Marvel-ous Monday Groovy Guest Post: Mike Mikulovsky on "Vengeance Is the Copperhead!" by Wolfman, Brown, and Janson

Mighty Mike Mikulovsly is back, this time with his reminiscences of Daredevil #125's "Vengeance Is the Copperhead," part two of DD vs Copperhead. You can read part one right here, if you missed it last month...

When I spotted DD #125 (June 1975) on my local news vendor's stand, I wasn't disappointed. With yet another great cover by Gil Kane, inked again by Klaus Janson, we see Copperhead's copper armor. Shades of a certain Golden Avenger! My only disappointment was the interior art wasn't by the then usual stunning Gene "The Dean" Colan, but by new DD artist Bob Brown, who did a decent job. It helped a lot that the interiors were also inked by the impressive Klaus Janson.  Once again it was great seeing Copperhead in his trench coat & 1940's style fedora hat, which gave the stories that film noir look and feel to them. This time he even had a cool looking car. I always thought it was supposed to be a 1960 Ford Thunderbird.  It gave him a Green Hornet feel to me. This issue we learn more about the Copperhead's secret identity. We see him blow a door away with a Green Hornet type of sonic sting weapon, too. He used his poison dart/ knockout  gas gun once again, as well.

In September of 1998, I went to a show at the Thunderbird Hotel in Minneapolis, Minnesota. To my huge surprise Gene Colan was there! They hadn't even put his name on their guest list on the flier I got in my mailbox down in Wisconsin. Gene was doing sketches, so of course I asked him if he could do one of Copperhead for me. I didn't have copies of these issues with me, but he actually remembered the character and drew it from memory! I mean this was 23 years later! This amazed me because he only drew like 6 full pages with Copperhead in DD #124. About a hour later, he invited me to sit with him. I ended up sitting with him for almost four hours. I like to talk a lot, but he made me look like an amateur. He did like 90% of the talking! It was a very memorable day in my life. He was impressed that I knew about so much of his work. He agreed with me, too, that Copperhead should have been an anti-hero of The Shadow/ Green Hornet type for Marvel. 

It sounded like he suggested this to his editors, but they didn't care, I guess. I'm not sure, but maybe that's why he left DD, to do Tomb of Dracula later? We'll enough of my rambling. I hope you enjoyed these issues of DD as much as I did as a 13 year old. And I hope you enjoy them just as much I still do, today. Here's the sketch Gene did for me at that show. I really regret not having him do many commissions for me. Oh, well, at least I met him in person once. We became good friends that day, and for the next few years he'd call me by phone every month or two.  We'd also frequently exchange e-mails. Gene was a true gentleman, and he cherished his fans. I miss the man and, of course, his art. 

A Decade of Diversions Week! Groove's Favorite Comics from 1978/1979

What "A Decade of Diversions Week" is all about: 

This week, Ol' Groove is sharing lists his favorite comic mag from each year of the 1970s (1970-1979), along with four runners-up. Guess you could actually call that sharing lists of my top five mags of each year, huh?  Two years per day, five days--yep that's ten years! 

Lemme tell ya, it was not easy to make these lists. I had to comb through every comic, each month, each year--okay, Mike's Amazing World of Comics' Newsstand made that mucho easier (thanks, Mike! The Diversions couldn't make it without your site, man!), but still, that's a lot. Then I had to whittle each year's gi-normous list down to five. To keep it from becoming too stressful, I had to make myself a few rules:

1) No reprints (reprints are awesome and some of my fave comics are reprints, but...)

2) Single issues. The mags have to stand (or at least be able to stand) alone. That knocked out a lot of great mags whose best stories were multi-issue epics. (They'll get their own lists someday.) And yes, there are exceptions to this rule. Especially first issues and/or first chapters of sagas.

3) The mag had to be memorable to me. My idea of comicbook perfection (or something close to it). Something I read 'til the cover fell off.

4) I tried (really, really tried) to keep my list free of using the same mag more than once per year. That was TOUGH.

5) The rules were to help me decide, not bind me--so there might be exceptions to any or all of these rules.

Now, this is Ol' Groove's list of faves. I'm not saying these were the best comics of the year (or even the month), but they're my favorites. You have your favorites, too, I'm sure, so you know what I mean. Please comment and leave lists of your faves, but don't knock mine (or anyone else's list), please. After all, if we all loved exactly the same 50 Groovy Age mags, there really wouldn't be a need for this blog, would there?

