Johnny Thunder All-Star Western

As the adventures of Johnny Thunder in the west started to wind down (and Johnny got a change from brown western duds to brighter red and blue), readers got an origin for Johnny Thunder (teacher John Tane, who was the son of a sheriff and a school teacher, whose mother made him promise never to use guns).  So, John came up with the alter ego Johnny Thunder, which allowed him to defend Mesa City, Arizona from all sorts of nefarious menaces, including Madame .44 (Jeanne Walker) who took her own secret identity to take from the rich and give to the needy (and, as later established, the two found out each others secrets, and married), all with art by Gil Kane, who sometimes inked himself, or was inked by Joe Giella or Russ Heath! The stories started being by Robert Kanigher, then were by Gardner Fox.

All-Star Western #108 and #109 (August-September and October-November, 1959)

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All-Star Western #110 and #111 (December-January 1959/1960 and February-March 1960)

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All-Star Western #112 and #113 (April-May and June-July, 1960)

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All-Star Western #114 and #115 (August-September and October-November, 1960)

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All-Star Western #116 and #117 (December-January, 1960/1961 and February-March, 1961)

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All-Star Western #118 and #119 (April-May and June-July, 1961)

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Celebrating Artist John Byrne

Celebrating the birthday of artist John Byrne (July 6, 1950), but which John Byrne should we celebrate....the Marvel Comics' version, who worked on the Fantastic Four, or the DC Comics' version, who had an influential run on Superman?

Well, how about both, with the covers of Fantastic Four #249 (December, 1982) where he had Gladiator of the Imperial Guard stand in for Superman, and Superman #8 (August, 1987) with Legion of Super-Heroes' members (Sun Boy, Blok, Brainiac 5 and Invisible Kid) standing in for the Fantastic Four?

National Bikini Day 2025

Archie seems to prefer blondes... 

...and bikinis...

...as shown on these two covers for Laugh (#330 and #331, September and October, 1978, likely both by Dan DeCarlo) as we celebrate National Bikini Day.

Happy 4th Of July With Miss America

A happy 4th of July to all...and to celebrate, here is Madeline Joyce (otherwise known as Miss America) from the one and only Miss America Comics from 1944 (the later issues where Miss America Magazine), with a cover by Ken Bald.

Miss America later joined the Liberty Legion, the Invaders and the All-Winners Squad, and was involved with the Whizzer!

Matt Savage Trail Boss

Matt Savage was an army scout who served bravely, but then went into work as a miner, but that didn't work out. So, Matt Savage took to the trails and was a trail boss, leading cattle and settlers through the rough terrain of Texas to Kansas in the 19th Century.

His adventures ran from Western Comics #77 to #85 (and looked a little like John Wayne!), with cover art by Gil Kane and Joe Giella, with stories by Gardner Fox.

Later stories related him to Scalphunter/Brian Savage and Balloon Buster/Steve Savage.

Western Comics #77 and #78 (September-October and November-December, 1959)

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Western Comics #79 and #80 (January-February and March-April, 1960)

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Western Comics #81 and #82 (May-June and July-August, 1960)

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Western Comics #83 and #84 (September-October and November-December, 1960)

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Western Comics #85 (January-February, 1961)

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Celebrating Artist Hugh Fleming

Celebrating the birthday of cover artist Hugh Fleming (July 1, 1967) with some legendary covers featuring Green Arrow (and the painted work of the artist) from Legends Of The DC Universe and Legends Of The Dark Knight (that featured early tales of your favorite heroes, here, the first meetings of Green Arrow and Green Lantern, and Green Arrow and Batman).

Legends of the DC Universe #7 and #8 (August and September, 1998)

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Legends of the DC Universe #9 and Legends Of The Dark Knight #127 (October, 1998 and March, 2000)

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Legends Of The Dark Knight #128 and Legends Of The Dark Knight #129 (April and May, 2000)

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Legends Of The Dark Knight #130 and Legends Of The Dark Knight #131 (June and July, 2000)

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Celebrating Artist Mike McKone

Celebrating artist Mike McKone on his birthday (June 30, 1969) with a couple of his Fantastic Four covers....Fantastic Four #527 (July, 2005, the variant cover) and Fantastic Four #537 (June, 2006), featuring the team at its highs and lows.