Random Reads: "Primate Patrol" by Kashdan, Landgraf, and Simons

Check it out, Groove-ophiles! Is it any wonder that during the Groovy Age, DC's line of war mags were among their best sellers? I mean, editors like Paul Levitz knew how to get four dimes out of our pockets with the ease of a practiced pickpocket! A Jim Starlin cover featuring armed gorillas dressed in tattered Nazi uniforms? Take my money, DC! George Kashdan's story is kinda cool, too, with it's sci-fi, Planet of the Apes inspired plot (did the folks behind the new POTA flicks read this comic? Hmmm?), but it's the art on "Primate Patrol" that Ol' Groove really digs. Yers trooly always thought that Ken Landgraf and Dave Simons (together or separately) were excellent artists with style that really appealed to me. After you get finished staring at the captivating Jim Starlin cover, flip it back and enjoy this treat from Weird War Tales #89 (April 1980)!

The Grooviest Covers of All Time: Joe Kubert's Unknown Soldier

Check it out, Groove-ophiles! While Young Groove dug Sgt. Rock, Haunted Tank, and the rest of DC's war features, his fave was (and still is) the Unknown Soldier. Debuting in Star Spangled War Stories #151 (April 1970), the "Mystery GI of WWII" took over the title of the mag with issue # 205 (January 1977), and continued on until the final ish (#268, July 1982). Pretty successful mag with lots of cool stories and art, and tons of magnificently illustrated covers by some of DC's best--mostly, though, by the great Joe Kubert. Here's a dozen of Ol' Groove's fave Kubert covers featuring the Unknown Soldier from the Star Spangled War Stories era. So action-packed, stylish, and even (at times) profound! Enjoy!

Random Reads: "Night Flight" by Englehart and Estrada

Check it out, Groove-ophiles! Did'ja know that back in 1977/78 when Stainless Steve Englehart was at DC making history with Batman in Detective Comics, the Justice League of America, Mister Miracle, and even Starfire, he also managed to slip in a sci-fi war tale featuring a certain ill-fated zeppelin? Well, he did! It was illustrated by Ric Estrada and published in Weird War Tales #60 (November 1977)! And heeeere it is!

Cover art by Joe Kubert

Decent Comics: "Gung Ho!" by Kirby and Berry

Here we are, Groove-ophiles! The final Losers story by Jack Kirby from Our Fighting Forces #162 (September 1975). This one starts off with a misleading cover by Ernie Chua (Chan); misleading in that it has the wrong Loser featured in the scene, it should be Gunner, not Sarge, as you'll see for yourself when you read "Gung Ho!" But The King went out with style, allowing the least of the Losers, Gunner, his own time to shine and do his part to give us another action-packed fable on the atrocities of war.

Jack's 100th birthday celebration is coming up at the end of the month, and unless you've been under a rock, you've notices that it's been celebrated on comicbook sites and blogs pretty much all year long. And that's how it should be!