Marvel-ous Monday: "The Soft Parade...of Slow, Sliding Death!" by Moench, Buckler, Pollard, Jones, and McWilliams

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! Man, could author Doug Moench come up with some doozies for story titles? "The Soft Parade...of Slow, Sliding Death!" didn't sound like it was gonna be a Spidey or Millie the Model tale, does it? Nope, it could only work on a mag that featured Deathlok the Demolisher! (Come to think of it, chapter two's "Shootout at the Flesh Factory!" is pretty provocative, as well!) Also of great interest for this unforgettable ish of Astonishing Tales (#30, March 1975) is the art. Creator/designer Rich Buckler laid the tale out in his sizzling cinematic style, then penciled some of the pages, while a couple of his powerhouse pencil-pals, Keith Pollard and Arvell Jones, finished the pencils on the other pages. And while Al McWilliams, craftsman that he was, wouldn't have been Young Groove's first choice of inkers, his singular style certainly pulls the various artistic styles together into a cohesive whole. And maaaaan, is this ever an action-packed ish!

Black and White Wednesday: A Sampling of Eerie Fanfare

Dig it, Groove-ophiles! From 1968-1973, Warren's Eerie magazine ran a cool feature called Eerie Fanfare. In it, as you might guess, the mags fans could get stories and art published (and Warren could hype a few things a la Marvel's Bullpen Bulletins, as well). Just a random run from Eerie issues 31-34 gives us fan work by future professional-folks like Pat Broderick, Steve Leialoha, Rick Bryant, and the team of Greg Theakston and Arvell Jones. We also get a bio of then-newcomer Dave Cockrum and a rare art sample from Jeff Jones. Plus some cool stories by fans who don't ring a bell to Ol' Groove but might to some of you out there? Check 'em out!

Team-up Week! Thursday Team-ups: "The Gravity War!" by Conway, Edelman, Jones, and Tanghal

Check it out, Groove-ophiles! Another day, another day of Team-up Week! Today we're wrapping up the Supergirl/Doom Patrol team-up from Superman Family! "The Gravity War!" plotted by Gerry Conway, scripted by Scott Edelman, and illustrated by Arvell Jones and Romeo Tanghal appeared in Superman Family #193 (October 1978)...

Thursday Team-ups: "What Goes Up...Can't Come Down" by Conway, Jones, and Tanghal

Hey, hey, hey, Groove-ophiles! It's part two of our Supergirl/Doom Patrol team-up (though this part doesn't feature much DP) by Gerry Conway, Arvell Jones, and Romeo Tanghal! "What Goes Up...Can't Come Down" first appeared in Superman Family #192 (August 1978).

Part three next week. Miss it not!

Thursday Team-Ups: "A Matter of Gravity" by Conway, Jones, and Tanghal

Dig it, Groove-ophiles! When the All-New Doom Patrol finished their three-part Showcase intro (issues 94-96, check 'em out here, here, and here) who'd'a thunk their next appearance would involve them teaming up with Supergirl! S'truth! At the beginning of the DC Explosion, June 1978, the All-New DP teamed with the Maid of Might in her berth in Superman Family (ish #191, to be exact). Now, this ten-pager by Gerry Conway, Arvell Jones, and Romeo Tanghal was, Ol' Groove strongly suspects, was to have been part of a 34 page ish of Super-Team Family, based on the fact that the story runs 32 pages all totaled through ish 193 and the writer/art team was the regular writer/art team on STF. STF was cancelled when DC went to it's all-fourty-four pages for fifty cent line, so a little creative editing made for a pretty smooth transition from STF to SMF. Only hadda change one letter! (I kill me sometimes!)

Fun fact for moi: Teen Groove bought this ish of Superman Family off the spinner rack the very same Friday evening he went with the fam to see Grease on the big screen! Sandy!