Making a Splash: Frank Robbins' Invaders

Dig it, Groove-ophiles! For our final post of 2016, why don't we plant our peepers on some spectacular splashes from one of Ol' Groove's fave Marvel mags: the Invaders! Roy Thomas' pet project that took us back to WW II and gave us the "real" adventures of Captain America, Sub-Mariner, and the original Human Torch! And while artist Frank Robbins' may have not been everyone's cup o'java on mags like Captain America or Batman, his classic comic strip style was, in yerz trooleyz eyes, a perfect match for America's Greatest Heroes of WW II, especially when inked by Frank Springer. Robbins penciled most of the first 28 issues of Invaders (minus issues 5, 16, 22, and 24, but plus Giant-Size Invaders #1 and Invaders Annual #1), and some of these splashes are truly mind-blowing, baby!

 Yeah, this is the cover to G.S. Invaders #1, but it was originally drawn as the splash page to that mag. Writer/Editor Roy Thomas dug it so much, he got John Romita to ink it and had Robbins draw the flip-side of the cover image for the new splash!

Happy New Year, Groove-ophiles! See you in 2017!

The Boys from Derby: "Revenge of the Dead" by Pellowski and Sutton

Season's Greetings, Groove-ophiles! Let's take a trip back to February 1975 so we can take a trip even further back to the days when pirates ruled the high seas! Of course, this being a short shocker from Ghostly Tales #115, ya know there's gonna be some supernatural shenanigans goin' down on onboard! Arrrrrrre ye ready, ye scurvy scoundrels? Then let Boys from Derby Mike Pellowski and Tom Sutton be yer creepy captains as ye sail head-first into the..."Revenge of the Dead!"

Black and White Wednesday: "In the Beginning--" by Lee, Lieber, and Everett

Happy Birthday, Stan (The Man) Lee! 94 today? Wow! He's still going strong (I was able to snap a blurry shot of him at the Cincinnati Comics Expo back in the fall--blurry because a security dude was grabbing at my phone! I was half a football field away, dude! The closest I'll ever get to Stan, gimme a break! But, was he ever an autographing machine!)

Anyhow, my admiration for Stan Lee never wavers, his importance to comics in general and Marvel in particular can never be overstated, imho. Regardless of where you stand on the "Marvel Method" of writing, t'was Stan's personality, both on the comicbook page and off, that made the world stand up and take notice of Marvel. In April 1968, Stan gave his greatest co-creation (Spider-Man, natch) a shot at "the big time" by having him headline Marvel's first b&w, magazine-sized superhero mag, Spectacular Spider-Man #1. The idea was ahead of its time, but man, what a cool mag it was! In honor of Stan's birthday, let's look at an awesome re-telling of Web-Head's origin from that self-same mag, illustrated by The Man's brother, Larry Lieber, and a man who worked for Marvel before it was even Marvel, Sub-Mariner creator Bill Everett! Face Front!

Excelsior!

Decent Comics: "The Partisans!" By Kirby and Berry

Dig it, Groove-ophiles! More Kirby-at-war wonderment via Our Fighting Forces #155 (February 1975). Jack Kirby, D. Bruce Berry, the Losers, and..."The Partisans!"