Shades of Gray: "Warrior's Dream" by Skeates, Skrenes, and Morrow

Hey, hey, hail to thee, Groove-ophiles! Here's a superior sword and sorcery chiller from Archie's Red Circle Sorcery #6 (February 1974)! Written by Steve Skeates and Mary Skrenes with art by Gray Morrow, it's time to wake up to a..."Warrior's Dream!"

Marvel-ous Monday: "The Hottest Slot In Town!" by Gerber, Skrenes, and Mooney

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! Here we are with the final ish of Steve Gerber, Mary Skrenes, and Jim Mooney's Omega the Unknown. What an ending! Talk about a cliffhanger! Oh, how Ol' Groove wishes that, even if Omega wouldn't have continued, that Gerber and Skrenes could have actually finished the story in the Defenders as they'd envisioned it. Marvel has made some baaad moves, and that was one of the worst. Still, this ish still has some interesting stuff (besides that ending): Omega in glasses (but still wearing his headband--a dig at Clark Kent?); getting rich in Las Vegas; Nedley's funeral; a seemingly random monster just popping up out of nowhere; and Defenders' foe Ruby Thursday. (A hint of what could have come? We'll never know.) Let's travel back to June 1977 for..."The Hottest Slot In Town!"

Cover art by Dave Cockrum and Pablo Marcos

(Note to Groove-ophile keythd23: Your long nightmare is over! No more Omega! ;D)

Marvel-ous Monday: "Fightin' Fools!" by Gerber,Skrenes, and Mooney

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! We're back with the penultimate issue of Omega the Unknown! For OtU #9's "Fightin' Fools!" (April 1977), series creators/regulars Steve Gerber, Mary Skrenes, and Jim Mooney made a dramatic return with an issue that, strangely enough, didn't focus mainly on James-Michael Starling. No jive--former Man-Thing cast member Richard Rory and a new Foolkiller took most of the space that usually belonged to JMS. T'was Omega, himself,  who got the lion's share of the spotlight, with a big street fight and the return of the villainous Blockbuster. And little by little our mysterious, formerly silent hero begins to become just a tad more, though ever so slightly, talkative. Dig it!

Cover art by Gil Kane and Mike Esposito

Marvel-ous Mondays: "A Tug of the Wrench!" by Gerber, Skrenes, Mooney, and Esposito

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! "A Tug of the Wrench!" in Omega the Unknown #6 (October 1976) is another ish loaded with looks at how tough life in the Big Apple could truly be. Both of our heroes, Omega and James-Michael Starling, are exposed to beggars, alcohol, pimps, prostitutes, bullies, and a probable serial killer.This mag was "grim and gritty" before it ever became a thing, and that's part of what made this mag stand out to the few of us who continued buying this most offbeat Marvel mag. Check out what Steve Gerber, Mary Skrenes, Jim Mooney, and Mike Esposito cooked up for Hell's Kitchen...

Cover art by John Romita and Dave Cockrum