Marv-elous Monday: Eating the Fantastic with Scott Edelman and Marv (Get It?) Wolfman

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! Yeah, Ol' Groove's being a little sneaky with the Marv-elous Monday title, but I think you're really gonna dig this. Scott Edelman, a Groovy Age fave who (among many other accomplishments) edited F.O.O.M. Magazine, wrote some awesome issues of Captain Marvel, and created The Scarecrow has a series of podcasts called Eating the Fantastic, in which Sparkling Scott shares a sumptuous meal and interesting conversation with sci-fi luminaries. Scott's latest podcast, though, is especially of interest to those of us here in Groove City as he's interview another Groovy Age great, none other than Marv Wolfman whose Tomb of Dracula, Nova, and many other 1970s comics (and 80s comics, and 90s comics...) are much loved by us all. Of special interest is how Scott ties his conversation with Marv into an the last interview Scott conducted with Marv--back in 1974 when he was editing the aforementioned F.O.O.M. Magazine!

And just because Ol' Groove loves ya, baby, here's some more cool stuff Scott put into that particular ish of F.O.O.M. (#8)...

How cool is that? Now, the real reason we're here (I'm getting to it, Scott!), if you'll please follow the link and...

Join comics legends Scott Edelman and Marv Wolfman for gelato in Episode 54 of Eating the Fantastic!

One more last pic, of Scott, Marv, and the late, great Len Wein from F.O.O.M. #10!

And if you dig that, how about this discussion with Game of Thrones' George R. R. Martin (who talks a bit about his work in fanzines and as a Marvel letterhack)? It's right here: Down drunken noodles with George R. R. Martin in Episode 43 of Eating the Fantastic.

And there are dozens more cool interviews on Eating the Fantastic, so don't forget to save Scott's site to your favorite browser--oh, and leave a nice tip for the waiter!

Groove's Fave Posts Week! I Was a Friend Of Ol' Marvel

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! Ol' Groove is having a birthday this coming Saturday, I've got a brand new grandchild (#4!) on the way, and school has started back. Instead of struggling to keep up or (heaven forbid) getting behind, Ol' Groove is going to try something I've been toying with for a long time: re-runs! Yep, there are a lot of old posts that I'm really proud of that don't seem to have gotten the attention I'd have liked, so I'm going to run them this week. Next week, Ol' Groove'll be back with new posts, but 'til then, enjoy and comment on these Favorite Posts!

From November 3, 2008...

When Ol' Groove is waxing eloquent on why being a comics fan back in the Groovy Age was such a blast, the thing my mind always goes back to is F.O.O.M. Yep, I was an original Friend Of Ol' Marvel, baby! From the moment I saw this ad......(which was actually a Bullpen Bulletins Page that had been hijacked for the ultimate hype), I knew I hadda get $2.50 in the mail to P.O. Box 1827 in New York and get those goodies! My folks were sitting at the kitchen table talking (as they usually did) when I crept stealthily up the stairs to put into action my plan to beg, borrow, or bust to get the money to join F.O.O.M. I showed 'em the ad, looked at them pleadingly...and they said, "Sure." They actually thought it was pretty cool. And man, did I think they were cool! Right away, they wrote a check, I filled out and cut out the ad from my brand new copy of Amazing Adventures #18 (February, 1973--the debut of War of the Worlds!), stuck it all in an envelope, and mailed it the next day.

Next came the hard part. Waiting. I'm sure it was only a few weeks, but it seemed like months before a big honkin' envelope with a giant Steranko Hulk face showed up (complete with address sticker in the Hulk's mouth!). I got home for school one sunny spring day, and it was lying on that fateful kitchen table waiting for me. I ripped it open...and entered comicbook heaven!

The Jim Steranko poster featuring a plethora of Marvel heroes (and the Black Widow, too) completely blew my mind. It took a few minutes to recover from that, then I signed my golden membership card, spread out the stickers and spent a few minutes figuring out where I was gonna stick 'em (all over my room, it turned out), and then I sat down and cracked open the cover of the first issue of FOOM Magazine. Smiling Stan Lee welcomed me on the cover, and then I dove in. An intro by Steranko filled me in on what FOOM was all about. There were pics and bios of several Marvel Bullpenners. An illustrated history of the Fantastic Four (I'd never seen so much as a panel of the first ish before that fateful afternoon) illuminated the dawn of the Marvel Age for me. I belonged. Officially. I'd always felt like a Marvelite anytime I read a Marvel comic, but now I had a badge to prove it.

Next day at school, I showed it off to my friends. They all "ooohed" and "ahhhhed" over it. A few even talked their folks into letting them join.

I kept my membership going for the better part of the next four years. I even renewed once and got a brand new set of stickers, poster, and envelope. For 17 glorious issues, I knew what to look forward to when I got to the spinner rack before most any of my friends. I knew to be on the lookout for a new Red Guardian in the Defenders. I knew to watch the racks for new superheroes like Nova and Ms. Marvel. I even had the heads up about the first Marvel Super-Special starring KISS before the TV news unleashed the story.

FOOM magazine actually ran for 22 quarterly issues. It was a whole lot like an extended Marvel letters page crossed with an extended Bullpen Page, each issue running 36 pages and filled with art (unused and preview), news, comics history, interviews, games, puzzles, mini-posters, ads for cool Marvel Comics memorabilia (like bronze pendants, Spider-Man record albums, and posters), and even contests, like the (in)famous "Create a Character" contest where the winning character didn't appear in a comic 'til about 30 years after the contest ended.

It was wild, wacky, fun, and frivolous, just like all Marvel Comics. But it was also a rite of passage into fandom. For those of us who lived hundreds of miles away from any comics convention, FOOM was it for us.

Black and White Wednesday: FOOM Magazine #9 Cosmic Stuff by Stern, Vohland, Starlin, Byrne, and more

Hey, hey, hey, Groove-ophiles! Here's the best ish of FOOM Magazine Young Groove never had: the special cosmic issue: FOOM #9 (late 1974/early 1975)! Yeah, Young Groove's subscription for FOOM ran out with ish #4 and the family was moving from Ohio to Kentucky, so the folks nixed my re-upping for a while. After the move, I met a fellow sixth-grader named David who loved comics as much as I did. He had a subscription for FOOM and let me borrow his copies. Wotta pal! FOOM #9 started off with an in-freakin'-credible Jim Starlin cover and was loaded with articles on Silver Surfer, Warlock, Captain Mar-Vell, and the Watcher by a young Roger Stern and the late Duffy Vohland, and filled-to-the-brim with outtasite art by newcomers like John Byrne, Don Maitz, and Stephen Fabian. Is it any wonder I loved this ish?

And just 'cause Ol' Groove loves ya, baby, here's the legendary Mistress of Kung Fu back cover, also by that kid Byrne!

Oh, and fear not, faithful ones! Ol' Groove eventually got his own copy of FOOM #9 (thanks, eBay!). Oh, and my folks let me re-subscribe just in time to get FOOM #10 featuring the All-New, All-Different X-Men. Don'tcha just love happy endings?

Black and White Wednesday: FOOM Magazine #4 by Steranko and Company

Check it out, Groove-ophiles! The fourth fab ish of FOOM Magazine from late 1973! Editor Jim Steranko and a variety of Marvel Bullpenners put the spotlight on the bad guys long before Smilin' Stan brought 'em on! Oh, and if you peruse the Character Contest pages you just might see art by some names that would go on to be quite familiar in comicdom...