If You Blinked You Missed: Sword of Sorcery

Hey, hey, hey, Groove-ophiles! Ol' Groove has been meaning to do this post for years, but I kept doing other things for some reason. But the time has finally come for us to plunge into DC's Sword of Sorcery! I dunno whose idea it was for DC to license Fritz Leiber's dynamic duo Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser in response to Marvel's licensing hit Conan the Barbarian (Denny O'Neil, mayhap?), but they were right on! Denny O'Neil, himself, adapting Leiber's original tales, aided and abetted by pencilers like Howard Chaykin (4 issues), Walt Simonson (2 issues), and Jim Starlin (1 issue), inked by a veritable "who's who" of Groovy Age inkers--man, that should have been a hands-down hit. Still there were the "what were they thinking" moments that might have sabotaged the whole thing...

Art by Dick Giordano

F'rinstance, DC the started the series as a kind of spin-off from Wonder Woman's mag.  Faf and the Mouser literally popped up in the middle of a Wonder Woman/Catwoman rumble in WW issues 201-202. Now, that was kinda flaky. Ol' Groove doesn't know if Wonder Woman readers were actually the target audience DC should'a been shooting for, but that's what happened.

Art by Dick Giordano

Next, notice the ad at the end of WW 202, the mag's title was to have been Swords Against Sorcery--which actually would have been a better fit to moi...

Art by Howard Chaykin

 Other things like a heavy marketing campaign (if there was one, I didn't see any signs of it) would have helped this mag tremendously. Seems if more folks had known of its existence, it should have lasted a good, long time instead of a mere five issues (December 1972-September 1973). Dig this first ish and see if you don't agree!

Cover art by Mike Kaluta

 And 'cause Ol' Groove loves ya, baby, here's the info-packed text page from SoS#1!

Random Reads: "Time Out!" by Conway and Shores

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! While it is true that Marvel's attempts at all-new color horror comics didn't last all that long during the Groovy Age (at least not compared to long runs for such genre comics at DC and Charlton), they were definitely of high quality! Take Tower of Shadows #5 (February 1970) f'rinstance. A far-out cover by Marie Severin and Bill Everett. An awesome lead story by Roy Thomas and Barry (Windsor-) Smith, a fantasy featurette by Wally Wood, and this haunted house happening, "Time Out!" by Gerry Conway with gor-ge-ous Syd Shores art. Dig it, baby!

Grooviest Covers of All Time: Farewell, Nick Cardy

Greetings, Groove-ophiles. As you've no doubt already heard, the brilliant Nick Cardy passed away this past Sunday. 'Tis quite a blow to those of us here in Groove City, since Nick was THE DC cover artist for much of he Groovy Age. Nick knew everything there is to know about putting together a comicbook cover that could grab your attention, hold it, and tell you a whole story--usually with only one image. You've seen Cardy covers all week long, I'm sure, and you've seen plenty of them here on the Diversions (and will continue to do so for a long, long time), but I hope you'll indulge me in share some of my faves. Some I've posted before, some are everyone's favorites, but they're here, today, 'cause they're my absolute favorite Nick Cardy covers. Thank you, Nick for...

...and for so many hours of enjoyment!

Now That's Heavy, Man: "The God of Tarzan" by Thomas, Buscama, and Alcala

Ol' Groove loves Tarzan. I dig all things Edgar Rice Burroughs, and that's a fact. I dig Roy Thomas, John Buscema, and Alfredo Alcala--separately or together--the most, as well. When you get 'em all together--even for a freakin' fill-in ish--you get something special. In Marvel's Tarzan #9 (November 1977), Thomas, Buscema, and Alcala got it all together for an "untold tale of Tarzan" in which the Lord of the Jungle searches for the Lord of Creation. Now that's some heavy stuff, especially when we're talkin' ' bout a dude that spends most of his time swinging from vines and wrestling with jungle critters. And hey, even if the story doesn't  clutch ya, doesn't that art just grab your eyeballs and not let 'em go?