Making a Splash: Frank Thorne's Korak

Check it out, Groove-ophiles! Before Frank Thorne became an "overnight sensation" on Red Sonja for Marvel, he'd been toiling away at comics companies like Dell, Gold Key, and yep, DC for nearly three decades. One of Ol' Groove's favorite pre-Red Sonja gigs was his time as artist on DC's Korak Son of Tarzan mag. While Thorne illustrated only six issues (numbers 46-51, March 1972-January 1973), he definitely made his mark on Edgar Rice Burrough's creation. Can you dig these (dare I say it) swingin' pages? (Ouch!)

#46

#47

#49

#50

#51

Funny Stuff: "Seeing Stars" by Joe Edwards

Hey, hey, hey, Groove-ophiles! Ya know, we haven't talked about Li'l Jinx here on the Diversions, and that needs rectified! Ol' Groove doesn't remember reading an Archie comic during the Groovy Age without a Li'l Jinx short in it. They were always good for a giggle, with creator Joe Edwards' stories and art always displaying a special Archie Comics house-style charm. Being a teacher by profession and having taken many students on field trips to planetariums, I can especially relate to Pep #229 (March 1969) and Jinx's tale of "Seeing Stars!"

Black and White Wednesday: "The Butchered at the Earth's Core!" by Fedory and Suso

Sometimes, Groove-ophiles, there are no words to describe the wild weirdness of the guys from Skywald. From Nightmare #14 (cover-dated August 1973) Ed Fedory and Suso give us..."The Butchered at the Earth's Core!"

Decent Comics: "The Solomon Plague" by Michelinie and Redondo

Dig it, Groove-ophiles! David Michelinie's final Swamp Thing tale is a pretty cool one, continuing the sci-fi and horror mash-up-thing with a town full of nuclear radiated mutants! Artist Nestor Redondo is back doing his usual ghoulishly gorgeous art-thing, natch! From Swamp Thing #22 (January 1976), here's "The Solomon Plague!"

Cover art by Ernie Chan

Marvel-ous Monday: "Beast-Killer!" by Kirby and Royer

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! Spinning off from our fabulous 1500th post (one of the top posts of all time here on DotGK, by the way), here, finally, is the first standard-comic issue of Jack Kirby's mind-staggering 2001: A Space Odyssey (September 1976)! This slice of sparkling sci-fi is inked by Mike Royer, natch. Buckle in and get ready to blast off as we meet..."Beast-Killer!"

Cover art by Kirby and John Verpoorten