Making a Splash: John Byrne's Avengers--the Fill-in Issues

Waaaaaaay back in November of 2010, Ol' Groove posted the splashes from John Byrne's Groovy Age run on the Avengers (issues 181-191). When I posted 'em, I promised to share the splashes from his legendary fill-in run on Avengers 164-166. Well, it's the future, and here they are! Words by Jim Shooter, inks by Pablo Marcos!

To say that we went ga-ga over Shooter and Byrne's Nefaria Trilogy would be like saying Farrah Fawcett was kinda cute. Byrne's art was awe-inspiring. So awe-inspiring that Ol' Groove can't bring himself to stick with only the splashes. Plant your peepers on these pulse-pounding final pages from 164-165!

Can you say, "WOW!!"? I knew you could!

Bring on the Back-ups: "Butch Cassidy in Paradise!" by Tom Sutton

Here's one from the "They don't make 'em like that anymore" Department: "Butch Cassidy in Paradise!", written and drawn by Tom Sutton (with inks by John Tartaglione), the back-up tale from Skywald's Butch Cassidy #1 (March 1971). Don't try to figure it out, just go with it and enjoy. 'Cause like Butch himself would say, "It doesn't matter. I don't know where we've been and I've just been there."

Yeah, Skywald released this mag based on the popularity of the then-(semi)new Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid flick, but strangely enough, they split Butch and Sundance into their own separate titles with totally different sidekicks. Whazzupwitdat?

Black and White Wednesday: "The Last Moonrise" by Cuti and Morrow

Here's the very first story from the debut ish of Charlton's Space: 1999 magazine (cover-dated November 1975)..."The Last Moonrise" by Nick Cuti and Gray Morrow. Dig it!

Random Reads: "Fear's the Way He Dies!" by Friedrich and Trimpe

I remember picking up my copy of Marvel Feature #5 on the way back from Vacation Bible School back in June of 1972. I'd been on the lookout for MF #4, Ant-Man's debut, but BAM! There's ish #5, instead. (A month or so later, I'd run across a copy of MF #4--yeah, distribution was kinda weird back in the Groovy Age.) When you read Mike Friedrich's tale of a really together Hank Pym trapped at ant-size trying to get back to his lab--only a few miles away, but it might've well have been a few continents away--was a thrill for Young Groove. Herb Trimpe's action packed, dramatic art grabbed me just like the hawk that grabbed Pym--and what a thrill-packed ride that was! This ish also introduced arch nemesis Egghead's niece, "Trixie" (Trish) Starr, who'd become a major supporting player in Nighthawk of the Defenders' life a few years later, by the by.

And Young Groove really dug that new costume Ant-Man got this ish. Don't ask me why...

Groove's Faves: "He Who Slaughters!" by O'Neil and Staton

Hey, hey, hey, Groove-ophiles! Did you know that one of my fave Boys from Derby, Joe Staton eventually became the regular artist of DC's Green Lantern mag in the late 70s? Well, he did! Joe loved GL, and his art on E-Man showed that he'd be a natural, so it was inevitable that Joe and GL would get together. But that's not what this post is about! (Had ya goin', huh?) Today I wanna look back at Joe's very first shot at drawing GL DC Special Series #1 (June 1977), aka Five Star Super-Hero Spectacular. A year later, Joe would be drawing the short-lived GL series in the Dollar Comic version of Adventure Comics, and soon after that he'd graduate to drawing Green Lantern itself. And it all started with..."He Who Slaughters!" (written by Denny O'Neil, natch!)

The Grooviest Covers of All Time: Summer of 1977, DC Style

We're back in 1977, Groove-ophiles, checking out what's shakin' at the summertime spinner rack. Yesterday we marveled at Marvel's heat wave of offerings, today let's dig what DC is dishing out!