Marvel-ous Mondays: "Where Stalks the Sentry!" by Thomas, Colan, and Reinman

Happy Holidays, Groove-ophiles! Hope you had one of the best weekends e-vah! It's Monday again, and this one is three times as Marvel-ous 'cause it's time  Marvel's Captain Marvel from Marvel Super-Heroes #13 (December 1967)! For the second appearance of Mar-Vell, Stan the Man turned the writing reins over to Roy Thomas who immediately gave our Space-Born Super-Hero a bit more of a direction, a superior weapon (the awesome Uni-Beam, baby!), and a short-lived secret identity (Walter Lawson). Oh, yeah, and they introduced a lady named Carol Danvers who would eventually become someone pretty important in her own right (make that a few somebodies: Ms. Marvel in the swingin' 70s, Binary in the elegant 80s, and will soon be the MU Captain Marvel who makes it to the Silver Screen first)! With art by Gene Colan and Paul Reinman join us as we learn..."Where Stalks the Sentry!"

Marvel-ous Mondays: "The Coming of Captain Marvel!" by Lee, Colan, and Giacoia

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! By the time Li'l Groove got into comics, the original Marvel Universe was well in place. The FF, Hulk, Avengers, Spidey, DD, Inhumans, Silver Surfer, Asgard, Sub-Mariner, even the Kree and Skrull had already been introduced and well established. But Stan and Company weren't through creating yet--especially when a copyright was on the line! Ya see, although DC (then National Periodical Publications) had squashed the original Shazam!-shouting Captain Marvel back in the Golden Age, that didn't mean an enterprising young publisher (Myron Fass) wouldn't glom onto that Grand Old Name over a decade later. According to lore, Marvel Comics quickly seized the "Captain Marvel" name after Fass' version was cancelled. Marvel, they say, didn't want another publisher making moolah off a Captain that should belong to them, right? The result? One of Ol' Groove's all-time favorite characters, Captain Mar-vell was born. While the original run started off strong (as we'll see in today's post), a variety of writer, artist, direction, and even power changes made the series so uneven that even Roy Thomas and Gil Kane's legendary revamp couldn't save it. After Marv's huge role in the immortal Kree/Skrull War in Avengers issues 89-97, the good captain was re-commissioned and rewarded with the return his own mag, which ran from 1972 to 1979 and included even more legendary runs by Steve Englehart and Al Milgrom, Doug Moench and Pat Broderick, and the best of them all, Jim Starlin. But you knew that already, didn'tcha? Well, just for giggles, let's go aaaaaaaallllll the way back to Marv's debut from Marvel Super-Heroes #12 (September 1967) when Stan Lee, Gene Colan, and Frank Giacoia got it all together for..."The Coming of Captain Marvel!"

Secret Origins: "The Black Knight Reborn!" by Thomas, Purcell, and Adkins

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! Rascally Roy Thomas was a veritable character creating dynamo during the Groovy Age. The Vision, Havoc, Doc Samson, Valkyrie, Morbius, Killraven, Iron Fist, and tons more. One character that combined Roy's love of Golden Age comics, continuity, and "legacy heroes" (which, ironically, would become extremely important at DC after the Crisis on Infinite Earths) was Dane Whitman, The Black Knight (III).

The first Black Knight, Sir Percy of Scandia, was created by Stan Lee and Joe Maneely and appeared in 5 issues of his own mag in 1955. Stan, with artist Dick Ayers, created a second villainous Black Knight to battle Giant Man Tales to Astonish #52 (November 1963). The evil BK's nephew, Dane Whitman, then took up the mantle (and armor, and flying horse) as the brand-new, heroic Black Knight in Avengers #48 (October 1967) by Roy Thomas and artist George Tuska.

Dane became an instant fan-fave, appearing a couple more times in the pages of the Avengers (#'s 54-55, April-May 1968). Three months later, the new Black Knight got a shot in Marvel's (then) try-out mag, Marvel Super-Heroes #17. Roy took all the scattered pieces of Marvel's trio of Black Knights and combined them into a 22 page comicbook history lesson, combining elements of King Arthur, Gardner Fox, and Robert E. Howard. Interestingly, the art was provided by Golden Age great Howard Purcell (co-creator of Sargon the Sorcerer and the Grim Ghost) and inked by Dan Adkins ("and company"). Are you ready to witness..."The Black Knight Reborn!"?

Sadly, the Black Knight didn't catch on as Marvel thought it might, appearing sporadically in the Avengers and then the Defenders. Eventually he was turned to stone and sent back to the Days of King Arthur. In the 1980s, Dane finally became a regular member of the Avengers.