Black and White Wednesday: "Taxing" by Gumen and Gamble

Remember the TV show Taxi, Groove-ophiles? Great show, funny and charming, with a stellar cast of folk; many of whom would become household names (Judd Hirsch, Danny DeVito, Christopher Lloyd, Andy Kaufman, to name some of the biggest). When Crazy Magazine #57 came out in October 1979, the show was just barely into its second season, but it was already popular enough for comicbook skewering! Here's Murad Gumen and Kent Gamble's take on the show, but it's really their parody that lives up to the name..."Taxing!"

Black and White Wednesday: "The Inrorrigible Teen Hulk the Origin!" by Hama, M. Severin, Pellowski, and Targatlione

Dig it, Groove-ophiles: do any of ya remember the Teen Hulk feature that ran in Crazy Magazine from issues 60-94 (well, most of 'em)? Chester Weems and his big green alter ego actually debuted on the inside back cover of Crazy #59 (December 1979) as an ad (warning?). Check it out:

What made Larry Hama and Marie Severin create such a kooky character? Just, urm, crazy, one might guess. Remember this was during the time when the Incredible Hulk was doing well on the boob tube, so that could'a had something to do with it, too. Was Teen Hulk to have been part of a Hulk Family (She-Hulk made her debut a month earlier than TH, don'tcha know)? Probably not, but whatever the reason, some of us can't get enough Hulk! Or can we? Read the debut tale written by Mike Pellowski with art by Marie Severin and John Tartaglione, then let Ol' Groove know whether or not you're ready so say "uncle"!

Black and White Wednesday: "The Incredible Hunk" by Weiss and Gamble

Marvel Eats Its Own Children Department: In Crazy #50 (March 1979) Marvel Comics ran a parody of their most successful TV show of the 70s, Incredible Hulk. With "Incredible Hunk" writer Michael Weiss skewered both the good and the bad of the show, while artist Kent Gamble tossed in more celebrity caricatures than you can shake a gamma-bomb at! Check it out, Groove-ophiles!

Black and White Wednesday: "The $6,000,000 Man-iac!" by Herman and Colon

Dig it, Groove-ophiles! Just 'cause Marvel's Crazy wasn't nearly as polished or popular as Mad, it didn't stop Len Herman and Ernie Colon from producing parodies like "The $6,000,000 Man-iac!"! It's true! They did it in Crazy #18 (April 1976)!

Black and White Wednesday: "King Konk" by Herman and Colon

Okay, Groove-ophiles, so "King Konk" from Crazy Magazine #19 (cover dated August 1976) may not be the funniest movie parody of the Groovy Age, but Ernie Colon's art makes Len Herman's story look really cool, dunnit?

Black and White Wednesday: "Jawbones!" by Schwartzberg and Severin

Hey, hey, hey, Groove-ophiles! Y'know, it's kinda strange and kinda cool at the same time to think that artistic siblings John and Marie Severin would stand out as two of the greatest caricaturists in all of comicdom. While big brother John would do movie and TV parodies galore for Cracked magazine (and we've shared several here over the years), sister Marie was doing her own far-out parody thing for Marvel's Crazy magazine. Y'all been sayin' we need more Marie Severin around here, so here ya go! Back in Crazy #15 (November 1975), the Mirthful One teamed with writer Stu Schwartzberg to bring us..."Jawbones!" Dig it! (Or should I say, "Chomp it!"?)

Black and White Wednesday: "The Tattletale Heart" by Schwartzberg, Ploog, and Chiarmonte

Hey, hey, hey, Groove-ophiles! Yesterday we planted our peepers on a far-out adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart". Today we're gonna dig on a Mighty Marvel-ous parody of that same classic tale of terror, "The Tattletale Heart" by Stu Schwartzberg, Mike Ploog, and Frank Chiarmonte from Crazy #7 (August 1974). Ready or not, here it comes!

Black and White Wednesday: "Space: $19.99" by Herman and Colon

Hey, hey, hey, Groove-ophiles! Between Star Trek and Star Wars the boob tube provided us with the quality sci-fi of Space: 1999 (check out the links in the sidebar for tons-o-links to Charlton Comics' comicbook tie-ins). Of a certainty, anything that was cool (and lots'a things that were never cool) would eventually find themselves being poked fun of in the pages of Mad, Cracked, and the subject of today's post, Marvel's Crazy.  Crazy #20's (cover-dated October 1976) "Space: $19.99" carries on the tradition of wordy, jokey parodies, but this one has the added pedigree of having the art provided by the wonderful and multi-talented Ernie Colon.Check it out!