Today, in honor of Bob Dylan's birthday, we deliver 80 references to Bob Dylan in comic books.
Knowledge Waits is a feature where I just share some bit of comic book history that interests me.
I've been doing this since Dylan's 70th birthday, and I just add a reference each year (here's the 79th Birthday edition), but for his 80th, I thought I'd be stupid and actually come up with 80 new references that I had not previously used (so yes, that does, in fact, mean that I have delivered 159 Bob Dylan references in comic books for you). You're welcome, websites that will use these references in the future without mentioning that you got them from here.
Here we go!
From Swamp Thing Annual #2 (by Alan Moore, Steve Bissette and John Totleben), the Phantom Stranger's line about strangers comes from Dylan's song, "Gates of Eden."
From Tokyopop's Cowboy Bebop #2 (adapted from the anime by Yutaka Nanten), a reference to the Dylan song, "Like a Rolling Stone."
From Human Target #7 (by Peter Milligan and Cliff Chiang), a story arc named after a lyric from the Bob Dylan song, "Subterranean Homesick Blues."
From Squalor #3 (by Stefan Petrucha and Tom Sutton), a reference to the Bob Dylan song, "Jokerman."
From House of Mystery #287 (by J. M. DeMatteis and E. R. Cruz), a reference to the Bob Dylan song, "Forever Young."
From Marvel Graphic Novel: Cloak and Dagger and Power Pack: Shelter from the Storm (by Bill Mantlo, Sal Velluto and Mark Farmer) a reference to the Bob Dylan song, "Shelter From the Storm."
From Life With Archie #256 (by George Gladier, Stan Goldberg and Rudy Lapick), Veronica's father, Mr. Lodge, quotes Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are A-Changin'."
From Justice League International #25 (by Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis, Mike McKone and Joe Rubinstein), Blue Beetle and Booster Gold take a repossession job so that Beetle can afford a CD player and all of Bob Dylan's CDs.
From the June 4, 1966 edition of Valentine, a British weekly romance comic where comic book creators would do stories based on then-popular songs, like Bob Dylan's "One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)."
From Incredible Hulk #157 (by Archie Goodwin, Herb Trimpe and Sal Trapani), Dylan's song "Ballad of a Thin Man" is quoted...
From Master of Kung Fu #33 (by Doug Moench, Paul Gulacy and Dan Adkins), Bob Dylan's song, "Wicked Messenger" is referenced.
From Captain America #327 (by Mark Gruenwald, Paul Neary and John Beatty), a reference to Live-Aid and similar charity concerts features a cameo of Bob Dylan (well, Neary gave it a shot, at least).
From The Big Book of Martyrs (by John Wagner and Robin Smith), a reference to Dylan's song (co-written with Rick Danko) "This Wheel's on Fire."
From Critters #29 (by J. Holland and Ron Wilber), a reference to the Bob Dylan song, "Stuck Inside of Mobile (With the Memphis Blues Again)."
From New Guardians #2 (by Steve Englehart, Cary Bates, Joe Staton and Mark Farmer), a reference to the Bob Dylan song, "Blowin' in the Wind."
From X-Men #31 (by Roy Thomas, Werner Roth and John Tartaglione), we meet Bernard the Poet, who is compared to Bob Dylan.
From Green Lantern #77 (by Denny O'Neil, Neal Adams and Frank Giacoia), a folk singer has been inspiring a mining town into striking (the singer is then specifically referred to as being like Dylan).
From the 2005 The Maze Agency #1 (by Mike W. Barr, Ariell Padilla and Ernest Jocson), a reference to the Bob Dylan song "The Times They Are A-Changin'."
From the December/January 1976 issue of High Times, Paul Kirchner's Dope Rider comic has Pancho Villa quoting (backwards) the Bob Dylan song "The Times They Are A-Changin'."
From World's Finest Comics #211 (by Denny O'Neil, Dick Dillin and Joe Giella), a quote of the Bob Dylan song, "Desolation Row."
From Fate #22 (by Len Kaminski, Anthony William and Andy Lanning), a reference to the Bob Dylan song, "Knockin' on Heaven's Door."
From Superman Annual #1 (by Peter Tomasi, Patrick Gleason, Jorge Jimenez and Alejandro Sanchez), a reference to the Bob Dylan song, "Tangled Up in Blue."
From Betty and Veronica Comics Digest Magazine #180 (by Kathleen Webb, Stan Goldberg and John Lowe) a reference to the Bob Dylan song, "Blowin' in the Wind."
