The Grooviest Covers of All Time: The Spirit by Will Eisner and Ken Kelly

Dig it, Groove-ophiles! Ol' Groove loves, I tell ya, loooves Will Eisner's The Spirit. I fell in love with both Eisner's genius and Denny Colt's adventures via Warren's b&w reprint mag that ran sixteen issues from January 1974 to August 1976 (yeah, Kitchen Sink quickly took over publishing the mag, and we'll get to those later, don't ya worry). Most every cover of the Warren series was a masterpiece, but my favorites are those done by Eisner himself in partnership with fantasy/album cover painter extraordinaire Ken Kelly, issues 4-11. Why? Take a look and then you can tell me why, baby!

Random Reads: "Stake Out!" by Younger and Grandenetti

What it is, Groove-ophiles! Just for the screams, why don't we gnaw on this biting bit of comicbook creepiness by Jack Younger and Jerry Grandenetti? Were those two titans of terror just winging it when they concocted "Stake Out" for Atlas/Seaboard's Tales of Evil #1 (December 1974)? Or did editor Larry Lieber stick his neck out for them? Ouch!

Black and White Wednesday: A Sampling of Eerie Fanfare

Dig it, Groove-ophiles! From 1968-1973, Warren's Eerie magazine ran a cool feature called Eerie Fanfare. In it, as you might guess, the mags fans could get stories and art published (and Warren could hype a few things a la Marvel's Bullpen Bulletins, as well). Just a random run from Eerie issues 31-34 gives us fan work by future professional-folks like Pat Broderick, Steve Leialoha, Rick Bryant, and the team of Greg Theakston and Arvell Jones. We also get a bio of then-newcomer Dave Cockrum and a rare art sample from Jeff Jones. Plus some cool stories by fans who don't ring a bell to Ol' Groove but might to some of you out there? Check 'em out!

Decent Comics: "World On the Edge of Ending" by Levits, Staton, and Geilla

"World On the Edge of Ending," Groove-ophiles? More like "Comic On the Edge of Ending!" The final issue of DC's All-Star Comics revival, All-Star #74, was its first-and-only DC Explosion ish, and man, did Paul Levitz, Joe Staton, and Joe Geilla make the most of the full 25 pages they were allotted! Remember that intriguing mystery Dr. Fate and Hawkman were digging into last ish? Well, it turns into a full-blown adventure that brings in a ton of JSA-ers and allows for some cool, small-group globe-trotting, too! And isn't that Joe Staton/Dick Giordano cover a-freakin'-mazing? Wow!

Oh, and don't shed any tears for the JSA--yet. They'll be back next month! How? You'll have to wait and see...if you don't already know!

Marvel-ous Monday: "Among Us Walks...Black Goliath!" by Isabella, Tuska, and Hunt

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! Remember Black Goliath? Yeah, right from the start, most folks didn't like the name, but bless Tony Isabella and company for trying to introduce new, multicultural characters to carry on the Marvel legacy. Bill Foster, as we learned when we first met in him Avengers #32 (July 1966), was a friend and assistant to Hank (Ant-Man/Giant-Man/Goliath/Yellowjacket) Pym who had previously worked for Tony Stark. During Pym's Yellowjacket phase, Foster decided to become a superhero using Pym's formula--well, you'll read all about that as we go.

Main thing is, Isabella wanted to turn a civilian character into a superhero (cool!) and did so in the pages of Power Man issues 24-25 (January-March 1975). Newcomer John Byrne (who?) designed the duds, but George Tuska and triple-threat man (letterer, colorist, and inker) Dave Hunt, provided the art. Evidently, somebody in editorial/publishing thought Black Goliath was worthy of his own mag, so eight months later, Black Goliath #1 hit the stands with Isabella and Tuska at the helm. The series only ran for 5 issues (Chris Claremont took over the writing with #2, Tuska stayed on til #3, followed by Rich Buckler in ish #4 and Keith Pollard in #5), but BG did show up in a few issues of Champions (#'s 11-13, November-December 1976, February 1977) and then in the legendary "Project Pegasus" saga in Marvel Two-In-One (issues 55-58, July-October 1979) where he changed both his costume and his name (to Giant-Man). Lots happened after that, but not a lot of it is good and not part of the Groovy Age, so Ol' Groove is (finally!) gonna shaddup and get on with the comics! From Power Man #24: "Among Us Walks...Black Goliath!"

Cover art by Gil Kane and Dan Adkins

Thanks to max_renn for the far-out scans!