Famous Firsts Week: "Encounter at Land's End!" by Thomas, Buscema, and Sinnott

FAMOUS FIRSTS WEEK winds up right here, Groove-ophiles! Ready to go for a swim? Here we go...

A mere six months after the Sub-Mariner's final issue, writer/editor (#1 Namor Fan) Roy Thomas found a way to bring our Prince of Atlantis out of the mothballs--and as usual, Roy came up with a unique way of doing it...

Ol' Groove can remember that dreary December Saturday morning in 1974, trucking out to the Ben Franklin's section of Mack's Superstore to get some paint for my Aurora Incredible Hulk model. Naturally, I had to stop by the ol' spinner rack and what would jump out and almost literally grab two quarters out of my stubby fingers? Giant-Size Super-Villain Team-Up #1! Subby was indeed back, teaming up with Marvel's #1 baddie, Doctor Doom! The first 68 page ish was made up of an extremely cool framing sequence by Thomas and artists supreme John Buscema and Joe Sinnott (and man, were they ever at the top of their game here!) with reprints (from Sub-Mariner #20 and Marvel Super-Heroes #20)  featuring our extremely odd couple as background/explanation of why they should team up. Roy's ca-razee idea was a hit, with GSSVTU becoming plain old Super-Villain Team-Up after two issues, where it would run (under a variety of writers and artists like Mike Sekowsky, Tony Isabella, George Evans, Sal Buscema, Jim Shooter, Bill Mantlo, Herb Trimpe, Steve Englehart, Keith Giffen, and Bob Hall) for a solid 14 issues (May 1975-July 1977), plus three "special" issues in 1978/79.

The series ended quite differently than the first ish of GSSVTU would have lead you to expect. After Roy's departure from the title, Subby became almost a supporting character as Doom took the lead and many other characters from the F.F. to the Avengers to the Champions--and even a new character created just for the series, The Shroud, took turns trying to take down old Metal Mouth. Still, the sheer momentum of the series and the variety of creators made the mag a fun (if confusing) one to follow.

And now for your reading pleasure, here's the framing sequence from that fab first ish! Enjoy!

Ahhh, could royal hero-villains ever look and sound more regal than when Roy, John, and Joe were workin' on 'em?

Famous Firsts Week: "Vengeance for a Fallen Gladiator!" by Fleisher and Garcia-Lopez

FAMOUS FIRSTS WEEK keeps rollin' on! Today we're headin' back to the wild, weird west of Jonah Hex, who finally graduated to his own mag in December 1976. And what a first issue! Written by regular writer Michael (The Spectre) Fleisher with art and cover by the amazing Jose Louis Garcia-Lopez..."Vengeance for a Fallen Gladiator!"

Famous Firsts Week/Black and White Wednesday: "The Testing of Shang-Chi" by Englehart, Starlin, and Milgrom

What it is, Groove-ophiles! We're truckin' right along with FAMOUS FIRSTS WEEK, and of course yers trooly is gonna add BLACK & WHITE WEDNESDAY to the mix. This kung-fu classic from Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #1 (February 1974), now that Ol' Groove thinks about it, actually could have made last week's LO! THERE SHALL COME ENDINGS WEEK, as well, since it's actually the swan-song for Shang-Chi's creative team of writer Steve Englehart and artists Jim Starlin and Al Milgrom (though Stainless Steve would write a couple more kung fu klassiks in Master of Kung Fu). Last week, this week, what does it matter? It all boils down to a far-out flying-kick fest created to entertain and boggle the brain. Check out..."The Testing of Shang-Chi"!

Famous Firsts Week: Don Newton's Phantom Debut

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! FAMOUS FIRSTS WEEK keeps on truckin' with Charlton's Phantom! Charlton had been licensing King Features' Ghost Who Walks for quite some time. It was always a solid mag with art by the likes of a young Jim Aparo, Pat Boyette, Frank Bolle, and many others. Not since Aparo, though, had an artist captured both the mystery and exoticism of The Phantom while setting fandom on its ear, but when Don Newton arrived on the scene he did just that! Don's art was perfect for the strip. Moody, realistic (but not overly so), organic, classic, and lively. His painted covers rocked, too! Don did 67-68, 70-71, and 73-74, plus all the covers for those issues--and the cover for #69 as well. Ish #74 was Charlton's final Phantom, but thankfully Don quickly made the leap to DC where he did Aquaman, Return of the New Gods, and eventually Shazam! and Batman. What say we take a look at The Phantom #67 (July 1975), where it all began? Ol' Groove thought you'd like that! Here's the amazing art of the late, great Don Newton over a Joe Gill script..."Triumph of Evil!" (All this and an origin story, too!)