Oh, Alfredo! "The Fury of the Haunted Horseman" by Bates and Alcala

Hey, hey, hey, Groove-ophiles! Ol' Groove's been diggin' the recent El Diablo back-ups in DCnU's All-Star Western (especially the Jordi Bernett art!), so I thought it'd be kinda cool to exhume a Groovy Age El Diablo tale. Make that a special El Diablo tale; one that sports the awesome artistry of...Alfredo Alcala! (Who else?) Does that grab ya or what? Yeah, that's what I thought! Here's Alfredo teaming with author Cary Bates in Weird Western Tales #19 (June 1973) for..."The Fury of the Haunted Horseman"!

Famous First Fridays: Skeates, Aparo, and Giordano's Aquaman Debut

For decades, DC Comics has been trying to figure out how to make Aquaman cool. Dunno what their problem is (I'm talkin' to ya, DCnU). Way back in May, 1968, the uber-team known as S.A.G. (writer Steve Skeates, artist Jim Aparo, and editor Dick Giordano), recently transplanted from Charlton Comics, hit the ground running with Aquaman #40's "Sorcerers of the Sea"!

For 17 issues, S.A.G. turned out some of the coolest and most innovative comics on DC's publishing schedule (read all about the behind-the-scenes in this fabamundo interview with Steve Skeates over at the awesome Aquaman Shrine). They made Aquaman a top seller  for a good part of two years. There's your template, DC. Are ya ever gonna use it?

Making a Splash: DC Comics 40 Years Ago This Month

What it is, Groove-ophiles! Here we are in the midst of DC's DCnU (aka the New 52). How's it going so far? Whether you're diggin' Johns, Lee, and the gang's reboot or not, you can't go wrong when you set the Waybac Machine to September, 1971 and dig the DCs of bygone days. Need proof? Here ya go!