From JLA: Welcome to the Working Week (by Patton Oswalt, Patrick Gleason and Christian Alamy), a character refers to Martian Manhunter as the Dylan of the Justice League (Patrick Carrington suggested this one)
From Mad #313 (by Rick Tulka and Desmond Devlin), Dylan is featured in an alphabet of Rock...
From the "Little Annie Fanny" feature in the October 1966 issue of Playboy (by Harvey Kurtzman, Will Elder and Jack Davis), Dylan is parodied as "Bobby Doleful."
From Slingers #8 (by Joe Harris, Greg Luzniak and Bob Almond), a reference to the Bob Dylan song, "Subterranean Homesick Blues."
From G.I. Joe and the Transformers #1 (by Michael Higgins, Herb Trimpe and Vince Colletta), a reference to the Bob Dylan album, Blood on the Tracks.
From Snake 'n Bacon's Cartoon Cabaret (by Michael Kupperman), Dylan appears in a murder mystery.
From Ectokid #8 (by Lana Wachowski, Steve Skroce and Bob Dvorak), a reference to the Bob Dylan album, Highway 61 Revisited (also a song, but I'm assuming it's a reference to the album).
From Negative Burn #11 (by Alan Moore, Phil Hester and Ande Parks), a reference to the Bob Dylan song, "Positively Fourth Street."
From Mad #294 (by Rick Tulka and Desmond Devlin), Dylan appears along with the other Traveling Wilburys in a quiz about Rock.
From the March 15, 1969 edition of Valentine, a British weekly romance comic where comic book creators would do stories based on then-popular songs, like Bob Dylan's "I Shall Be Released."
From Rock n Roll Comics #33 (by Jay Allen Sanford, Johnny Childish and Mike Sagara), we catch up with the members of Guns 'N' Roses and we see that Slash has been working with Bob Dylan (and not being happy about it).
From X-Ray Robot #2, Paul Pope pays tribute to the late Milton Glaser with a variant cover based on Glaser's iconic poster of Bob Dylan.
From Go-Go #1 (by Joe Gill and Jon D'Agostino), Dylan appears in a wacky answer column bit.
From Detective Comics #531 (by Joey Cavalieri, Jerome Moore and Mike De Carlo), a reference to the Bob Dylan song, "Shelter From the Storm."
From Thor: Heaven & Earth #2 (by Paul Jenkins, Mark Texeira and Chris Sotomayor), a reference to the Bob Dylan song, "Blowin' in the Wind."
From Master of Kung Fu #77 (by Doug Moench, Mike Zeck and Bob McLeod), a reference to the Bob Dylan album, Blood on the Tracks.
From Gen 13: Ordinary Heroes #1 (by Adam Hughes and Mark Farmer), a reference to the Bob Dylan song, "Desolation Row."
From Vamperotica #4 (by Tom Piccirilli and Juan Pineda)a reference to the Bob Dylan song, "Shelter From the Storm."
From Strange #1 (by J. Michael Straczynski, Samm Barnes, Brandon Peterson and Justin Ponsor), a quote from the Bob Dylan song, "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)."
From X-Men #31 (by Roy Thomas, Werner Roth and John Tartaglione), the Bob Dylan song, "Like a Rolling Stone" is playing in a night club.
From Deadpool Max #8 (by David Lapham and Kyle Baker), Deadpool proposes to Cable that they play a "Name that Bob Dylan song" game.
From Azrael: Agent of the Bat #61 (by Denny O'Neil, Roger Robinson and James Pascoe), Azrael tries out the new harmonica that Barbara Gordon gave him and compares himself to Bob Dylan.
Fron Flash & Green Lantern: The Brave and the Bold #4 (by Mark Waid, Tom Peyer, Tom Grindberg and Barry Kitson), a reference to the Bob Dylan song, "Blowin' in the Wind."
From Plasmer #3 (by Glenn Dakin, Pascual Ferry and Sean Hardy), a reference to the Bob Dylan song, "Masters of War."
From Wonder Wart-Hog #2 (by Gilbert Shelton), a reference to the Bob Dylan song, "Bob Dylan's 115th Dream."
From Justice League International #25 (by Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis, Mike McKone and Joe Rubinstein), Blue Beetle is still determined to get his Dylan collection (but when the creature kills itself, Beetle is too disgusted to collect his payment).
From One Of These Days (by Yehuda Devir), each of his one-page comics have titles, and this one is a reference to the Bob Dylan song, "Knockin' on Heaven's Door."
From an "Ed, Edd and Eddy" comic in Cartoon Network Block Party #1 (by Sholly Fisch and Scott Neely), a reference to the Bob Dylan song, "Blowin' in the Wind."
