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

The Grooviest Covers of All Time: Wings of the Vulture!

Check it out, Groove-ophiles! The latest cinematic revamp of Spider-Man hits the theaters today, and the thing that really has Ol' Groove curious is Michael Keaton's Vulture. Now, in the late 80s/early 90s, I thought Keaton made a great Batman ("eh" Bruce Wayne, but a great Batman). To think the world has turned in such a way that that same actor is now playing a winged villain in a Spidey movie is, to moi, mind-boggling. But hey, my mind is an easy thing to boggle. Anywho, I've made it a habit to stay away from previews, trailers, discussions, reviews, etc. of upcoming movies, so I don't know if Keaton is playing the Adrian Toomes Vulture, the Blackie Drago Vulture, or some other version (or combination thereof), but I am intrigued. What does all'a that have to do with Groovy Age comics? Nothin'. But these have a lot to do with our favorite subject: Vulture-centric covers from Groovy Age era issues of Amazing Spider-Man, Marvel Tales, and Spectacular Spider-Man! Art by Romita, Kane, Cockrum, Weiss, and a horde of inkers! Enjoy, baby!

They Just Don't Make Comics Like That Any More--Or Do They? Charlton Neo

Check it out, Groove-ophiles! Another new department for the Diversions! We look at the classic comics presented here on the Diversions and sigh and say, "They don't make comics like that anymore." Well, that's not necessarily true, and that's what this new department is all about. Read on, MacDuff!

We love the comics of the 1970s, there is no doubt. The best comics ever! But...did you know there is a movement to re-capture the joy and fun of the Groovy Age? Marvel and DC may pretend they want to go back from time to time, but they won't do it. No, if you want new comics to scratch that Groovy Age itch, you've gotta check out the indie scene. And there's no indie outfit that's any more far-out, groovy, and Bronze-Agey than Charlton Neo!

Charlton Neo started out as a FaceBook fanpage dedicated to classic Charlton Comics, created by "Fester Faceplant" aka Mark Knox. The Charlton Arrow page quickly gained lots of fans, among them former Charlton pros like Joe Staton, Nick Cuti, Paul Kupperberg, Roger McKenzie, Steve Skeates, Frank McLaughlin, John Byrne and other pros like Sandy Carruthers, Ron Fortier, Gary Kato, Howard Bender, Batton Lash, Rick Stasi, Lou Mougin, and many, many others. Eventually all of that energy and enthusiasm led to a web-site featuring reprints of old Charlton comics mixed with brand new offerings by pros and up-and-coming fans called Pix-C. Former Cracked and Marvel editor Mort Todd helped things build and grow, and eventually The Charlton Arrow became an actual, honest-to-gosh comicbook, printing stuff from Pix-C along with even more reprints and new stuff. Then there were spin-offs like Unusual Suspense, Charlton Wild Frontier, Roger McKenzie's Frenzy, and Paul Kupperberg's Secret Romances. Full color, high-quality, Groovy Age-style comics!

Yeah, Charlton Neo's  been going strong for almost three years now, and it's getting even bigger, because they've partnered with AC Comics in order to get distribution via Diamond. That's right, baby! Starting this fall (and in previews right now!), you can get your hands on Charlton Arrow at your local comics shop! They've decided to end Charlton Arrow Volume 1 with issue 6 (which is out right now and it's AWESOME), and start with a Volume 2 issue 1. But this isn't just some kind of marketing ploy. Besides the AC/Diamond deal, the new Arrow is going to feature the RETURN OF E-MAN (by Nick Cuti and Joe Staton!), as well as the return of Colonel Whiteshroud, Monster Hunter (by Paul Kupperberg and Mike Collins), and the debut of a brand new hero, Mr. Mixit by Roger McKenzie and Steven Butler! Plus there's gonna be tons more stuff that you're going to shed tears of joy over!

So the secret's out, and you need to get on board, Groove-ophiles! Charlton Neo's making comics that you're gonna love. You'll be thanking Ol' Groove later for turning you on to all this fab-a-mundo comicbook wonderment!

And you can say "thank you" by rewarding yourself with this Charlton Neo publication slated for 2018...

Yeah, baby, Ol' Groove doesn't just read Charlton Neo, I'm gonna be writing for 'em, too! Yee-haw!

For more info on Charlton Arrow Vol. 2, #1, go here, here, here, and here. You're welcome!

Black and White Wednesday: "Comes the End Time, Chapter 4" by "Richardson" and Alcala

Hey, hey, hey, Groove-ophiles! Has it really been nearly three years since our last look at Alfredo Alcala's Voltar? oops. Well, for your long-suffering Voltar fans, here's "Comes the End Time" part 4 (script adapted by Bill Dubay under his nom de plume "Mike Richardson") from The Rook #5 (August 1980)!

Happy Fourth of July!

To celebrate the Fourth of July, here's a great moment in Captain America History! From Captain America and the Falcon #183 (December 1974) by Steve Englehart, Frank Robbins, and Frank Giacoia, it's the end of Nomad and the return of the one, true Cap!

