Black and White Wednesday: Happy Birthday, Bob Layton (and Thanks for the Scans!)

Yesterday was Bob Layton's 65th birthday. Happy birthday, Bob! Your inks made some of the greatest comics of all time even more special, and Ol' Groove thanks you for that! (And for sharing these sweet original art scans on your Facebook page!)

Making a Splash: John Romita Jr. and Bob Layton's Iron Man

What it is, Groove-ophiles! When David Michelinie, John Romita Jr., and Bob Layton teamed up on Iron Man #116 (August 1978), we knew it made for a very cool comic, but we had no idea just how far-freakin'-out the magic they'd make would come to be. Their issues (at least for this first run--more on their second run at a later date) would come to be known as "Demon In a Bottle" for their focus on Tony Stark's alcoholism and how it would affect his super-heroics as Iron Man. They also introduced a most perfect love interest for Stark in Bethany Cabe, and best pal and future Iron Man and War Machine James (Rhodey) Rhodes. Classic, ground-breaking stuff to be sure. We'll rap lots more about the Michelinie-Romita Jr.-Layton IM in the not-too-distant future. Meantime, here are JR Jr. and Layton's sizzling splashes from IM #'s 116-117, 119-121, 123-128!

Black and White Wednesday: "Introducing Brother Voodoo!" by Tony Isabella

Who is Brother Voodoo? Where did he come from? No, I don't mean in the comicbook uinverse, Groove-ophile--I'm talkin' 'bout the real world! Who came up with the name? The premise? The costume? Well, way back in Tales of the Zombie #2 (July 1973), Tony "the Tiger" Isabella gave us the lowdown on how the Marvel Bullpen developed one of the most maligned and misunderstood characters in Marvel history--and Ol' Groove's got that awesome article for ya right now!

Face Front(ispieces)! Hulking Out in Marvel Super-Color

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! It's not easy being green, but it's certainly easy to find superbly stunning art featuring Marvel's Green Goliath! When the black and white Rampaging Hulk mag morphed into the Marvel Super-Color The Hulk! mag, the frankly fabulouso and far-out frontispieces kept on truckin', baby! To prove Ol' Groove ain't jivin', dig these dy-no-mite drawings of old Jade Jaws by Walt Simonson, John Romita Jr., Mike Zeck, Rudy Nebres, Steve Bissette, Gene Colan, Ernie Chan, Rich Buckler, and Brent Anderson!

Famous First Fridays: John Romita Jr.'s Marvel-ous Debut

What's happening, Groove-ophiles! For this Famous First Friday we're taking a look at John Romita Jr. (aka JRJR), who made his debut during the Groovy Age, quickly reached super-star status, and has held on to said status to this very day. Ol' Groove thinks JRJR is comicdoms' answer to Aerosmith--'cause JRJR and the Bad Boys from Boston still know how to rock, baby!

Besides, if there were ever a person born to draw Marvel comics it is JR. His pappy, John Romita Sr., was pretty much Mr. Marvel (art-wise) after Jack "King" Kirby left (and after whipping fandom into a frenzy on Spider-Man during the Silver Age), becoming Marvel's art director, and having his stylings plastered on everything from plastic rain coats to lunch boxes to yo-yos. JRSR didn't really want JRJR to follow in his graphite and India ink-stained footsteps, but fate--and natural born talent--won out. JRJR toiled away as one of Romita's Raiders doing art corrections, cover/splash layouts for Marvel's British comics line, and other jobs various and sundry. Then came the fateful day JRJR was tapped to draw a short Spidey back-up (Marvel, circa 1976/77 started creating short back-ups to help battle the Dreaded Deadline Doom) that found its way into the back of Amazing Spider-Man Annual #11 (1977). Written by Sparkling Scott Edelman (hi, Scott! Got any goodies on this tale?) and inked by Amiable Al Milgrom "Chaos at the Coffee Bean!" looked something like this...


Soon after, JRJR was handed the artistic reins on Iron Man--and it was off into the stratosphere. It didn't hurt that Young Mr. Romita was teamed with writer David Michelinie and inker Bob Layton. Didn't hurt, either, that they hit the ground running with the famous "Demon in a Bottle" storyline. Next came the uber-popular Contest of Champions mini-series--another hit. After that, the inevitable happened--JRJR took over drawing Amazing Spider-Man, and he was out of the stratosphere and shooting towards the stars, baby! JRJR seems to have made his mark on most every Marvel title, making them cooler by his very presence: Daredevil, X-Men, Punisher, Thor, Hulk, Wolverine, Black Panther, Sentry, Eternals--and soon, the Avengers. Ol' Groove might be persuaded to pick that formerly favorite title up again! Thanks a lot, JRJR!

Black and White Wednesday: "The Fury of the Femizons"

Ah, yes, Stan Lee and John Romita's Femizons. Nope, they didn't appear in a comic that came out in December (they originally appeared in the legendary Savage Tales #1 in the spring of 1971). There's definitely no Christmas theme to the story (except love and sacrifice...hmmm...). Nope, the reason Ol' Groove is layin' these barbaric beauties on ya is to create sort of a tribute to those great Christmases when Young Groove would get one of Stan Lee's "Origins" books stuffed in his stocking. Christmas 1975, it was Origins of Marvel Comics and Son of Origins of Marvel Comics. Christmas 1976 it was Bring On the Bad Guys. The last one, today's focus, was The Superhero Women, which I got for Christmas 1977. Loved, loved, loved those books. They were my gateway to the Marvel Age of Comics, Stan Lee style (Stan was easing back when yours truly got heavily into comics in 1971). I'll cover those titanic tomes before the month is out, never you fear, Groove-ophile!

Anyway, convoluted reasoning aside, I've just been looking for an excuse to unleash this little gem upon ya's. It's Stan at his "relevant" best, mixing sci-fi with a heavy message. Jazzy John Romita really cuts loose on this strip, as well. His costume designs, as well as his mixing medias like wash and charcoal, represent the most daring and original work he's ever produced, imho.

Here's how the strip came about, according to Stan from The Superhero Women, pages 195-196:

"The Femizons first appeared in Savage Tales #1, in the May '71 issue. I might add that that's when they last appeared, also; since we never did a follow-up story. You see, John (Ring-a-Ding) Romita and I were really bustin' to do a story for the first issue of an entirely new type of publication for us. For the first time, were were planning to do a comic book mag for somewhat older readers. Not an underground publication--not a so-called "adult" magazine--but rather, a selection of stories, done in black-and-white, slanted for the more mature science-fiction and adventure reader.

"Jazzy Johnny and I knew neither of us would have the time to do a sequel story after we finished the first one, but at least we'd have gotten this particular yarn out of our systems. We had been planning to do a strip about a band of warrior women for years; a strip that would take place in the future, when--owing to the ration of man/woman deaths, and the fact that the female population is increasing at a disproportionate rate of growth--women would be the dominant sex, and men would be cast in the subjective role that females had occupied for so many centuries."

It wasn't long, however, until Roy Thomas and Gerry Conway found a way to tie the Femizons into the Marvel Universe with the creation of Thundra in the Fantastic Four #129. But that's another story, man. Let's get to the Femizons!