Marvel's Olympics of 1980

For our final look at the Groovy Age of Marvel Olympics, we go to 1980 Moscow, where--what? Excuse me, sir? Say hello to President Jimmy Carter, Groovophiles! What's that, Mr. President? Yes, I know that the United States boycotted the 1980 Olympics due to Russia's invasion of Afghanistan. And boy, did that ever teach them a lesson. I mean, look at them in Georgia right n--no sir, the country, not the state. No sir, it's not funny, I was just being ironi--yes, sir. Thank you, sir. Have a nice day, too, sir.

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Is he gone? Okay, let's take a look at what would've been the winners had we been allowed to go to Moscow...

The Bronze Medal for the Bronze Age comic that ended the Groovy Age goes to...X-Men #137! Yes, the infamous Death of the Phoenix issue. Chris Claremont and John Byrne being forced to kill founding X-Men member Jean Grey because of her crimes as Dark Phoenix effectively ended the last flickering light of the Groovy Age. Gone was the freewheeling fun of the Groovy Age, replaced forever by Editorial Edict. Claremont and Byrne had the last laugh, though, because they were able to craft a story so beautiful and moving that it went down in comicbook history.


The Silver Medal for best silver-skinned superhero who wasn't the Silver Surfer goes to...ROM, Spaceknight! Who would have thought that a comicbook based on a little-seen toy could become one of the best comics of the twilight of the Groovy Age? Bill Mantlo and Sal Buscema, evidently, who put as much energy, originality, and slam-bang fun into this comic as any comic Marvel published at the time. And those bee-yoooteeful Michael Golden covers didn't hurt one tiny bit, either!

And finally, the Gold Medal for best Golden Age superhero to survive in an iceberg and almost run for President of the United States...Captain America in Captain America #250! Writer Roger Stern (with a plot suggested by Roger McKenzie and Don Perlin) and artist John Byrne (who was on quite a roll, here!) crafted a wonderful tale in which Cap had to search his very soul in an effort to decide whether he would do the most good as a superhero or as president. Naturally, he chose being a superhero, as the comic didn't change its name to President America that fall, but Stern and Byrne gave us an up-close personal look at what makes Cap so special; not just from Cap's own perspective, but from the outlooks of characters as varied as Jarvis, the Avengers, Spidey, Daredevil, Nick Fury, Dr. Strange, and J. Jonah Jameson. A thoughtful, insightful comic, the likes of which there are far too few.

Marvel's Olympics of 1972

Welcome back, culture lovers! You've behaved so well (and you ate all your broccoli!), that Ol' Groove decided to lay yet another load of magnificent Marvel medals on ya! So, let's travel back to 1972 Munich, Germany to see what Olympic-sized wonderment Marvel published that summer. Stuff so good that Mark Spitz dried his hands and read 'em between swim meets!

The Bronze Medal for greatest non-Conan pulp adaptation of the summer goes to: Doc Savage #1 (natch)! Now, this was Marvel's color comic entry into the Doc Savage sweepstakes; don't confuse it with the later (and admittedly more satisfying) black and white magazine. Adapting Lester Dent's novel are Steve Englehart and Ross Andru, two pros whose work you can always depend on. They didn't quite stick the landing with this series as they were pretty much forced to adapt full-length novels into two 18 page comicbooks, but they gave a valiant effort!

The Silver Medal for managing to get Stan Lee to let someone besides himself or Roy Thomas to write the Silver Surfer goes to: Defenders #2! Somehow writer Steve Englehart (him again!) and editor Roy managed to coax Stan into allowing them to use the Skyrider of the Spaceways in a Defenders mini-epic (one that includes cosmic possession and split personalities, brrrrrr). Artist Sal Buscema showed that he could not only ink the daylights out of the Surfer (as he did over his brother John's pencils in many an issue of the Surfer's own short-lived series), but he could draw the heck out of him as well. Englehart proved so adept at writing the Silver Surfer that he was actually given the job of writing the Surfer's second series in 1987!

The Gold Medal for best Golden Age creator still truckin' on his classic creation goes to Bill Everett on Sub-Mariner #55! It's been well documented that Sub-Mariner was editor Roy Thomas' favorite childhood superhero, and that he and Subby creator Bill Everett struck up a real friendship when they met in the 1960s (even rooming together for a time), so it's no surprise that Thomas handed Everett the reins back to his brainchild once he assumed the editor-in-chief job at Marvel. What was a surprise was how fantastic Everett's art would look and how well he was able to adapt to the Marvel version of his character (Everett's Subby was a wise-crackin' smart-mouth more akin to Spider-Man, while Marvel's version was a neo-Shakespearean, just this side of Thor, himself, on the corny dialogue dial.

