The Boys from Derby: "The Mystery of the Mali Ibex" by Pearson and Newton

Hey, hey, hey, Groove-ophiles! Here's an all-time fave amongst fans in the know--Bill Pearson and Don Newton's "The Mystery of the Mali Ibex" from Charlton's Phantom #70 (January 1976). Pearson's tale combines elements of some of Humphrey Bogart's greatest flix--The Maltese Falcon, Casablanca, African Queen, and Treasure of the Sierra Madre, allowing artist Don Newton to really work his artistic muscles by drawing many of the stars of those films, Bogie, Lauren Bacall, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, and Claude Rains, into this rip-roaring adventure epic. Newton also manages to work in many of his own compadres. What I really dig is how Will Eisner's influence shows up in Newton's art--from the Greenstreet character's poses to The Phantom's sunglasses-and-suit "disguise". And on top of it all, Pearson colored and lettered the whole mag. These particular Boys from Derby were definitely firing on all cylinders! Dig it, baby!

Science Fiction Theater: Flash Gordon and the Elders' Deathtrap" by Pearson and Crandall

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! What better way to spend a sci-fi Saturday than with the granddaddy of sci-fi super-heroes, Flash Gordon? When newspaper comic strip syndicate King Features dipped their toes into the comicbook publishing arena during the Batmania-fueled late 1960s, they sure did it up right! Take for example "Flash Gordon and the Elders' Deathtrap" from Flash Gordon #8 (cover-dated September 1967). Written by the mega-prolific Bill Pearson with art by the great Reed Crandall, one would be hard-pressed to find a more far-out and fabulous sci-fi comicbook.

Random Reads: "Monster Men of Tropica!"

From Charlton's Flash Gordon #13 (January 1969), here's "Monster Men of Tropica!" by Bill Pearson and a very young Jeffrey Jones.