Thanksgiving Feast 2014: "Hang the Batman" by Levine, Netzer, and Rubinstein

Welcome back to Thanksgiving Feast 2014, Groove-ophiles! Are ya ready for the main course? You know that one of the greatest comicbooks of all time was the 1978 Batman Spectacular (DC Special Series #15, Summer 1978). Ol' Groove has shared parts of it with ya here and here. Well, today we're gonna feast on a whopping 30 page mystery/puzzler by David Levine (as David V. Reed), Michael Netzer (as Mike Nasser), and Joe Rubinstein (as The Beaver)! "Hang the Batman" allows Levine to give us the classic Darknight Detective using all his brain power to solve a mystery given form in the old children's game, "hangman". All this detecting allows artists Netzer and Rubinstein to show Batman in all kinds of cool action scenes: swinging across the rooftops, roughing up stoolies, and tooling around in a dyn-o-mite editon of the Batmobile. Enough yapping! Pass the gravy and read on, baby!

Cover art by Marshall Rogers

Black and White Wednesday: "...Through the Wringer" by Reed and Fradon

Wazzup, Groove-ophiles! While trippin' through some old issues of Amazing World of DC Comics, Ol' Groove came across this twisted treasure by David V. Reed and Ramona Fradon, "...Through the Wringer"! It looks like an unused PLOP! strip to me, but since the word "plop" doesn't show up in it, it must've been for one of DC's  "straight" mystery/horror titles. Wherever it should have gone, it wound up in AWoDCC #10 (January 1976)--and here it is for you!

Sunday Funnies: "The Collector" by Coram Nobis and Wally Wood

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! Time for some twisted giggles courtesy Coram (David V. Reed) Nobis and Wally Wood from House of Mystery #251 (December 1977). "The Collector" looks like it was probably created for the late, great PLOP! mag, doesn't it? Enjoy!

Groove's Faves: "The Daily Death of Terry Tremayne" by Reed and Chan

Happy Birthday to me! Yeah, Ol' Groove's getting longer in the tooth and thinner of the hair, but I keep on truckin', baby! Because it's my birthday, I hope you don't mind indulging me a bit so I can take a gander back at one of my fave Batman comics, issue #269's (August 1975) "The Daily Death of Terry Tremayne" by David V. Reed (better known as playwright and '50s Batman scribe David Vern--aka David Levine) and Ernie Chan (who back then was going by the moniker of Ernie Chua--welcome to the age of incognito comicbook book creators, Groove-ophiles). Yep, this is another one of those nostalgic trips that have more to do with the memory (I did pick this puppy up with my birthday money, after all) than the actual mag, but at the same time it's a neat story (an homage to Dashiell Hammett) and Chan's art is definitely groovy.