Groove's Faves: "Vacation" by Micheline, Carley, and Fradon

 Greetings, Groove-ophiles! It's October AND yesterday (October 1) was the amazing Ramona Fradon's birthday! Let's celebrate by digging on one of the coolest things Ms. Fradon did during her Groovy Age tenure--"Vacation" from Plop! #8 (August 1974), written by David Michelinie (with assist from Russell Carley). Heh...if this "gift" were a cake, it'd be "devil's food!"

Groove's Faves: "The Lawn That Devoured Cleveland" by Michelinie and Aragones

How 'bout a howling heap o' ha-ha, Groove-ophiles? It's an early script by David Michelinie, illustrated by Sergio Aragones! Are ya starting to get an inkling of where "The Lawn That Devoured Cleveland" came from? You got it! PLOP! #7 (July 1974)! Here are some snickers for your Halloween bag, baby!

Black and White Wednesday: "...Through the Wringer" by Reed and Fradon

Wazzup, Groove-ophiles! While trippin' through some old issues of Amazing World of DC Comics, Ol' Groove came across this twisted treasure by David V. Reed and Ramona Fradon, "...Through the Wringer"! It looks like an unused PLOP! strip to me, but since the word "plop" doesn't show up in it, it must've been for one of DC's  "straight" mystery/horror titles. Wherever it should have gone, it wound up in AWoDCC #10 (January 1976)--and here it is for you!

Groove's Faves: "A Likely Story" by Skeates and Aragones

Oh, the genius of Steve Skeates and Sergio Aragones! They put the "op" in Plop! and that's for sure! From Plop! #8 (August 1974) here is "A Likely Story" by Skeates and Aragones! Look out!

Groove's Faves: "The Banana Dolls" by Aragones with Skeates

Nobody but nobody knew how to spin a PLOP! tale like Sergio Aragones and Steve Skeates--and why not? They pretty much invented and defined the concept with "The Poster Plague". Irreverent, violent, sadistic, and fall-on-your-face funny. "The Banana Dolls" from PLOP! #13 (March 1975) was plotted and illustrated by Aragones with a script by Skeates. It's a twisted twist on an old trope, but it ain't tripe, baby!

Groove's Faves: "Gerald's World" by Tom Sutton

Young Groove always loved it when Marvel gave one of my fave Boys from Derby, Tom Sutton, the chance to cut loose on a wild and wacky weird humor tale. Imagine my delight when I got my hands on Arrgh! #2 (November 1974) and found..."Gerald's World"!

Man, bet Gerald would'a made a heckuvva blogger!

Famous First Fridays: Plop! #1

What it is, Groove-ophiles! For an April Fool's Day Famous First Friday, Ol' Groove can't think of anything better than sharing the preposterously peculiar premiere publication of Plop! from June, 1973. Can you? Now I've shared the hilarious and horrendous history of this macabre mag of mirth before (you can read all about it here), but I've never laid that first ish 'pon ya! Well, here it is, baby! Feast your eyes, grab your gut, and get ready to guffaw--and/or glorf, depending on your particular sensibilities. Like it or not, don't blame me! It's all Carmine Infantino, Joe Orlando, Basil Wolverton, Sergio Aragones, Slim, Frank Robbins, George Evans, Sheldon Mayer, Alfredo Alcala, Steve Skeates, and Bernie Wrightson's fault!