Making a Splash: Marvel Comics 40 Years Ago, August 1971

August 1971. Marvel's tenth anniversary! Ol' Groove remembers it well. T'was the month Marvel raised the price of (almost) all their comics to twenty-five cents (a few stayed 15 cents, but a random few did go up to twenty cents) and doubled their page count (on most of, but not all of their mags--DC had already gone the twenty five cent route and doubled their page-count a couple months earlier). It was also the month that the "Marvel banner/logo" trade dress (the one that lasted all the way into the early 80s) made its debut on most (but again, not all) of Marvel's mags--but more on that in tomorrow's post! The interiors are today's focus, and lemme tell ya, despite the changes on the outside, we got the same great Marvel madness we'd always loved--just more of it!--on the insides. As proof, Ol' Groove offers up this sensational set of superb splashes. This is all of Marvel's non-reprint mags for that watershed month, by the by. Enjoy, Groove-ophiles!

Black and White Wednesday: "Etran to Fulsing" by Cuti and Giordano

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! Today's minor masterpiece comes from Creepy #94 (cover-dated January 1978), and it's a doozy! Written by Nick Cuti with art by Dick Giordano, "Etran to Fulsing" grabs you right away and makes you think this is some sort of pint-sized Prince Valiant riff--but then it knocks you upside the head with it's Twilight Zone-ish ending. It's a lovely, bittersweet piece created by two of the best at the tops of their respective games. Ol' Groove digs it. I'm sure you will, too!

Dyn-o-mite cover by Don Maitz

Groove's Faves: "Night of the Body Snatcher!" by Starlin and Russell

We're back, Groove-ophiles! Have you been able to stand the wait? Well, be glad you didn't have to wait two months until Detective Comics #482 (November 1978) like Teen Groove did! Here's Jim Starlin and P. Craig Russell showing the world how a Batman story oughtta be done, baby!

Cover by Rich Buckler and Dick Giordano

Later on in the 80s, Judo Jim would have a turn as a regular Batman scripter, creating classics like "Ten Nights of the Beast" and "A Death in the Family". Cosmic though he might be, Mr. Starlin always could do "grim and gritty" right, too!

Groove's Faves: "Murder in the Night!" by Starlin and Russell

What it is, Groove-ophiles! Since we're kicking off a new week and a new month, we might as well kick it off in style! And what style! Today we're truckin' back to September 1978, to the first Dollar Comic issue of the new, combined Detective Comics/Batman Family #481. The whole mag (all 68-ad-less pages of it) was dy-no-mite, but for today we're gonna focus on that issue's final feature, "Murder in the Night" featuring none other than The Batman. There are so many things that make this story cool. It's moody. It's downright spooky. It gives a glimpse into Bruce Wayne's boyhood and Thomas Wayne's past. It features an over-the-top, honest-to-Irving mad scientist. It's dark and kinda gory. It shows Batman actually doing detective work. And it ends with a cliff-hanger that features a giant albino ape with the mind of a man. Yeah, that doesn't sound like your run-of-the-mill Groovy Age Batman feature, does it? That's 'cause this masterpiece of macabre (originally intended as a two-parter for Batman Family issues 21-22) was written and laid by editor Al Milgrom's pal and our fave cozmik creator Jim Starlin...finished and inked by a certain comicbook virtuoso by the handle of P. Craig Russell. Yeah. Starlin and Russell at DC doing Batman in 1978. The mind boggles, huh? If you're boggling now, wait'll you get a load of this!


Will The Batman survive his encounter with Xavier Simon's mind-controlled, 400 pound pet? We'll find out tomorrow, Groove-ophiles! Same Bat-time! Same Bat-blog!