Ho, ho, ho and Happy Holidays to you, Groove-ophiles! Well, it's December 1974. Earlier in the year my family had pulled up stakes in Fairfield, Ohio and moved back to Dear Ol' Dad's birthplace of Harlan County, Kentucky. While it was a bit of a culture shock, we were surrounded by family and I made a lot of good friends in the little town of Loyall. But the thing that really made it "home" to Kid Groove was my beloved Mack's Family Center--a Walmart before most of us had ever heard of a Walmart if you will: a grocery store complete with a built in Ben Franklin's (we called 'em Dime Stores back then) and the greatest book/magazine/newspaper section I'd ever seen. It sported two ginormous magazine racks, three paperback spinner racks, and (best of all) two loaded-down comicbook spinner racks. They got everything! I never missed an issue of any favorite comic, plus I got my first exposure to Warren's
Spirit reprints which REALLY knocked me out! Yep, great memories and great comics were found in that huge corner of the best store ever!
Mike Grell helped make the LSH continue to be awesome!
Super Sons, Vigilante, and some truly far-out Silver Age reprints!
Our Pal Sal Buscema inked by Joe Staton on a the origins of Mantis and Vision written by Steve Englehart! Whoo!
A stellar story in Steve Englehart's stellar CA&F run. So long, Nomad, welcome back Cap!
The beginnings of Steve Gerber and Sal Buscema's massive Headmen/Nebulon storyline starts here, baby!
Kid Groove actually wrote an LOC on this ish. I loved it a lot more than I do now, but still, it's a fun ish.
This spectacular ish (my first) made a life-long Eisner/Spirit fan of moi!
Atlas/Seaboard is represented!
SWEET X-MAS!! Loved these comics as a young teenager!
ReplyDeleteI love that you, like many of us, tie particular issues with a specific place and time. This run is fantastic.
ReplyDeleteGroove, I've been loving the Christmas posts, and your personal stories. I would love to see that Super Sons story! Thanks, Groove!
ReplyDeleteAll the Super Sons stories were recently collected into a very nice tpb, Alan. Lots of fun!
DeleteGroovlicious... Been diggin the Xmas posts! By Xmas 1974 Charlie was 13, so becoming more sophisticated in his comic tastes. Gil and Sal's ubiquitous artwork had become passe and I think I was only reading maybe 10% of what I was reading Xmas 1973. But then, I started discovering things like The Spirit! First one I read was the one posted above and I still gots it! What a departure Eisner was from standard comic book fare.
ReplyDeleteGreat week of posts, Groove.
ReplyDeleteThese Walmarts of which you speak might still be a bit of a mystery to me - and I've no idea what a Ben Franklin is or was (we don't even have "dimes") - but DC 100 page giants and Marvel Gil Kane covers really take me back.
Warren mags weren't widely distributed in the UK at all, so the Spirit reminds me more of the later 70s when I was drawn to a rack of them prominently displayed on my first wide-eyed trip to one of those new fangled comic shops...
-sean