Famous First Fridays: "Iron" Mike Grell's DC Debuts

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! Y'know, the very first post on DotGk dealt with "Iron" Mike Grell. Tons (I say, TONS) of my posts have been devoted to this masterful writer/artist--the creator of Warlord, Starslayer, Jon Sable, and so many others. Today, though, we're going to look back at the dazzling debut and early super-stardom of one of the most unique and durable talents of the Groovy Age.

From an early age, Mike Grell wanted to be a cartoonist. He had heard about the "great money and easy life" of the syndicated comic strip cartoonist and wanted a piece of it. He created an epic adventure comic strip called "Savage Empire", but no one would look at it. Iron Mike did land a job assisting the legendary Dale Messick on Brenda Starr, which led to his lucking into the world of comicbooks.

Doing his own comic strip still burned in Grell’s soul so he headed for New York and attended a comics convention in hopes of meeting with talent scouts for the syndicates. When Grell turned up at Phil Seuling’s annual bash, he was shocked to see no talent scouts, few pros and mostly fans. Wearing a suit, however, did make him stand out in a crowd. Allan Asherman, then Joe Kubert’s assistant at DC, showed Grell’s work to people and Grell found himself talking to a man named Irv. He approached Grell, liked what he saw and suggested Grell go see Julius Schwartz at DC. What Grell later discovered was that the Irv he spoke with was Irv Novick, then chief Batman penciller. “Julie was very cordial and treated me in his customary fashion,” Grell says of the encounter. “’What the hell makes you think you can draw comics?’ I unzipped my portfolio and said, ‘You tell me.’ He took me in to Joe Orlando and I walked out with – ‘As the Undersea City Sleeps,’ an Aquaman story for Adventure Comics.” (From Comics Scene #9, 1983)

Whod'a thunk that such a long-running and successful career started with "Iron" Mike having Aquaman moon his readers (Adventure Comics #435, July 1974). Script by Steve Skeates.

But that's not all, Groove-ophiles. When the comicbook fates are smiling on ya, sometimes they show all their teeth. Dig what happens next in the Mike Grell saga (again from Comics Scene #9):

As Grell was turning in his first story, Murray Boltinoff was pacing in his office wondering who he could get to replace Dave Cockrum, who had just announced he was leaving Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes to go work for Marvel, Orlando suggested Grell and Boltinoff had him ink a Cockrum story. Satisfied with the effort, Grell debuted as Legion artist with issue #201.*

(*Actually, Mike's inks over Cockrum appeared in Superboy #202 [May 1974], and his first full art job in Superboy #203 [May 1974].)

Here's editor Murray Boltinoff's editorial from Superboy #203 detailing the changing of the LSH's artistic guard. (Bitter much, Murray? Sheesh!)

And since Ol' Groove loves ya (and "Iron" Mike!), here's Grell's inking job over Cockrum from Superboy #202. Is it any wonder why Iron Mike got the job?

And what the heck, chomp on a few choice pages from Mike's full art from Superboy #203...

It's clear that Mike's art would rocket him to comicbook super-stardom in no time. Besides his legendary work on the Legion and Warlord, Mike also turned out some great issues of Batman and Green Lantern/Green Arrow.

And now "Iron" Mike is editing Ardden's Atlas Comics revival. Here's to "Iron" Mike Grell! He sure lives up to his nick-name!

Random Reads: "Wizard of Forgotten Flesh" by Moench and Heath

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! Been thinking about one of the great comicbook artists of any age, Russ Heath. Russ (age 84) recently underwent much-needed knee-replacement surgery so you might've heard his name mentioned here and there on various comics-news sites. What the "whipper-snappers" out there might not know is how incredible Russ Heath's art could be. Those of us who grew up on Heath's work will probably never forget it! Here's a breath-taking example of Russ Heath in all his glory. "Wizard of Forgotten Flesh" was written for Ka-Zar #12 (August 1975) by one of our faves, Doug Moench. Tis' a feast for the eyes fer sure, Groovy Ones! (And you'd be hard-pressed to find a better word-slinger than Moench, never forget!) Enjoy!

(A tip o' the hat to Fett!! for the sweet scans.)  And yeah, Ol' Groove's arm could be twisted enough to share the cataclysmic conclusion to this epic--drawn by Larry Hama, no less...)

Black and White Wednesday: "The Feastings of Prince Yamm" by Fox, Englehart, and Colletta

Everyone in Groove City knows that Stainless Steve Englehart was one of the most original and unique voices of the Groovy Age. His writing on Captain America, Avengers, and Batman is considered one of (if not "the") high-water marks of each of those characters' comicbook careers. Strangely enough, Steve started out his comics career as an artist, apprenticing under Neal Adams, with nary an intention to become a writer. He drew, he inked, he even colored--but it was as a writer, a position he pretty much fell into, that Englehart set the comix world on fire. The "truth" behind the 1950s Captain America. The Secret Empire. The Celestial Madonna. "The Avengers/Defenders War". Silver St. Cloud. "The Laughing Fish". Though he hadn't planned on being a writer, Steve became one of the very best of the best.

Makes one wonder what might have happened had Steve kept on working as an artist. The kid wasn't bad! Here's Englehart's third black and white art job, found in Skywald's Psycho #7 (April 1972), "The Feastings of Prince Yamm". This tale featuring a Vampirella rip-off named Demona was written by Golden Age great Gardner Fox and features ink assists (mainly on the female figures according to Englehart on his website) by Vince Colletta.


Pretty cool, huh? Still and all, Ol' Groove's glad we got all'a those cool Englehart-written tales!

Making a Splash: Marvel Comics 40 Years Ago

Forty Years ago this month, Marvel unleashed the following mellow mayhem and magnificent madness 'pon the comicbook-reading world...and we were thankful for it! The names on in the credit boxes read like the "Who's Who" of  Groovy Age Marvel: Stan, Roy, Gerry, Neal, Barry, Gil, John, Sal, Gene, Don, Herb, and Ross! Makes ya wish ya had a Waybak Machine, dunnit?