Groove's Faves: "Vulcan: Son of Fire!" by Conway, Giffen, and Wood

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! We're back with another episode of The All-Star Super-Squad and the Justice Society of America, this one from All-Star Comics #60 (February 1976)! Things really get cooking with "Vulcan: Son of Fire!", baby! (No extra charge for the bad puns, either!) Keith Giffen's layouts give the JSA a "modern" feel, while Wally Wood's inks keep things cool and traditional. A perfect blend of Golden and Groovy Ages is what Ol' Groove thinks! Conway is doing some pretty keen stuff too, going beyond just the "generation gap" stuff of the first two issues--and you know I dig the spotlight on Dr. Fate!

Groove's Faves: "Trial By Fire" by Levitz, Staton, and Layton

What it is, Groove-ophiles! Nope, Ol' Groove hasn't forgotten we need to wrap up Paul Levitz, Joe Staton, and Bob Layton's haunting Huntress three parter from Batman Family! Right here it is, "Trial By Fire" from Batman Family #20 (July 1978)! Crank up the AC, baby, this one's hot!

Bring On the Back-ups: "The Hour Hourman Died!"

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! Here's a doozy of a back-up tale starring founding JSA (that's Justice Society of America to you, pal!) member Hourman. While DC had great success revamping Golden Age/Earth-2 heroes and concepts for the newer, more with-it Silver Age/Earth-1, they had less success when resurrecting the Earth-2 heroes themselves. Team-ups like Black Canary/Starman and Dr. Fate/Hourman (in Brave and the Bold) didn't lead to a big JSA or Earth-2 revival during the Silver Age, but the return of The Spectre (in Showcase) was met with a bit more success, running 10 issues. What's that got to do with Hourman? Well, for some reason, there was a little bit of space left from the lead tale in Spectre #7 (September 1968), so editor Julie Schwartz wisely decided to fill the extra space with this groovy little Hourman short by the titanic creative team of writer Gardner Fox and artists Dick Dillin and Sid Greene. Dig it, baby!

For you completists out there, "The Hour Hourman Died!" was reprinted in Justice League of America #91 (May 1971).

Famous First Fridays: Power Girl

Welcome back, Groove-ophiles! I'm comin' at'cha with a new semi-series, Famous First Fridays. Every Friday (at least, that's the plan) I'll be layin' a "famous first" on ya, whether it be a first issue, first appearance of a great character, first story by a fave writer or artist, or maybe even the first issue of a particular comic I ever glommed on to. You catch my drift? Good! Then, onward!


I was trying to think of something special to start off with, and I thought back 33 years to the return of All-Star Comics and the debut of the captivating cousin of the Earth-2 Superman, Power Girl! PG (as we came to call her) was created by writer Gerry Conway and designed by Joe Orlando, Ric Estrada, and/or Wally Wood (the world may never know) for All-Star Comics #58 .

Right from the beginning, we all knew PG was gonna be the coolest chick in comicdom! Just check out her dynamite debut:


For years, fans had wondered if there would be an Earth-2 version of Supergirl. The answer was yes and no. Yes, we got Kara Jor-L, but man, she wasn't your daddy's Supergirl! A little older, quite a bit more of a feminist, and a LOT more--eh--developed. For once, DC was stirring things up. And guess what? It WORKED. Comics fans went wild for PG, and she's pretty much remained a constant force in the DCU: she survived the (in)famous Crisis on Infinite Earths (while her Earth-1 counterpart Supergirl did not); starred in a few mini-series; and, of course, has held membership in both the JSA and the JLA.

She's come a long way, baby!