Ol' Groove's Top 5 of 1978:

Ol' Groove's gotta tell ya, after 1973, 1978 was the hardest year to whittle down to five. The DC Explosion/Implosion, awesome Dollar Comics and Marvel-Color mags. X-Men, Marvel Two-In-One, Master of Kung Fu, Detective Comics, Micronauts, and on and on I could go about the greatness of 1978's crop of comics. But the best of the best for me is Showcase #100. A veritable love-letter to comics and its fans. If it was made today, this story would take dozens of comics, a main series, spin-offs, and the interruption of many a regular series to tell. Pauls Levitz and Kupperberg managed to gather every character who'd appeared in the first 99 issues of Showcase and include them (if only for a panel) in an amazing, thrilling and satisfying cosmic epic--in a mere 34 pages. And Joe Staton, bless him, oh-so-skillfully penciled and inked every page with aplomb. To Ol' Groove, this is better than all the "Crisis" mags that have come after it put together. 

The other mags in Ol' Groove's top 5 of 1978 are pretty close to perfection, as well. Adventure Comics conversion to a Dollar Comic was the highlight of the DC Explosion for moi. The mix of characters and creators was fun, with Len Wein and Jim Aparo on Deadman being worth a buck all by its lonesome! Then there's the incredible Batman 1978 Spectacular with amazingly strong stories by Denny O'Neil and David V. Reed. I loved that the stories really showcased The Batman's brains as well as his brawn and tech. And the art! Michael (Nasser) Netzer, Michael Golden, and Marshall Rogers, baby! One of the best Batman mags of all time. Marvel had some great stuff in 1978, but most of it was of the continuing saga kind. Hanna Barbera TV Stars #3 might have some of ya scratching your heads, but you have to remember, Ol' Grooves childhood favorite heroes included the Herculoids and Space Ghost--and yeah, I had a soft (in the head) spot for Blue Falcon and Dynomutt. T'was a rare thing to get to read about them in comicbook form, so it was pretty special to get to read a mag with three terrific Mark Evanier stories illoed by the likes of Paul Norris, Will Meugnoit, Dave Stevens, and Alex Toth (who also did the Marvel-ous cover) ! Finally, Creepy #104 with its "all robots issue" was another winner from cover-to-cover. Superior, thought provoking stories by some of my favorite writers (including Steve Englehart and Roger McKenzie) and luscious illustrations by superb artists like Alex Nino, Terry Austin, Alfredo Alcala, and Pablo Marcos makes this one of Ol' Groove's favorite b&w mags of all time.

Ol' Groove's Top 5 of 1979:

We'll end our look at my favorite single issues of the 1970s on a very high note, Groove-ophiles. Roger McKenzie and Frank Miller gave us perhaps the greatest Marvel Super-Hero vs Marvel Super-Hero tales with Daredevil #163. The story was real and gritty and harsh and heart-renting and, most of all, showcased the pure, fearless heroism of Daredevil against the tortured anti-heroism of the Hulk. Marvel had a knack for knowing how to use guest appearances to the maximum effect during the Groovy Age. This one is the very best of them.

Speaking of team-ups (and Frank Miller), Ol' Groove looooooves Marvel Two-In-One #51 and its Thing/Avengers/Nick Fury team-up. Again, this was classic Marvel with writer Peter Gillis luring us in with the fun banter of a super-hero poker game then, (how can I not say this?) upping the ante with an action-packed romp as the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier finds itself under assault. X-Men Annual #3 is a fun story with the X-Men in a science-fiction-y sword and sorcery setting as they travel to the world of the M.U.'s version of Conan, Arkon. We finally got to see George Perez pencil an X-Men adventure (inked by Terry Austin!), and it was a joy to behold! DC gave us another incredible Dollar Comic anthology, Time Warp, this time (finally!) featuring some of their best writers and artists on straight-on (for comicbooks at least) science fiction fables. This mag should have lasted longer. Finally, Archie Comics is back in the mix with (inhale deeply) Archie's Super Hero Comics Digest Magazine #2. Yeah, it's mostly reprints, but it also presents the gritty unpublished Black Hood stories from their aborted Red Circle revival. Said stories feature art by Gray Morrow, Neal Adams, and Dick Giordano. And the reprints of the Mighty Comics of the pre and early Groovy Age were fun, too.

Well, there you have it, Groove-ophiles! I sure hope you enjoyed this special romp down memory lane. Make sure to post about your faves in the comments! See ya Monday when things get back to "normal." Thanks for a great ten years!!

