Marvel-ous Monday: "Black Goliath" by Isabella, Tuska, and Colletta

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! Months after Black Goliath's debut in Powerman issues 24-25 (which you can read here and here), the powers-that-were at Marvel gave Bill Foster's gi-normous alter ego his own mag (just like Ol' Groove told ya about in the Powerman #24 post). In October 1975 Black Goliath #1 hit the stands, written by Tony Isabella with art by George Tuska and Vinnie Colletta. "Black Goliath" was loaded with flashbacks on our hero's backstory (Bill Foster had been around since 1966, after all) and action against a new villain called Atom Smasher (along with his matching-costumed minions). The best part, though, was the introduction of Foster's supporting cast: his "Whiz Kids", a trio of geniuses in the tradition of Doc Savage's Amazing Five. Check it out, baby!

Cover art by Rich Buckler and Frank Giacoia

Marvel-ous Monday: "Crime and Circuses" by Isabella, Mantlo, Wilson, and Kida

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! Here's part two (part one was back in June, right here) of Black Goliath's debut from Power Man #25 (March 1975)--at last! Plotted by Tony Isabella, plotted by Bill Mantlo (his color comics debut), penciled by Ron Wilson, and inked by Fred Kida prepare for..."Crime and Circuses!"

Cover art by Gil Kane and Mike Esposito

Marvel-ous Monday: "Among Us Walks...Black Goliath!" by Isabella, Tuska, and Hunt

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! Remember Black Goliath? Yeah, right from the start, most folks didn't like the name, but bless Tony Isabella and company for trying to introduce new, multicultural characters to carry on the Marvel legacy. Bill Foster, as we learned when we first met in him Avengers #32 (July 1966), was a friend and assistant to Hank (Ant-Man/Giant-Man/Goliath/Yellowjacket) Pym who had previously worked for Tony Stark. During Pym's Yellowjacket phase, Foster decided to become a superhero using Pym's formula--well, you'll read all about that as we go.

Main thing is, Isabella wanted to turn a civilian character into a superhero (cool!) and did so in the pages of Power Man issues 24-25 (January-March 1975). Newcomer John Byrne (who?) designed the duds, but George Tuska and triple-threat man (letterer, colorist, and inker) Dave Hunt, provided the art. Evidently, somebody in editorial/publishing thought Black Goliath was worthy of his own mag, so eight months later, Black Goliath #1 hit the stands with Isabella and Tuska at the helm. The series only ran for 5 issues (Chris Claremont took over the writing with #2, Tuska stayed on til #3, followed by Rich Buckler in ish #4 and Keith Pollard in #5), but BG did show up in a few issues of Champions (#'s 11-13, November-December 1976, February 1977) and then in the legendary "Project Pegasus" saga in Marvel Two-In-One (issues 55-58, July-October 1979) where he changed both his costume and his name (to Giant-Man). Lots happened after that, but not a lot of it is good and not part of the Groovy Age, so Ol' Groove is (finally!) gonna shaddup and get on with the comics! From Power Man #24: "Among Us Walks...Black Goliath!"

Cover art by Gil Kane and Dan Adkins

Thanks to max_renn for the far-out scans!