Monday Miscellanea: Some Charlton Love, Publishers Brave Enough to Publish Ol' Groove, and My Daughter's Far-Out Blog...

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! It's been a while since Ol' Groove laid a bunch'a Items of Interest on ya, so let's get right to 'em, shall we?

ITEM! Ol' Groove recently got his paws on a copy of Charlton Spotlight #8 and man, do I ever dig it! A huge interview with my fave Charlton writer Nick Cuti, an awesome article from another fave author, Life With Archie's own Paul Kupperberg, about his breaking in at Charlton. (Paul mentioned that his first published work was a short-shocker illustrated by Mike Zeck that found a home in Scary Tales #3 (September 1975). You can read it below--after you finish reading these important items, okay?)If that weren't enough, amidst the other dy-no-mite articles lurks an unpublished Doomsday +1 comic plotted and illustrated by the great Tom Sutton (way back in 1979) and scripted by none other than Nick Cuti! Do yourself a favor: if you don't have a copy of Charlton Spotlight #8 track one down! It's a slick, lovely, totally professional zine with full color throughout! You'll love it!! 

ITEM! You may have noticed (I hope you've noticed) that a Kragor cover has joined the Daring Adventures cover over on the right of this page. That's 'cause Ol' Groove's barbarian creation Kragor has been published by Red Leaf Comics (who've been publishing Ultimus, Power Corps, and many of my other stories from my Blue Moon days). I hope you'll either order a digital or hard-copy of Kragor (and/or other Red Leaf mags)--I'd really appreciate it! Kragor is special to moi, and if we get the support there will be more issues of Kragor to come! Even if you don't dig my stories, I'm sure you'll flip over Kragor's artist, Serbian sensation Mihaijlo Petrovic! Give us a try, won't ya?

ITEM! While Red Leaf is mining my late 90s/early 2000s Blue Moon stuff, my old pal T. Warren Montgomery has reached waaaaay back to the earliest Blue Moon days--1988 for the Exiles! Why would Will Lill Comics' peerless publisher wanna do a thing like that? 'Cause back in 1988, I created/designed the Exiles and handed the concept over to an awesome young writer named Lonnie Weems and an extremely talented young artist by the name of...T. Warren Montgomery! For the first time ever, Warren's earliest work is seeing print in the first three issues of Monty's World! The story will be concluded soon in The Warriors of Panlan Special! Warren is expanding his Will Lill Comics line to include more anthologies and some single-character mags so check 'em out. Ol' Groove knows you'll dig 'em!

ITEM! Getting even more personal, you know Ol' Groove is a proud dad, so with that in mind I've gotta brag on my darling daughter's very personal and beautiful blog, Buying the Farm. Jessica and her awesome husband Walter bought a farm about a year ago, and Jessica has been chronicling the trials and tribulations of renovating a 70-something year old farmhouse (not to mention the acreage, barns, and second house), as well as the day-to-day stuff that living in Southeastern Kentucky entails. I have to say so m'self, Jessica is an outstanding wordsmith (with a wicked sense of humor and huge heart) and she and Walter fill the blog with gorgeous photographs of both the dark and bright sides of farm living/renovating. Even if you're not into do-it-yourself or farms, I think you'll love the photos, heart, and insights you'll find on Buying the Farm. 

One of the barns...

Buying the Farm author Jessica and her faithful Ruth...

Ol' Groove catching his breath...

ITEM! Whew! Now, here's that Paul Kupperberg/Mike Zeck mini-masterpiece Ol' Groove promised ya way up there in the first item! From Scary Tales #3, here's "Distress"!

Bring on the Back-ups Week! Monday Miscellanea: Shameless Self-Promotion, Pluggin' a Pal, and Lex Luthor Back-up Series (?!)

What it is, Groove-ophiles! Haven't done a Monday Miscellanea in a while, so...

ITEM! Dunno if you've noticed, but over in the side-bar Ol' Groove's been running covers for a couple'a mags from Red Leaf Comics. Why, you ask? 'Cause they're publishing me, baby! The first five issues of Daring Adventures are running my kozmic/sci-fi super-hero ULTIMUS. The first three issues are on sale via Red Leaf, and the fourth ish should be out soon. Once the first ULTIMUS story arc is complete, Daring Adventures is gonna run my super-team, POWER CORPS, for a few issues. After that? Who knows? Main thing is, Ol' Groove would sure appreciate it if you'd order a few copies of Daring Adventures (if ya haven't already).

ITEM! Also at Red Leaf is KENDRA, DRACULA'S DAUGHTER by my pal, Jonathan "A" Gilbert (of E-Dispatches from the Great White North and Red Lion Comics fame) and Seppo Makinen (whom I was lucky enough to work with on a few stories back in the day). KENDRA is one cool comic, to put it mildly! I mean, how can you not love the idea of a dysfunctional Dracula Family--Undead Daddy Dearest vs. daughter?  Jon's writing is always top-notch and Seppo's art is a joy. Again, if you haven't already done so, treat yourself to a copy of KENDRA, DRACULA'S DAUGHTER. You'll be glad ya did!

