Making a Splash: Marvel Comics Forty Years Ago This Month, September 1976

Ah, September 1976. Young Groove had just morphed into Teen Groove and was entering one of the best school years ever--8th grade. That has nothing to do with how cool Marvel's output was for that fab month, but Ol' Groove just had to get that off his chest. Charlie's Angels! The Muppet Show! Songs In the Key of Life! Wild Cherry! The Space Shuttle Enterprise! Nope, those things have nothing to do with Marvel's September 1976 output either, but hey, can't you see just how awesome it was to be a kid 40 years ago? Now that we have some context, dig these far-out splashes, baby!

The Boys from Derby: "Lafferty's Wife" by Gill and Glanzman

Dig it, Groove-ophiles--a ghoulishly groovy fear fable illustrated by Sam Glanzman and written by Joe Gill! "Lafferty's Wife" was originally published in Ghostly Haunts #20 (July 1971), and now you get to enjoy this tale of greed, ghosts, and revenge right here, right now!

Black and White Wednesday: "Politics of Death!" by Mantlo, Perez, and Abel

HiiiYA, Groove-ophiles! Bill Mantlo, George Perez, and Jack Abel's "Politics of Death" (featuring the Sons of the Tiger, natch) is probably one of (if not THE) most violent stories Ol' Groove can remember reading during the Groovy Age (up there with the Punisher tales in Marvel Preview #2 and Marvel Super Action #1 and the Tiger-Man story in Thrilling Adventure Stories #1). Bullets and throwing stars fly, blood squirts, and jaws and necks get kicked around very, very hard. This one has a very authentic "kung fu flick" feel--gritty and hard boiled as any Sonny Chiba movie, baby. Let's carefully peel back the covers of Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #17 (September 1975)--but ya might wanna put on a flak jacket first...!