"So, turning *29* again, huh? Heh, heh...": Comic strip characters and birthdays

[Anthonynotes]

Next week, I turn 30. (Pauses for horrified gasping) The thought that I'm the same age as the 29-year-old Superman of the Silver/Bronze Age (and starting to "pull ahead" so to speak, eventually to match his 35-year-old post-Zero Hour age) made me start wondering:

What comics have featured birthday celebrations for our favorite characters? (Yes, we're well aware they aren't really aging, or aging *much*, but that's another debate...)

What I came up with:

- The classic "For the Man Who Has Everything" story by Alan Moore, appearing in "Superman Annual" #11(?) in 1984 or '85, IIRC: Batman, Robin (Jason Todd), and Wonder Woman showing up to celebrate at the Fortress of Solitude to celebrate Superman's birthday one February 29th...

- Supposedly, Superman's birthday (at least in the Silver/Bronze Age) falls/fell on Feb. 29th, as did Capt. Marvel's (in the Golden Age comics at least); meanwhile, Batman's IIRC fell on February 19th. Though I can't recall any Batman stories involving *his* birthday (sure one of the *many* Bat-fans on here will interject with something)...

- A 1980 Superboy comic shows Clark celebrating his 16th birthday, with a flashback to the day after he turned 8 (when he was allowed by Ma and Pa to begin his Superboy career). We learned why the Silver Age Kents always put an extra candle on Clark's birthday cake each year...

- A 1985 Superman comic showed late comic book editor Julius Schwartz (of Earth-Prime *and* his Earth-One counterpart) celebrating his 70th birthday.

- Guessing there must've been some sort of festivities or something on Paradise Island when Diana was "born"...

Anything else?

[Arkangel]

Next week, I turn 30. (Pauses for horrified gasping) The thought that I'm the same age as the 29-year-old Superman of the Silver/Bronze Age (and starting to "pull ahead" so to speak, eventually to match his 35-year-old post-Zero Hour age)
Today I turn 31 and it is odd in a way to suddenly (or at least it seems sudden) be older than the superhero characters I idolized as a kid.

[Anthonynotes]

Today I turn 31 and it is odd in a way to suddenly (or at least it seems sudden) be older than the superhero characters I idolized as a kid.

Happy birthday :-)


Yes, know what you mean; hard to believe there was a time when I wondered what it'd be like to be *Robin's* age---let alone dealing with currently being about *Batman's* age...

On-topic: Hmph. Was hoping this would get *some* response; don't comic characters have birthdays anymore? Or is that not as "realistic" as one's wife being brutally raped, not seeing how she specifically deals with that, and then murdered while she's pregnant? :-)

-B.

[Ed Liu]

Howdy,

One of the first Kitty Pryde stories in Uncanny X-Men involved her birthday party as she was turning 14, I think. She's older now, but she was supposed to be 14 for a REALLY long time.

I'm blanking on the details, but I could have sworn Franklin Richards' birthday figured into a Fantastic Four story at some point.

There was also a story in one of the recent J. Michael Straczynski Amazing Spider-Man issues called "Happy Birthday," which I assumed was an unnamed birthday celebration for Mr. Parker.

Other than that, I'm coming up blank.

(EDIT: OK, I lied. If I remember it right, Batman celebrates a birthday in Batman #400 from the 80's, where Ra's al-Ghul releases every villain from prison and Arkham in the same night. I know there was a cake involved at the end, which gets a stalactite driven into it by accident. Was a great story with tons of artists contributing that I don't know ever got reprinted anywhere. This was also the de facto "end" to the pre-Crisis Batman, with Frank Miller's Year One starting up 4 issues later.)

-- Ed/Ace

[Arkangel]

Happy birthday :-)
Thank you.

[Conekiller]

One of the first Kitty Pryde stories in Uncanny X-Men involved her birthday party as she was turning 14, I think. She's older now, but she was supposed to be 14 for a REALLY long time.


recently in X-treme X-men Kitty had a "going away to college" party (about 2 years ago)

[Mister Intensity]

Happy Birthday Brainatra!!!!

I remember when it was a big deal to be older than the Teen Titans members at various points of their careers. Pretty soon you have to start comparing your age to Justice Society members (now that's quite a quandary: compared to their actual or real ages :D).

I remember an old Superman birthday story in which Batman broke into the Fortress of Solitude and Superman had to figure out who broke in. Later on Superman tricked Batman by pretending he was effected by a fake piece of Kryptonite.

Dick Grayson turned twenty in a recounting of his origin in Secret Origins while on Tamararan during the time he was there to witness Starfire's wedding.

I can't think of any other birthday tales off the top of my head.

Mister Intensity

[Anthonynotes]

Happy Birthday Brainatra!!!!


Thanks!



I remember when it was a big deal to be older than the Teen Titans members at various points of their careers. Pretty soon you have to start comparing your age to Justice Society members (now that's quite a quandary: compared to their actual or real ages :D).


Well, think it'll be decades before I start being the JSAers ages---and by that point, I'll be surprised there's a comic book industry (let alone any JSAers or memory of the same) left. ;-)



I remember an old Superman birthday story in which Batman broke into the Fortress of Solitude and Superman had to figure out who broke in. Later on Superman tricked Batman by pretending he was effected by a fake piece of Kryptonite.


Actually, it's the first Fortress of Solitude story, from a 1958 Superman comic. Basically, Batman scares the daylights out of Superman for 12 pages or so before revealing he's the source of the mysterious messages/etc. APparently, this was all as Bats' gift to Supes for his anniversary of landing on Earth (not his birthday); later, the two have a get-together (with cake) in the Batcave (probably part of the inspiration for Supes' Fortress).

Hmm, a story where Bats annoys / scares the crud out of his close allies... maybe the current "Bat-jerk" persona started earlier than I thought. ;-)

-B.