You just knew a guy in swimming trunks would get the gold, didn't you?

Marvel's Olympics of 1976

Do you remember the Montreal Olympics of 1976? Nadia Comăneci, the U.S. boxing dream team of Sugar Ray Leonard, Leon Spinks, Michael Spinks, Leo Randolph, and Howard Davis Jr., and Queen Elizabeth II opening the whole shebang? (If you don't, getouttahere! No, just kidding. Follow those links and learn something, Junior!) Well, whether they knew it or not, Mighty Marvel won three medals that fateful summer, awarded by yours truly, the Groovester! Travel with me now, back to that magical summer...and I won't even mention the Bicentennial, the presidential election, or Jimmy Carter. (Oops. I think I just did...sorry!) Anywho, let's go down to the Olympic Stadium for the results...

The Bronze Medal for grooviest black and white mag of the Summer of 76 goes to...Doc Savage #5! Not only is it only natural for the Man of Bronze to win the bronze, but this particular issue was EXTRA--er--bronzey--for the inclusion of Doc's cousin, Pat Savage! Writer Doug Moench and artist Tony DeZuniga will accept the award on Doc's behalf.

The Silver Medal for grooviest resurrection of a forgotten (but very groovy) Silver Age Character goes to...The Avengers #152! After Stan Lee and Don Heck introduced and killed off Simon (Wonder Man) Williams in the immortal Avengers #9, writer Gerry Conway and artist John Buscema brought him back as a zombie. Don't worry, he got better and joined the team soon after.

And the Gold Medal for the grooviest final issue of the Summer of 76 goes to...Warlock #15, naturally! After bringing the Golden Gladiator (they really called him that sometimes, honest) back from from comicbook limbo in Strange Tales #178, then making Adam Warlock so popular he was returned to his own mag (Warlock #9), Jim Starlin was rewarded with--sudden cancellation! Way to go, Marvel! The mag ended with a huge cliffhanger--and I do mean HUGE as Adam had literally outgrown the solar system. Don't know what Judo Jim had in mind for clearing that up, but we did later learn that Adam got better after teaming up with Spider-Man in Marvel Team-Up #55.

That's it for now! If you're really nice and eat all of your vegetables, maybe I'll spill on who won the big medals for 1972 and 1980! Stay tuned!

The Grooviest Covers of All Time #3

There is no doubt that Neal Adams was one of the top Batman artists of the Groovy Age, and here is proof. The giant, frightening figures of the Batman and Man-Bat towering over Gotham City just tingles the spine! And the way they're lit from the city lights makes them seem even more eerie and surreal. Lil First Grader Groove had no question about what comic he was snatching off the ol' King Quick spinner rack that fateful winter's day! Enjoy!

Still Going: Joe Staton

I first discovered Joe Staton's far-out pencil stylings when I nabbed the first issue of E-Man off the top of a stack of comics waiting to be put on the old spinner rack. His cartoony-yet-realistic pencils, coupled with a very slick inking style just grabbed me and never let go. Not only did Joe do magnificent work on E-Man, but his work found its way into tons of Charlton comics. He did some outstanding stories for titles like Haunted, Haunted Love, Ghostly Haunts, the Many Ghosts of Dr. Graves, Teen Confessions, and many others. Let's face it, Joe Staton was Charlton's Jim Steranko/Neal Adams!

Before ya knew it, Joe was at Marvel, doing superb work inking Sal Buscema on the Avengers and then the Incredible Hulk. He also did art jobs for the black and white titles, like Deadly Hands of Kung Fu. Then, suddenly, Joe was at DC back at the drawing board. He did magnificent work on a variety of titles, especially All-Star Comics (the Justice Society of America, baby!), Green Lantern (first in Adventure Comics, then on the main book), Plastic Man (in Adventure Comics), and Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes. Joe was also penciler and co-creator of such milestone stories as the Untold Origin of the Justice Society, the All-New Doom Patrol, and the daughter of the Earth-2 Batman and Catwoman, the Huntress.

Joe continued right on out of the Groovy Age, working on everything from Superman to a revamped E-Man to American Flagg. In the 90s Joe was a regular artist on the Batman Adventures titles, among other things, and today he's working on such far-famed comic characters as Scooby Doo and Jughead. And through it all, he's managed to keep E-man going in some form or fashion.

