Today is John Byrne's 74th Birthday, Byrne has had an incredible impact on the comic industry, at Marvel these included the creation of story arcs like "Dark Phoenix Saga" and "Days of Future Past", and co-creating characters such as Kitty Pryde, Emma Frost, Sabretooth, Shadow King, Rachel Summers and co-creating Bishop and Omega Red. At DC he defined a modern origin for Superman in The Man of Steel Byrne was the writer and artist of the Wonder Woman series for three years, during which he created the second Wonder Girl, Cassie Sandsmark. Byrne was one of the founders of the Legend imprint at Dark Horse Comics. He scripted the first issues of Mike Mignola's Hellboy series and produced several Star Trek comics for IDW Publishing. Byrne was entered into the Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame in 2015.

To celebrate what would be Jack Kirby's 109th Birthday - lets look at the top 5 characters he had a hand in creating. Number 5 would be the T'Challa Black Panther, Kirby and Stan Lee’s 1966 creation has surged into the top tier through cultural importance, strong fan rankings, a 300,000+ copy launch for Black Panther #1 in 2016, and two solo films totaling roughly $2.19 billion worldwide, plus enormous modern licensing and merchandise exposure. Marvel itself included T’Challa among its ten greatest Kirby creations. Coming in 4th is Thor, Thor has more than six decades of continuous comics prominence and routinely places among Marvel’s most popular heroes; his four solo MCU films have grossed approximately $2.71 billion worldwide, while his hammer, helmet and costume have become instantly recognizable merchandising symbols. Kirby’s visual reinvention of Norse mythology was so extensive that Marvel ranks Thor among his signature creations. In 3rd place is The Hulk, Hulk edges Thor because he became a genuine household name decades before the MCU, through comics, television, cartoons, toys and merchandise, while ranking #9 on IGN’s all-time heroes list and #2 on Marvel’s own Kirby-character ranking. His original comic struggled, but the character ultimately sustained one of Marvel’s longest-running solo publishing histories and remains one of the company’s most recognizable visual brands. In second place is Tony Stark's Iron Man, Kirby co-created and designed the original armored Iron Man, and although Tony was historically a mid-tier comic seller, the MCU transformed him into one of the world's biggest superhero brands: his three solo films generated about $2.42 billion, and modern fan rankings routinely place him among Marvel’s top characters. His enormous movie, toy, game and licensed-merchandising footprint pushes him ahead of Hulk in the overall commercial calculation. But the number, and clear overall winner of Kirby creations has got to be Captain America, Kirby and Joe Simon’s creation, which sold nearly one million copies of 'Captain America Comics' #1, has endured for more than 85 years, ranks #6 on IGN’s all-time superhero list, and headlines a film franchise that has grossed roughly $2.65 billion before even counting his Avengers appearances and merchandising. Marvel’s own ranking of Kirby creations also puts Captain America at #1, making him the strongest combination of historical sales, longevity, popularity, media exposure and commercial value. King Kirby, indeed.

Sad news, it is being reported that Marvel Comics long time Editor in Chief Jim Shooter has passed away at 73 from Cancer. Comic writer Mark Waid first reported it