Straight from the red carpet! By PAUL KUPPERBERG When worlds collide! The make-believe world of comic books and the world of real-life celebrities, that is. In many cases, the collision was in the form of licensing deals between Hollywood A-Listers for starring roles in their own comic book titles like The Adventures of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis (later, after the duo split, just The Adventures of Jerry Lewis), The Adventures of Bob Hope, The Adventures of Alan Ladd, Jackie Gleason and the Honeymooners, Pat Boone, and Hopalong Cassidy — all published by DC Comics — to name a few. But celebrities would sometimes also appear as themselves in the comics, guest-starring alongside fictional characters, all the way back to the 1940s. I don’t know how it was decided which celebrities would make the cut, whether DC Comics reached out to them (or their “people”) or vice versa, probably a combination of both, but every now and then a familiar face from the movies or television would show up alongside Superman. Here then, with the Oscars on March 15, MY 13 FAVORITE DC COMICS CELEBRITY COVERS: — Real Fact Comics #4 (September/October 1946). Jimmy Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) was the Tom Hanks of his day, an actor with an everyman persona, star of classic films, including Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, It’s a Wonderful Life, Rear Window, Vertigo, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, and dozens more. DC spotlighted the actor’s World War II career as a decorated (Distinguished Flying Cross, the French Croix de Guerre) B-24 bomber pilot (20 missions over Germany) in a story in their Real Fact Comics, “He Wanted Wings.” Art by Jack Lehti. — Action Comics #127 (December 1948). Ralph Edwards (June 13, 1913 – November 16, 2005) was a pioneering radio and television host who helped define early celebrity-focused programming by combining biography and surprise reunions. He was best known as the creator and longtime emcee of This Is Your Life and, of course, the game show Truth or Consequences. Art by Al Plastino. — Action Comics #130 (March 1949). Ann Blyth (August 16, 1928) is an American actress and singer who starred in 1940s and 1950s musicals and dramas, receiving an Academy Award nomination for her role in Mildred Pierce and starring in films such as The Great...
A BIRTHDAY SALUTE: The celebrated Mr. K pays tribute to one of comics’ most entertaining writers… — UPDATED 3/15/26: The great Bob Haney was born 100 years ago! Perfect time to reprint this birthday salute from 2023! Dig it! — Dan — By PAUL KUPPERBERG For me, the Silver/Bronze Age title most closely associated with writer Bob Haney (March 15, 1926–Nov. 25, 2004) was DC’s The Brave and the Bold, especially the period between 1966 and 1979 when it was the regular Batman team-up book. With editor Murray Boltinoff and artists Neal Adams and Jim Aparo, Haney forged a memorable run for many Dark Knight fans of a certain age. My favorite Batman depiction of all time remains the Haney/Aparo version from the early-1970s. Bob was an insanely prolific writer, getting his start at DC in 1954 for editor Robert Kanigher on the war titles, with occasion forays into the Westerns edited by Kanigher’s office mate, Julie Schwartz. When it started, The Brave and the Bold was an adventure title, reminiscent of kids’ television programming of the day and starring a trio of historic heroes, Robin Hood, Golden Gladiator, and the Viking Prince. With the 25th issue, B&B was transformed into a tryout title, like Showcase, with three and four issue tests of such concepts as Suicide Squad, Justice League of America, Hawkman, Cave Carson Adventures Inside the Earth, and Strange Sports Stories… until B&B #50’s first superhero team-up story, written by Bob. An early Sgt. Rock one-shot and two-issue introduction of Metamorpho (written by Haney, co-created by Ramona Fradon) aside, B&B would remain a team-up book for the rest of its existence. Batman co-starred in a few of the early team-ups but didn’t take the regular lead in B&B until Issue #67. Neal didn’t enter the picture until #75, Aparo until #98, and Haney stayed on the book until #157 in 1979. I made a few observations about Bob’s famously casual attitude toward what little continuity existed in the DC Universe in those days, in Direct Conversations: Talks with Fellow DC Comics Bronze Age Creators, noting he “was pretty contemptuous of the whole idea of continuity. I once asked him about something from one of those Brave and the Bold stories, and he snorted and laughed and said that trying to keep all that crap straight was too...
Wonder Woman’s first artist was born 143 years ago…
A BIRTHDAY SALUTE to the late artist…
Thinking about comics’ greatest artist…
