Making a Splash: Our Avenging Pal Sal, Phase Two

What it is, Groove-ophile! Last Friday we checked out the sensational splash pages from Sal Buscema's first Avengers era and you guys really, really dug 'em! So Ol' Groove, people-pleaser that he is, thought you might get a kick out of seeing the splashes from Our Pal's second Avengers run. When Sal returned to the Avengers in 1974/75 (Avengers #'s 127-134), he was doing layouts while Charlton's Joe (E-Man) Staton finished and inked our favorite Assemblers. The combo was far-freakin'-out, baby! Dig it!

Sal and Joe to re-teamed on the Incredible Hulk beginning with ish #194 (September 1975). Sal would stay on the Hulk into the 1980s, pretty much making that mag his own. And yep, we'll look at those splashes in the future. Ya go gotta have sumpin' to look forward to, right?

Addicted to Alex Nino: "Grim Joke of the Laughing Skull" by Wessler and Nino

What it is, Groove-ophiles! Today let's dig on some awesome Alex Nino art as he teams with writer Carl Wessler to make us squeal and squirm! From DC Special Series #4 (Unexpected Special 1977), here comes the "Grim Joke of the Laughing Skull"!

Black and White Wednesday: "All the Ways and Means to Die" by Jones and Niven

Hey, hey, hey, Groove-ophiles! Waaay back in November of 2011, we planted our peepers on Howard Chaykin's adaptation of Larry Niven's "All the Myriad Ways" from Marvel's Unknown Worlds of Science Fiction (you can check it out here). Well, a few Groove-ophiles with great memories (and taste) reminded me that the late Jeffrey Catherine Jones adapted Niven's prose tale first! Jones' version of "All the Myriad Ways", "All the Ways and Means to Die", was intended for the never-published Science Fiction Odyssey #1, but eventually saw print in Skywald's Psycho #9 (cover-dated November 1972). And now, Ol' Groove's gonna lay it on ya right now (sans one page I'm missing. Sorry, completists!)!

Random Reads: "Lord of Chaos!" by Carter, Gerber, and Alcazar

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! Today, at long last, we're gonna take a look at the grand finale to Marvel's adaptation of Lin Carter's "The Wizard of Lemuria" starring his barbarian hero Thongor. If you've been following DotGK, then you know you'll find the whole series scattered amongst the plethora of posts presented periodically--and if you're not a regular, then you can dig up the links in the Stream of Comicbook Consciousness in the sidebar. So without further ado, from Creatures on the Loose #29 (February 1974), here's Steve Gerber and Vincente Alcazar bringing you Lin Carter's Thongor in final combat against..."The Lord's of Chaos!"

Bring on the Back-ups: "The Candy Kitchen Caper!" by Maggin, Dillin, and Giordano

Hey, hey, hey, Groove-ophiles! Here's a short-but-sweet Green Arrow back-up from his days as a rotating back-up feature in Action Comics. "The Candy Kitchen Caper!" by Elliot Maggin, Dick Dillin, and Dick Giordano (from Action Comics #424, March 1973) is a pretty good representative of the types of Green Arrow stories we were getting after the Avenging Archer's "Denny O'Neal Adams" heyday: human interest, simply told, not too flashy, but satisfying. Ol' Groove is pretty sure that it was our hero's strong personality and cool costume (and especially his JLA appearances) that kept him alive during the mid-to-late 70s.

Making a Splash: Our Avenging Pal Sal, Phase One

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! Our Pal Sal Buscema was Ol' Groove's first fave comicbook artist. He was drawing the Mighty Avengers' mag when I first started getting that peerless publication (Avengers 68-72, 78, 85, 88-92), so he set the set the standard for what I thought the Avengers should look like. Whaddya say we take a look at at Sal's earliest splash pages? Can you handle the magnificence?

Yeah, this one's from a reprint...y'gotta do what y'gotta do, man!

I knew you could!