The Grooviest Covers of All Time: The New Kids of 1968

50 years ago, Li'l Groove was actually too little to read comics, but I picked up a few here and there and grew to love them passionately. I had no idea of the changes that the comicbook industry was going through, mostly because Marvel got a new distributor and was going to be allowed to publish as many books as their publisher, Martin Goodman, saw fit. This also meant that DC was going to have to up their game so as not to lose rack space. Marvel's "split books" (books that featured two Marvel heroes) split into their own titles. Tales of Suspense begat Captain America and Iron Man. Tales to Astonish split into Incredible Hulk and Sub-Mariner. Strange Tales birthed Dr. Strange and S.H.I.E.L.D. The Silver Surfer got his own mag. Marvel even gave us some new heroes in 1968: Captain Marvel, debuting in Marvel Super-Heroes in 1967, got his own mag in 1968. Guardians of the Galaxy came to be, also in Marvel Super-Heroes. The Vision and Yellowjacket were introduced in The Avengers. Over at DC, Wonder Woman chucked her costume and powers to become a "mod" spy-type of heroine. Aquaman was taken over by the immortal S.A.G. creative team of Steve Skeates, Jim Aparo, and Dick Giordano. But more than that, brand new concepts saw the light of day in DC's venerable Showcase mag (with a couple going straight to debuting in their own comics), and many of the best of them got their own (sadly usually short-lived) mags. The "new kids" of 1968 are the focus of today's cover-fest. Enjoy!

The Grooviest Covers of All Time: Al Milgrom Keeps It Cosmic

Check it out, Groove-ophiles! In the mid-1970s, Al Milgrom had graduated from Jim Starlin's inker on Captain Marvel to the penciler of our Kree Captain's marvelous mag. During that time, Al also drew most of the Captain Marvel covers (issues 36-53). If that wasn't enough to hand Al (at least temporarily) Marvel's Cosmic Crown, the Amiable One was also handed the penciling (and most of the cover art) reins of the Guardians of the Galaxy feature in Marvel Presents (issues 3-12). A lot of the time, Al inked himself, but sometimes inkers like Bernie Wrightson, Alan Weiss, Terry Austin, Klaus Janson, Steve Leialoha, and others lent their brushes. Are you ready to get cosmic? 

Groovy Christmases Past: 1980 PLUS! Groove's Christmas PRESENT(s)!

Merrrrrrrrry Christmaaaaas, Groove-ophiles! Happy Holidays, happy Monday, just happy day! It's Christmas Day, and Ol' Groove knows that most of ya wanna spend time with the family (and your new presents if you weren't too naughty this year), so I'm gonna try to keep this post kinda short. Christmas 1980. The end of the Groovy Age. Teen Groove found lots of good stuff that December, although I didn't have as much money to spend on comics as I had in the past. Wonder why? (Cough, cough--GIRLS--cough!) And, it's not a sad time, even though we were saying goodbye to our beloved Groovy Age. Why? Well, if you were like me, I didn't realize it was the end of the Groovy Age, for one thing. For another, the 1980s turned out to be pretty (dare I say it? I dare!) awesome!! Check out these classics, baby. And for the record, the last comic Teen Groove bought during the Groovy age? Spider-Woman #37!

 Another biggie on Ol' Groove's "greatest comics ever" list! Wow! Even The Shadow's creator Walter Gibson got into this one! (Oh, and this is another one I found on the way to Grandma's house! Man, I'm glad we visited her for Christmas!)

 Why didn't this mag last longer? Great sci-fi short shockers in every ish!

 The end of Roger Stern and John Byrne's magnificent run.

 Frank Miller in total control (and Bullseye's not)!

 Both Gene Colan and Howard Chaykin provide art for this ish!

Hey, War Machine fans--it's Rhodey's origin!

 Came out December 2...

 Came out December 30!

 John Byrne's last ish!

 Marv Wolfman and George Perez were making DC Marvel-ous (though Curt Swan drew this ish)!

Annnd, in case you're wondering (and even if you're not--sorry!), here's what Ol' Groove found under his tree this year...

Yep, I think I was good! When I was a kid I dreamed of my favorite comics being bound into book form. Dreams do come true! Oh, but it's not all tpbs...

Merry Christmas, Groove-ophiles! We're gonna go into "reprint" or "rerun", if you prefer, mode for the rest of the week. Hope you enjoy the upcoming Groovy Posts of Christmas Past! Happy ho, ho, ho to y'all!