Halloween Week! Making a Splash: Gene and Tom's Tomb

Happy Halloween, Groove-ophiles! Instead of giving out that ol' teeth-rotting candy, let's dig on some mind-bendingly awesome artistry, shall we? What better pages to peruse on this particular day than 13 of Ol' Groove's fave  Tomb of Dracula splashes? Gene Colan and Tom Palmer provided some of the best malevolently  magnificent splash pages of the Groovy Age--and (usually) Marv Wolfman wrote all over 'em!

Halloween Week! The Boys from Derby: "The Night of the Demon" by Cuti and Sutton

A haunted "hello" to you, Groove-ophiles! We can't possibly let Halloween Week go by without a visit from The Boys From Derby! Today's creepy classic comes from Haunted #36 (February 1978)--but was originally published in Midnight Tales #9 (July 1974). Wherever it came from, 'tis a cool little chiller courtesy Nick Cuti and Tom Sutton! Dig it!

Halloween Week! Black and White Wednesday: "The Fortune" by Will Eisner

Hey, hey, hey, Groove-ophiles! What says, "Halloween" more than a spooky old house, a sinister storm, a sweet damsel in distress, an unseen psychotic killer, and The Spirit? Not much you'd say? You'd be right, baby! From Warren's The Spirit #11 (October 1975) here's Will Eisner's The Spirit in "The Fortune"!

Oh, yeah, "The Fortune" was originally published in The Spirit Section, May 11, 1947.

Halloween Week: Oh, Alfredo! "The Man Who Waxed--and Waned!" by Fleisher and Alcala

Halloween Week is rolling merrily along, Groove-ophiles! We've gotta have spooky old crones, cats, and curses to make the holiday complete,don't we? Well, this terror-tale, superbly illustrated by Alfredo Alcala, natch, has it all! Written by Michal Fleisher (who made Jonah Hex and The Spectre so magnificently moody), "The Man Who Waxed--and Waned!" first appeared in Forbidden Tales of the Dark Mansion #13 (but of course!), July 1973!

Halloween Week! Groove's Faves: "Eye of the Beholder" by Conway, Ploog, and Chiarmonte

HowOOOOOOOOOOO's it goin', Groove-ophiles! Halloween is Friday, so this week we're gonna focus on the spooky and the supernatural--well, more than usual--this week! Let's kick things off with one of Marvel's most successful supernatural characters--Werewolf by Night! Marvel's version of "I Was a Teen-Age Werewolf" was basically created by Roy Thomas and his then-wife Jean, then handed over to writer Gerry Conway and artist Mike Ploog for more development. After a short, successful run in Marvel Spotlight issues 2-4 (November 1971-March 1972), Jack Russell (yep, that was his name) was given his own mag in June, 1972, with the writer-artist team of Conway and Ploog intact.

Ol' Groove has to say right here, that while Tomb of Dracula, Man-Thing, and Ghost Rider get most of the press (they were the faves and the longest-running of the supernatural color mags), Werewolf by Night is my personal fave of 'em all. I always dug werewolf tales, and Ploog's hip, Will Eisner-inspired art just blew me away here. Later, when Doug Moench and Don Perlin settled in as regular creators, it was a thrill ride, too. Heck, WbN ran 43 issues (through December 1976)! Somebody was diggin' it with me! How cool was WbN? Check out this titanic tale from ish #1 for a taste and see what you think!