Black and White Wednesday: "Sword of Dragonus" by Robinson and Brunner

 What it is, Groove-ophiles! Today's Black and White masterpiece, "Sword of Dragonus", was originally published in Sal Quartuccio's legendary fanzine Phase #1 (1971) and was reprinted in Marvel's Monsters Unleashed #2 (May 1973). Artist Frank Brunner had taken Marveldom by storm with his work on Dr. Strange (in Marvel Premiere) by this time, so editor Roy Thomas felt the time was right to allow "Dragonus" a larger audience. Just check out this pulse-pounding paragraph from MU #2's editorial for details:

So here 'tis, the debut of Dragonus, written by Chuck Robinson...

Black and White Wednesday Groovy Guest-Post: "Snowbird in Hell" by Claremont and Montano

Welcome back, Groove-ophiles! Today's Groovy Guest-Post is by Mighty Mike Mikulovsky! Mike has already graced Groove City with several popular posts, and this'un is especially near and dear to the Mighty One's heart. Enjoy!

Like the Groovester and most of my fellow comic junkies of the 70's, we were monster fanatics, too. I collected every comic/monster mag, book, and model I could, especially the Marvel/Curtis b & w mags with all their top talent pumping out  great mags/characters month after month. I remember it being an especially cold, harsh winter in December of 1974 when I walked to one of my usual comic magazine stores. It was the only one near me that carried all the Marvel monster  b & w mags. I was already a huge Wendigo fan from his appearances in the Hulk's color mag (Incredible Hulk #162,  #180, and #181), and I actually liked the Wendigo back then much more than that little guy in the yellow, blue, and black costume with those goofy claws. When I went to pick up the latest Marvel b & w mags, I was stunned to see another beautiful cover by Earl Norem--this one with the Wendigo--fronting Monsters Unleashed #9! To me it's one of the very best covers of that whole line of monster mags. Check out that cover and, just for fun, the cover prelims, too!

The events of this story take place after Incredible Hulk #181. "Snowbird in Hell" was written by the hot All-New, All-Different X-Men's Chris Claremont and drawn by Yong Montano! 

I can still remember walking home late at night in a blizzard, hearing that howling wind in my 13 year old over-imaginative mind. You could hear the words WWWEENNNDDDIIGGOOOOO!!! WWWeeenndddiiigggooo!!! WWWWeeennndddiigggoooo!!!  

Lo! There Shall Come Endings Week/Black and White Wednesday: "This Is the Valiant One, Signing Out!" by McGregor and Graham

Welcome back to LO! THERE SHALL COME ENDINGS WEEK, Groove-ophiles! Ol' Groove knows how much y'all love BLACK AND WHITE WEDNESDAY, so the challenge today was how to combine that favored department with LTSCEW. The solution hit me like the proverbial ton of bricks--share the final story of the final ish of Marvel's Monster's Unleashed (#10, February 1975). From Don McGregor and Billy Graham..."This Is the Valiant One, Signing Out!" (Was that an apt title, or what?)

Black and White Wednesday: "Madness Under a Mid-Summer Moon" by Conway, Broderick, and Janson

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! You seemed to have really dug the Satana prose-feature Ol' Groove shared with ya a few weeks back, so how 'bout another prose-piece--this one featuring Werewolf By Night? From Monsters Unleashed #7 (June 1974) it's "Madness Under a Mid-Summer Moon" by Gerry Conway, Pat Broderick, and Klaus Janson. Dig it!

Black and White Wednesday: Tony Isabella's Monster(ous) Essays

What it is, Groove-ophiles! Groove-ophile Mike Mikulovsky has suggested that Ol' Groove share the eerily educational frontispieces from Monsters Unleashed #'s 6-10. These fillers were written by sometimes editor Tony Isabella and sported art by Ernie Chan (then Chua), with the last couple being illustrated by Arvell Jones/Duffy Vohland and Pablo Marcos. Tony did a great job of cramming lots of info into such a short space, and the art was extremely good. I think Mike's right--you're gonna dig these!

Ol' Groove's Request Line: "The Man Who Cried 'Werewolf'!"

Happy Halloween, Groove-ophiles! Here's the first of two (Count 'em, two!) special, Halloween Bonus Request Line Specials, thanks to Groove-ophile John Short! First up, here's a freaky fable based on the creepy classic by Robert (Psycho) Bloch from the debut ish of Monsters Unleashed (March 1973). Get ready to howl with "The Man Who Cried 'Werewolf'!" by Gerry Conway and Pablo Marcos. AaaOOOOOO!!

See ya in eight hours for the fear-fraught follow-up!