A Decade of Diversions Week! Groove's Favorite Comics from 1976/1977

What "A Decade of Diversions Week" is all about: 

This week, Ol' Groove is sharing lists his favorite comic mag from each year of the 1970s (1970-1979), along with four runners-up. Guess you could actually call that sharing lists of my top five mags of each year, huh?  Two years per day, five days--yep that's ten years! 

Lemme tell ya, it was not easy to make these lists. I had to comb through every comic, each month, each year--okay, Mike's Amazing World of Comics' Newsstand made that mucho easier (thanks, Mike! The Diversions couldn't make it without your site, man!), but still, that's a lot. Then I had to whittle each year's gi-normous list down to five. To keep it from becoming too stressful, I had to make myself a few rules:

1) No reprints (reprints are awesome and some of my fave comics are reprints, but...)

2) Single issues. The mags have to stand (or at least be able to stand) alone. That knocked out a lot of great mags whose best stories were multi-issue epics. (They'll get their own lists someday.) And yes, there are exceptions to this rule. Especially first issues and/or first chapters of sagas.

3) The mag had to be memorable to me. My idea of comicbook perfection (or something close to it). Something I read 'til the cover fell off.

4) I tried (really, really tried) to keep my list free of using the same mag more than once per year. That was TOUGH.

5) The rules were to help me decide, not bind me--so there might be exceptions to any or all of these rules.

Now, this is Ol' Groove's list of faves. I'm not saying these were the best comics of the year (or even the month), but they're my favorites. You have your favorites, too, I'm sure, so you know what I mean. Please comment and leave lists of your faves, but don't knock mine (or anyone else's list), please. After all, if we all loved exactly the same 50 Groovy Age mags, there really wouldn't be a need for this blog, would there?

Ol' Groove's Top 5 of 1976:
1976 kicked off with one of the biggest super-hero team-ups fandom could have ever dreamed of. Naturally, it's Ol' Groove's fave comic of 1976. Marvel and DC didn't skimp on this event, either! 100 tabloid-sized pages featuring not only our beloved heroes, but their supporting cast and arch enemies (Lex Luthor and Doctor Octopus), to boot. And in a supremely inspired move, they got Gerry Conway, former Spider-Man and "present" Superman author and Ross Andru, former Superman artist and "present" Spider-Man artist to write and draw it. Add inks by the likes of Dick Giordano and a young Terry Austin and how many more reasons does Ol' Groove have'ta give to explain why I picked Superman vs Spider-Man as my #1 comic of 1976?

My other faves: The final issue of Amazing Adventures, in which Don McGregor and P. Craig Russell wrapped up one of the greatest series of the 1970s, War of the Worlds/Killraven, and left us (almost literally) crying for more; Green Lantern #90 which re-united GL with Green Arrow in fun, sci-fi-centric adventures  by Denny O'Neil and Mike Grell; Marvel Premiere #32 with Howard Chaykin's sublime western/sci-fi/mystery mash-up Monarch Starstalker; and of course (it WAS 1976 after all) Captain America's Bi-Centennial Battles by Jack Kirby and a host of superior inkers that includes John Romita Sr. and Barry Windsor-Smith.

Ol' Groove's Top 5 of 1977:

The best comic mag of 1977? Without a doubt, for Ol' Groove it's Marvel Preview #11, the return of Star-Lord by Chris Claremont, John Byrne, Terry Austin, and Tom Orzechowski. The team that would become the X-Men dream team got it all together right here in a 52 page sci-fi epic (a graphic novel before we knew what a graphic novel was!) that is so action-packed, far-out, and memorable that, not only is it my favorite comic of 1977, it's veeeery close to my favorite comic of all time. And on some days, it IS my favorite comic of all time. (It's even got a Jim Starlin frontispiece, so there's another of my Mt. Rushmore of comicbook creators in this mag!)

Yep, it beat out some heavy, heavy competition. Ol' Groove'll hazard a guess that the other four mags in my Top 5 of 1977 are quite possibly your number ones! DC Special #29 with the awesome (and I do mean awesome) double-length origin of the Justice Society by Paul Levitz, Joe Staton, and Bob Layton (the regular JSA creative team at the time); Five Star Super-Spectacular with stories and art by Adams, O'Neil, Staton, Nasser, Dillin, Conway, and more featuring solo stories of some of our fave JLA members; Ol' Groove's favorite ish of What If...? with a stunning story by Jim Shooter and even more stunning art by Gil Kane and Klaus Janson. It even beat out Marvel Super Special #1 featuring KISS (printed in real KISS blood) with story and art by titans like Steve Gerber, Alan Weiss, and the Brothers Buscema! Five mags to truly treasure, Groove-ophiles!

