Monday, November 12, 2012

Bring on the Back-ups: "Return" by Boudreau and Simonson

Today we observe Veteran's Day here in the good ol' U.S. of A., and Ol' Groove would like to take a moment to thank those men and women who put on the uniforms and risked their lives for the cause of freedom. Now, the following tale isn't the traditional war tale one would expect to see for such a tribute, but since when do you expect "traditional" here in Groove City? Fans of war comics and sci-fi comics alike can certainly dig a futuristic fable like Gerry Bourdreau and Walt Simonson's "Return" from Star Spangled War Stories #180 (February 1974), don'tcha think?






Is it just me, or does Kyr look a lot like Howard Chaykin did back in the Groovy Age? And is that Wondrous Walt, himself, on page 2? Hmmmmmmmm...
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10 comments:

  1. Gary WareNovember 12, 2012 at 1:18 AM

    Did these two do the story in SSW #170?

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    Replies
    1. The Groovy AgentNovember 12, 2012 at 9:48 AM

      they did, indeed, Gary. I sure wish I had a copy...

      Delete
  2. AnonymousNovember 12, 2012 at 2:10 AM

    Good post, Groove! According to some of Simonson's comments in DC's "Art of Walt Simonson" compilation, every character in this story is a caricature of someone (including, as you mention, Chaykin and Simonson himself).

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    Replies
    1. The Groovy AgentNovember 12, 2012 at 9:49 AM

      I need to hit e-bay for a copy of that Simonson tpb!

      Delete
    2. Edo BosnarNovember 13, 2012 at 4:02 AM

      Wow, I just learned two rather shocking things: 1) there's something from the 1970s that Groove doesn't have in his collection; 2) there's actually something I have in my own, now quite meager, collection that Groove doesn't, i.e., the "Art of Walter Simonson" - I scored a copy off eBay about a year or so ago, and I haven't yet had time to actually read it (for shame, I know). So I dug it out and flipped through it last night, and sure enough, there's that story from SSWS #170 (and this one). By the way, I highly recommend this book to any and all Simonson fans - it's a beautiful collection of his various non-Manhunter DC work from the 1970s.

      Delete
  3. Rich GignacNovember 12, 2012 at 9:44 AM

    I saw this splash page and said to myself - " Hey, I had this issue."...without seeing the cover. Looks like a forerunner to Simonson's Star Slammers concept.

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  4. Edo BosnarNovember 12, 2012 at 10:10 AM

    Love, love, love this early Simonson stuff - aw, heck, just love Simonson's stuff period.
    Gary's question got me so curious I went to the GCD to check for myself, and yes indeed, it's the same creative team. Sure would like to see that story as well (hint, hint).

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  5. BobNovember 12, 2012 at 10:46 AM

    Groovy Age Sci-Fi -- one of the best things n life!

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  6. AnonymousNovember 12, 2012 at 11:22 AM

    Hi

    I have very fond memories of this story, so thank you very much for showing it.
    I have even fonder memories of the earlier story, called U.F.M., in SSWS 170 though, and I'd love to see that again.

    David Simpson

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  7. Vincent SneedDecember 19, 2012 at 2:00 PM

    This story certainly tweaks my memory. Years ago the owner of my local comic shop show it to me, then mentioned that the "villain" of the piece--the Mind Module--had appeared in an issue of Gold Key's Star Trek (ST #22, "Siege In Superspace," to be exact). I've never had the chance to compare both stories side-by-side (I've had copies of both but never at the same time, dammit!). It seems entirely possible, given that Gerry Bourdreau authored both this story and the issue of Star Trek (according to comics.org, it is only one of two issues of ST that Bourdreau wrote!

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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!


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