Groovin' Back In the Summertime, 1972

The Summer of 1972! The Godfather, The Poseidon Adventure, Deliverance, The Biscuit Eater (it was out at the drive-in, don'tcha know), and Sounder came out. Of course, Young Groove only got to see a couple of those flicks at the time (can you guess which ones?).

The Olympics, as well as reruns of All In the Family, Mary Tyler-Moore, M*A*S*H*, and best of all, Sonny and Cher kept Young Groove glued to the boob tube.

And when I was drawing (well, actually tracing), playing games, or just chillin', the sounds of The Eagles, Alice Cooper, Dr. Hook, Neil Diamond, and even Sammy Davis Jr. came pouring out of my radio.

It was a magical time for  Young Groove with cousins staying over here and there, a fun vacation (long drives were a great excuse to read a pile of comics) to visit even more family, the ol' swimming pool in the back yard, trolling the grounds of more houses being built in our subdivision for spare lumber to use to build a clubhouse...but still, it's all about the comics, baby! Let's rap about a few faves...

The Avengers (aren't they always at the top of Ol' Groove's lists?). Roy Thomas' Avengers swan song pitting the Awesome Assemblers against the Sentinels wrapped up during that summer. The story was so cool, especially the romantic tension with Scarlet Witch, The Vision, and Hawkeye, Quicksilver stepping into the spotlight (ironically, to end his time in the Avengers), the flashbacks to the Thomas/Neal Adams X-Men era, and haaaave mercy, that gorgeous Rich Buckler/Joe Sinnott art! The summer ended with that new Englehart guy taking over the writing. He wound up being pretty good! (More on him below!)

Batman. Over at DC, the dream team of Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams were wrapping some things up in Batman, too. The final chapters of their massive and immortal Ra's al Ghul saga came out in the Summer of 1972, and man, did they ever make a mark on Young Groove (a lot of us Groove-ophiles, I'm sure)! O'Neil crafted a tale that would have made the producers of the James Bond movies jealous, and Adams' art, inked by Dick Giordano, was just the pinnacle of what The Batman should look like. Modern, slick, sophisticated--and yet, an eight year old like me could totally dig it!

Captain America. Remember "that Englehart guy" I mentioned up there in the Avengers paragraph. Of course I'm rappin' about Steve Englehart. He'd already won me over with the Beast feature in Amazing Adventures, but man, he took over Cap's mag and immediately made it the "must read" mag of the week! He started off with sending Cap on vacation, then, boom, out of left field we got another Cap giving the Falcon fits. This Cap, it turned out, was the "forgotten" Cap of the 1950s--and he was bonkers. Man, Sterling Steve gave us a cracking-good action/adventure story (its magnificence heightened by the equally action-packed art of the great Sal Buscema), but he also managed to give us history lessons in both Cap and real-world history, some social studies, and civics lessons all at the same time. It was the coolest school ever--and it happened in the summer!

Marvel Feature Presents the Astonishing Ant-Man: Issue #5, where writer Mike Friedrich and artist Herb Trimpe pit our stuck-at-ant-size hero against the evil Egghead just blew Young Groove away. The battle with the hawk that started the comic off was downright scary to me back then. The introduction of Trish Starr (who'd become sort-of important in The Defenders a few years later) and Ant-Man's oh-so-Seventies outfit (white pants, boots, and a red turtleneck!) seemed so cool back then. And this series showed me that the best Herb Trimpe art was when he could ink it himself. I loved him on the Ant-Man strip even more than on Incredible Hulk. Weird personal aside: I'd been looking forward to the new Ant-Man series, but somehow I thought I'd missed MF #4 (the debut ish, natch). I found #5 and, as you can see, loved it. Imagine my surprise when a few weeks later, on the same spinner rack I'd found ish 5--I found ish #4! I was puzzled but very happy!



Those are just a few of the mostly Marvel-ous mags that took my twin dimes that simmering summer. Which ones turned you on? Some of these? These? Or perhaps, these? (Don'tcha just love Mike's Amazing World of Comics' Newsstand?)

Rap about 'em in the comments, okay?

The Grooviest Covers of All Time: The Spirit by Will Eisner and Ken Kelly

Dig it, Groove-ophiles! Ol' Groove loves, I tell ya, loooves Will Eisner's The Spirit. I fell in love with both Eisner's genius and Denny Colt's adventures via Warren's b&w reprint mag that ran sixteen issues from January 1974 to August 1976 (yeah, Kitchen Sink quickly took over publishing the mag, and we'll get to those later, don't ya worry). Most every cover of the Warren series was a masterpiece, but my favorites are those done by Eisner himself in partnership with fantasy/album cover painter extraordinaire Ken Kelly, issues 4-11. Why? Take a look and then you can tell me why, baby!

Random Reads: "Stake Out!" by Younger and Grandenetti

What it is, Groove-ophiles! Just for the screams, why don't we gnaw on this biting bit of comicbook creepiness by Jack Younger and Jerry Grandenetti? Were those two titans of terror just winging it when they concocted "Stake Out" for Atlas/Seaboard's Tales of Evil #1 (December 1974)? Or did editor Larry Lieber stick his neck out for them? Ouch!