Check it out, Groove-ophiles! Steve Gerber and Jim Starlin were to of the strongest, most unique, most, yes, idiosyncratic voices of the Groovy (or any) Age. Their comics were the ones you looked forward to because you really didn't know what to expect--except that it would be a comicbook experience like no other. They worked together a few times, with varying degrees of success. An early collaboration in Iron Man #56 (legend has it) got 'em fired from the mag by Stan Lee, himself. Then you get a macabre, thought-provoking, uncomfortabley amazing piece like "Among the Great Divide" from Rampaging Hulk #7 (December 1977). Since the story features one of Gerber's signature characters, Man-Thing, when Teen Groove flipped to the back of the mag, he knew he was in for a treat. When I saw that the art was by Jim-freakin'-Starlin (inked by Bob Wiacek)--yeah, I knew I'd spent my buck well. Everyone was still buzzing about the TV mini-series Sybil (starring future Aunt May (!), and soon-to-be Emmy and Oscar winner, Sally Field), but of course Gerber and Starlin took their look at the serious subject of Dissociative Identity Disorder (then known as Multiple Personality Disorder) and gave their story--and the disorder, itself--its own twists...though most of my friends didn't know that this, superior, story even existed. Many folks still don't. Well, if you're reading this--you know it now...
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Special thanks to Mike's Amazing World of Comics and Grand Comics Database for being such fantastic resources for covers, dates, creator info, etc. Thou art treasures true!
Note to "The Man": All images are presumed copyright by the respective copyright holders and are presented here as fair use under applicable laws, man! If you hold the copyright to a work I've posted and would like me to remove it, just drop me an e-mail and it's gone, baby, gone.
All other commentary and insanity copyright GroovyAge, Ltd.
As for the rest of ya, the purpose of this blog is to (re)introduce you to the great comics of the 1970s. If you like what you see, do what I do--go to a comics shop, bookstore, e-Bay or whatever and BUY YOUR OWN!
Note to "The Man": All images are presumed copyright by the respective copyright holders and are presented here as fair use under applicable laws, man! If you hold the copyright to a work I've posted and would like me to remove it, just drop me an e-mail and it's gone, baby, gone.
All other commentary and insanity copyright GroovyAge, Ltd.
As for the rest of ya, the purpose of this blog is to (re)introduce you to the great comics of the 1970s. If you like what you see, do what I do--go to a comics shop, bookstore, e-Bay or whatever and BUY YOUR OWN!
I can see why you really dig this tale, oh Groovy one. This transcends the medium of comics, its almost a morality play, the basis of a novel, a movie.
ReplyDeleteThis is one of those few comic stories that fall into the category of all time greats in Comicdom.