Marvel-ous Monday: "Chaos at the Earth's Core!" by Wein and Kane

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! Here's the follow-up to last month's Spider-Man/Captain Mar-Vell team-up! This time, with Marv trapped in a giant gem (that had mysteriously disappeared), our favorite Wall Crawler called on Reed Richards, aka Mr. Fantastic, to help track down our Kree Captain. They learn that Marv is the prisoner of the Mole Man, and the whole she-bang is tied up with the timely interruption by last month's villain, the Basilisk, and...mebbe you'd just better read this action-packed Len Wein/Gil Kane thriller for yourself, Groove-ophiles! From Marvel Team-Up #17 (October 1974)…"Chaos at the Earth's Core!"

(P)Raising Kane: "He That Hath Wings!" by Hamilton, Kane, and Esposito

Here's a beautifully illustrated adaptation of Edmund Hamilton's 1938 sci-fi fable, "He That Hath Wings!" It was the back-up (and the longest) story in the debut issue of Marvel's sadly short-lived sci-fi comic, Worlds Unknown (February 1973). Adapted, scripted, and penciled by Gil Kane (but of course!) and inked by Mike Esposito, one has to wonder just how much Hamilton's original story influenced Stan Lee and/or Jack Kirby in the creation of a certain winged mutant...and is that why it made the cut for this should-have-been prestigious first issue?

Thanos Week: Funny Stuff (?): "The Cat and the Cosmic Cube" by Sullivan, Siporin, and/or Salicrup, Mortimer, and Esposito

Behold, Thanos' shame, Groove-ophiles. Ol' Groove knows that you know, Groove-ophiles, that some humor is intentional and some is not (yers trooley proves that quite often here...). One has to wonder about stories like "The Cat and the Cosmic Cube" from Spidey Super Stories #39 (December 1978). Yeah, the mag was written for kids (young kids at that), but c'mon! Had writer(s) Nick Sullivan, Michael Siporin, and/or Jim Salicrup (we're not sure which one--or which combo--actually wrote this story) EVER read a comic with Thanos in it before they wrote this crazy comic? Thanos is in a helicopter (complete with his name stenciled on it) chasing The Cat (actually Patsy Walker, Hellcat, but that name was NOT going into a comic produced in conjunction with Children's Television Workshop, baby) who somehow has the Cosmic Cube (that's "Tesseract" to you young'uns) in her possession (is there a prequel to this story in another issue and I missed it somehow?). So surreal and silly--intentionally or not? You be the judge! Art by the regular SSS team of Win Mortimer and Mike Esposito...

Cover art by Al Milgrom (and Mike Esposito?)

Don't worry. Thanos gets his dignity back tomorrow, Groove-ophiles!

Marvel-ous Monday: "A Passion of the Mind!" by Conway, Kane, and Esposito

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! Let's kick off this week with a classic early Marvel Team-Up: Spider-Man and The Vision from MTU #5 (August 1972)! This one's always been a fave, due to the rare appearance of The Vision in a non-Avengers comic without any Avengers around. Ol' Groove has always really dug The Vision, and he was especially interesting during this particular period when he was struggling with his emerging humanity. He was falling in love with Scarlet Witch and battling temptations from The Grim Reaper (who was offering him full humanity by claiming to be able to put the Android Avenger's mind into the then-believed-to-be-dead Wonder Man's body) over in the Avengers' mag, which is why he's so deep in thought at the beginning of this tale. More cool stuff about this issue: it actually ties into the Kree/Skrull War and the art by Gil Kane and Mike Esposito is far-freakin'-out (makes Ol' Groove wish Kane had drawn some Avengers issues) ! Oh, and since it's Marvel and the heroes all share, the main villain of the piece is Fantastic Four arch-enemy The Puppet Master! Hoo-hah!

Cover art by Gil Kane and Frank Giacoia