ITEM! Believe it or not, Groove-ophiles, there was a time when DC actually contemplated giving Superman's arch-nemesis Lex Luthor his own strip. Yep, right there in the back of Action Comics #486 (May 1978) is "Hero for a Day--?" touted on page one as "...the first episode in a new series...THE SECRET LIFE OF LEX LUTHOR". The story was written by letterhack-turned-pro Elizabeth M. Smith ("abetted" by Thomas E. Smith) with art by Kurt Schaffenberger and Frank McLaughlin. Strangely enough, editor Julie Schwartz must have quickly changed his mind, as the next two issues (part of the infamous DC Explosion) introduced two new "permanent" rotating back-ups featuring the Atom and Air Wave. Let that be a lesson, Groove-ophiles: crime never pays. It can't even get you a lousy regular back-up berth!

This-n-That Tuesday: Housecleaning, New Blogs to Explore, a Plug, and...Captain Avenger!

What it is, Groove-ophiles! Ol' Groove's got a lot to hit ya with today, so let's get it on!

ITEM! You might notice that the Mind-blowing Blogs list looks a bit slimmer, now. Ol' Groove has decided to exorcise all the blogs that haven't updated since March, so if you're blog is missing, that's why. There are so many active blogs out there, I hate for them to get lost in the mix, so I hadda make a tough call. If you're blog is gone but you update it in the future, drop Ol' Groove a line and I'll put ya back in the list. Fair 'nuff?

ITEM! You might also notice a different list of blogs, "Gone but Too Groovy to be Forgotten". Those blogs either have shut down or haven't updated in quite some time, but are too full of important info and/or just too doggone great to get rid of. I thought giving their own little space would help cut back on confusion while allowing us to still access our old, never-to-be-forgotten faves.

ITEM! Ol' Groove has also kept adding blogs, as you no doubt notice. I mentioned Mike Vosburg's vozwords yesterday, and would like to point out a few more brain-blasting blogs today, if ya don't mind.

• First up, you've gotta be reading the Jim Shooter blog. No matter your feelings about the man, he's got some stories to tell, and the blog is open to comments, so there's plenty of discussion and in-depth info being shared there. Jim's done it all--writer (at age 13!), artist, editor, publisher--and he's still going strong. It's the ultimate "insider's take" on the last half-decade of the comics industry, and it's must-read material for the true comics fanatic!

• Assistant Editor's Month Online is a new blog that covers a specific, but extremely important event: Marvel's Assistant Editor's Month of 1983. That wild and wacky month saw all kinds of ka-razee stuff happen in all of Marvel's mags--from creators guest-starring in the very mags they wrote/drew/edited to pages of solid white comics (with word balloons and sound effects) of battles in blizzards to Aunt May becoming a herald of Galactus. Blogger J.A. Morris will cover it all on his awesomely entertaining blog.

• When I first started the Diversions, I had originally planned to cover all things pop-culture 70s: TV, movies, games, music, and comics. I should'a known I'd have gotten stuck on comics. Thankfully, Darryll Sherman has graced us with his All About the 1970s blog, so all the stuff I don't cover (especially the cool cars!) are taken care either on Darryll's blog or on one of the far-out blogs he's linked to. If you love the 70s, visit Darryll!

• Ol' Groove couldn't believe he hadn't mentioned or linked out pal Booksteve's awesomely original A Geek's Journal 1976! I've followed, and loved, that blog since day one! I guess the daily visits and all had me thinking I'd added it to the list (I know I'd meant to!), but better late than never. AGJ76 is one of those amazingly simple "Why didn't I think of that?" premises: Steve dug up the actual journal he'd kept back in 76 and shares it with the world via the Internet. Is that cool or what? He also adds graphics and updated info to supplement his teen-aged thoughts. If you've never seen it, go there now!

ITEM! You might notice that the sidebar sports the cover for Red Leaf Comics Daring Adventures #2 featuring my cosmic hero, Ultimus. Right now it's available as a digital copy for only ninety-nine cents. As soon as the link is up for the paper copy (which is at the printers and due out in about 30 days), I'll add that link as well. The link will also take you to a page where you can buy Daring Adventures #1, if ya haven't done so yet. Ol' Groove would certainly appreciate your support for Ultimus, and I'd love to hear what ya think of 'im!

ITEM! And now, how 'bout some comics! This little-seen gem is from the back of Captain America #221 (February 1978) and was part of Marvel's program to help beat deadlines. It's a cool little "untold tales" story that stars perennial side-kick Rick Jones getting his shot at being a super-hero way back in 1964 (the story is set between issues 14 and 15 of the Avengers). Here's what author Scott Edelman had to say about "The Coming of Captain Avenger!"

We were encouraged, when writing brief stories to fit in the back of Marvel comics, to find cracks and crevices between storylines that could be filled in. Which is how “The Comic of Captain Avenger,” meant to take place between The Avengers #14 and #15, came about. So I was writing in 1978 about an event which supposedly took place back in 1965.

The five-page story, which starred Rick Jones and all of the mid-’60s Avengers fighting against Baron Zemo, was drawn by Steve Leialoha (penciller) and Al Gordon (inker).

(You can follow the link to the page Ol' Groove quoted here.) The tale is drawn by Steve Leialoha, best known for his inking skills on Warlock and Howard the Duck and inked by the underrated Al Gordon. Dig it, baby!