From the graphic novel, Bowie: Stardust, Rayguns, & Moonage Daydreams (by Michael Allred, Steve Horton, and Laura Allred), a Dylan album makes a cameo.
From Inhuman #5 (by CHarles Soule, Ryan Stegman and Marte Gracia), Dylan is name-checked.
From Rock Toons (written by Dominique Farran and Michael Sadler and drawn by Serge Dutfoy), Dylan is first mentioned...
From Roaring Rick's Rare Bit Fiends #2 (by Rick Veitch), a Bob Dylan "museum" is shown.
From Human Target #9 (by Peter Milligan and CLiff Chiang), the story arc named after a Dylan song lyric now gets a title named after a Bob Dylan album, Bringing It All Back Home.
From Rock Toons (written by Dominique Farran and Michael Sadler and drawn by Serge Dutfoy), Dylan get his own page.
From Spider-Island: Deadly Foes #1 (by Fred Van Lente, Minck Oosterveer and David Curiel), a reference to the Bob Dylan song, "Rainy Day Women #12 and 35" (Rob London suggested this one).
From Teen Titans #41 (by Adam Glass, Robbie Thompson, Eduardo Pansica, Julio Ferreira and Marcelo Maiolo), a reference to the Bob Dylan song, "Knockin' on Heaven's Door."
From Mad #421 (by Rick Tulka and Desmond Devlin), Dylan needs to stand-in for himself at museum displays to make some extra cash.
From Archie's Pal, Jughead #105 (anyone know who wrote and drew this one?), a reference to the Bob Dylan song, "Mr. Tambourine Man."
From Mantra #10 (in a Ripfire back-up feature by Darick Robertson and Jon Holdredge), a reference to the Bob Dylan song, "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall."
From Conan: The Legend, an interview with Conan artist, Cary Nord, by Conan writer, Kurt Busiek, referencing the Bob Dylan song, "Girl From the North Country."
From JLA 80-Page Giant #2 (by Tom Peyer, Chris Renaud and John Lowe), a reference to the Bob Dylan song, "Shelter From the Storm."
From Planet of the Nerds #1 (by Paul COnstant, Randy Elliott and Felipe Sobreiro), a reference to the Bob Dylan song, "Blowin' in the Wind."
From Iron Man #47 (by Roy Thomas, Barry Windsor-Smith and Jim Mooney), a reference to the Bob Dylan song, "New Morning" (also an album title, but it seems like it is referring to the song).
From Wolverine #48 (by Marc Guggenheim, Humberto Ramos, Carlos Cuevas and Edgar Delgado), a reference to the Bob Dylan song, "Knockin' on Heaven's Door."
From Crazy #91, David Allikas and Dave Morris do their take on Bob Dylan.
From Ex Machina Special #4 (by Brian Azzarello, John Paul Leon and JD Mettler), a reference to the Bob Dylan song, "Blowin' in the Wind."
From Star Wars: Republic #67 (by Randy Stradley, Brandon Badeaux and Brad Anderson), a reference to the Bob Dylan song, "Forever Young."
From Cracked #363 (I don't know the writer or artist offhand. Anyone?), we see Dylan in space.
From Mad #334 (by F. Santopadre and Greg Theakston), a take on a Bob Dylan stamp.
From the November 13, 1965 edition of Valentine, a British weekly romance comic where comic book creators would do stories based on then-popular songs, like Bob Dylan's "When the Ship Comes In."
From Rock n Roll Comics #62 (by Michael K. Willis and Maxwell), Elton John meets Bob Dylan for the first time.
From Doom 2099 #16 (by Ernie Colon), a character quotes Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are A-Changin'."
From Mars Attacks Savage Dragon #4 (by Dwight Zimmerman, Claude St. Aubin and Larry Mahlstedt), a reference to the Bob Dylan song, "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall."
From Mad #128 (by Max Brandel and Frank Jacobs), Dylan becomes an animal.
From Fate #14 (by Len Kaminski, Anthony William and Andy Lanning), a reference to the Bob Dylan song, "Like a Rolling Stone."
From Detective Comics #995 (by Peter Tomasi, Doug Mahnke, Jaime Mendoza and David Baron), a reference to the Bob Dylan song, "Ring Them Bells."
And finally, from Millie the Model #152 (by Gary Friedrich and Bill Williams), we see Millie rocking out to Bob Dylan's "Stuck Inside of Moblie (With the Memphis Blues Again," which is just hilarious.
Happy birthday, Bob!