Sam Henderson (born 18 October 1969, USA) is a cartoonist, writer, and expert on American comedy history.

He has been publishing mini-comics since he was a child and began his comics series “The Magic Whistle” in 1993 (now published by Alternative Comics).

He also began the long-running silent strip ‘Scene but Not Heard’ in “Nickelodeon Magazine” in 1993.

He wrote and did storyboard directing on the “SpongeBob SquarePants” animated show in the early 2000s. He has drawn cartoons and written stories in ‘SpongeBob’ comic books, as well.

At Comiclopedia — https://www.lambiek.net/artists/h/henderson.htm
At Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Henderson
In the GCD — http://ow.ly/Mfld30fWWBd (some explicit images)
In the IMDb — http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1153490/

(Henderson created the cover of “Zero Zero” #18, July 1997)

Lionel English (born 18 October 1966, USA) is a long-time indexer, editor, and director of the Grand Comics Database.

Happy Birthday, Lionel!

(Phil de Lara created the cover of “The Flintstones” #36, October 1966)

Sandy Plunkett (born 18 October 1955, USA) is a comic-book artist whose professional career began in 1975.

He moved from work in art fanzines (such as “Comic Art Showcase”) to illustrations and short stories for Marvel, DC, and Gold Key.

He has done most of his work since then for Marvel Comics. His first longer story was a team-up of Spider-Man and Scarlet Witch in “Marvel Fanfare” (1983).

He also occasionally publishes with DC, Titan (UK), Dark Horse, IDW, and others.

At Comiclopedia — https://www.lambiek.net/artists/p/plunkett_sandy.htm
At Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy_Plunkett
In the GCD — http://ow.ly/aUmM305htlB

(Plunkett penciled and Alan Weiss inked the cover of “The Defenders” #124, October 1983)

Jerry Siegel (17 October 1914 – 28 January 1996, USA) was an early and very influential comic-book creator.

He was an avid science-fiction fan, publishing the first fanzine in 1929. In high school, he became friends with Joe Shuster, an artist and fan like himself.

Siegel and Shuster broke into comics together, with stories in “New Fun” and “New Comics” (published by what would become National Comics) from 1935.

In 1938, they sold a feature to the same company for a new title, “Action Comics” — ‘Superman’. They got $130 and a contract to supply material to the publisher.

Near the end of the contract, in 1946, the pair sued to regain rights to ‘Superman’. They left National and in 1947 began working for another publisher, Magazine Enterprises. They lost the lawsuit.

Siegel continued to write for a variety of publishers. He returned to National to write uncredited ‘Superman’ stories. He wrote at Marvel both as himself and as ‘Joe Carter’.

He worked on super-heroes for Archie Comics (the Mighty Comics line) and Charlton Comics. For Disney’s publishers, he wrote “Junior Woodchucks” stories (USA) and stories in “Topolino” (Italy).

He received an Inkpot Award (1975) and a Bill Finger Award (2005). He was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame (1992) and the Jack Kirby Hall of Fame (1993).

At Comiclopedia — https://www.lambiek.net/artists/s/siegel.htm
At Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Siegel
In the GCD — http://ow.ly/trs5305eRQ2

(John Buscema created the cover of “Nature Boy” #3, March 1956, introducing the character he and Spiegel co-created)

Harry Donenfeld (17 October 1893 – 1 February 1965, USA) was a businessman who is known to comics fans as the co-owner of two of the companies that later merged and eventually became DC Comics.

Born in Romania, his family emigrated in 1898. He struggled his way into possession of a printing company founded by his brothers which he funded with services to organized crime.

In 1937, he and accountant Jack Liebowitz joined Major Malcom Wheeler-Nicholson to found Detective Comics, Inc. in order to fund Nicholson’s third comics title, “Detecive Comics”. Nicholson was forced out of the company in 1938.

In 1939, Liebowitz and Max Gaines founded All-American Comics. Donenfeld published the All-American titles and they shared branding with the Detecive Comics titles.

In 1946, Detective Comics and All-American Comics merged to form National Comics Publications. Since 1940, all of the comics involved had been branded with a ‘Superman-DC’ bullet and few consumers noticed the corporate changes happening behind the logos.

The company was renamed National Periodical Publications in 1961 and DC Comics in 1977.

Back in 1943, Donenfeld had also taken a stake in Benjamin W. Sangor’s new company, American Comics Group (ACG). ACG published until 1967, just a few years after Donenfeld’s death.

At Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Donenfeld
DC publisher history in GCD — http://www.comics.org/publisher/54/

(Leo O’Mealia created the cover art on “Action Funnies”, 1937, an ashcan edition — the art was eventually used on “Action Comics” #3, August 1938)

François Allot (born 17 October 1951, France) is an artist who started his career illustrating science fiction.

His first comics work appeared in “Actuel”, “Okapi”, and “Circus”. In 1988, he took over Rodolphe’s “Les Écluses du Ciel” following the departure of Michel Rouge.

At Comiclopedia — https://www.lambiek.net/artists/a/allot_francois.htm
In the GCD — http://ow.ly/FIKp305eR0A

(Allot created the cover of “Les Écluses du ciel” #5 - Le Pays, February 1990)

Johan de Moor (born 17 October 1953, Belgium) is a second-generation comic artist. He established himself as a political cartoonist before coming to Studio Hergé where his father, Bob de Moor (1925–1992), had been working for many years.

De Moor created an animated relaunch of Hergé’s humor series ‘Quick et Flupke’ in the early 1980s. It led to a comic series which he drew with famously-close faithfulness to Hergé’s own style.

From the late 1980s, he developed a style more distinctly his own. De Moor and writer Stephen Desberg created the series “Gaspard de la Nuit” and “La Vache” in the 1990s.

He continues to create graphic stories. He also teaches in Brussels at the Saint-Luc Art Institute.

At Comiclopedia — https://www.lambiek.net/artists/d/de-moor_johan.htm
In the GCD — http://ow.ly/yu2p305eR85

(De Moor created the cover of “Gaspard de la nuit” #2 - Les chasseurs dans la nuit, 1989)

Joe Sinnott (born 16 October 1926, USA) is a comic book artist who has worked primarily as an inker.

He is best known for his long stint on “Fantastic Four” (1965–1981), initially over the pencils of Jack Kirby.

During his sixty years as a Marvel freelancer and then salaried artist working from home, he inked nearly every major title at the company, with notable runs on “The Avengers”, “The Defenders”, and “Thor”.

Sinnott received an Inkpot Award at San Diego in 1995 and was inducted into the Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame in 2013. In 2008, he shared the inaugural Inkwell Award for Favorite Inker (Retro) with Terry Austin and received the first Inkwell Joe Sinnott Hall of Fame Award, or ‘Joe Sinnott Award’.

At Comiclopedia — https://www.lambiek.net/artists/s/sinnott_joe.htm
At Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Sinnott
In the GCD — http://ow.ly/TOUU305dHyE

(Sinnott created the cover of “Strange Tales” #67, February 1959)

#LGBTHistoryMonth
Wimmen's Comix ( http://ow.ly/jAR130fC9DF )
(some covers NSFW)

Wimmen's Comix, later titled Wimmin's Comix, is an influential all-female underground comics anthology published from 1972 to 1992. Though it covered a wide range of genre and subject matter, Wimmen's Comix focused more than other anthologies of the time on feminist concerns, homosexuality, sex and politics in general, and autobiographical comics. Wimmen's Comix #1 featured the first-ever comic strip featuring an "out" lesbian, Trina Robbins' "Sandy Comes Out." Wimmen's Comix was a launching pad for many cartoonists' careers, and inspired other small-press and self-published titles like Dyke Shorts and Dynamite Damsels.

Read more: http://ow.ly/qyDa30fC9VA

Samm Schwartz (15 October 1920 – 13 November 1997, USA) was a comic artist best known for his work on the Archie character Jughead Jones.

In the late 1940s Schwartz began his long career on humor and Archie-related stories at MLJ (which later became Archie Comics). He drew for many of the Archie features, but soon specialized in ‘Jughead’ stories.

He was the lead artist on the “Jughead” title through much of the 1950s and early 1960s. He designed the character Big Ethel.

From 1965 to 1969, he first became an artist and editor at Tower Comics (his main project was “Tippy Teen”) and then spent a year at DC Comics drawing stories and covers for “A Date With Debbi” and “Debbi’s Dates”.

He returned to Archie Comics in 1969, drawing most issues of “Jughead” from 1970 to 1987. He also contributed stories to other titles like “Reggie and Me” and “That Wilkin Boy”.

At Comiclopedia — https://www.lambiek.net/artists/s/schwartz_samm.htm
At Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samm_Schwartz
In the GCD — http://ow.ly/xSSZ305cNpI

(Schwartz created the cover of “Jughead’s Fantasy” #1, August 1960)