Friday, January 31, 2020

Cool Stuff to Captivate Your Cranium!

Hey, Kids! Comics from 50 Years Ago! 
January 27 & 29, 1970













Groovy Age Splash Page of the Week

Art by Don Newton


Groovy Age Spotlight On...
Conan: Hour of the Dragon TPB

Can you dig it, Groove-ophiles? Marvel's Groovy Age adaptation of Robert E. Howard's Conan masterpiece Hour of the Dragon is now available in trade paperback form! That's right, the Roy Thomas/Gil Kane/John Buscema epic that spanned Giant-Size Conan issues 1-4, Savage Sword of Conan issues 8 and 10, and Conan Annuals 4-5 is all together between two cardstock covers at last! Evidently the b&w stories are going to be colorized, so that probably means the other issues will be re-colored; hopefully they'll stay true the original hues. Still and all, seeing this whole saga together in one place is something worth celebrating, Groove-ophiles! As of this writing (yep, Ol' Groove writes these posts way in advance) the book hasn't come out yet, but Ol' Groove is sure 'enuff lookin' forward to it! If you've a copy, sing out in the comments section and let us know what ya think of it! Meantime, here are the sensational splashes from the original issues...







'Til next week...Pax!

14 comments:

  1. Really miss seeing your daily/weekly posts. Love to see more Nova. I'd love to see Rom Spaceknight even if it really was mainly 1980-early 86 end of 85. Have a epic weekend!

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  2. I own Detective Comics #397. Great Neal Adams cover & Adams-Giordano art inside!

    Regards,

    Chris A.

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    Replies
    1. It is a wonderful issue. The second Adams/O'Neil Batman collaboration, if I'm not mistaken!

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    2. That sounds right. I also own Detective Comics #395 with their first Batman collaboration, "The Secret of the Waiting Graves."

      I still think that Batman #244 was their finest hour & one of the highlights of 1970s comics (along with Wrightson's run on Swamp Thing).

      Regards,

      Chris A.

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    3. It is one of the best of Adams' contributions to the new direction Batman was going in after years of camp. But let's also give Denny O'Neill his due as writer. He and Adams were as in sync on the Batman as they were on Green Lantern/Green Arrow creating masterpiece after masterpiece.

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  3. John Buscema and Gil Kane were prolific heavyweights. Their drawings were always solid and credible, even when rushed under a tight deadline. Top notch pros. A pleasure to see their Conan splashes!

    Gene Poole

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  4. The Hardy Boys comic is one case where it preceded the TV show by seven years!

    - Neil

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    Replies
    1. The cartoon series (on which this particular comic was based) should have been a warning to us all! :D

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  5. Besides a fine Neal Adams cover, House of Secrets #85 has a 12 page fantasy story pencilled by Gil Kane & inked by Adams. I don't recall ever seeing them work together on anything else. My favourite inker on Gil was probably John Romita Sr. when they worked on the Amazing Spider-Man that same year (1970) & occasionally afterwards.

    Regards,

    Chris A.

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    Replies
    1. "Second Choice" written by Gerry Conway. Fun little chiller!

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  6. I just love DC comics covers from this era, covers like Action 386 just make you want to know what's going on in the story . I've been looking for that Adam's House of Secrets comic for a few years just live it. I seem to re all Adam's and Kane work on a Conan tale (Adam's inking) Chris.

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    Replies
    1. Adams (along with Pablo Marcos, Vinnie Colletta, and Frank McLaughlin) did ink Kane on "Night of the Dark God" in Savage Tales #4. I posted the color version (from a Marvel Treasury Edition reprint) on August 13, 2015.

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    2. Good catch! I didn't recall that one.

      However, 99% of the time someone else was inking Neal Adams' pencils (except for covers), so it was interesting to see him ink someone else. I believe there's an early Rich Buckler job in House of Mystery that Neal inked. Otherwise, he would ink a figure here & there in the '70s when his Continuity Associates team inked under the guise of the Crusty Bunkers---usually in a last minute deadline rescue effort.

      Regards,

      Chris A.

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  7. Dan Decarlo named the Josie character after his wife back in 1963! I had no idea the concept predated the animated cartoon. Also interesting is that a young Cheryl Ladd provided the singing voice for Melody in the 1970-71 animated cartoon.

    - Neil

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