Diversions of the Groovy Kind: 6/1/20

Well, 2020 just keeps on taking. Yesterday the following announcement was made on Joe Sinnott's personal Facebook page. I'll run it here in its entirety:

It with great sorrow that we must announce the passing of Joltin’ Joe Sinnott on June 25th at 8:40am at the age of 93. He went peacefully with the knowledge that his family, friends, and fans adored him. He enjoyed life and was drawing up until the end. He always loved hearing from all of you and having your comments read to him. Each and every one of you were special to him.

The Sinnott family requests their privacy and understanding during this difficult time. Please send condolences to:

The Sinnott Family
27 Spaulding Lane
Saugerties, NY 12477

Thank you again for being such loyal and dedicated fans and friends to Joe. He considered all fans friends, and seeing you at cons and reading your messages was what kept him young at heart.

RIP Joe Sinnott
October 16th, 1926 - June 25th, 2020

By all accounts, Mr. Sinnott lived a full life, beloved by most everyone he knew. He left a wonderful legacy as a human and as an artist. A man couldn't really ask for more than that, could he? I know his artistry charmed and amazed many of us for decades. Let's just sit back and enjoy some samples of that talent (from the Groovy Age, of course) in his memory...

Pencils by Rich Buckler

Captain America #110

Captain America #116

Captain America #141

Fantastic Four #66

Fantastic Four #112

Fantastic Four #150/Pencils by Rich Buckler

Fantastic Four #184

Fantastic Four #200

Fantastic Four #211

Marvel Feature #11

Marvel Two-In-One #2/Pencils by Gil Kane

Pep #268/Pencils by Al Hartley

Sabrina the Teen-Age Witch #4/Pencils by Stan Goldberg

Thor #191

Thor #227

Thor #265

Godspeed, Joltin' Joe!

Hey, Kids! Comics from 50 Years Ago!

June 23 & 25, 1970

As most of you know, Groove-ophiles, Denny O'Neil, one of the most influential writers of the Groovy Age passed away at the age of 81on Friday, June 12. Much has been written about O'Neil during the past week, and that's how it should be. During the 1970s, O'Neil changed the way we would think about Batman in particular and comics in general forever (in tandem, naturally, with artist Neal Adams, mostly, but also with a host of other artistic luminaries from Irv Novick to Mike Kaluta to Jack Kirby to Mike Grell). His revamp of the post-camp Batman and introduction of hardcore "relevant" comics (with Adams) on Batman and Green Lantern/Green Arrow caused waves in the comicbook industry that are still being felt to this very day. From the late 70s right through to the present, as a writer and editor he has continued to help comics grow and adapt to the times, as well as help groom new, sometimes super-star talent (like Frank Miller). Like I said, much has been written by others, covering much more ground. Google and Facebook is filled with it, and it's worth your time to check it out if you haven't already.

Personally, Denny O'Neil has always been a huge inspiration to me as a fan, as a writer, and as a person. His run on GL/GA convinced me as a youngster to look at many things in this world in certain ways. Positive ways. That makes him more than an important writer. That makes him an important person in my life, although I never had the pleasure of meeting the man.

Like Roy Thomas was my first favorite writer at Marvel, O'Neil was my first favorite DC writer of the Groovy Age. He was the one writing my favorite Batman stories. He was the one writing JLA when I first starting buying it. O'Neil was the man who wrote the really cool stuff like The Shadow, Justice Inc., Swords of Sorcery, and Iron Wolf. Instead of listing and listing, though, I think I'd enjoy it more (and I think you will, too) if I just share splashes from favorite O'Neil stories like I did with last week's Len Wein tribute. These stories enthralled, amazed, entertained, and sometimes changed me.