Bring On the Back-Ups: Robin Takes On the Parking Lot Bandit

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! Here's a cool Robin two-parter written by top Groovy Age Robin writer Bob Rozakis and the awesome art team of Al Milgrom and Terry Austin (who'd also team up on Marvel sci-fi titles Marvel Presents/Guardians of the Galaxy and Captain Marvel). These are the kinds of fun stories that made the Groovy Age groovy, baby! From Detective Comics #450-451 (May-June 1975), watch out for "The Parking Lot Bandit!" and "The Parking Lot Bandit Strikes Again!"

Sunday Funnies: Comedy Cover Capers

During the days of DC's sixty-cent 100 page mags, guys like Bob Rozakis (who most likely wrote the following pages) got to flex their creative muscles by creating filler material. Regular stuff like games, puzzles, and trivia quizzes helped fill the extra pages...as did the dread...Comedy Cover Capers. Get your chuckles on, Groove-ophiles!


UPDATE! The Answer Man, himself, Bob Rozakis has stopped by to clarify that it was E. Nelson Bridwell who wrote the cute and corny captions for Comedy Cover Capers. Thanks, Bob!

Secret Origins: Teen Titans

The Teen Titans. You'd think they'd always been around, always been a top-flight, top-tier title. T'was not always so. In between their legendary first series (which ran 43 issues from 1966-1973) and the totally awesome Marv Wolfman/George Perez 1980s revamp, the Titans struggled to stay on the stands with a little-remembered run from 1976-1978 (issues 44-53). Mainly written by the solid-but-unspectacular Bob Rozakis and drawn by a revolving door of artists (from Pablo Marcos to Don Heck to Juan Ortiz), those issues are but a foot-note in comicbook history. Kind of a shame, because while the series was by no means spectacular, it was good fun, and it Rozakis and his cohorts did some innovative work on our favorite team of junior Justice Leaguers. He added new characters and members like Bumblebee, Harlequin, and Golden Eagle, along with a Titans West team featuring Hawk (of Hawk & Dove fame), the caveman Gnaark, and the original Bat-Girl. Both of those ideas were used in later, more successful incarnations of the Titans, but the best thing Rozakis did was in the final issue (#53, November, 1977) when he gave the Teen Titans an origin. When Robin, Kid Flash, and Aqualad first teamed up in Brave and the Bold #54 (April, 1964), the team didn't even have a name. When they got back together (and invited Wonder Girl) in B&B #60, they had a name but no origin. Leave it to the Answer Man to create an origin for a team that had gone without one for well over a decade. Way to go, Bob!

If You Blinked You Missed...Gerry Conway and Mike Vosburg's Starman

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! Today's trippy trip through the tomes of time is one that has always made me wonder, "Wha hoppen?" As I've mentioned before, from January, 1975-January, 1976, DC Comics published a try-out book (in the tradition of their much-loved Showcase title of the Silver Age) called First Issue Special. Of the thirteen concepts presented in FIS, only two, Warlord and a revival of the New Gods, ever made it to their own title. Many (the Green Team, Dingbats of Danger Street, and the Outsiders) didn't have a chance. They were kinda silly and definitely out of touch with what fans of the Groovy Age dug. Others, though, were really cool. One of the cool ones, the one that probably had the most commercial potential at the time, was Gerry Conway and Mike Vosburg's new Starman, who made his debut in FIS #12 (December, 1975).

As I said, the failure of Starman to catch on really puzzled Young Groove. First of all, Starman was a grand and much revered name among DC fans. Second, sci-fi superheroes like Marvel's Captain Marvel, Warlock, and Guardians of the Galaxy (in the original Marvel Presents) seemed to be doing pretty good business. Finally, the creators involved were solid talents and seemed to have a very cool story to tell.

Ah, well, thems the breaks. I know James Robinson tied this Starman to all the other Starmen in his legendary run on the 90s version of Starman (tongue tied yet?), but I sure would have liked to have seen where Conway and Vosburg planned to take Mikaal Tomas.