Making a Splash: Jack Kirby's Losers

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! One of Jack "King" Kirby's final DC assignments for his legendary Groovy Age run was on Our Fighting Forces' The Losers. Kirby, a WWII veteran, was a master of war comics (as he was master of every genre of comic!), so even though Jack was nearing the finish line of his DC career and approaching his new time at Marvel, The Losers were in great hands! Jack (paired with inkers D. Bruce Berry and Mike Royer)seemed to experiment a bit with his storytelling in issues 151-162 (July 1974-September 1975) of Our Fighting Forces; most issues had double-page splashes, many had full page splashes for chapters after chapter one, but there weren't any single-page splashes to kick off any Losers stories. (Heck, issue 152 didn't have a single-page splash in the whole mag!) Ol' Groove has collected the double- and single-page splashes from the entire run right here for ya. Who loves ya, baby?

Oh, and if you're like me, wondering if assigning Jack to "The Losers" was some sort of dig, think on this: the mag went from bi-monthly to monthly during The King's run! So if it was some kind of joke, who got the last laugh?

(P)Raising Kane: "Town Tamer" and "Timber Wolf!" by Gil Kane

Howdy, Groove-ophiles! Are ya ready to ride the dusty trail with Gil Kane? Today we're gonna dig on two Gil Kane short-shorts from All-Star Western issues 6 and 8 (April and August 1971): "Town Tamer", which features Wild Bill Hickock and is written, drawn, and inked by Kane, and "Timber Wolf" with pencils by Kane and inks by Tony DeZuniga (author unknown). Can your eyes handle the sand-splashed spectacles to follow? Read on--if'n y'ain't yeller!

Black and White Wednesday: "That Dracula May Live Again!" by Wolfman and Adams

Pullin' out the big guns today, Groove-ophiles! In Dracula Lives! #2 (April 1973) Marv Wolfman and Neal Adams (with "spiritual advising" by Archie Goodwin) turned the awesome origin of Dracula loose on fandom! I love the line in the contents page that calls "That Dracula May Live Again!", "The tale that Bram Stoker forgot--but Marvel didn't!" Leave it to Mighty Marvel to do what everyone else talked about doing--to show how the "real Dracula" (Vlad the Impaler) became the literary vampire Count Dracula. This is Wolfman and Adams in top form, baby! Are ya ready...?

The Boys from Derby: "Jason" by Cuti and Staton

What it is, Groove-ophiles! Today our fave Boys from Derby, Nick Cuti and Joe Staton are gonna give us a lesson in mythology! From Midnight Tales #11 (November 1974) meet..."Jason"!

And don't forget to follow the Charlton Arrow link to order your copy of the great new Charlton revival mag! It's gonna be far-out, baby!

Groove's Faves: "Eternal Hour" by Alex Toth

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! Art class is now in session! The Master, Alex Toth, illustrated "Eternal Hour" for Witching Hour #38 (October 1973). Haven't been able to track down the author (Toth, himself, perhaps?), but it's Toth's art that grabs the eye and imagination. See for yourself...