Making a Splash: Star-Lord

Man, does Ol' Groove ever love Star-Lord--but I'm sure I'm not the only one! Created by Steve Englehart and Steve Gan for Marvel Comics way back in 1975, Peter Jason Quill's alter ego remained a cult favorite during the Groovy Age, went through a lot of changes over the past decade-plus, and has become a movie star via the excellent Guardians of the Galaxy movies (though he's a very different Star-Lord in those). Star-Lord was originally going to headline his own b&w sci-fi mag, but those plans fell through, so his debut was in Marvel's b&w try-out mag, Marvel Preview #4 (October 1975). He disappeared until July 1977 when he re-surfaced in MP #11 under the care of the new creative team of Chris Claremont, John Byrne, and Terry Austin (who would soon go on to make history with some mag with an "X" in the title...). In May 1978, Claremont teamed with a new artistic team: Carmine Infantino and Bob Wiacek to produce a more hard-sci-fi styled Star-Lord for MP #14, then that same team got it all together one more time in MP #15 (July 1978). In March 1979, Star-Lord finally appeared in full-color, under the creative team of Doug Moench, Gene Colan, and Tom Palmer in Marvel Super-Special #10 (March 1979). A couple months later, it was back to black and white for MP #18 where Moench was still writing, but for that ish, he was teamed with a new guy who would soon become a legend: Bill Sienkiewicz (with stunning inks by Bob McLeod). Not long after that, Star-Lord made his standard color comics debut in Marvel Spotlight Volume 2, in issues 6-7 (February-April 1980), once more with Moench at the typewriter who was joined by Charlton mainstay Tom Sutton on the art. That same team produced a third Star-Lord fable, but that one didn't see print until the final issue of Marvel Premiere (May 1981). Whew! That's a lot to read in order to get to these sensational splashes, huh? Weeelll--it's worth it! Blast off!

Black and White Wednesday: RIP Ken Barr

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! As most of you probably know, artist Ken Barr passed away about a month ago, just a few days after his 83rd birthday. Barr was an artist of international renown (you can read a wonderful tribute to the man on Down the Tubes), but to kids like Young Groove, he was the master cover artist for many of Marvel's b&w mags. Ol' Groove posted a few of them back in 2012 (which you can see here), so here are a few more faves from the brush of a master of action and adventure!

Black and White Wednesday: "Into the Shop" by Goulart, Bissette, and Veitch

Hey, hey, hey, Groove-ophiles! Long-time readers know that one of Ol' Groove's favorite authors is Ron Goulart. Whether it's pulp/comicbook history, sci-fi/fantasy prose, or comicbooks, Mr. Goulart's skills have always brought yers trooly great delight. Imagine how ecstatic Teen Groove was when he got his hands on Marvel Preview #18 (May 1979)! Not only did the new Star-Lord creative team of Doug Moench, Bill Sienkiewicz, and Bob McLeod blow me away (check it out), but Marvel had snagged Ron Goulart to write an amazing back-up sci-fi saga! I looooove Goulart's sci-fi satire, and "Into the Shop" had the wit and bite I loved so much. Even more cool, it was brought to artistic life by recent graduates of  the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art's first class (and future super-stars in their own right) of Steve Bissette and Rick Veitch,. The young artists captured both the humor and the horror of Goulart's tale starring Clint Eastwood--er Marshal Clemens' nightmarish adventure. Here's a hidden treasure you won't find anywhere else, baby! Dig it!!

Dig it, Groove-ophiles! An anonymous citizen of Groove City just informed Ol' Groove that this mini-epic was made into an episode of Welcome to Paradox (Episode 13, 9/9/1998, according to IMDB) starring Dana Ashbrook!

Black and White Wednesday: "Into the House of Terror!" by Wolfman and Colan

Good eeeeeeeeeveninggggg, Groove-ophiles! Today's black and white masterpiece is a short Blade shocker by his creators Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan. Back in September, 1976, Marvel Comics unleashed Marvel Preview #8 featuring The Legion of Monsters,  (They loved that name!) which was pretty much a dumping ground for unpublished monster-tales from their sadly-departed horror line of b&w mags. But what a dump Mighty Marvel took! (Hey, that didn't come out right! Sheesh, neither did that! Didn't mean to drop so much potty humor. EEEEEwwwwwww!) Anyway, here's Marv, Gene, and Blade heading..."Into the House of Terror!"

Don'tcha love this Ken Barr cover?

Black and White Wednesday: Kull II by Marie and John Severin

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! Today let's feast our eyes on the magnificence of Marie and John Severin's incredible art for the Kull II Portfolio* as presented in Marvel Preview #19 (Summer 1979). The first five plates are Big Brother John's solo work, while the last three are laid out/penciled by Sister Marie and inked by Bro John. Are you ready for this?

(*Kull I, wherefore art thou?)