Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Black and White Wednesday: 1973 FOOM Character Contest

What it is, Groove-ophiles! Jaunty Jim Steranko mentioned it in his editorial in FOOM Magazine #1, but it wasn't until getting the second ish that Young Groove realized that Marvel was really serious about their FOOM Character Contest. All'a those cool looking characters other FOOMers were coming up with spurred me into creating...Bird Boy! Thankfully, Marvel was merciful as well as mighty, and didn't run my illegible illo (complete with traced Neal Adams Robin head! Though they did include my name in the contestants list in FOOM #3...)

Bet you'd like to see all of those cool creations the elite of Marveldom Assembled concocted for FOOM numbers 2-4, wouldn't ya? As ever, Ol' Groove aims to please...







Winner Mike Barreiro had to wait a little longer than expected for his character Humus Sapiens to make his debut...28 years, in fact! Yep, though Humus Sapiens won the 1973 contest, he didn't appear in a Marvel comic until 2001...and even then, it wasn't in X-Men, but Thunderbolts, and as Humus Sapien, sans the "s" at the end of his monicker. Dunno much about the character, but his power must be super-patience...

Did'ja notice there is a character in there by the name of Wolverine? And check out the background depicting his origin. Makes ya go, "hmmm", huh?

And did you catch some of those contestants' names? Are they who we think they are? Steve Rude? Trevor von Eeden? Rich Larson? Grant Miehm? Mike Chen? Dough Hazlewood? Bill Morrison? Steve Saffel? And who did I miss? Any of you Groove-ophiles represented in those pages?
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18 comments:

  1. AnonymousFebruary 27, 2013 at 8:20 AM

    There is also an entry by someone name Tom Lyle (same as the Robin mini series artist?) The character's names looks cutoff and Tom's name is just at the bottom which is how it printed in foom #3.

    His entry is the 4th cluster of entries down, bottom left holding the glowing ax.

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    1. The Groovy AgentFebruary 27, 2013 at 4:38 PM

      Good catch! He did the art on DC's Comet revival in the 90s, too, didn't he? And a version of Starman?

      Delete
    2. AnonymousFebruary 28, 2013 at 7:18 AM

      I think so. That was for the Impact line from DC. I think. I first saw his work on Starman in the 80's. I haven't seen much of him lately though.

      Delete
    3. AnonymousFebruary 28, 2013 at 7:19 AM

      Yes, for Dc's impact line, I think. I first saw his stuff on Starman in the late 80's. Haven't seen much of anything lately though.

      Delete
  2. M W GallaherFebruary 27, 2013 at 9:40 AM

    There's also Hugh Haynes on page 6, who drew Alpha Flight, Mars Attacks, and Nexus, among others!

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  3. Charles H. "Hank" BryanFebruary 27, 2013 at 9:58 AM

    I'm on the same page as you -- top of the 4th column (Hank Bryan). Thanks for posting this -- I had forgotten about it completely.

    My character was "The Sentinel". I remember that I drew him, badly, I think, with long blond hair and a costume that was basically Neal Adams' Angel redesign. He fired electric blasts from his hands! Yeah! They never hired me. :(

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  4. Mike MikulovskyFebruary 27, 2013 at 1:34 PM

    Jerry's a great guy, we both went to the same high school. And had the same art teachers also. I see no one noticed Steve Rude's Kirbyish picture either. Alot of fans who became pros in the 60's & 70's.

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    1. The Groovy AgentFebruary 27, 2013 at 4:40 PM

      Who you callin' "no one", Mighty Mike? I named the Dude first in that last paragraph! ;D

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  5. tripperFebruary 28, 2013 at 12:29 AM

    Kinda like Anak the Absorber. Not sure what he does, but it looks dramatic. Spotted Fred Hembeck, Jerry Ordway, Carl Potts, "Danny" Didio, Marc Silvestri, Tim Sale and (Mary) Jo Duffy (probably) in there as well.

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  6. UnknownJanuary 3, 2014 at 10:49 AM

    I'm Bill Morrison (Mostly associated with Bongo and The Simpsons) and that is my entry in issue #2, "The Midnight Stranger." It's a bad swipe of a Sal Buscema pose and a very unimaginative costume (Basically the Black Panther without the ears). The name sounds like a newspaper monicker for a serial killer on the loose. I don't have any idea what I was thinking when I turned that one in. I had several other character ideas with better names and costumes, and poses. Oh well, it was pretty cool to have my drawing printed.

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    1. The Groovy AgentJanuary 3, 2014 at 11:27 AM

      Hi, Bill! Glad you found this post and kinda/sorta (I hope) enjoyed it. I'm a huge fan of yours--Radioactive Man is the only 90s series I am proud to own! T'was perfect in every way, and I share it with believers and non-believers alike.

      I still think "Midnight Stranger" is a cool name!

      Delete
  7. Taffy LewisJuly 12, 2017 at 10:05 AM

    man, its been years since I've seen my entry, thanks for publishing this! :)

    Guy Heath

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    1. The Groovy AgentJuly 12, 2017 at 12:56 PM

      I LOVE Koga the Squid Man and still want a comic with him in it! Glad you found this page, Guy!

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    2. Taffy LewisJuly 13, 2017 at 8:48 AM

      That's so nice of you to say, a "Guy" in his teens thanks you! :)

      Delete
  8. UnknownApril 1, 2022 at 12:41 PM

    Just seeing this now. Thank you for this. My 14-year-old self was thrilled to see my original creation, Zenith, published there, as well as one of my comic-making buddies'. (I eventually became a creative director, mostly magazines and books...)

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  9. The Groovy AgentApril 1, 2022 at 3:38 PM

    You're very welcome, Ed! F.O.O.M.ers Forever!

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