The Diversions Turns 10 "Best of" Birthday Bash! Alex Nino In the House of Mystery

Happy anniversary, Groove-ophiles! This coming Saturday Marks 10 years since the Diversions hit the interwebs, so Ol' Groove thought we'd celebrate by looking back at some his favorite, but least viewed, posts from our first fateful year! We'll be back new and live next Monday with a special anniversary post. Until then, enjoy these "reprints" and rap with us about 'em!


Greetings, all you nightmarish nerds! Welcome back to...

I, Cain, am borrowing the Groovy Agent's blog--ABEL! You idiot! Tighten his gag before someone hears him!--er, as I was saying, I'm filling in (a grave) for the Groovester while he takes a dirtna--er, nap. All this blogging about Halloween has really worn him down. Don't worry, I'll have Gregory dig him up when I'm done. Hey, it could've been worse. He might've fallen into that horrible Eve's clutches and become the Groovy Goat or some stupid thing. Wouldn't that have been baaaaad?

Anyway, if you know anything at all about great comicbooks, you'll know that my House of Mystery was the most far-out of all the fiendish fear mags published during the Groovy Age. Ol' Groove mentioned (between screams and mouth fulls of dirt) something about Alex Nino being his favorite of all the artists I, ahem, imported from the Philippines, so I thought I'd do the kid a favor (besides having Gregory dig him back up later, that is) and post a classic story the uber-talented Mr. Nino illustrated from a John Albano script (From HOM #213, January, 1973). Enjoy! The Groovy One should be back tomorrow...unless Gregory's hungry when he digs him up...

Making a Splash: Happy Day After Keith Giffen's Birthday!

Happy birthday to Keith Giffen who just turned 65 yesterday! If you've hung around Groove City for any time at all, then you know the ever-so-talented Mr. Giffen is one of Ol' Groove's fave Groovy Age (and beyond! He still rocks!) artists. You can find samples of his best known Groovy Age series' like JSA (in All Star Comics), Defenders, Challengers of the Unknown, and Claw the Unconquered by doing just a little digging in the sidebar. But there are a few mags that you may not realize KG lent a pencil to, and those are the ones we're focusing on today: Kobra, Kamandi, Super-Villain Team-Up, and even House of Mystery! Happy birthday, Keith Giffen! Keep makin' those amazing comics!

Decent Comics: "Curse of the Werewolf" by Oleck and Rubeny

HooooOOOW's it shakin', Groove-ophiles! You know Ol' Groove loves werewolf stories, and today we've got a hair-raising howler (ouch and double ouch)! From House of Mystery #214 (Mar4ch 1973) here's "Curse of the Werewolf" by Jack Oleck and Rubeny (Ruben Yandoc)!

Ol' Groove's Request Line: "Curse of the Sea Monkey!" by Maiwald and Cruz

Check it out, Groove-ophiles! While Ol' Groove is running this post under the "Request Line" banner, this one was actually a plea spurred by last Friday's "Grooviest Covers" post. One "Concerned and perplexed M.P." "needs closure" after seeing Neal Adams' hauntingly amazing cover for House of Mystery #254 (June 1977)...

...So, M.P., here ya go, baby! You might be surprised at how different this story is from what you might expect from that cover, but in return you are getting a story featuring a creature that might have taken your comicbook moolah at one time or another...

Oddly enough, no Sea Monkey ad in this particular ish, but this crazy little ad was on page 17...

Weird, huh? Or was it all part of some sort of devious marketing plan...?

Was this one-and-only story written by the mysterious Lois Maiwald inspired by those kooky Sea Monkey ads that ran in our comic mags for oh, so many decades? Aw, great! Now Ol' Groove needs closure! Sigh...well, let's try to reign in our feelings and enjoy the cool story and fab-a-mundo E.R. Cruz art!

Black and White Wednesday: Alex Nino Original DC Art

The fellas from the Philippines could draw comics, Groove-ophiles! So many fine illustrators (like yesterday's Nestor Redondo, to name one) that blew us away during the Groovy Age, especially at DC. Ol' Groove's fave was (c'mon, let's say it together)...Alex Nino. Here are some a-freakin'-mazing splash pages from a variety of DC mags...

Oh, man! Tell your eyes they're welcome!

The Grooviest Covers of All Time: Kids (and Dogs) In Danger by Neal Adams

Halloween is almost 'pon us, Groove-ophiles! Let's chill (and shiver and shake) to some spectacularly spooky Neal Adams DC mystery mag covers, all with a common theme...kids (and dogs) in danger! Check 'em out...