Black and White Wednesday: Original Howard Chaykin Art

Check it out, Groove-ophiles! It's been way to long since we last planted our peepers on some of Howard Chaykin's awesome artistry, so let's make up for lost time with a few samples of some of his far-out original art (which Ol' Groove has pinched from several sensational sites from around the 'Net)?

Inks by Bernie Wrightson

Inks by Tom Palmer

Yeah, Ol' Groove knew you'd dig it!

Black and White Wednesday: "The Power Broker Resolution!" by Wein and Chaykin

What it is, Groove-ophiles! Legend has it that Howard Chaykin's pulp-hero throwback, Dominic Fortune, was really a continuation of Chaykin's earlier pulp-hero throwback The Scorpion, with Chaykin making the necessary changes to move the character from Atlas to Marvel. In his intro to the Dominic Fortune reprints in Marvel Preview #20 (Winter 1980), Chaykin strongly alluded to the truth behind that legend, and shared  details of what scripter Len Wein added to the mix. Dig it!

Now ya know Ol' Groove's not stopping with Humble Howie's intro! Heck no! We've gotta plant our peepers on Dominic Fortune's dazzling debut from Marvel Preview #2 from 1975. Here's Len Wein and Howard Chaykin with..."The Power Broker Resolution!"

Oh, just so ya know, not only did the other two Fortune stories Chaykin mentioned in the intro finally see print ["The Messiah in the Saddle Resolution" in Marvel Super-Action #1, Fall 1975 and "The Big Top Barter Resolution" in Marvel Premiere (#56 July 1980)], but Chaykin also produced a full-color, painted series of Dominic Fortune strips for the back of The Hulk! magazine (#'s 22-25, June-December 1980) which was scripted by Denny O'Neil. More Fortune/Chaykin goodness in your future 'cause you-know-who loves ya, baby!

Black and White Wednesday: Alex Toth's Vanguard

What's happening, Groove-ophiles? Today's B&W Wednesday post is not only a veritable feast for the ol' eyeballs, but a missing link to the short-but-oh-so-complicated history of the meteoric Atlas/Seaboard line. Seems that when Howard Chaykin first sprung The Scorpion on publisher Martin Goodman and company, they didn't dig where Humble Howie was coming from. They then commissioned the master, Alex Toth, to try his hand at the property. Toth worked like a madman, completing a ten page strip in ten days--only to have it rejected, The Scorpion being given back (if only temporarily) to Chaykin. Toth knew he had something groovy in his hands, though, and reworked the strip as The Vanguard. A couple years later, Sal Quartuccio, publisher of the very cool ground level mag, Hot Stuf', ran the strip in (ta dah!) Hot Stuf' #4 (cover dated Spring 1977). Toth, since Vanguard was going to be published in b&w rather than the color, added gray tones, and before you can say "dy-no-mite!" Mark Forte's masked alter-ego finally saw the light of day.

April Fool: The Scorpion Faces the "Night of the Golden Fuhrer!"

It's the first day of April, Groove-ophiles, but this is no laughing matter: Atlas/Seaboard tried to pull perhaps the ultimate April Fool's joke on fandom back in April 1975 when they turned Howard Chaykin's sensational Scorpion into a rip-off of Marvel's Spider-Man and Daredevil. Gabe Levy was a fine writer and Jim Craig (with uncredited inks by Jim Mooney) does a serviceable job with the art, but this incarnation of the Scorpion is nowhere near the level of fun, originality, or quality of Chaykin's first two issues. (I've never been able to figure out why they moved the Scorpion to 1975--only to have him fight neo-Nazis...and a Golem!?!) Thankfully, ish #3 would be the title's final issue.

Just goes to show that you couldn't fool Groovy Age comics fandom--not even in April!