Amazed by Aparo: "Masque of Mirrors" by Kaler and Aparo

By popular demand, here's Dave Kaler and Jim Aparo's third solo Nightshade strip from the final issue of Charlton's Captain Atom (#89, September 1967)! Prepare to face the..."Masque of Mirrors"!

Groove's Faves: "Timber Wolf...Dead Hero, Live Excecutioner!" by Bates and Cockrum

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! Legion of Super-Heroes fans knew that Cary Bates and Dave Cockrum's revival of our favorite team of teens from the future was catching fire when they snagged the lead spot and put Superboy in the back of his own mage in Superboy #197 (June 1973). Starting with the next issue they'd take over the whole mag, and by the end of the 70s, they'd totally boot Superboy out of his own mag and into a brand new mag of his own.

Young Groove wasn't worried about all'a that, though. He was just flipping out of Cockrum's sensational art and those astounding new costumes (especially Timber Wolf's and Lightning Lad's)! Add to all that the fact that Tyr was a pretty cool villain and now we're ready to dig on a true, blue fave!

Cover art by Nick Cardy

The Grooviest Covers of All Time: Frank Miller's Groovy Age Daredevil

Frank Miller Daredevil covers! Need Ol' Groove say more?

Okay, I will say inkers: Klaus Janson (natch!), Joe Rubinstein, Bob McLeod, and Wally Wood (yeah, Wally Wood)! You're welcome.

The Boys from Derby: "The Last Monster Hunter!" by Carlson and Zeck

It's your lucky week, Groove-ophiles! Yet another awesome art job, an early one, by mighty Mike Zeck--that's two in one week, oh, yaz! Check out this cool sci-fi/werewolf tale by written by Mark Carlson from Monster Hunters #5 (January 1976)!

Black and White Wednesday: "Morbius" by Gerber and Marcos

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! Marvel Comics had a habit of making villains into heroes, so when the Comics Code relaxed and opened the floodgates for supernatural shenanigans in comicbook land, they started producing monster-ous heroes and villains by the bushel. As tradition dictated, some of those villains became heroes, the first and best of which was Michal Morbius, better known simply as Morbius, the Living Vampire who was introduced as a villain in Amazing Spider-Man #101 by creators Roy Thomas and Gil Kane (you can read his origin from ASM #102 right here). When the House of Ideas needed a lead feature for their new Vampire Tales b&w mag (they couldn't use the obvious choice, Dracula, 'cause he was getting a b&w mag of his own), Morbius got the nod. So here is the Living Vampire in his very first solo adventure in glorious black and white from Vampire Tales #1 (May 1973) courtesy Steve Gerber and Pablo Marcos.

(Personal note: while I still own our original coverless copy, my mom actually bought the first ish of Vampire Tales for my sister who'd never bought a Marvel mag before. I wound up with VP #1, my sister went back to Casper and Richie Rich!)