Sensational Seventh Anniversary! Titanic Tuesdays: "Trouble--Which Rhymes With Double!" by Rozakis, Brown, and Blaisdell

Dig it, Groove-ophiles! Today is Diversion of the Groove Kind's sensational SEVENTH ANNIVERSARY! Man, time doth fly when you're having fun, dunnit? Ol' Groove just wants to say "Thanks" and send a big ol' Dating Game-style "mmmMMWAH!"  to all'a you far out fellas and fems who have made Groove City their cyber-home-away-from-home! Ol' Groove loves ya, baby!

And now, welcome back to our regularly scheduled Diversions and  Mal and His Pals, er, Teen Titans, Groove-ophiles! Teen Titans #47 (January 1977) had a bit more "oomph" than the ish before it. Perhaps it was the author Bob Rozakis' plot in which Two-Face sent pairs of evil-doers after our heroes (goofy those twin terrors might have been--like something right out of Archie's campy Mighty Heroes line of the 60s). Perhaps it was the art by Bob Brown who was moving back to DC after spending most of the 70s at Marvel. Sadly, this was one of Bob's last completed jobs (or was it even completed? Looks like some art-tinkering went on here and there), as he passed away the very month this mag hit the stands. Ol' Groove's not sure, but I do know that ending was certainly an attention getter (as was that groovy Rich Buckler/Jack Abel cover)!

Titanic Tuesdays: "You Can't Say No to the Angel of Death! (Or Can You?)" by Rozakis, Novick, and Colletta

What it is, Groove-ophiles! Well, you seemed to get a kick our of our last visit to the Teen Titan's  1976/77 revival, even though you know it wasn't a blockbuster mag by any stretch. Still, it's fun to see what happened between the classic Silver Age Titans and the superstar Titans of the 80s, so--ta-dah! here's yet another new departmant: Titanic Tuesdays! We know Bob Rozakis is gonna try to give us our quarter's worth each month with cool plots, DC-filtered, Marvel-ized characterization, and the continuing quest to make a super-hero out of Mal. Artistically we'll get a very mixed bag, let Ol' Groove warn ya! But hey, t'was part of our beloved Groovy Age! Today we're peeling back the pages of Teen Titans #45 (September 1976) for "You Can't Say no to the Angel of Death! (Or Can You?" with art by Irv Novick and Vinnie Colletta!

Cover art by Ernie Chan (Chua) and Vinnie Colletta

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!