Bring On the Back-ups: "In the Wake of the Warriors!" by Gerber, Chaykin, and Sinnott

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! Today let's take a look at the third (and final for Chaykin and Sinnott) chapter of the far-out Tales of Atlantis feature that ran in the back of Marvel's Sub-Mariner mag (issues 62-66). "In the Wake of the Warriors" was the highlight of Sub-Mariner #64 (May 1973), and here it is, just for you!

Amazed by Aparo: "The Man Who Could See Yesterday!"

What it is, Groove-ophiles! Jim Aparo's time at DC was spent mostly chronicling the adventures of super-heroes like The Batman and Aquaman, or gothic heroes like The Phantom Stranger and Deadman. It would have been easy to forget that Jim was also a master of sci-fi storytelling. He had done plenty sci-fi early in his career at Charlton, but had little opportunity to stretch those artistic muscles after "being discovered" and going to DC in the late '60s. In 1979, buoyed by the popularity of Star Wars and the upcoming release of the first Star Trek movie, DC finally released an all-new sci-fi anthology, Time Warp. The final tale in that mag's premiere issue (July 1979) featured a stunningly illustrated tale written by Paul Levitz (who, by the way, has Ol' Groove buying--and digging-- Legion of Super-Heroes again!). Here is "The Man Who Could See Yesterday!"

Sunday Funnies: The Walnuts by Wolfman and Severin

The Waltons was must-see-TV back in the Groovy Age, and as much as we loved it, it sure was (and still is) a lotta fun poking fun at it. From Crazy Magazine #3, here's a punchy parody by Marv Wolfman and Marie Severin (who could give her brother John a run for his moolah in the caricaturing department). Tune in, turn on, and drop out to the Depression era doldrums of "The Walnuts"!


G'night, John-Boy!

Making a Splash: Jack Kirby's Black Panther

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! To celebrate the memory of Jack "King" Kirby on what would have been his 93rd birthday, how 'bout we take a look at the super-kool splash pages The King produced during his tenure as writer/artist/editor of another king, the king of the Wakanda, T'Challa, The Black Panther. While Kirby's handling of his ko-kreation (with Stan the Man Lee, of course) was kwite kontroversial at the time (due to his replacing--and ignoring--the sophisticated stylings of long-time, fan-fave Black Panther scribe--in the pages of Jungle Action, natch--Don McGregor), y'gotta admit, his art, especially the splashes, were so in-your-face and far-out that you couldn't stay too disappointed for long. For 12 issues (October 1977-August 1978), we were bombarded with Kosmic Kirby Kreations like King Solomon's Frog, Mr. Little, Princess Zanda, the Six-Million Year Man, the Black Musketeers, and Kiber the Kruel. Krazy stuff, filled with action and topped with exquisitely-rendered (artful inks by Mike Royer) single and double splash pages. Here are all of 'em, in one place, at one time, and all for you, Groove-ophiles!

Random Reads: "A Fortune of Death!" by Moench and Gulacy

Hi-YAH, Groove-ophiles! Today Ol' Groove is dipping deep into the Cabinet of Cool for a rare done-in-one issue of Marvel's classic Master of Kung Fu. "A Fortune of Death", from Master of Kung Fu #22 (August 1974), is one of those great philosophical character studies writer Doug Moench was writing at the time. By nature of its very existence, each ish of MOKF had to be filled with "martial arts action in the mighty Marvel manner", but Moench heavily ladled each flying-foot fest with intrigue, philosophy, insight, and the most grown-up characters in comicdom. The art by Paul Gulacy (inked by Dan Adkins) was pure Steranko-meets-Bruce-Lee-Flick at this point in time, but it was so cinematic and powerful that Teen Groove verily flipped-out with each flip of the page. What happens when Shang Chi, son of Fu Manchu, goes out for a Chinese meal? Check it out!


And can ya believe that it's all wrapped up under a J0hn Buscema/Joe Sinnot cover?