Thanos Week! Black and White Wednesday: Original Jim Starlin Thanos Art

Check it out, Groove-ophiles! Ol' Groove has been scouring the interwebs to find samples of Jim Starlin's incredible Groovy Age Thanos art, and did I ever find some goodies! Inked by the likes of Al Milgrom, Dave Cockrum, Pablo Marcos, Joe Rubinstein, and more from issues of Iron Man (#55--Thanos' debut!), Captain Marvel, Warlock, Avengers Annual #7, and Marvel Two-In-One Annual #2. Are you ready for this?

Iron Man #55 (Mike Esposito inks)...

Captain Marvel #26 (Dave Cockrum inks)...

Captain Marvel #27 (Pablo Marcos inks)...

Captain Marvel #31 (Dan Green/Al Milgrom inks)...

Captain Marvel #33 (Klaus Janson inks)...

Warlock #9 (Steve Leialoha inks)...

Warlock #10 (Steve Leialoha inks)...

Warlock #15 (Jim Starlin inks)...

Avengers Annual #7 (Joe Rubinstein inks)...

Marvel Two-In-One Annual #2 (Joe Rubinstein inks)...

Yeah, I know. WOW!!

See you tomorrow with...Thanos' shame!

Thanos Week! Secret Origins: Thanos

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! Well, this is it! The big week when Avengers: Infinity War hits the big screen here in the U.S. Young Groove had an extremely vivid and memorable dream one night waaaay back in 1973 in which The Avengers and tons of other Marvel super-heroes fought aliens out to destroy earth. I'm thinkin' this movie might be as close to that dream as I'll ever see! Of course, the big hoopla is gonna surround the flick's major villain Thanos, Jim Starlin's college creation. Thanos has become (since the 90s, especially) THE villain to bring the Marvel Universe together in comicbook battle, so is it any wonder Hollywood is using all those Infinity Gauntlet/War/etc. comics as their inspiration? The question some movie-goers might still be asking is the same question most of my family members asked me when we saw the after-credits scene in The Avengers (2012): Who is that purple guy?

Well, we all know he'll be similar-yet-very-different from his comicbook counterpart, but still, seeing the condensed version of our favorite Mad Titan's origin from the legendary Avengers Annual #7 (August 1977) might be at least of some help. Besides, any excuse to see some far-out Jim Starlin/Joe Rubinstein art is A-Okay here in Groove City, right?

And, yep, this was the first time Thanos tried to get all'a those Infinity Gems together for his own pernicious plans!

Be back tomorrow for the comicbook scenes Ol' Groove HOPES will be in Avengers: Infinity War!

Greetings from Skartaris: "Holocaust" by Grell and Rubinstein

Dig it, Groove-ophiles! Mike Grell's Warlord is back on the Diversions! We're celebrating the return of Ol' Groove's favorite Groovy Age DC creation with Warlord #15 (July 1978), which is a pretty spectacular issue, lemme tell ya! It's the only 25 page DC Explosion/Implosion ish (due to its then bi-monthly status) and it is glorious! Joe Rubinstein inks this issue with those gorgeous, lush brush-strokes that have made him one of comics' top inkers ever...we get our hero's return to his wife Tara...the first appearance of Travis and Tara's son, Joshua...sci-fi action...and the return of Travis Morgan's greatest foe! Hang on for..."Holocaust!"

The Grooviest Covers of All Time: More Comics John Byrne Made Me Buy!

Ya know, Groove-ophiles, the thing that strikes Ol' Groove most when it comes to doing these "Favorite Artist Made Me Buy These" posts is the fact that some of our fave Groovy Age artists just didn't do nearly enough covers. It seems like John Byrne drew a lot of covers, but he's definitely in the "not nearly enough" category. Here are some more of Ol' Groove's faves both from his just-starting-out Charlton days and his rising super-star turn at Marvel. Enjoy!

Inks by Dan Green

Inks by Bob Layton

Inks by Terry Austin

Inks by Joe Rubinstein

Inks by Terry Austin

Neal Adams homage/Inks by Terry Austin

ADDED NOTE: Dear Mr. Byrne, thank you for not making that "cruel joke" about the ad you saw when you visited this site earlier. We here in Groove City love you tons, and of course we have no control over what nutty ads AdSense sticks on our page. Seriously, thanks for taking a look at our humble site.