Ramona Fradon, one of my favorite comic book artists, turned 87 today. So—happy birthday, Ramona!

Though I have fond memories of the Aquaman stories she drew that appeared in the back pages of Adventure Comics throughout the ’50s and into the ’60s, I think I truly fell in love with her artwork from The Brave and The Bold #57 (January 1965), introducing Metamorpho, which she co-created. I was nine years old.

At the time, I never dreamed that she’d someday bring some of my own words to life (or that there’d even be any of my own words to bring to life), illustrating a 5-page horror story, “My Mother, the Witch,” fourteen years later for House of Mystery #273 (October 1979).

When I searched for the proper image to celebrate Ramona’s birthday, I was surprised to find that complete story online. And not just the pages as printed, but her original artwork, thanks to an online auction, which means you get to admire her clean lines exactly as she drew them.

So check out the complete story below!

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Drew Friedman has posted many scans relating to “It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s SUPERMAN,” a 1966 Broadway musical I could have seen (hey, I was eleven and lived in New York) but never did. I’d never run across the souvenier program book before, but the instant I saw the cover posted there, I noticed something very odd.

If you’re as big a Silver Age comics fan as I am, you’ll notice it, too.

Take a look.

Did something inappropriate leap out at you? If you read comics back in 1966, you’d have immediately recognized that something was very, very wrong. And that is … (more…)

Yes, I exercise—in fact, today was my 45th consecutive day of walking at least 10,000 steps/5 miles (assuming my new Fitbit Flex can be trusted, that is).

But according to this suggestion from way back in Superman #1 (which DC Comics has been giving away free via its iPad app as part of a Man of Steel promotion), I’m doing exercise all wrong!

I hope it’s not too late to change my ways.

Time to start hefting furniture over my head, I guess …

Have you seen the cover to the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly? It features a huge image of Superman zooming at the reader, above two other smaller Superman drawings plus photos of five actors who’ve played the part in movies and on TV.

Does the main drawing look familiar to you? It did to me.

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While I was over at my sister-in-law’s house Sunday night, I happened to notice a stack of old comics on the coffee table and picked up this one—Detective Comics #350 (April 1966)—because who could resist a Batman drawn by Joe Kubert or those Go-Go Checks?

The house ads in the issue were as much fun as the stories (which is often the case), and I was particularly intrigued by this one, in which DC claimed it sold “twice as many comics as any other competitor” and “almost as many as all other comics combined.” (more…)

I told you last week that as I was flipping through some of Irene’s old comics, one thought kept going through my mind at the sight of the anxiety-producing situations on the covers of Strange Adventures—

I hate it when that happens!

And as I continued looking at the covers of other DC Comics anthology titles—such as House of Mystery, Tales of the Unexpected, Mystery in Space, and My Greatest Adventure—the phrase continued to repeat in my mind …

I hate it when that happens!

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Irene’s been going through her comic book collection, and last night, I found myself attracted by her stack of old Strange Adventures. As I looked at the seductive, anxiety-producing covers, all I could think was—

I hate it when that happens!

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So Irene spent part of her day poring through her comic book collection, which meant that when I stepped into her office late this afternoon, I saw the cover to Action Comics #196—and with a cover like this, you know I had to pick it up.

I don’t think I’d ever seen that issue, which would have gone on sale a couple of months earlier than its September 1954 cover date during the year before I was born. But far more interesting than the story that cover was touting was an ad advising kids how not to catch polio. (more…)

I know all about Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel’s 1975 letter putting a curse on the company that wouldn’t do right by him. After all, it wasn’t history to me, as I was on staff at Marvel Comics at the time, and we were all well aware of the letter that began—

It has been announced in show business trade papers that a multi-million dollar production based on the Superman comic strip is about to be produced. It has been stated that millions of dollars were paid to the owners of Superman, National Periodical Publications, Inc., for the right to use the famous comic book super-hero in the new movie. The script is by Mario Puzo, who wrote The Godfather and Earthquake. The film is to have a star-filled cast.

I, Jerry Siegel, the co-originator of Superman, put a curse on the Superman movie! I hope it super-bombs. I hope loyal Superman fans stay away from it in droves. I hope the whole world, becoming aware of the stench that surrounds Superman, will avoid the movie like a plague.

And ended—

WHAT AN INFERNAL, SICKENING SUPER-STENCH EMANATES FROM NATIONAL PERIODICAL PUBLICATIONS, INC. We hope the public will never forget this when seeing the Superman character, or National Periodical comic books. Do not patronize Superman because of this injustice.

Amazing, huh? If you want to read the whole thing, you can find it here.

But what I never knew (which surprises me) is that there was also intriguing correspondence out there related to Bill Finger, the man responsible for most of what we like about Batman.

Thankfully, Marc Tyler Nobleman, author of Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman, has enlightened me about those letters and the scenario that spawned them. (more…)

There’s a new wrinkle to the war against Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster and Superman that goes beyond what’s in the play The History of Invulnerability, which I told you about earlier this week. It seems Ohio wants to offer a special license plate commemorating that state as the “Birthplace of Superman” for the 75th anniversary of the creation of the Man of Steel, but DC Comics and Warner Bros. have objected to the wording.

Nate Beeler, a staff cartoonist for the Columbus Dispatch commented on the brouhaha with the cartoon below, which I spotted over at Daryl Cagle’s blog.

No one’s really sure why there’s an objection to the wording of the plate, but Ohio is attempting to come up with an acceptable alternative. Beeler worries that those alternatives might also be found unacceptable:

Everybody knows Superman is a fictional character who comes from the fictional planet Krypton and grew up in the fictional town of Smallville. What people might not know is that he was created in Cleveland by the legendary Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The license plate is a nice way of bringing attention to the great cultural contribution of these Ohioans. If the wording is changed to something like “Birthplace of the creators of Superman,” I just hope that DC Comics won’t object by saying, “But Superman’s parents, Jor-El and Lara, were also from Krypton!”

As for me, there’s something I find unacceptable, but believe me, it ain’t the slogan.