Go, Joe!

If You Blinked, You Missed...Bloodstone

Yep, Ol' Groove is starting another semi-series (like Comics You Might Never See Again, the Grooviest Covers of All Time, Still Going, and Groovin' Back In Time--hmm, gonna have to assign a day for each of these topics or somethin'!). This series was suggested by my good buddy Jon Gilbert (whose E-Dispatches from the Great White North y'oughtta be reading!). Thanks, Jazzy One!

There have always been flashes-in-the-pans, whether it be comics, music, TV or whatever. Well, the Groovy Age had its share of flashes; some brilliant, some--uh, not so brilliant. So, from time to time, I'll be digging back in the mines and polishing off some gems that came and went so quickly you might not even know they existed.

First up: Ulysses Bloodstone. Bloodstone was the creation of former Marvel editors, Len Wein, Marv Wolfman, and John Warner (best known for a stint editing Marvel's black and white mags in the mid-70s, overseeing classics like the legendary Chris Claremont/John Byrne/Terry Austin/Tom Orzechowski Star-Lord issue of Marvel Preview).

The strip was definitely an oddball one, debuting in Marvel Presents #1--and ending in issue #2. How oddball? It's hard to describe. It was a lot like a Marvel mag in some ways, and very unlike a Marvel mag in others. It seemed, in a way, to be an homage on the old Atlas/Marvel days of the late 50s/early 60s in that Bloodstone hunted (mostly) giant monsters. The strip was action oriented, filled with sub-plots, cryptically linked into the Marvel mythos (the Hellfire Helix and the Hyborian Age tie into his origins, f'rinstance), and sported a mysterious corporate-type criminal organization called the Conspiracy (whatta Watergate-era name, huh?). Y'see? All very Marvel-like. However, the first issue was split into two separate chapters/stories--one story was penciled by Charlton mainstay Pat Boyette--and Bloodstone carried a double-barrel shotgun. Only the Punisher carried a gun in the Marvel Universe back in those days! Also, since Bloodstone was essentially an immortal cave-man, he hearkened back more to classic DC villain Vandal Savage than Spider-Man.

In all honesty, Bloodstone felt more like something that was created for Martin Goodman's Atlas/Seaboard line (oh yeah, we'll talk about Atlas/Seaboard later!). It was, indeed, made-for Marvel, though. According to Warner, himself, the strip was created to run in Where Monsters Dwell as a ten page lead to be backed up by reprints. Where Monsters Dwell was canceled before Bloodstone saw print, but the strip was given a new lease on life as the headliner for Marvel Presents. Warner had planned a cosmic epic, but between issues 1 (which published what would have been the stories for two consecutive issues of Where Monsters Dwell) and 2 he was informed that Bloodstone would end with ish #2, forcing him to wrap his epic up in a mere 18 pages.

But you can't keep a good immortal cave man down!

The strip resurfaced about a year later in the black and white Rampaging Hulk magazine (it does pay to be an editor!), running in issues 1-6 and 8. It seemed that Warner would finally have the chance to do the cosmic epic as he intended. Things went gung-ho for the first six issues, and then a strange thing happened. Bloodstone didn't even appear in RH #7 (a Steve Gerber Man-Thing story took its place), and when the strip re-appeared in issue 8, it was written by Gerber, not Warner. I suppose Warner left or was given the heave-ho from the powers that be, because Gerber killed Bloodstone off, ending the strip once and for all.

Bloodstone wasn't completely forgotten by Marvel. He has appeared (via flashback) in a variety of titles, including Captain America and Marvel Universe. Recently, his daughter, Elsa Bloodstone, has replaced Ulysses as Monster Hunter supreme, appearing in her own mini-series as well as Warren Ellis' Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E.

Groovy Flashback: "Pulp Nostalgia"

Ol' Groove's a bit under the weather today, so instead of leaving you high and dry with no post for the day, here's a piece I did for my old "Groovy Agent's Pad" blog on June21, 2006.
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Back in the Groovy Age, you could go to any library, drugstore, grocery store, five-and-dime, or bookstore and find a treasure-trove of paperbacks reprinting the exploits of heroes (and anti-heroes) of the Golden Age of pulps (mostly 1930s vintage). What a world of wonders these books opened up for ol' Groove! Though more expensive than my beloved comics (a normal comic at the time was going for twenty to twenty-five cents, while paperbacks went from about ninety-five cents to a buck and a quarter), these superheroes of the printed page found their way into my sweaty little palms with some regularity--especially those starring Tarzan, Doc Savage, the Shadow, Conan, and the Avenger! Now, at the time I didn't know that these were the archetypes of fellas like Superman and Batman--I just knew they were awesome!

