Marvel-ous Monday: "Murder In Mid-Air!" by Englehart, Sutton, and Giacoia

Hey, hey, hey, Groove-ophiles! Under this stunning Jim Starlin/Joe Sinnott cover lies a pretty important story in the life of the Bludgeoning Beast! He makes a promise to Patsy (Baxter) Walker(which he'll keep in Avengers #144*), his fur turns a dark shade of our favorite, familiar blue, and an old friend returns (and Ol' Groove's not just talking about The Angel)! Toss in the debut of The Griffin (a minor villain with a lot of appearances), and you've got yourself a pretty far-out comic! From Amazing Adventures #15 (August 1972**), prepare to witness a..."Murder In Mid-Air!"

*Shhhh...

**Yep, Young Groove got this one for his 9th birthday!

Bring On the Back-ups: "Joyride Into Jeopardy!" by Edelman, Anderson, and McLeod

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! Once EIC Jim Shooter got Marvel's mags running like clockwork, there was no longer any need for the 5 page back-ups Archie Goodwin had commissioned. The Dread Deadline Doom had been defeated. But Marvel never wasted during the Groovy Age, not even a measly five page filler. Of course, when the measly five page filler features talents like Scott Edelman, Brent Anderson, Bob McLeod, Glynis Wein, and Gaspar Saladino--not to mention featuring X-Men mainstay Warren Worthington III--aka the high-flying Angel--who would waste it? "Joyride Into Jeopardy!" finally found a home in Marvel Treasury Edition #27 (Spring 1979). Dig it, baby!

Groove's Faves: "The Evil That Is Cast..." by Stern, Byrne, and Layton

It's Ol' Groove's birthday! 1963 was some year, wunnit? Avengers, X-Men, and moi! Seriously, as usual, since it's my birthday, yers trooly is picking one'a his all-time fave comic mags to rap with y'all about! This time we're looking at a masterpiece created by the multi-talented hands of writer Roger Stern and artists John Byrne (who co-plotted, as well) and Bob Layton: "The Evil That Is Cast" from The Incredible Hulk Annual #7 (Summer 1978). Sterno was killin' it on the Incredible Hulk around the time this annual came out, while Byrne and Layton had teamed up to provide some awesome art on The Champions about a year earlier. When Teen Groove saw that double-sized beauty on the bottom of the magazine rack at the local Convenient Store, there was no doubt it was goin' back to Casa de Groove! I mean, besides the aforementioned awesome creative team, we had the Hulk (of course), The Angel and Iceman (from The X-Men and, yep, The Champions) versus the original Sentinel, Master Mold with the mind of another X-Villain, Steven Lang! Roger's story was very cool, lots of action and humor, giving art-team Byrne/Layton plenty of cool stuff to draw, especially Master-Mold's asteroid hq--wow!! 'Nuff said! Check it out! Pass the cake!