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!

Sci-Fi Week! Byrne-ing to Read: "Rog 2000 vs The Sog"

Ya say ya need a little more John Byrne art in your life? Especially of the Rog 2000 variety? Well you got it, Groove-ophiles! Here's Rog's final outing from E-Man #10 (June 1975)..."Rog 2000 vs The Sog"...written by Nick Cuti, natch! Dig it!

Sci-Fi Week! Diggin' Ditko: Machine Man in "Renewal!"

Remember back on Jack Kirby's birthday when Ol' Groove mentioned that Marvel revived Machine Man with ish #10 (May 1979) with Marv Wolfman and Steve Ditko at the creative helm? Well, I've finally gotten around to sharing it with ya (special thanks to max_renn for the excellent scans)--aren't ya glad? I think Ditko fans are gonna be especially delighted with "Renewal!" Ditko's art is magnificent--the detail, the use of shading, the far-out action sequences--I think it ranks up there with some of Ditko's very best.

Sci-Fi Week! Bring On the Back-ups: "Brainiac 5's Secret Weakness!" by Bates and Grell

What's happening, Groove-ophiles! Back in the Groovy Age, DC tried really hard to be hip, especially with the Legion of Super-Heroes. Cary Bates worked hard to give each member a personality, Mike Grell's art just oozed far-out future all in an effort to grab some coins from hard-core FOOMers. Well, for Young Groove, it worked. Stories like "Brainiac 5's Secret Weakness!" from Superboy #204 (July 1974) punched (pardon the ol' pun) all the right buttons. Yeah, some folks are gonna think Brainy's method of handling his puppy-love for Supergirl is a bit...well, sick and twisted, but hey, over in the Avengers Scarlet Witch and the Vision were the romance of the century, so it was the times, baby. If you really want to toss eggs, toss 'em at the usually sweet and thoughtful Kara-El, who ever-so-casually jerks the love-rug right out from under poor ol' Brainy. But whether ya wanna look at this story through the eyes of youth or poke some friendly "now we're much more sophisticated" fun at it, you're still gonna dig this classic! Ol' Groove wouldn't jive ya!

Sci-Fi Week! Secret Origins: Warlock's Sidekick Pip the Troll

When we think of Jim Starlin's awesome (in every sense of the word) run on Warlock, we think of heavy, dark, angst-ridden cosmic tales of death and redemption. Thing is, Judo Jim was hip enough to realize that something had to balance out all of that soul-searching and violence...so he gave Adam Warlock a side-kick by the name of Pip the Troll. Pip was everything Adam was not--a sluggard, a thief, a liar, a cheat, a coward. And yet. And yet, he was loyal and sly, and the best friend a guy like Adam could have. Pip was like a grown up Looney Tunes character, adding bits of levity in what could have become a depressingly dark series. Another really smart thing Starlin did was, as soon as the Warlock/Magus saga ended, he (along with finisher/colorist extraordinaire Steve Leialoha) gave us Pip's origin, a smart, funny, and sly break before diving into his next deep, dark cosmic saga. Young Groove dug "A Trollish Tale!" from Warlock #12 (January 1976) the most. Still do. Bet you will, too!