In reality, I'd been introduced to these heroes through comics. True! Marvel was publishing Conan and Doc Savage (first in a standard color comic, later in a black and white magazine), while DC was churning out Tarzan (Marvel took over the reins in the late 70s), Justice, Inc. (the Avenger--couldn't confuse the original with Marvel's super-team, y'know), and the Shadow. (There's another future column for ya!) So, I had a few issues of each of the above-mentioned heroes in my comicbook collection before I discovered their original pulp stories reprinted in paperback form via great publishers like Pyramid (The Shadow), Bantam (Doc Savage and The Avenger), Ace (Conan), and Ballantine (Tarzan).

I know, many of them started publishing their books well before the Groovy Age, but I'm not cheatin'! Nope, 'cause as I said in the first paragraph, by the time the Groovy Age was in full swing, the book racks were filled with pulpy goodness. Not only that, but the aforementioned companies kept most of the pulp heroes in print all throughout the 70s.

The Groovy Age of pulp reprints sported the most dynamic and eye-catching covers you could imagine! Jim Steranko (former comics savant) provided haunting covers for the Shadow. Neal Adams (him again!) grabbed your eyeballs with his Tarzan covers. Ace was smart enough to continue using the tried-and-truly astounding covers by Frank Frazetta on their Conan reprints. By the mid-70s, the awe-inspiring James Bama handed the Doc Savage covers over to a variety of lesser-known artists until Bantam tapped emerging superstar Boris Vallejo (Vallejo also took over the Tarzan covers after Adams stopped doing them). What a visual feast! You could buy the books for their covers alone and feel like you were getting a deal!

Ah, but then you'd be cheating yourself from some great reading! Action, adventure, and intrigue flew from the pages of these pulsating paperbacks! No one could write an action scene like Lester Dent (aka Kenneth Robeson). No one could set up a mystery like Walter Gibson (better known as Maxwell Grant). For sheer savagery, nobody beats Robert E. Howard. And for grand adventure, Edgar Rice Burroughs has no peer. These authors proved that pulp nostalgia during the Groovy Age wasn't just a fad, but a way to keep the work of great authors (and, of course, their signature characters) alive. Ah, I know what you're thinking. "Doc Savage, Tarzan, the Shadow, the Avenger, Conan--is that it? Is that the whole 'pulp nostalgia' gamut?" Nope. Those were just Ol' Groove's favorites (and still are!). Burroughs' Martian series (another fave--another column!), Captain Future, Kull, and Solomon Kane were also dusted off and given new life in paperback. There were lots of others, too, but Ol' Groove couldn't keep up with everything back then (a buck a week allowance only went so far)! But hey, Google is your friend if you want more info.

For those of you who remember the Groovy Age of pulp paperbacks, I hope I've taken you for a short and sweet walk down memory lane. For those of you who've never had the pleasure of perusing those pulp paperback pleasures, eBay is filled with 'em, so try a few! (But you'd better not be the one outbidding Ol' Groove when I go after a copy myself!)

The Grooviest Covers of All Time #2

Another of the grooviest comicbook covers of all time, Giant-Size Super-Stars #1 (and only!). There are plenty of great Thing vs. Hulk covers out there, but this one is different. For once--the Thing is winning! Or is he? Remind Ol' Groove to do an article on GSSS #1 sometime.

There's a lot more to this legendary issue than the fantabulous Rich Buckler/Joe Sinnott cover. But for now, it's enough. Ain't it a beaut?

Lois Lane's "Death House Honeymoon"

What? You didn't know Superman is Lois Lane's second husband? I ain't jivin'! Y'see, way back in Lois Lane #105 (cover dated October, 1970), there was this mysterious group of criminals called The 100 that spent their time causing all kinds of trouble for Metropolis in general and Superman in particular. The 100 had made an enemy of not only Superman, but a brand new super-heroine, the Thorn (no relation--besides writer/creator Robert Kanigher--to the Golden Age villainess of the same name), who was making her vendetta against The 100 known by dropping leaflets all over Metropolis. Clark (Superman) Kent and Lois get their hands on one of those fateful fliers, which gives Lois the bright idea of doing a story on the Thorn. Daily Planet editor Perry White, thinking the assignment too dangerous, gives the Thorn story to Clark, assigning Lois to the much safer job of covering the execution of convicted killer, Johnny Adonis. Y'know, 'cause covering a man being dying in an electric chair is more ladylike than trying to get the lowdown on a new super-heroine.

