Making a Splash: Faves from Giant-Size Marvel

What it is, Groove-ophiles! Few Groovy Age mags were more exciting than Marvel's short-lived, fifty cent, sixty-eight page Giant Size line of 1974-75. We got a variety of writers and artists working on our favorite characters, we got extra-long epics that sometimes tied in to the regular monthly mags, and we even got the debut of some team of mutants that got kinda popular. Another thing we could count on with the Giant-Size line was an array of sensational splash pages. Here are a few of Ol' Groove's fave for your pleasure...

Groovy Age Gold: Hourman vs. Dr. Togg by Fitch and Baily

Young Groove loved the zany, imaginative, stylized art of Bernard Baily, so any time I came across a Golden Age reprint of a Baily Spectre or Hourman story, I grabbed that mag! Today's Hourman classic (written, according to sources, by Hourman co-creator Ken Fitch) was nestled comfortably inside DC 100-Page Super Spectacular #18 (April 1973)--a mag I would have bought no matter what with its very cool Golden Age Superman story, Golden Age Atom, Captain Triumph, Silver Age Atom, and Superman Red/Superman Blue, baby! Anywho, Fitch and Baily took what could have been a pretty pedestrian superhero and turned it into one of the wildest, wonkiest, most far-out strips ever! For example, dig this page-turner in which our Man of the Hour tackles the nightmarish creatures of Dr. Togg!

Oh, yeah, this masterpiece of comicbook ca-razeeness originally appeared in Adventure Comics #57 (Dec 1940).  

Black and White Wednesday: "The Boob Rube Story" by Schwartzberg and Severin and "The Moe Jamouth Story" by Wolfman, Severin, and Trimpe

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! It's that magical time of the year when baseball is winding down and football is gearing up--fall! What a coincidence, then, that Ol' Groove has dug into the Files of the Forgotten to find this two-part ha-ha-fest from Crazy #4 (March1974) featuring the all-time most famous Boy of Summer, Babe Ruth and the original quarterback celebrity, himself, "Broadway" Joe Namath. The point of this two-part biopic parody is to show how the movies used to treat their subjects with near-reverence compared to the dig-up-all the dirt approach that went on during the Seventies (and still goes on today, natch!). Whether you accept Stu Schwartzberg and Marv Wolfman's premise, appreciate their humor, or don't--ya have to love the Marie Severin (backed by Herb Trimpe on the "Moe Jaymouth Story") art!

The Boys from Derby: "The Dictator" by Gill and Nieto

Here's another shocker spotlighting the singular stylings of Enrique Nieto (aka "Marti"), Groove-ophiles! Marti's unique pen-and-ink style was perfect for moody masterpieces penned by the likes of Joe Gill. Here's a goodie from Monster Hunters #3 (September 1975)..."The Dictator"!

Groove's Faves: "The Curse of Castle Hrothgar" by Uslan and Villamonte

Crazy! Sometimes Ol' Groove is just plain ol' ca-razee! Two posts on DC's...um...unique Beowulf mag, but not hide nor hair of the fabulous first ish! Well, let's hereby rectify that sitch this very minute! Prepare yourself to face "The Curse of Castle Hrothgar" by Michael Uslan and Ricardo Villamonte from Beowulf #1 (January 1975)!