Steve Ditko, co-creator of Spider-man and Dr. Strange, born 1927

Steve Ditko, born November 2, 1927 in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, was a comic book artist and is credited with co-creating Spider-man and Dr. Strange.  Growing up, Ditko's father sparked his interest in newspaper comic strips and when Steve served in the military, he drew comic strips for a military newspaper.

After his discharge, he enrolled in what is now the School of Visual Arts in New York City in 1950, graduating in 1953. In 1955, he went to work for Atlas Comics, which is now Marvel Comics, illustrating stories written by Stan Lee. 

In 1962, Spider-man first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15, a collaboration between Ditko and Lee.  But it seemed that Lee was getting most of the credit for the superhero instead of Ditko.  This led to a years long feud between the two.  

Lee eventually complied and gave Ditko credit for his contributions.  Ditko also worked for DC Comics, Dark Horse Comics, and Defiant Comics. 

He was reclusive and rarely gave interviews.  He never married or had children.  He passed away in June 2018 from a heart attack.

Bob Kane, co-creator of Batman, born 1915

Bob Kane, born October 24, 1915 in New York City, is best known for his creation Batman.  He had worked in animation and began working in comics in 1936 as a freelance penciler and inker.  After the huge success of Superman, Kane wanted to create his own series and worked with ghost writer Bill Finger for additional ideas, and Batman was born.  Batman's first appeared in Detective Comics #27 in Detective Comics, which would eventually morph into DC Comics.   

Batman has become a worldwide icon, appearing in comic books, television series, and feature films. 

Bob Kane retired from DC Comics in 1966, to focus on fine art, and created television animation characters such as Courageous Cat and Cool McCool.  He passed away in November 1998 in Los Angeles.  He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in October 2015 for his work in motion pictures. 

Happy birthday, Captain Marvel!

Jackson Bostwick, born October 23, 1943 in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, is best known for his portrayal of Captain Marvel from DC Comics on the Saturday morning TV show Shazam!.  He played Captain Marvel for the first season and two episodes into the second season, when he was fired by the producers.  He was late for filming one day, due to getting treatment for injuries he obtained during the previous day's filming, but the producers thought he was holding out for more money and fired him.  

He also appeared in Tron.

Happy birthday, Aquaman!

Insanely sexy actor Jason Momoa, who played DC Comic's Aquaman on the big screen, was born August 1, 1979 in Honolulu, Hawaii and raised in Iowa.

He appeared in Game of Thrones as Khal Drogo, before landing the role of Aquaman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice in 2016 and Justice League in 2017.  He starred as Aquaman in his own movie in 2018 with a sequel planned for release in 2022.

He will play Duncan Idaho in the upcoming release of Frank Herbert's Dune.

"Catwoman" released 2004

So it wasn't exactly a milestone in movie history, or at least not in a positive way.  Catwoman, starring Halle Berry in the titular role, was released July 23, 2004.  It has been universally panned as one of the worst movies ever.  Halle Berry won a Razzie Award for worst actress. She is the first actress to receive her Razzie Award while holding her Oscar award. 

Halle Berry has rarely been sexier.  Benjamin Bratt is always sexy.  Frances Conroy is always good.  Alex Borstein is always funny!

Celebrating Black History Month: John Stewart, Green Lantern, DC Comics first African-American superhero

John Stewart as Green Lantern is DC Comics first African-American superhero, first appearing in the December 1971/January 1972 issue of Green Lantern Vol 2, #87.  Neil Adams, an artist for DC, came up with the idea of a substitute Green Lantern and had a discussion with editor Julius Schwarz.  The decision to make John Stewart black stemmed from that conversation in which Adams said "we ouught to have a black Green Lantern, not because we're liberals, but because it just makes sense".

"Green Lantern" released 2011

Green Lantern, starring Ryan Reynolds in the title role, opened June 17, 2011.  I enjoyed the movie despite so many people, including Reynolds, hating it.  I think in Reynold's case, it had more to do with him not getting along at all with the director Martin Campbell.  Campbell reportedly blamed the movie's non-success on interference from Warner Brothers.

Oh, well.

I enjoyed the movie because Green Lantern is one of my favorite DC superheroes.  It did manage to take the #1 spot the weekend it opened, but everything went south right after. 

Comic Book Artist Jack Kirby born 1917

Jack Kirby, known around the world for being one of the most prolific and successful comic book artists, was born August 28, 1917 in New York City.  He learned to draw comics by tracing them from the papers and in 1940, he was hired by Timely Comics, where he co-created one of the best heroes of all times, Captain America.

In the 60's, he teamed up with Stan Lee at Atlas Comics which would become Marvel.  There he and Lee co-created...well,...just about everybody.  In the 70's Kirby went back to DC Comics where he created the Fourth World Saga and New Gods.

Kirby passed away February 6, 1994 from heart failure.

Happy birthday, Deadpool creator Rob Liefeld!

Rob Liefeld, born October 3, 1967, has been a comic book artist since about 19 years old, illustrating a story featuring the Black Panther, but his first published story was Hawk and Dove for DC Comics.  Later he worked for Marvel Comics, his first assignment being The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #23, and then on The New Mutants series and later he created X-Force.  The first issue sold over 4 million copies.

He is also the creator of Deadpool and made a cameo appearance in the film based on his most famous creation.