Black and White Wednesday: "Warrior's Ritual" by Goodwin and Severin

On Sunday, February 12, 2012, we lost another of the true greats. At age 90, Eisner Awards Hall of Famer John Severin passed, leaving a legacy of distinct and elegant art that has touched and entertained comic art lovers for over six decades. He's best remembered by the world-at-large for his spot-on caricature-filled  art in Mad and Cracked, but comicbook fans know him as a do-everything kind of illustrator. War, westerns, science fiction, horror, super-heroes, Severin did it all with a wholly original style that just loaded the senses with detailed pencils and lush inks and crosshatching that could make the most unbelievable totally believable. Ol' Groove especially dug it when "Sev" worked on historical tales. His eye for detail really shone in those pieces, as he obviously studied whichever era he was drawing to give it an almost photographic authenticity. I think this Archie Goodwin-scribed tale, "Warrior's Ritual" from Creepy #112 (August 1979) is a fine example of John Severin's ability to make us really believe in what he was drawing.

Admiring Adams: "Paint a Picture of Peril!" by O'Neil, Adams, and Giordano

What it is, Groove-ophiles! It's the second day of the week, so let's take a peek at the second Batman tale by the game-changing team of Denny O'Neil, Neal Adams, and Dick Giordano! "Paint a Picture of Peril!" from Detective Comics #397 (December 1969) is one of those stories that seems to slip through the cracks for some reason. Perhaps it's because it's another gothic, supernaturally-tinged tale like O'Neil/Adams first Batman pairing on "The Secret of the Waiting Graves" two issues earlier, or maybe it's because it doesn't feature one of the Caped Crusader's Big Time Villains like The Joker, Ras al Ghul, or Two-Face? I dunno, but I remember running into this Citizen Kane-inspired story in DC's tabloid Limited Collectors' Edition #C-44 (March 1976) and really digging it. Adams' art looked in-freakin'-credible in that gi-normous format, and that ain't no jive, baby!

The Boys from Derby: "The Wizard" by Gill and Boyette

Many a master of the comicbook craft bopped in and out of Charlton comics during its existence, but writer Joe Gill and artist Pat Boyette were mainstays on whom we could always depend to deliver quality four-color fun--and fear! You can find one of their far-out fear-fests in Charlton's Ghost Manor #12 (March 1973). Underneath a breathtaking Boyette cover lurks..."The Wizard!"

Cosmic Week Concludes: "Metamorphosis!" by Starlin and Milgrom

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! We're gonna end COSMIC WEEK with the biggest bang Ol' Groove can think of. THE comic that totally won Young Groove over to Jim Starlin and his cosmic consciousness, "Metamorphosis!" from Captain Marvel #29 (August 1973). Neither the Kree/Skrull War nor the earlier chapters of Captain Mar-Vell vs. Thanos (mostly written by Mike Friedrich) could have prepared Young Groove for what Jim Starlin laid 'pon us in CM #29. That cover (in spite of the John Romita head) with all of those funky planets really grabbed me, but man, the art and colors inside reeled me in and I s'pose I encountered a metamorphosis of my own. While I'd been grooving to Captain America, the Avengers, the JLA and other "mainstream" comics (as well I should have!), Starlin and Mar-vell, beginning especially with this issue, gave me an appetite for "something else". It was an elusive "something else" that, at the time, I couldn't quite put my finger on (and it's probably a good thing!). I'd never seen such...how shall I put this...psychedelic art. Yeah, I'd seen Steranko's S.H.I.E.L.D. and Kirby's FF, but, man, this was out there! Daredevil heads with arms and legs. Floating, talking eyeballs. Broccoli-headed cyclops. Talking trees. Stone-demon doubles. Soulless dead girlfriends. Judo Jim was speaking a language I was only beginning to understand, and it all but ruined me for "regular comics". I held on, though, and would be able to appreciate Jim's work on Warlock even more, but CM #29 was the catalyst that totally turned me on to cosmic comics. Thanks, Jim!