Tomorrow's the wrap up of our tour of Groove's Fave 1970s comics! See ya then! (But don't forget to rap about your faves in the comments while we're waiting!)

A Decade of Diversions Week! Groove's Favorite Comics from 1974/1975

What "A Decade of Diversions Week" is all about: 

This week, Ol' Groove is sharing lists his favorite comic mag from each year of the 1970s (1970-1979), along with four runners-up. Guess you could actually call that sharing lists of my top five mags of each year, huh?  Two years per day, five days--yep that's ten years! 

Lemme tell ya, it was not easy to make these lists. I had to comb through every comic, each month, each year--okay, Mike's Amazing World of Comics' Newsstand made that mucho easier (thanks, Mike! The Diversions couldn't make it without your site, man!), but still, that's a lot. Then I had to whittle each year's gi-normous list down to five. To keep it from becoming too stressful, I had to make myself a few rules:

1) No reprints (reprints are awesome and some of my fave comics are reprints, but...)

2) Single issues. The mags have to stand (or at least be able to stand) alone. That knocked out a lot of great mags whose best stories were multi-issue epics. (They'll get their own lists someday.) And yes, there are exceptions to this rule. Especially first issues and/or first chapters of sagas.

3) The mag had to be memorable to me. My idea of comicbook perfection (or something close to it). Something I read 'til the cover fell off.

4) I tried (really, really tried) to keep my list free of using the same mag more than once per year. That was TOUGH.

5) The rules were to help me decide, not bind me--so there might be exceptions to any or all of these rules.

Now, this is Ol' Groove's list of faves. I'm not saying these were the best comics of the year (or even the month), but they're my favorites. You have your favorites, too, I'm sure, so you know what I mean. Please comment and leave lists of your faves, but don't knock mine (or anyone else's list), please. After all, if we all loved exactly the same 50 Groovy Age mags, there really wouldn't be a need for this blog, would there?

Ol' Groove's Top 5 of 1974:

This is another top pick that was certainly a no-brainer. Jim Starlin's Warlock is Ol' Grooves favorite series ever, and Strange Tales #178 is where it all began. Breathtakingly written and illustrated by Starlin, everything about this book sings. The splash page, the "history lesson" told by an alien with the personality of Don Rickles, the re-introduction of Adam Warlock, and the "Wizard of Oz" first look at the Magus are all indelibly etched into my brain. I LOVE this comic. 

1974 was another excellent year for comics, so nailing down the rest of my favorite five was quite a chore. Well, okay, I'll admit, Marvel Premiere #15 (Iron Fist's debut) and Astonishing Tales #25 (Deathlok's debut) were easy picks. But I had to cull about 20 other books to settle on the other two. I knew at some point that the Michael Fleischer/Jim Aparo Spectre from Adventure Comics would show up on my list, and it helped that my favorite issue (which includes the return of Aquaman and the debut of Mike Grell) came out in 1974. And Archie's Red Circle Sorcery #8 is one of my favorite comics of all time, with the Gray Morrow illustrated cover story and tales with art by Frank Thorne and Alex Toth!

Ol' Groove's Top 5 of 1975:

There was a ton (really, at least a ton!) of incredible comics that came out in 1975. Invaders, Champions, Skull the Slayer, and on and on and on. Some of Ol' Groove's absolute faves. But, when it came right down to a top five for 75? Easy like Sunday mornin'...

My only regret in regards to Giant-Size X-Men #1 is that I didn't buy every copy on the spinner-rack. I don't know how many times I read this mag--several times a day for the first few weeks, truth to be told. Groove loved everything about it. Len Wein's writing, Dave Cockrum's sublime art, the plot (it was creepy in places--in the best sense), the character interaction, the way 13 mutants worked together to defeat the villain. I loved it all!

Again, if you've been around Groove City for any time at all, you know that Warlord is near and dear to Groove, and his debut tale in 1st Issue Special #8 is an all-time classic. Speaking of classics, DC's tabloid The Bible is gorgeous and very, very well written. The only gripe Ol' Groove has about it is that there were no sequels. The black and white mags were sloooowly starting to move away from the horror/monster genre and into other areas of interest. Two, Marvel Super-Action #1 and Atlas/Seaboard's Thrilling Adventure Stories were very much like comic mag equivalents of the "men's adventure magazines" Young Groove never got to read. Based on how short-lived they were, Ol' Groove must've been the only one to think that those two mags are the best b&w comic magazines ever produced, but think it I do!

Rap about your faves, then make sure to be back tomorrow as we keep on truckin' through a Decade of Diversions with 1976/1977!