Famous First Fridays: Don Newton Debuts!

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! It's another Famous First Friday, and this time the FFF spotlight shines on a true fave, Don Newton. Don came into comics the old-fashioned way--working his way up the ranks of fandom, getting his pro "break" at Charlton (The Phantom and much more), then moving on to become a top DC artist (Star Hunters, Aquaman, Man-Bat, Shazam!, the New Gods, Batman). His elegant, moody style was easily adaptable to most any genre, and in the early 80s he reached his dream of becoming one of the top Batman artists of the era. Sadly, he left us in 1984, but his magnificent body of work won't be forgotten by those of us who were there when he was making that comicbook magic.

From Ghost Manor #18 (February 1974), here's Newton's debut tale, "The Empty Room!" (And, yep, it's written by the ever-entertaining Joe Gill, you betcha!)

Bring On the Back-ups: The Short-But-Sweet Return of Tales of Asgard

What it is, Groove-ophiles! Today we're gonna look at (just like the title says) the short-but-sweet return of Tales of Asgard. The world of the Mighty Thor had been explored in-depth during the end of the Silver Age/dawn of the Groovy Age to many a fan's delight in the back of Journey Into Mystery/Thor, but after Thor #145 (July 1967) the feature disappeared (save a couple of reprints). Luckily for today's post, nine years later somebody at Marvel got the bright idea to bring the fab feature back, if only for two issues. According to the splash page, Tales of Asgard, written by Dave Kraft with art by Pablo Marcos, returned to the pages of Thor for issues 252-253 (July-August 1976) because Marvel wanted to "Proudly present a two-part tribute to the most widely-acclaimed mythological mini-series of all time!" (Hey, was that the first time the term "mini-series" has been used to describe a comicbook feature?) Whatever the reason for its short-lived return (t'would be nice if Len Wein or DAK would fill us in, wouldn't it?), Young Groove flipped for this tale of Young Thor. The story was fun and I really dug the art...I was even inspired to try to do a younger version of one of my own original super-heroes, Space Knight (yes, this was years before ROM!), back during that halcyon summer--luckily for you, those pages have been lost to the ages. But scans of the Kraft/Marcos Tales of Asgard? Those I got for ya, baby!

Black and White Wednesday: Gene Day's "Days of Future Past"

How about another example of the awesome artistry of Gene Day, Groove-ophiles? This one's a goodie--though the plot of this sci-fi shocker isn't the most original, it is well-written, and, of course, superbly illustrated. From Star*Reach's Imagine #2 (cover-dated June 1978), take a trip to "Days of Future Past"!

Two-Fer Tuesday: Macabre Marshall Rogers

What it is, Groove-ophiles! Here's a perilous pair of classics powerfully penciled by magnificent Marshall Rogers. First of all, we have "The Devil's Plague!" written by Silver Age great Arnold (Deadman, Doom Patrol) Drake. This terror tale first appeared, by the way, in House of Mystery #254 (July 1977).



Our second Rogers-rendered scare-fest also made its debut in House of Mystery just a shade over two years later in HOM #274 (August 1979). "Hell Park" is an early J.M. (Moonshadow, Justice League, Abadazad) DeMatteis shocker.


I gotta say, this story popped in my head as I watched the LOST finale. I know J.M. is a fan of the show--methinks Messrs. Abrams, Lieber, Lindelof, and Cuse just might be J.M. Dematteis fans...

Monday Miscellanea: Thanx, Josh! and Jack Kirby's Greatest Hits: Captain America Round One

ITEM! Hey, hey, hey, Groove-ophiles! Ol' Groove is proud and humbled (oxymoronic phrases, anyone?) to have received one'a those newer-fangled Kreativ Blogger awards from Jovial Josh Reynolds of It's Clobberin' Time! fame. According to the rules, I'm s'posed to thank Josh (Thanks, Josh!), copy the award logo and put it on my blog (done), link back to Josh (ditto), name seven things about myself other people might find interesting (I did this'un before, but I'll see what I can come up with inna minute...), nominate seven other Kreativ Bloggers (down below, baby), post links to the blogs I nominate (two birds, meet one stone), and leave a comment on each blog I've nominated so they know they've been nominated (as soon as I finish this post, promise!). Okey dokey, here we go:

7 Things About Ol' Groove You Might Find Interesting (round, what? 3? Really, I ain't that interesting, man...)

1. As a kid, I wanted to be a comicbook artist, even going so far as to create my own comics (on typing paper). I actually still have 'em and have been threatening to scan 'em one'a these days...
2. From the time I was at least 3, I bought comics now and then. Avengers #88 hooked me on comics for life and turned "now and then" into "every time I left the house."
3. To answer the ages-old question, "Betty or Veronica?" Betty, no contest.
4. I once won a No-Prize (Captain Marvel #36), only to have someone else win a No-Prize four months later (Captain Marvel #38) for proving that I was wrong. The bully. I was only 10 years old...
5. I entered FOOM's "Create a Character" contest. They didn't print my entry ("Eagle Boy"), but they did print my name in FOOM #3.
6. I am not Jonathan Gilbert. He's been my pal for over 20 years and I run his blogs for him, but we are two separate entities.
7. I am going to be a grandfather in December! (Saved the best for last.)

My Kreativ Blogger nominees are (in no particular order):

• Crom!
• Bronze Age Babies
• Steve Does Comics
• Kingdom Kane
• Blog Into Mystery
• Comics Bronze Age
• Booksteve's Library

That was hard--I could easily give out a couple dozen of these awards! Make sure you check out all of the Mind-Blowing Blogs in my sidebar, 'kay?

ITEM! Enuff about me! COMICS! Here's my opening shot at yet another sometimes-series, Jack Kirby's Greatest Hits! This feature is just what the title says--King Kirby drawing powerful pics of someone punching the living daylights outta someone else. No one, and I mean no one, could make a shot in the kisser (or gut or wherever) look more dynamic than Jolly Jack. This round we're looking at some of the greatest Captain America punch-outs from the tail-end of his run in Tales of Suspense. Dig it, baby!