The Diversions Turns 10 "Best of" Birthday Bash! Archie Comics' Supernatural Side: Die In the Name of the Law! and The Man Who Tried to Kill Death

Happy anniversary, Groove-ophiles! This coming Saturday Marks 10 years since the Diversions hit the interwebs, so Ol' Groove thought we'd celebrate by looking back at some his favorite, but least viewed, posts from our first fateful year! We'll be back new and live next Monday with a special anniversary post. Until then, enjoy these "reprints" and rap with us about 'em!



Welcome back, my Groovy Ghoulies! Ol' Groove is once again dipping deep into his museum of the macabre to bring you the most spine-chilling comicbook tales of the 1970s. This time around, we're looking at the always-wholesome Archie Comics Group's entry into the eerie, Red Circle Sorcery.

If you want the full rundown on the history of Archie's Red Circle Comics Group, check out the howling history written by my pal Jon Gilbert posted right here at the Mighty Crusaders website. I'll wait by the coffin for ya...

Back? Okay then, now that you know all about how even the Archie folks tried to cash in on the creepy and cookie supernatural craze of the early 70s, let's take a look at a couple stories from Ol' Groove's very most favorite issue of RSS, the legendary issue #8 (May, 1974)!

First up is "Die In the Name of the Law!"by Mysterious Marv Channing and Gruesome Gray Morrow. I could always relate to this story of a compulsive collector (of pulps novels, which I also dig the most)...



Author Channing was on a roll this ish. Here he teams up with the master, Alex Toth, for "The Man Who Tried to Kill Death!"

Shades of Gray: "Warrior's Dream" by Skeates, Skrenes, and Morrow

Hey, hey, hail to thee, Groove-ophiles! Here's a superior sword and sorcery chiller from Archie's Red Circle Sorcery #6 (February 1974)! Written by Steve Skeates and Mary Skrenes with art by Gray Morrow, it's time to wake up to a..."Warrior's Dream!"

Random Reads: "A Twist In Time!" by Skeates and Pino

Hey, hey, hey, Groove-ophiles! Ready for a short shocker from Archie/Red Circle's Red Circle Sorcery #7 (April 1974)? "A Twist In Time" was written by Steve Skeates and illustrated by Carlos Pino--two of comics' most prolific producers of pulpy perfection! And dig that Gray Morrow cover! Whoooo!

Sword and Sorcery Week! Shades of Gray: "Barometer Falling..." by Morrow

As the great Jerry Reed said, "When you're hot, you're hot!" and in the mid-1970s, Gray Morrow was hot! Hot enough that Archie Comics let him create and spearhead a comic very, very different than their normal teen-age fare. They christened what was to be a line of comics Red Circle, and the imprint's first mag was Chilling Adventures in Sorcery. The supernatural (thanks in no small part to The Exorcist) was all the rage in December 1973 when CAiS #5 hit the stands. Sword and sorcery and sci-fi were also making inroads into comics at that time, so when Gray Morrow combined all of those elements for "Barometer Falling...", t'was no wonder the tale was made the cover feature. Sure got Young Groove's twin dimes with ease!

Random Reads: "The Two Thieves of Baghdad" by Morrow, Hama, and Alcazar

Dig it, Groove-ophiles! Long, long before Afterlife With Archie, there was Chilling Adventures In Sorcery published by Archie under their Red Circle imprint. Those b&w stories you're reading in the back of AWA are from those very Groovy Age mags. Here's a short shocker they haven't gotten to yet in glorious color! Courtesy writers Gray Morrow and Larry Hama and artist Vincente Alcazar, here's "The Two Thieves of Baghdad" from Chilling Adventures in Sorcery #5 (November 1973).

Random Reads: "The Eyes of Cagliostro" by Glut and Abel

Hey, hey, hey, Groove-ophiles! Today's macabre mini-masterpiece, "The Eyes of Cagliostro", written by Don Glut, features what is probably Ol' Groove's fave Jack Abel art job. Cool layouts, neat inking tricks (love those tones!), and the mostly monochrome coloring (kudos to whomever handled that chore so well) just perfectly added to the creepy mood. If you can find a copy of Red Circle Sorcery #11 (December 1974), grab it! Until then...enjoy...

Random Reads: "The Rivals" by Channing and Jones

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! It's been a while since we dug on some scary scans from Red Circle Sorcery, so let's dive into Sorcery #7 (May 1974)! "The Rivals" was written by Marvin Channing with art by Bruce Jones. Now Jones is best known as a writer, but dang! the man could draw with the best of 'em. Check it out!

Countdown to Halloween! Shades of Gray: Essays Into the Supernatural

Check these out, Groove-ophiles! From Archie/Red Circle's Red Circle Sorcery series, here are several of Gray Morrow's Essays into the Supernatural written by Phil Seuling and Marv Channing. These fillers ran in most every issue of Sorcery and fed the nigh-ravenous hunger for the macabre pop culture was feeling at the time. I dare ya not to shiver at least a little bit as you read these imperishable passages!