Marvel-ous Mondays: "And Then Came...Blockbuster!" by Edelman and Mooney

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! Today we're looking back at Omega the Unknown #7 (December 1976), the first of two fill-in issues ordered by Jim Shooter (who was acting as Marvel's Editor-In-Chief, although Archie Goodwin still had the title). Shooter's goal was to get Marvel back on track schedule-wise. He ordered lots of fill-ins and short back-up features to help keep Marvel from publishing any more reprints-as-fillers since 1976 was filled to overflowing with them (1977 had its share of 'em, too, but that's fodder for another column). According to Scott Edelman from his very own website (you can read it for yourself if ya wanna), OtU was in danger of falling to the Dreaded Deadline Doom for some reason or another. In order to head the problem off at the pass, Shooter took Edelman and Roger Stern to dinner to tell them that they were to write fill-ins that wouldn't upset the continuity of Omega (in other words, no major changes to the status quo--such as it was under regular writers Steve Gerber and Mary Skrenes). And he needed those stories right away. Edelman managed to get the art done by regular OtU artist Jim Mooney. You can find out next month who drew Stern's ish (if you don't already know!). Anyway, Ol' Groove feels Edelman did a pretty good job of keeping the ball rolling with "And Then Came...Blockbuster!"

Cover art by Dave Cockrum