Groovy Age Gold: "The Human Torch and the Sub-Mariner Fighting Side-by-Side!" by Burgos and Everett

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! Ya know, back during the Groovy Age, the Dread Deadline Doom was an unwelcome visitor to many a Marvel mag. It always meant a reprint instead of a new adventure, and that, baby, was a big-time bummer. Usually. Sometimes, that reprint was something so cool that it actually made that reprint ish desirable. Case in point: Invaders #24 (October 1977) and "The Human Torch and the Sub-Mariner Fighting Side-by-Side!" Not only did we get a cool team-up, written and illustrated by two honest-to-Irving legends, Carl Burgos and Bill Everett...Not only did we get a feature length Golden Age tale featuring Marvel's two original heroes, Torchy and Subby, natch (sans 7 pages, thanks to comics 17 page ceiling at the time--which was stretched to 19 pages just this once)...But we learned that this was the very first "Marvel Team-Up" (though Marvel was Timely back in 1941)! How cool is that! Stick that bad-boy under a Gil Kane/Frank Giacoia cover, and you have thirty-five cents worth of WOW!!

Oh, yeah, the full version of this classic first appeared in Marvel Mystery Comics #17 (cover-dated March 1941).

Groovy Age Gold: "Horror Hotel" featuring the Original Human Torch

Check it out, Groove-ophiles! In 1974, Marvel was churning out mags like Elton John churned out hit singles. Imagine Young Groove's surprise when a visit to the spinner rack turned up the first issue of The Human Torch (June 1974). Not just one Human Torch, the one from the Fantastic Four and the occasional ish of Marvel Team-Up, but two Human Torches, including the original Golden Age android! Top it off with a cool John Romita/Joe Sinnott cover, and that's one more quarter gone, baby! Naturally Young Groove dug the Silver Age Strange Tales reprints, but the real draw was the Golden Age stories. Marvel didn't give us nearly enough Golden Age reprints, y'know? Dig "Horror Hotel" by writer unknown and (we're pretty sure) artists Steve Douglas and Al Gabriele!

Oh, yeah, The Human Torch ran for eight issues, so look for more Golden Age Torch stories, baby!

Thanksgiving Feast 2011: "Where Bursts the Bomb!" by Wein and Kane

Happy Thanksgiving, Groove-ophiles! It's Groove City's Thanksgiving Feast 2011, and we are kicking it off with a bang. A Living Bomb-Burst, even! As I said yesterday, we Groovy Age fans have a lot to be thankful for. Gil Kane (inked by Mike Esposito and Frank Giacoia, yet!) art on Marvel Team-Up #18 (Thanksgiving 1973)--featuring the Human Torch and the Incredible Hulk! Wow! Not only is Gil's art appropriately fiery and smashing, but Len Wein's story is filled with mucho fun and action, to boot. I can remember laughing out loud the first time I read "Where Bursts the Bomb!" due to the hilarious repartee between Match-Head and Greenskin. Is it any wonder Live-It-Up Len would eventually become one of Lettuce-Lips' longest running authors?

Don'tcha just love it? But hey, don't glut yourself just yet--this party's just starting! Every six hours, Ol' Groove is gonna lay another titanic tale from Groovy Age Thanksgiving Past upon ya. See ya at six in the a.m.!

Random Reads: The Thing Meets Doc Savage

As I mentioned way back in the early days of DotGK, when Marvel lost the rights to Doc Savage, fandom lost the chance to see some very cool/interesting/strange team-ups. Like this one from Marvel Two-In-One #21 (August 1976) teaming the ever-lovin' blue-eyed Thing with our favorite Man of Bronze. Much like Gerry Conway's plot for the Spider-Man/Doc Savage team-up in Giant-Size Spider-Man #3 (October 1974), writer Bill Mantlo came up with a plot that affects both the 1930s Doc and our present day hero, Bashful Benjy. What makes this team-up even better than the Spidey/Doc one is that Savage (along with Monk and Renny) actually meets and shares the adventure with the Thing (plus the Human Torch). Artists Ron Wilson and Pablo Marcos do a nice job on their end; I especially dig the look they gave the villain, Blacksun (or Black Sun. They spell it both ways for some reason). I do find it interesting that they went with the look Doc wore in his short-lived color series, rather than the look he was wearing in his black and white mag--which was going strong when this ish came out. But, Ol' Groove's mind just works that way. Ya can ignore me and g'head and read and enjoy "Black Sun Lives!" I won't mind. Honest.