//=time() ?>
A very happy 75th birthday to the great @StephenKing. I've been a devoted fan since Signet published CARRIE in paperback, and I'm so very grateful you have dedicated your life to your imagination and have decided to share it with us. Health and happiness, Stephen!
Happy birthday to Impish Irene Vartanoff! The writer/colorist was once such a regular DC letterhack that she earned a cameo in FLASH #195. She hasn't been on Twitter for some time, but I'm hoping @scottedelman passes along best wishes, as they do cross paths occasionally!
The legendary Joe Kubert was born OTD in 1926, the master artist who *was* war comics. Besides his art, he left a lasting legacy in the many students of the Kubert School, launched in 1976. It is inconceivable to imagine DC Comics without his towering influence. He died in 2012.
Peter Falk was born OTD in 1927. Twice Oscar-nominated, he created one of television's most timeless characters in Columbo, becoming the medium's highest-paid actors and winning multiple Emmys. Also, funny as hell (IT'S A MAD...WORLD, THE IN-LAWS, etc). He died in 2011.
Happy 75th birthday to Mike Grell! The artist/writer is one of the industry's finest pencilers of beautiful physiques, as evidenced on GREEN LANTERN/GREEN ARROW, WARLORD, JON SABLE, and SUPERBOY & THE LEGION. Here's one of his first DC assignments: drawing Aquaman in 1974.
Artist Don Punchatz was born OTD in 1936. Impossible to calculate how many copies of THE FOUNDATION TRILOGY or DUNE were sold with his wildly surrealist covers, and he painted the 1993 package art for the game DOOM, as well as fronts for TIME, NATIONAL LAMPOON, etc. Died in 2008.
9/6/73: Nick Cardy didn't do covers for Joe Orlando's horror mags very often, as HOUSE OF MYSTERY #220 depicts the opening panel of Michael Fleisher's "They Hunt Butterflies, Don't They?" Alfredo Alcala's exquisite artwork makes you feel the oppressive jungle humidity.
Artist/cartoonist Lee Marrs turns 77 today! A pioneer in feminist and LGBTQ illustration, she also worked for both DC and Marvel, writing and/or drawing stories for PLOP!, HOUSE OF SECRETS and CRAZY. She used to appear on TV and draw political cartoons as news events happened.