Making a Splash: Gil Kane, Warlord of Mars!

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! Y'know, when Marvel got the rights to Edgar Rice Burroughs' properties in 1977, seemed they knew exactly what to do with 'em: hand them over to their top writers (and probably biggest ERB fans) Roy Thomas (on Tarzan) and Marv Wolfman (on John Carter), pair them up with their top action-artists John Buscema (on Tarzan) and Gil Kane (on John Carter) and turn them loose!

Today we're gonna focus on Gil Kane's John Carter Warlord of Mars (issues 1-10, March-December 1977). Gil didn't do full pencils all the time, for many issues he did the layouts only, but writer/editor Marv kept some dyn-o-mite inkers around for the finishing chores: Dave Cockrum, Tom Sutton, Rudy Messina, the Tribe, and for most issues Rudy Nebres. These artistic team-ups made for action-packed, splendidly other-worldly pages the oozed with a savage sci-fi vibe that well-suited ERB's second most famous hero! Check out these splashes to see what Ol' Groove means...

And y'know, Ol' Groove just realized I've never done a MaS post on Big John Buscema's Tarzan! Well, tune in next Friday when I fix that sitch! Pax!

Ol' Groove's Request Line: "Who Stole My Super-Powers?" by Shooter, Swan, and Roussos

Hey, hey, hey, Groove-ophiles! A short while back, Groove-ophile Dave B. sent Ol' Groove an e-mail that read thusly:

"I know sometimes you take requests, so maybe I'll get lucky if I hit you with the right pitch. One of the funnest comics I ever read as a kid was SUPERMAN # 220, a sort-of team-up with the Flash titled, "Who Stole My Super Powers?" For my money it was the last great story Mort Weisinger ever edited. Even though it doesn't have Murphy Anderson on the inks (George Roussos inked Curt Swan, and he was just so-so on the Master's pencils), the story itself is wall-to-wall fun, with humor, mystery, suspense, the whole nine yards of grooviness.

"And here's the thing: I no longer have that comic and I can't find the durn thing anywhere! It was never reprinted except it one of those digests that are even harder to find than the original. So you'd be doing a public service good deed by making that comic available to the masses."

Answering requests for true-blue Groove-ophiles, bringing back fond comicbook memories, public service good deeds--yeah, that's what Ol' Groove's all about! So here ya go, Dave! Written by a young Jim Shooter (one of the last assignments of his first tenure at DC), from August 1969 here is..."Who Stole My Super-Powers?"

Cover art by Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson

And all of Groove-dom thaks ya, Dave!

Black and White Wednesday: "Revolution!" by Sutton and Adkins

Psycho sci-fi for today, Groove-ophiles! Skywald's Psycho, that is--more specifically the Psycho 1974 Fall Special! Check out "Revolution!" by Tom Sutton and Dan Adkins!

A Groovy Guest-Post by Mike Mikulovsky: Hail.....Hail Rock N Roll! Or the Devil Made Me Do It!

 Hey, hey, hey, Groove-ophiles! Mighty Mike Mikulovsky is back with part two of his three-part look at 3-D Man in Marvel Premiere! Dig it!!

Hi there fellow Groovsters! Here's the second action packed installment of the 3-D Man's saga, "The Devil's Music!" from Marvel Premiere #36 (March 1977)! This cover, as all Gil Kane covers do, blew me away (inked no less by the legendary Joltin' Joe Sinnott!). Where we see what looks like a Ricky Nelsen-type character, we really have a Skrull about to get a smack down in 3-D! This issue we not only got a beautiful cover, but two mind-blowing splash pages, as well, by the very talented Jim Craig. You can almost see a Wally Wood look to his art here especially in the action sequences. Along with the similarities to the Golden Age Dare-Devil costume design, Hal Chandler, Chuck's younger brother, even looks like a blond haired Buddy Holly. Of course the whole she-bang was created/written/edited by the great Roy Thomas!

Original Craig/Hunt art used for 3-D effect on pg. 5, panel 3. Dig it!

Original art for page 31

It's a shame the 3-D Spider-Man mag never happened. The 3-D Man was going to be the back up story/character. It would have been really far out to see both Spidey and the 3-D Man actually in 3-D!  Who you gonna call? Skrull Busters! SSttaayy  ttuunneedd...Same 3-D Man!! Same far-out and groovy website!