Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Groovy Christmas' Past: Captain Marvel gets "A Taste of Madness!"

In December, 1972, Jim Starlin began his legendary run on Captain Marvel (issue 25), not only drawing the strip, but bringing over characters he'd created (Thanos and the Titans) during his short stint on Iron Man (issue #55, November, 1972). His melding of the art styles of Kirby, Ditko, Adams, and Smith made his star rise quickly. Soon he took over plotting, then the full writing chores on Captain Marvel (issue 29, August, 1973), and in the process not only saved the book from cancellation, but made it one of the most popular and influential comics of the early 1970s.

My admiration for Starlin and his talent knows no bounds. Young Groove was blown away first by Starlin's art, then by his writing on Captain Marvel. I followed him as he reached even greater heights with Adam Warlock, then Metamorphosis Odyssey, and Dreadstar. I was never disappointed, because everything Starlin did was a cosmic epic--my fave comicbook genre! (For more info on my love of Starlin's work, as well as the rest of his awe-inspiring career, check out my "Still Going" post from last summer. )

Nearly four decades worth of fans have and still are discovering the far-out worlds of Jim Starlin, but for me, it all started here. Inked by the talented Chic Stone, Starlin's power and promise comes shining through in this story written by the highly underrated Mike Friedrich.
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5 comments:

  1. ScottDecember 23, 2008 at 1:15 PM

    "Beginning a new era of Greatness" - Boy did they deliver on that boast! Amazing difference from the previous few issues by Wayne Boring (whom I liked on Superman, but who was sadly out of place at Marvel in the 1970s)!

    Starlin's stint on Iron Man was indeed short - only two issues, IIRC.

    Good to see some appreciation for Mike Friedrich, too. He wrote a heck of a lot of comics that I recall fondly ~35 years later. I enjoyed Star Reach, and I'm sure he did a great job as an agent, but I wouldn't have minded getting more Ka-Zar, Iron Man, or Robin stories from him. I also would have liked to see him handle a run on the Avengers.

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  2. AnonymousDecember 23, 2008 at 5:45 PM

    great call, oh groovy one. starting with this run, and then into his run on WARLOCK, jim starlin totally blew my little teenage mind! awesome funnybooks all! :)

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  3. The Groovy AgentDecember 24, 2008 at 3:20 PM

    There'll be more Mike Friedrich in the future, Scott. His work for Marvel, as well as his Star*Reach publishing venture are too important to ignore!

    Starlin blew a lot of minds, Andy! One of these days I'm gonna post the comics I made (when I was in the 8th grade) that were "inspired by" (more like "ripped off from") Starlin's cosmic comics.

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  4. AnonymousDecember 26, 2008 at 1:59 AM

    i did my share of ripping off starlin. i look forward to seeing yours! :)

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  5. The Groovy AgentDecember 26, 2008 at 8:08 AM

    I got a new scanner for Christmas, Andy, so it may happen sooner than you think...

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Special thanks to Mike's Amazing World of Comics and Grand Comics Database for being such fantastic resources for covers, dates, creator info, etc. Thou art treasures true!


Note to "The Man": All images are presumed copyright by the respective copyright holders and are presented here as fair use under applicable laws, man! If you hold the copyright to a work I've posted and would like me to remove it, just drop me an e-mail and it's gone, baby, gone.


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As for the rest of ya, the purpose of this blog is to (re)introduce you to the great comics of the 1970s. If you like what you see, do what I do--go to a comics shop, bookstore, e-Bay or whatever and BUY YOUR OWN!