Black and White Wednesday: Original Gil Kane Lone Ranger and Tonto Art

Hey, hey, hey, Groove-ophiles! Back in 1974, Aurora re-released updated versions of their comicbook character models, giving them new box art and a brand new comic to boot. A page or two of the comic could be used as a backdrop for the model, making the comic a fun and functional added incentive to buy 'em. The Lone Ranger and Tonto models had comics drawn by Gil Kane (and written, I must add, by Marv Wolfman), and boy, were they bee-yoo-tee-ful!

I borrowed these from two far out sites, Ol' Groove must confess: many thanks, Tom @ Fantasy Ink ,Heritage Comics, and Buc Wheat for sharing these amazing scans!

Model Heroes: The Amazing Spider-Man

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! First of all, Ol' Groove want's to say, "Happy Anniversary!" Yep, t'was eight years ago today that yers trooley posted our very first Diversion! It wasn't much, but it was a start, and who'da thunk eight years later we'd still be around, rappin' about the comics of the 70s, sharing memories, and just chillin' with our fellow Groove-ophiles? Thank you, one and all for your support, dedication, and love. Ol' Groove loves ya, baby! Let's keep truckin' on for as long as we can!

Today we're gonna look at another of the awesome Aurora Model Kits which originally hit stores in the late 60s, disappeared for a while, then made a comeback in the mid-70s with the super-cool twist of those hard to find (and expensive if you do find 'em) comicbook inserts. Not only do those inserts give us instructions for how to put those 'mazing models together (which I'm pretty sure were drawn by Dave Cockrum), but we get a piece of incredible background art (to set the finished model in front of, natch), but a whole stand-alone story, to boot! For the Amazing Spider-Man, author Len Wein (who'd go on to write the regular Amazing Spider-Man comic) and artist John Romita, Sr. (one of the Mt. Everest of Spidey creators) got it all together with a fun Spidey vs. Kraven the Hunter mini-classic! Check it out, baby!

The box and the unpainted model

A nicely painted finished version of the model--but what's up with Kraven's pants?

Christmas Wrap-Up 2009: Marvel (M)Ad-ness

Dig this assortment of ads for Merry Marvel merchandise. Did any of these groovy goodies wind up under your tree?

Santa brought Young Groove all of Stan Lee's Origins books, the 1978 Calendar, both the Spidey and Hulk Aurora Comics Scenes models, the Fun Books, Mego's Spidey action figure, and the Spidey Silly String. I still have the books and calendar, believe it or not!

Model Heroes: The Incredible Hulk

Has it really been nearly a year since we gabbed about those cool Aurora Comic Scene model kits from the mid-1970s? Well, it's about time Ol' Groove shared this little piece of comicbook history with ya! Here's the Incredible Hulk Comic Scene--er--comic from 1974 by Lively Len Wein and Happy Herb Trimpe! (Dunno who wrote the copy for the instructions, but the art looks a whole like Delightful Dave Cockrum's doesn't it?)


With some skill and lots of patience, your Comics Scene should'a looked like this:





















Incredible, ain't it? Pax!

Model Heroes: 1974 Aurora Comic Scenes

In 1974, Aurora, that grooviest of groovy toy makers, reissued many of their superhero models from the 60s, and even added a few more to their line-up. Calling them "Aurora Comic Scenes", each model came with its own 8 page comic. One page was a full page background scene that you could stand up behind your completed model to create a "3-D diorama". Heavy duty!

Young Groove got his share of these beauties, you betcha! I started with Superboy, added the Hulk and Robin, then nabbed Batman and Spider-Man. I tried for years to track down Captain America, but had no luck. They came in really cool boxes that were created to yank allowance money right out of a young comic-fiend's pocket. Check out a few:




Here's what your average superhero looked like when you opened the box:


Yep, that's Superman, all over. Kinda gross if you think about it (unless you're Lex Luthor, then you're diggin' it the most).

The ones I had weren't terribly hard to put together except for Batman, whose cape was so heavy it kept pulling his head off his shoulders. Painting them right was the real chore. Each model came in one solid color (like the Superman example above) so you had to paint in all the other colors if you didn't want a monochrome superhero. They were fun, though! Michael Miller, who runs the Molehill Group website has some excellent examples of completed kits on his site. Place your pupils on these:



Far-out, huh?

The comics that came with the kits were pretty awesome, too. Each were written by either Len Wein or Marv Wolfman with art by Dick Giordano, John Romita, Curt Swan, Dave Cockrum, and Herb Trimpe. Dig these crazy Comic Scenes Covers:


Remind me later to give you the lowdown on the Vampirella Torture Chamber model kits. Now that was some funky, freaked-out stuff!

Catch ya on the rebound!