Making a Splash: Kerry Gammill's Groovy Age Power Man and Iron Fist

Whazzup, Groove-ophiles! Ol' Groove doesn't know why we've never rapped about Kerry Gammill's su-poib Power Man and Iron Fist art, but we're gonna rectify that sitch today (or is that "two days"--two days past Kerry's 63rd birthday, that is)! Writer Mary Jo Duffy had been working with another fine young artist, Trevor Von Eeden, to make PM/IF one of Marvel's most fun and satisfying mags of the late Groovy Age. Kerry Gammill took over the penciling with PM/IF #61 and immediately, for Teen Groove at least, took the mag to a whole 'nuther level. His pencils were a truly Marvel-ous combo of John Buscema and Gene Colan, but, at the same time, totally their own thing. Gammill drew issues 61-68, 70-72, 74, 75, and 77-79 (November 1979-December 1981), going slightly beyond the Groovy Age. I still think these pages are amazing, having recently re-read them in the first Power Man/Iron Fist Epic Collection. Wanna check out his Groovy Age era splashes? Then here ya go!

If you ask nicely, Ol' Groove could very easily be persuaded to share Kerry's post-Groovy Age PM/IF splashes with ya sometime soon. Just sayin'.

Black and White Wednesday: Sensational Savage Sword of Conan Frontispieces

Dig it, Groove-ophiles! Today we're gonna plant our peepers on far-out frontispieces from Savage Sword of Conan! Today Ol' Groove's chosen to showcase comicbook artists we don't normally associate with Robert E. Howard's sword-slingin' Cimmerian, but oh, if only they'd had the chance to pencil a few Conan adventures for SSoC...

Mike Zeck

Ron Wilson and Joe Rubinstein

Carl Potts and Neal Adams

Keith Pollard

Don Newton

Pat Broderick

Kerry Gammill

Groove's Faves: "One Must Die!" by Duffy and Gammill

Hey, hey, hey, Groove-ophiles! Ya know, from time to time, we've rapped about Luke Cage, Power Man (aka Hero for Hire). We've gabbed quite a bit about Iron Fist. But we've yet to have a sit-down about Power Man and Iron Fist, that awesome merger of Cage and the K'un-Lun Kid that ran from Power Man issues 48-66 (September 1977-September 1980) and Power Man and Iron Fist issues 67-125 (November 1980-July 1986). Sadly forgotten, this was one of the absolute best series of the late 70s/early 80s, right up there (imho) with Miller's Daredevil, Byrne's Fantastic Four, J.M. DeMatteis and Mike Zeck's Captain America, David Michelenie/John Romita, Jr./Bob Layton's Iron Man, and Roger Stern's (with Marshall Rogers and Paul Smith) Dr. Strange. My favorite era of PM/IF was issues 61-79, which was written by Mary Jo Duffy and Kerry Gammill. Mixing such disparate but compatible 70s icons/80s has-beens (blaxploitation and kung fu) was actually a stroke of genius, leading to a World's Finest-style mix of cosmic and street-level superheroics, complete with a fantastic crew of supporting characters (Misty Knight, Colleen Wing, Sons of the Tiger, and D.W. Griffith) that added layers (and cool sub-plots) to Duffy's (usually) down-to-earth, humanistic, and often charming stories. Kerry Gammill's art was perfect for the series, combining the best of John Buscema, Gene Colan, and Don Newton in a totally unique style (and usually inked by Ricardo Villamonte) that could take us to the mean streets of New York to the fantasy world of K'un-Lun and back again in dynamic, action-packed, cleanly-told pencils. Yeah, PM/IF was a classy, top-notch mag that deserves to be remembered. Just take ish #62's (January 1980) "One Must Die!" for example. Duffy and Gammill tell a riveting, powerful story using an old Daredevil street gang and supporting characters (Thunderbolts and Billy and Lonnie Carver from Daredevil #69), Marvel's version of a major branch of organized crime (The Maggia), a third-rate Spider-Man villain (Man-Mountain Marko), and a "new" superhero (tribute to T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agent Lightning?). Just check it out, baby!

Cover art by Kerry Gammill and Bob Layton