Back on December 9, 1975, DC unleashed Freedom Fighters #1 (Quality Comics heroes Uncle Sam, The Ray, Black Condor, Phantom Lady, Doll Man, and Human Bomb) on the spinner racks, and boy, was Young Groove ever glad! That snazzy Ernie Chan cover just begged to be bought, and the interiors by Ric Estrada and Mike Royer looked like fun (as was the story by Gerry Conway and Martin Pasko)! Len Wein and Dick Dillin had already introduced us to the super-team from Earth-X in Justice League of America issues 107-108 (June-August, 1973) and I really dug 'em, so finding this mag was quite a thrill! Ol' Groove hopes you get a kick out of it on this particular Christmas Day (or whatever day you might be reading it) four color memory!
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| The Story Behind the Story |
And it wouldn't be a Christmas post without giving you a glimpse into Groove's Goodies for this year:
All the best to you and yours this Holiday Season! See you next year with the new, weekly Diversions of the Groovy Kind! Pax!
Merry Christmas Groove
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas
ReplyDeleteHow did DC get ahold of Steranko's 1973 cover to Marvel's Doc Savage #2, and why would they give him no cover credit? Here is the original one:
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Regards,
Chris A.
The Doc Savage tpb came out around a decade ago when DC had the rights to Doc. They also did a Showcase reprinting the b&w mags. Steranko did get cover credit, btw; his signature is on the cover and he's credited as cover artist on the insides. Got my copy off eBay for Christmas this year.
DeleteI’m a long-time reader, first-time commenter here. How’s “Warlord” hold up? I remember as a kid always thinking, “I need to read that. Mike Grell’s not going to be actively writing and drawing forever, It looks amazing,” but I never did check it out. So, how does it read today? Does it hold up?
ReplyDeleteFor me, it certainly holds up, Brian. It's Burroughs-ian, macho high adventure at a breakneck pace, sprinkled with equal bits of sci-fi and fantasy. Grell takes Warlord in directions we don't see coming, keeping the feature unique, original, and fresh. You can see Grell grow as an artist and writer as he quietly leads us into the 80s with a style of storytelling that would catch fire with guys like Frank Miller--and later, the Image guys--hard-boiled captions and dialogue, lots of wordless panels, lots of large panels, full-page and double page splashes, etc. I don't think anyone's ever done it better. Plus, it's FUN. I don't know if fans of today's slower-paced comics would enjoy it because it does move so quickly, but honestly, Grell doesn't skimp one bit on story and characterization even at the break-neck pace. I'm halfway through the Showcase volume and I can honestly say that I still love it!
ReplyDeleteI only managed to find a few issues of Freedom Fighters when they first came out. Years later when a well stocked comic shop opened in my area it was one of the first series I sought out. I should root them out and re-read them.
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