, I suppose you couldcount 'em, but there's a whole heckuva lot of 'em.) Not to mention her silver screen appearances in films Lady Sings the Blues, Mahogany, and The Wiz! Miss Ross certainly has kept busy, so today on her birthday she's entitled to sit back and put her feet up, and only record five or six songs.

"...Diana Ross and the Squadron Supreme!" from Marvel Age #82 (Marvel, December 1989), by Fred hembeck
(Click picture to doobedood’ndoobe, doobedood’ndoobe, doobedood’ndoo-size)
Happy birthday, Miss Ross!


"The Happening" by The Supremes (Motown, 1967), written by Holland–Dozier–Holland (Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Eddie Holland) and Frank De Vol