Amazed by Aparo: "Poetry of Peril!" by Kaler and Aparo

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! We're back with part two of Dave Kaler and Jim Aparo's Nightshade mini-epic from the pages of Charlton Comics' Captain Atom! (If you wanna read part one, click here.) "Poetry of Peril" comes to us via Captain Atom #88 (Cover dated October 1967). Can you dig it?

Black and White Wednesday: Marvel M-AD-ness, FOOM Style

Check it out, Groove-ophiles! Here's a passel of awesome advertisements from the pages of FOOM Magazine! Most of these items were available to FOOM members only, while others were available to all, but discounted for Friends Of Ol' Marvel! Didja get your paws on any of these pulse-pounding products?

If You Blinked, You Missed: "Curse of the Tarantula" by Fleisher and Boyette

When you just nab a mag off the Spiner-Rack from Yesterday, you have a slight chance of grabbing one of Atlas/Seaboard's wildest and weirdest titles of their short-lived history: Weird Suspense featuring The Tarantula #1 (November 1975). Can you just hear the conference (just makin' this up, but you get the idea) behind the creation of this macabre mag? Publisher Martin Goodman (and probably his son Chip), editor Jeff Rovin, writer Michael Fleisher, and artist Pat Boyette? M. Goodman: "I want a mag to compete with Spider-Man!" C. Goodman: "Marvel's supernatural mags are selling big! Especially Tomb of Dracula, Ghost Rider, and Man-Thing." Fleisher: "Well, I'm more into the supernatural than the super-hero side of comics, myself." Boyette: "Me, too. Oh, and I love those Hammer horror films!" M. Goodman: "I want a Spider-Man mag, and I want it now!" (He leaves.) Fleisher and Boyette give Rovin and the younger Goodman a wink. "No sweat. We've got this!" So we get a hero with spider-like powers (including spinning webs and climbing walls) involved in a cult, changed into a monstrous form in which he drinks the blood of his enemies! Now, the conference I made up, but the mag? She's-a for real! Honest! See for yourself...

Cover art by Dick Giordano

And, oh, yeah, this madcap and macabre mag lasted two more issues! Mebbe you might wanna see 'em sometime...?

MOKF Monday: "The Pride of Leopards" by Moench, Zeck, and Day

Hi-YAA, Groove-ophiles! Are we ever cookin' with peanut oil now! The return of Fu Manchu is imminent, mysteries surrounding Manchu's plans deepen, and we get action galore in Doug Moench, Mike Zeck, and Gene Day's "The Pride of the Leopards" from Master of Kung Fu #80 (July 1979). Dig it!!