Days of Comics Past

Events for March 13

2007-03-13T00:01:00.000-07:00

Mar 13, 1921: Al Jaffee, MAD Magazine artist and creator of the "Mad fold-in," is born.

Events for March 6

2007-03-06T00:01:00.000-08:00

Mar 6, 1917: Will Eisner, pioneering comic book creator and coiner of the term "graphic novel", is born in Brooklyn, NY.

Events for March 3

2007-03-03T00:01:00.000-08:00

Mar 3, 1958: Marc Silvestri, comic book artist and founding member of Image Comics, is born.

Mar 3, 1983: Hergé (George Remi), creator of Tintin, passes away.

Events for March 2

2007-03-02T00:01:00.000-08:00

Mar 2, 1952: Mark Evanier, author of numerous cartoons and comic books, is born in Santa Monica, CA.

Events for March 1

2007-03-01T00:02:00.000-08:00

Mar 1, 1922: William "Bill" Gaines, publisher of EC Comics and MAD Magazine, is born in New York City, NY.

Mar 1, 1924: Arnold Drake, co-creator of DC's Doom Patrol and Deadman and writer for Stanley and His Monster, is born.

Events for March

2007-03-01T00:01:00.000-08:00

1941: Captain America makes his Hitler-socking debut in Captain America Comics #1, published by Timely Comics.

1946: Charlton Comics begins publishing comic books. They would eventually become home to comic book superheroes such as the Question, Captain Atom, and the Blue Beetle.

1963: Iron Man debuts in Marvel's Tales of Suspense #39.

1966: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby introduce comic fans to the Watcher, the Silver Surfer, and "The Coming of Galactus" in Fantastic Four #48.

1971: Jack Kirby debuts New Gods #1 for DC Comics, becoming the first multi-title epic story published in comic form and the first acknowledged "limited series" from a mainstream publisher.

1986: With a bolt of lightning and a familiar silhouette, Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns #1 explodes onto comic racks.

1991: Evan Dorkin's Milk & Cheese, Dairy Products Gone Bad, are published for the first time by Slave Labor Graphics

2004: The final issue of Dave Sim's Cerebus, issue #300 is published, making it the longest single complete and continuous narrative in comic form by the same creative team.

Events for February 21

2007-02-21T00:01:00.000-08:00

Feb 21, 1993: Harvey Kurtzman, creator of MAD Magazine, passes away at the age of 68.

Events for February 18

2007-02-18T00:01:00.000-08:00

Feb 18, 1931: Johnny Hart, writer/artist for the comic strip B.C., is born.

Feb 18, 1963: Mark Bode, creator of Miami Mice and son of underground comix artist Vaughn Bode, is born in Utica, NY.

Feb 18, 2007: Bob Oksner, artist for the newspaper strip Miss Cairo Jones and artist for several syndicated comics for DC, passes away of pneumonia at the age of 90.

Events for February 17

2007-02-17T00:01:00.000-08:00

Feb 17, 1920: Curt Swan, Silver Age comic book artist, is born in Willmar, Minnesota.

Feb 17, 1936: The Phantom comic strip by Lee Falk is published for the first time.

Feb 17, 1970: Hiroaki Samura, creator of the Blade of the Immortal manga series, is born.

Feb 17: C.B. Cebulski, former editor for Marvel Comics, creator of the Marvel Mangaverse line of comics, and writer of Wanderlost, is born.

Events for February 16

2007-02-16T00:01:00.000-08:00

Feb 16, 1968: Warren Ellis, writer for The Authority, Planetary, and Fell, is born.

Feb 16, 2005: Dudu Geva, Israeli illustrator and cartoonist of "The Duck" character, passes away at age 54.

Events for February 15

2007-02-15T00:01:00.000-08:00

Feb 15, 1939: William Van Horn, comic book artist for many of Disney's Duck comics, is born in California.

Feb 15, 1948: Art Spiegelman, creator of Maus, is born in Stockholm, Sweden.

Feb 15, 1954: Matt Groening, creator of the Simpsons, Life in Hell, and Akbar & Jeff, is born in Portland, OR.

Events for February 12

2007-02-12T00:01:00.000-08:00

Feb 12, 1970: Judd Winick, writer and artist for Pedro & Me and writer for Green Lantern, Caper, and Batman, is born

Feb 12, 2000: Charles Monroe Schulz, creator of Peanuts, passes away at the age of 77, the night before the last original Peanuts strip is published.

Events for February 10

2007-02-10T00:01:00.000-08:00

Feb 10, 1970: Universal Press Syndicate opens for business syndicating comic strips.

