Decent Comics: "A Thorn By Any Other Name" by Levitz, Staton, and Layton

Hey, hey, hey, Groove-ophiles! It's time for another jammin' JSA adventure courtesy Paul Levitz, Joe Staton, and Bob Layton! "A Thorn By Any Other Name" (from All Star Comics #72, February 1978) brings back the original Thorn, who happens to be a baddie on Earth-2! I miss the good old days when a villain (or, as in this case, villainess) had a bunch of thugs wearing matching costumes to show whom their boss was. You could really see where those Groovy Age villains invested all'a that stolen loot!

Cover art by Joe Staton and Dick Giordano

Bad news: this is Bob Layton's last time inking JSA over Joe Staton's pencils. The end of an era!

Grooviest Covers of All Time: Nick Cardy's JLA, Round 1

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! In the early 1970s, the great Nick Cardy became DC's go-to cover artist in much the same manner as Gil Kane had done over at Marvel. This meant DC had some awesomely classy covers populating the spinner-racks of the day. Some of Young Groove's faves came during a long run on Justice League of America from the end of the twenty-five cent/fifty-two page era to the 100 page/sixty cent era; issues 99-104 and 106-109 (March 1972-October 1973). Tons of heroes handled with grace and power. Yeah, Cardy rocked!

Thanx, Grand Comics Database for the scintillating scans!

Groove's Faves: Dr. Fate by Pasko and Simonson

What's happening, Groove-ophiles! Here's another fave I'm sure you've heard of but perhaps have never gotten to enjoy first-hand--Martin Pasko and Walt Simonson's legendary Dr. Fate one-shot that appeared in First Issue Special #9 (September 1975). It served as a kind of preview for the return of the JSA in All-Star Comics, as the Golden Age group would finally be freed from comicbook limbo one month later--and wotta preview it was! Simonson's art was in-freakin'-credible on this story, and Pasko's script combined enough creepy/mystical elements to satisfy those of us who'd been groovin' to the "cosmic" adventures of Marvel's Dr. Strange and Adam Warlock. Many of the coolest elements of the Dr. Fate mythos were either introduced or given more depth in this story; stuff like the "ankh" shaped mystical energy, the separate personalities for Fate and Kent Nelson, the mysterious Salem tower, and Inza's hatred of Dr. Fate. All this and a Joe Kubert cover, too! It's a true-blue dose of Groovy Age DC cool, baby! Enjoy!

Bring On the Back-ups: "The Hour Hourman Died!"

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! Here's a doozy of a back-up tale starring founding JSA (that's Justice Society of America to you, pal!) member Hourman. While DC had great success revamping Golden Age/Earth-2 heroes and concepts for the newer, more with-it Silver Age/Earth-1, they had less success when resurrecting the Earth-2 heroes themselves. Team-ups like Black Canary/Starman and Dr. Fate/Hourman (in Brave and the Bold) didn't lead to a big JSA or Earth-2 revival during the Silver Age, but the return of The Spectre (in Showcase) was met with a bit more success, running 10 issues. What's that got to do with Hourman? Well, for some reason, there was a little bit of space left from the lead tale in Spectre #7 (September 1968), so editor Julie Schwartz wisely decided to fill the extra space with this groovy little Hourman short by the titanic creative team of writer Gardner Fox and artists Dick Dillin and Sid Greene. Dig it, baby!

For you completists out there, "The Hour Hourman Died!" was reprinted in Justice League of America #91 (May 1971).