Like any good employee, Lois heads for the state pen, planning to interview Adonis before his execution. During the interview, Adonis pleads innocence (naturally!) and asks Lois to marry him as repayment for a debt she owes him. Seems Lois was drowning in an icy pond and Adonis beat Superman to the rescue. Sure enough, after the rescue Lois did promise, "I'll do anything to repay you!" Being a lady of her word, despite the warden and Superman's protests, Lois goes through with the marriage and is carried across the threshold--into the execution room, giving her a wonderful view of the electric chair. How romantic!

Angry and frustrated, Superman stomps off, and as soon as he leaves, wouldn't ya know it, the prisoners riot and break out, using Lois as their hostage. When the escapees (including Lois' new hubby, Johnny Adonis) arrive at their rendezvous with their outside help, they leave Lois tied up in the escape vehicle--and shove it into the river! Once more, Superman is nowhere to be seen while Lois heads to a watery grave, but the mysterious Thorn is! When Lois and the Thorn surface, the escaped cons open fire. Suddenly, Adonis develops a conscience and starts shooting at his fellow cons, vowing, "I'm not gonna let you blast my wife like she was a fish in a barrel!" As usual, a comicbook crook with a newly minted conscience doesn't last long, and Adonis' buddies plug him. THEN Superman shows up (and people call him a Boyscout?). Superman rounds up the crooks, Adonis dies in Lois' arms, Thorn disappears, and all Lois can say? "And I'm left with a sensational scoop of marriage and murder!" She must've thought someone besides Superman might be listening (and judging her!), so she added, "My fingers will type the story...but every key will tear into my heart...like a dagger!" Yeah, Superman and Lois, our heroes. For this story, they have all the sentiment of the Seinfeld cast!

All in all, it's a fun comic, though, brought from mediocre and maudlin to pretty cool thanks to the back-up origin of Thorn and the terrific art by Ross Andru and Mike Esposito. Thorn, along with her alter-ego Rose Forrest, became the regular back-up feature, "Rose and the Thorn", for the next two-dozen issues, forcing li'l Groove to buy Lois Lane comics on a regular basis. Eeeww, gross-out!

I've Been Wondering About This for Decades...

Check out the cover to Warren's The Spirit #11 (cover dated December, 1975). Is it just me, or does Plaster of Paris look like Sally Struthers? No, not the Sally Struthers of today, Meathead! Sally Struthers as she looked back then, when she co-starred in All In the Family. I wonder if Will Eisner (penciler), Ken Kelly (painter), or both was a Gloria Stivic fan? I mean, just look at those eyes!














For kicks, here's a look at how the cover scene might appear in Frank Miller's upcoming Spirit Movie:
Those were the days...?

Still Going!

A great comicbook creator is kinda like the Energizer Bunny; their careers keep going and going. Here's a couple artists who kept me going to the spinner rack back in the day, and keep me haunting the comics shops to this very day!

Mike Grell: I've discussed "Iron Mike" a bit before (see the article about his return to the Warlord), but he's so great, he deserves mentioning again! I first discovered his work in the back of Adventure Comics (during the creepy Spectre run) as the new Aquaman artist. His figures were a bit stiff and lanky, but his layouts and storytelling was fantastic, and his inking was very slick and modern. I next grooved to his work in Superboy and the Legion of Superheroes as he took over the art chores from Dave Cockrum (who went to Marvel to do some inking and kick of some obscure mag...X-something or other...). I hated to see Cockrum go, but Grell was a more than able replacement. His costume designing wasn't quite up to Cockrum's level, but his outer space scenes more than made up for it. He was so good at depicting great sci-fi, he was tapped to do the art on Denny O'Neil's revival of Green Lantern/Green Arrow, which took on a more sci-fi/super-hero bent than the renowned O'Neil/Neal Adams "relevant" GL/GA series of the early 70s. Mike Grell outdid all of that with his next project, Warlord. Combining the great Edgar Rice Burroughs' creations John Carter of Mars and Pellucidar, Grell crafted DC's most successful new character since the dawning of the Silver Age. The combination of fantasy, sci-fi, action, adventure, and great characterization made Grell and Warlord legends. When the 80s dawned and new publishers with creator incentives came a-calling, Grell concocted the "reverse Warlord", Starslayer (a barbarian whisked into the future) and Jon Sable, Freelance, arguably Grell's greatest creation (though I still have a soft spot for Travis Morgan). Sable ran through most of the 80s, even spawning a short-lived TV show in the 80s and a prose novel in 2000. After Sable, Grell returned to DC and re-booted Green Arrow into a gritty vigilante for the late-80s/early 90s. Since that time he's also worked on comics featuring characters from James Bond to Iron Man, including his own creations for Image Comics, Shaman's Tears and Bar Sinister. He recently did an "incentive cover" for Action Comics featuring the LSH, and his return to Warlord is on the horizon. Grell sure lives up to his "Iron Mike" nickname!

