A Decade of Diversions Week! Groove's Favorite Comics from 1970/1971

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! Happy 10th Anniversary! Ol' Groove cannot believe it's been a decade since that first post (a simple paragraph reporting the the return of DC's Warlord with creator Mike Grell writing), but I look back at a job change and five grandkids (not to mention that old guy I see in the mirror) and realize, "Yep, it's been a decade!" But what a decade it's been! I've had the privilege to "virtually" meet so many of y'all via this blog and FaceBook: fans, pros, guys and gals, parents and kids, folks of every walk of life from all over the globe. Seems that Groove City has become a kind of haven for a lot of us. A place to go and reminisce, or even find something new and exciting about the medium we all love--all without all the hassles of the "outside world" horning in.  Thanks to you all for making Diversions an enjoyable "home away from home."

As we start a new decade, it's cool to see that we've hit a few milestones, but we still have more coming. Over 8 MILLION page views. Nearly 3,000 posts. Tons of followers. It's all very humbling--and so very rewarding. I started out blogging just to practice my writing and to communicate with like-minded fans. I've accomplished that, for sure, but I've also found myself back writing comics (see that "Writer of Comics" blog link? Yep, that's moi!) and loving it more than ever. Couldn't have done it without the fun experiences I've had here with y'all in Groove City!

Now, Ol' Groove's plan was to share my fave posts from our first year (which I did last week, natch), then do a big anniversary post today. Naturally, yers trooly can't do things the easy way. Today's post swiftly ballooned into a whole week's worth of posts, starting with the one you'll read as soon as I hit the return key...

Ah, here we are! This week, Ol' Groove is gonna share his favorite comic mag from each year of the 1970s (1970-1979), along with four runners-up. Guess you could actually call that sharing my top five mags of each year, huh? (See what I mean about not doing things the easy way?) Two years per day, five days--yep that's ten years!

Lemme tell ya, it was not easy to make these lists. I had to comb through every comic, each month, each year--okay, Mike's Amazing World of Comics' Newsstand made that mucho easier (thanks, Mike! My site couldn't make it without your site, man!), but still, that's a lot. Then I had to whittle each year's gi-normous list down to five. To keep it from becoming too stressful, I had to make myself a few rules:

1) No reprints (reprints are awesome and some of my fave comics are reprints, but...)

2) Single issues. The mags have to stand (or at least be able to stand) alone. That knocked out a lot of great mags whose best stories were multi-issue epics. (They'll get their own lists someday.) And yes, there are exceptions to this rule. Especially first issues and/or first chapters of sagas.

3) The mag had to be memorable to me. My idea of comicbook perfection (or something close to it). Something I read 'til the cover fell off.

4) I tried (really, really tried) to keep my list free of using the same mag more than once per year. That was TOUGH.

5) The rules were to help me decide, not bind me--so there might be exceptions to any or all of these rules.

Now, this is Ol' Groove's list of faves. I'm not saying these were the best comics of the year (or even the month), but they're my favorites. You have your favorites, too, I'm sure, so you know what I mean. Please comment and leave lists of your faves, but don't knock mine (or anyone else's list), please. After all, if we all loved exactly the same 50 Groovy Age mags, there really wouldn't be a need for this blog, would there?

If you're still reading, thanks, baby! You're why I'm here! Now, let's reward your efforts by gettin' on wit da list!

Ol' Groove's Top 5 of 1970:

Li'l Groove turned seven in 1970. I didn't get a ton of comics that year, but the ones I got were pretty special. The first Man-Bat. The first Rose & The Thorn. And of course, Captain America and The Avengers would be my early favorite Marvel mags. The absolute fave comic of the year, though, was Jack Kirby's New Gods #1. The cover grabbed my attention, the splash made my imagination soar, and I was riveted by each and every page. I'd only feel a similar sensation of total awe when I'd see Star Wars seven years later. Not far behind are Detective Comics #400 (Frank Robbins and Neal Adams introduce Man-Bat); Lois Lane #105 with it's tear-jerker lead Lois story and (ta-da) debut of Rose and Thorn; and of course, Young Groove's favorite Marvel Comics were Captain America and the Avengers, so naturally they'd be on this list! Cap #127 with it's cool story by Stan Lee and astonishing art by Gene Colan and Wally Wood is one of my earliest Cap acquisitions and still a strong fave. Avengers #82, although the finale to a mini-epic is able to stand alone as a cool story with lots of mood--and even more cameos: the FF, Peter Parker and Aunt May, and even President Nixon! Plus, DD guest-stars. Wonder why this particular mag edged me ever so much closer to becoming a Marvel Maniac?

Ol' Groove's Top 5 of 1971:

Was there ever any doubt that Ol' Groove's fave comic of 1971 would be Avengers #89--the beginning of the Kree/Skrull War? Roy Thomas and Sal Buscema were the first comicbook creators to whom I actually paid enough attention to want to seek out their work. They were Marvel Comics to Young Groove. Not only that, but everything about this mag worked for me. The tension (Heroes seriously out to take down another hero?). The pacing (starting in medias res, then flashing back to how it all started, then back to the action--classic comicbook move, Roy and Sal!) That small, but interesting group of Avengers (Vision, Quicksilver, and Scarlet Witch). The links to the rest of the Marvel Universe (the FF's Baxter Building and their foe Annihilus). And this cover! Yeah, folks could argue that any or all of the four runners-up below are far better comics, but to me, Avengers #89 tops the heap of a superior group of comicbook classics. In Batman #234, Denny O'Neil, Neal Adams, and Dick Giordano bring Two-Face (Ol' Groove's favorite Batman villain after the Joker) back with a vengeance; New Gods #6 with Kirby's mind-blowing "Glory Boat" epic (plus that Simon/Kirby Manhunter reprint that just oozed Golden Age cool); Roy Thomas and Gil Kane change Him into the awesome Adam Warlock in Marvel Premiere #1; and Ol' Groove's all-time favorite color Conan the Barbarian ish (and the story I aaaaallmost made #1 for the year), Conan #4 by Roy Thomas (him again?) and Barry Smith. That was my first Conan mag and it slayed me! There are panels of that mag etched in my memory forever! Ah, 1971. The year that made Ol' Groove!

Rap about your favorites in the comments, then be back tomorrow for more of a Decade of Diversions Week as we look at 1972 and 1973!