Marvel-ous Monday: "The Sting of the Widow!" by Conway, Heck, and Everett

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! It's the finale of the Black Widow vs. the Astrologer saga from Amazing Adventures #7 (April 1971). The thing Ol' Groove remembers most about this comic is the Goliath (Clint Barton version, natch) cameo, and the fact that I had doubles of this ish, so I traded a copy for a copy of Avengers #88 (the comic that made me a Marvel Maniac, you bet!). Story by Gerry Conway, art by Don Heck and Bill Everett--beware..."The Sting of the Widow!"

Marvel-ous Monday: "The Moment of--The Man-Slayer!" by Drake, Ayers, and Shores

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! Here's Captain Marvel #12 (January 1969) by Arnold Drake, Dick Ayers, and Syd Shores. It's another wild one with Mar-Vell returning to earth (and all the problems he'd left behind) and using his new Zo-given powers to battle...the Man-Slayer! Kind of a snoozer of a villain, but the behind-the-scenes villain might intrigue you--along with the behind-the-scenes guest appearance of Madame Natasha--The Black Widow! It's time! "The Moment of--The Man Slayer!"

Cover art by George Tuska and Sal Buscema with John Romita (we think)

What happens to the Widow? Who was the baddie behind The Man-Slayer? You won't find out in the next ish of CM--nope, you'll have to skip on over to the Avengers #63 to find out! (Nope, Ol' Groove doesn't have that'un posted, sorry... but here's a small taste to help clear your wearied minds!)

Marvel-ous Monday: "Blood Will Tell!" by Thomas, Heck, and S. Buscema

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! We're back with another Black Widow mini-saga from her run in Amazing Adventures! In "Blood Will Tell" from Amazing Adventures #6 (February 1971) writer Roy Thomas is joined by a new art team: Don Heck and Sal Buscema. (If you're wondering about the final Gene Colan/Bill Everett Black Widow job in ish #5, just follow the link here.) While I can dig Heck's art most of the time and I love Our Pal Sal's inks, they don't make a very thrilling art-team here. (Everett will join Heck for the next couple issues--stay tuned.) Thomas' story is kind of an in-between piece of a bigger puzzle, so there's honestly not a lot of thrilling things to draw, either. Roy does, however, add some depth to Madame Natasha as she's dealing with the feeling that she's living up to her name--that anyone who comes in contact with her is doomed.

Will the next wrap-up next issue be more zingy? Stay tuned!

Marvel-ous Monday: "Deadlock" by Gold, Colan, and Everett

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! Today we're looking at a cool episode of Black Widow from Amazing Adventures #4 (October 1970). Not only does it have knock-out gorgeous art by the incredible penciler/inker team of Gene Colan and Bill Everett, but it's the only Black Widow script written by the trail-blazing Mimi Gold, who enjoyed a successful career as a writer, comicbook editor, colorist, and book editor in her amazing, adventurous career (which you can read about right here when you finish reading this action-packed mini-epic!)

Cover art by John Buscema and John Verpoorten