Jim Starlin: One of my all-time favorite writer/artists, Jim Starlin has shown great staying power for over 35 years. From fanzines to Iron Man to Captain Marvel to Warlock, he defined "cosmic" comics for Marvel, treating us to the wildest science fantasy epics ever. He also managed to create a few enduring characters for the House of Ideas, as well. If you've never heard of Shang Chi (Master of Kung Fu), Thanos, Gamora, or Drax the Destroyer, I don't know why the heck you're reading this blog! (Unless it's to make up for a misspent lifetime--then that's cool.) After his Marvel stint, Starlin did some crazy/cosmic stuff for Warren's black and white line (Darklon the Mystic), and played around in DC's sandbox on titles like Superboy and the Legion of Superheroes (them again!), DC Comics Presents, and a few covers here and there. Starlin then helped Marvel get it's creator-owned material off the ground with Epic Illustrated (Metamorphosis Odyssey), the first Marvel Graphic Novel (Death of Captain Marvel), and the Epic Comics imprint (Dreadstar). Starlin moved Dreadstar to First Comics for a while, then spent most of the 80s and 90s writing things like Batman (including the infamous death of Robin storyline, "A Death in the Family"), Cosmic Odyssey, the Weird, Batman: the Cult, and various Thanos-centric "Infinity" mini-series' for Marvel. For Malibu's Bravura line, "Judo" Jim wrote and drew two mini-series featuring his 'Breed character. He still writes some and draws a little for Marvel and DC, his most recent work being the Hawkman Special. Starlin is still cosmic after all these years! (Hey, Jim! I just gave you the title to your biography!)

A Real Treasure(y)

One of the greatest "free surprise gifts" I ever got my hands on was the great Marvel Treasury Edition #4 featuring Conan. I had ordered some stuff (a back-issue of FOOM magazine and some other goodies) from an issue of the Superhero Merchandise Catalog (remember those?) for Christmas (1976), and they were out of stock on something, so, along with a refund, they tossed in this gem. Up until the time I got this tabloid-size comic, I never paid too much attention to Conan.

All of that changed by the time I got to the last of its 100 pages! I had always been a fan of Roy Thomas, but Barry (pre-Windsor) Smith was a taste I, being used to guys like Sal Buscema, Jack Kirby, and Dick Dillin, had not yet acquired. The only real exposure I'd had to his art was in Avengers (Vol. 1--I HATE doing that!) 98-100. I loved his cover for #100, but wasn't too impressed with anything else.

For some reason, maybe I was finally maturing (I WAS 13, y'know), I totally flipped out over Smith's art in this Treasury Edition. The first story, "Rogues in the House" (reprinted from Conan the Barbarian # 11) and was inked by Sal Buscema. It looked incredible. Very slick, very detailed, a fantasy world like something from a storybook for grownups. The rest of the book reprinted Thomas/Smith's magnum opus, "Red Nails" from Savage Tales #'s 2-3, and was inked by Smith, himself. The art in this story was even more striking; more rough-hewn and moody. I was always a Thomas fan, but from then on, I became a Smith and (naturally) Robert E. Howard fan. All through the 70s and 80s, if there was Windsor-Smith art in a comic (even if it was just on the cover), I bought it, no question. And of course, I went on to collect the entire Ace paperback Conan series, reveling in the magnificence of REH's original "Rogues in the House" and "Red Nails" prose masterpieces.

I am still an REH and Conan nut, and would strongly suggest you buy any and all of Dark Horse's Conan/REH material, including their own 50 issue comicbook series Conan (with writing and art by such luminaries as Kurt Busiek, Cary Nord, Tim Truman, and many others), or it's trade paperback reprints, their tpb reprints of ALL the Marvel Conan catalogue, and Del Rey's mind-staggering Robert E. Howard Library series. It's all good stuff!