This Day in Comic Book History — September 23, 2026
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Epic Panels Presents
This Day in Comic Book History
Wednesday, September 23, 2026 — Today in Comics: September 23
Spotlight
Happy Birthday, Peter David — Born September 23, 1956
Peter David · Wikimedia Commons (photo by Gage Skidmore)
MarvelDC
Turning 70 today is one of comics' most prolific and idiosyncratic writers: Peter David, born September 23, 1956, in Fort Meade, Maryland. David is best known for his 12-year run on The Incredible Hulk, where he took a title that was struggling to find its voice and turned it into an acclaimed psychological character study — reframing Bruce Banner's transformations through the lens of dissociative identity and childhood trauma, work that earned him a 1992 Eisner Award.
That was only one chapter of a remarkably varied career. David reinvented Aquaman in the 1990s, giving the once-mocked hero a harpoon hand and an edge that made him a genuinely compelling action lead rather than a punchline. He wrote two separate runs of X-Factor, the second of which won a 2011 GLAAD Media Award for its handling of LGBTQ+ characters, and he shepherded Young Justice, Supergirl, and the noir-tinged creator-owned series Fallen Angel. In 1992 he co-created Spider-Man 2099 with artist Rick Leonardi, introducing Miguel O'Hara in a series that became the best-selling single issue of David's career. Few writers have left fingerprints on as many corners of the Marvel and DC universes at once.
More From This Date
"A History of Violence" Opens in U.S. Theaters — September 23, 2005
David Cronenberg, director of A History of Violence · Wikimedia Commons
DCFilm
David Cronenberg's A History of Violence received a limited U.S. theatrical release on September 23, 2005, ahead of its wide expansion the following week. The film — starring Viggo Mortensen as a diner owner whose quiet Indiana life unravels after he kills two robbers in self-defense — was adapted from the 1997 graphic novel of the same name, written by John Wagner and illustrated by Vince Locke and published under DC's short-lived crime-and-noir imprint, Paradox Press. The film went on to earn two Academy Award nominations, a rare crossover moment for a comics-originated project in the awards conversation.
Rube Goldberg's "Boob McNutt" Takes Its Final Bow — September 23, 1934
Rube Goldberg · Wikimedia Commons
Newspaper Strip
After sixteen years of slapstick misadventures, cartoonist Rube Goldberg concluded his long-running Sunday strip Boob McNutt on September 23, 1934. The strip, which debuted June 9, 1918, followed a well-meaning but hopelessly accident-prone hero through chain-reaction catastrophes — a comic-strip cousin to the elaborate "Rube Goldberg machines" that would make the cartoonist's name a permanent part of the English language. Goldberg would go on to win a Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning in 1948 and later lend his name to the Reuben Award, comics' highest honor.
First Issues, Debuts & Premieres
Bonus First Issue: Spider-Man 2099 #1 (Cover-Dated November 1992)
Spider-Man 2099 cosplay · Wikimedia Commons
Marvel
No verified first-issue debut lands squarely on September 23 in the historical record, so as a bonus tie-in to today's birthday honoree: it was today's Spotlight writer, Peter David, working with artist Rick Leonardi, who introduced Miguel O'Hara as the futuristic Spider-Man 2099 in a five-page preview inside Amazing Spider-Man #365 (August 1992) before his own cover-dated November 1992 debut issue hit shelves — a launch so strong it became the top-selling single issue of David's career.
Panel of the Day
Three very different corners of comics history collide on September 23: a beloved writer's birthday (Peter David, 1956), a pioneering cartoonist's finale (Rube Goldberg's Boob McNutt, 1934), and a graphic novel's leap to the big screen (A History of Violence, 2005) — a reminder that "comic book history" spans newsprint gag strips, direct-market superheroes, and prestige cinema all at once.