Events for February 9

2007-02-09T00:01:00.000-08:00

Feb 9, 1928: Frank Frazetta, fantasy artist and painter, is born in Brooklyn, NY.

Feb 9, 1954: Jo Duffy (Mary Jo Duffy), editor for DC and Marvel Comics and writer of Power Man and Iron Fist and Catwoman, is born.

Feb 9, 1956: Tim Truman, artist for Grimjack, creator of Scout, and writer of Hawkworld and Conan, is born in Gauley Bridge, WV.

Feb 9, 1959: David B. (David Beauchard), writer/artist for L'Ascension du Haut Mal (a.k.a. Epileptic), is born in France.

Feb 9, 1962: Sarah Byam, writer of Billi 99 and DC's Black Canary, is born

Feb 9, 1989: Osamu Tezuka, father of manga, passes away at the age of 60.

Events for February 8

2007-02-08T00:01:00.000-08:00

Feb 8, 1914: Bill Finger, co-creator of Batman, is born in New York City, NY.

Feb 8, 1961: Bruce Timm, artist and producer of Batman the Animated Series and its spinoffs, is born.

Feb 8, 2004: Julius "Julie" Schwartz, DC Comics good-will ambassador and father of the Silver Age of comics, passes away at the age of 88.

Events for February 6

2007-02-06T00:01:00.000-08:00

Feb 6, 1994: Jack "King" Kirby (born Jacob Kurtzberg) passes away at the age of 76.

Events for February 3

2007-02-03T00:01:00.000-08:00

Feb 3, 1968: Rodney Dunn, artist for Vortex Magazine and Atomic Cow, is born.

Events for February

2007-02-01T00:01:00.000-08:00

1935: New Fun Comics #1 is published, the first comic book featuring all new material (instead of reprinted newspaper comic strips).

1940: Fawcett Comics' Whiz Comics #2 introduces Captain Marvel (SHAZAM!) to the public.

1960: Julie Schwartz gathers the Justice League of America for the first time in The Brave & The Bold #28. Their own comic book would come four months later.

1974: The Punisher begins his one-man war on crime in Amazing Spider-Man #129.

1987: Batman #404 begins Frank Miller's "Batman: Year One", the first post-Crisis Batman story. Wonder Woman #1, written and drawn by George Perez, similarly restarts the post-Crisis Wonder Woman.

1989: After the readers decide his fate via a call-in poll, Robin (Jason Todd) is murdered by the Joker in Batman #428.

Events for January 31

2007-01-31T00:01:00.000-08:00

Jan 31, 2000: Gil Kane (born Eli Katz) passes away at the age of 73.

Events for January 30

2007-01-30T00:01:00.000-08:00

Jan 30, 1953: Fred Hembeck, comic book artist and parodist of DC and Marvel, is born.

Jan 30, 1961: Denys Cowan, comic book artist for The Question, co-founder of Milestone Media, and Senior VP of Animation at BET Television, is born.

Jan 30, 2006: Seth Fisher, artist for Green Lantern: Willworld and Fantastic Four/Iron Man: Big in Japan, dies from an accidental fall.

Events for January 29

2007-01-29T00:01:00.000-08:00

Jan 29, 1971: Brian Wood, writer for Local, Demo, DMZ, and Channel Zero, is born.

Jan 29, 1975: Ryan Kelly, artist for Local, is born.

Events for January 28

2007-01-28T00:01:00.001-08:00

Jan 28, 1996: Jerry Siegel (born Jerome Siegel), co-creator of Superman, passes away at the age of 81. On the same day, Burne Hogarth, comic artist for Tarzan, passes away at the age of 84.

Jan 28, 2005: Daniel Branca, Disney comics creator from Argentina, passes away at the age of 54 in Buenos Aires.

Events for January 28

2007-01-28T00:01:00.000-08:00

Events for January 27

2007-01-27T00:01:00.000-08:00

Jan 27, 1952: Steve Leialoha, comic book artist, is born.

Jan 27, 1954: Peter Laird, co-creator of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, is born in North Adams, MA.

Jan 27, 1957: Frank Miller, writer and artist for The Dark Knight Returns, Ronin, and Sin City, is born.

Events for January 26

2007-01-26T00:01:00.000-08:00

Jan 26, 1929: Jules Feiffer, editorial cartoonist and comic historian, is born.

Jan 26, 1936: Silvio "Sal" Buscema, Marvel Comics artist for The Avengers, Captain America, and Rom, is born in Brooklyn, NY.