Making a Splash: Paul Gulacy's Master of Kung Fu, Round Three

Here it is, Groove-ophiles! The rapturous wrap-up of our lingering look back at the scrumptious splashes supplied by Peerless Paul Gulacy for his mucho-loved turn as artist-par-excellence on Master of Kung Fu. This final flourish of comicbook fine art comes from issues 40, 42-46, 48-50 (February, April-August, October-December 1976) of MOKF.  Who loves ya, baby?

But that's not all! Nosiree! Ya think Ol' Groove is some kind of piker or somethin'? I've also tossed in Paul's splashes for the first three issues of Giant-Size Master of Kung Fu (July-December 1974) for you color comic completists out there. (As for Mr. Gulacy's artistry on the b&w Deadly Hands of Kung Fu, keep your eye out for a yet-to-be-determined installment of Black and White Wednesdays!)

Secret Origins: The Sub-Mariner by Thomas, Andru, and Severin

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! In 1939 Marvel Comics got its start with a mostly-forgotten group of characters, but a few of those characters, The Human Torch, Ka-Zar, and today's subject, Prince Namor the Sub-Mariner, caught the imaginations of enough folks to keep them around in some form or another for the better part of 70 years. Bill Everett's Sub-Mariner, though never as popular as later Marvel creations like Captain America or Spider-Man, has made his presence felt in every decade, his popularity ebbing and flowing like the ocean waves that spawned him.

Personally, Ol' Groove has always dug Prince Namor. His powers, his regal bearing, those crazy eyebrows, pointy ears, and ankle-wings made him kinda cool. I think what really sold me on him was the Roy Thomas version from the early 70s. Roy made Subby seem as majestic and important (though not as cosmic) as the Mighty Thor. Just dig on Roy's regal retelling of Namor's origin (with impeccable art by Ross Andru and John Severin) from Sub-Mariner #38 (March 1971).

Black and White Wednesday: Jason Monarch by Lillard and Craig

Hey, hey, hey, Groove-ophiles! Here's a black and white mag you might've missed back in early 1979, Jason Monarch #1. Published by an indy outfit called the Omnibus Publishing Company, this b&w one-shot was planned as a color mag but certain conflicts (most likely cash flow) forced them to put the mag out as a b&w. That was (and still is) par for the course for most small companies, so it really wasn't a problem. Omnibus did a good job of putting together a nice creative team, an unknown (to moi, at least) author by the name of Dave Lillard and sometime Atlas and Marvel artist Jim (What If...?/Master of Kung Fu) Jim Craig.

Jason Monarch, obviously, didn't set the world on fire. It cashed in on the Star Wars craze with nods to other sci-fi mags (like DC's Star Hunters), but it was well-written and featured some of Craig's best art. In the early 80s it could'a been a contender, but in the late 70s, it was hard for a non-Marvel/DC mag to get noticed. Want a look at this forgotten diamond in the rough? You got it, baby!

Bring on the Back-ups: "The Spell of the Sea-Witch!!"

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! Here's a sensational shocker from the Files of the Forgotten. "The Spell of the Sea-Witch!!" by Allyn Brodsky, Jack (The First Kingdom) Katz (as Jay Hawk), and Golden Age Great Bill Everett (as Black Bill) first appeared in Fear #10 (July 1972) as a brain-blasting back-up feature to the macabre Man-Thing's lead. Check it out!

Ol' Groove's Request Line: "Killer's Roulette" by Frank Robbins

What it is, Groove-ophiles! Here's another mucho-requested Frank Robbins Batman classic. "Killer's Roulette" was originally published in Detective Comics #426 (April 1972) and it's a gas, gas, gas!