R.I.P. Sam Glanzman

Sam Glanzman, a comicbook creator who got his start at the dawn of comics in 1939, has passed away at age 93. Glanzman's energetic, detailed style was published by almost every publisher ever, but he's best known for his work at Charlton and DC. His war comics, especially his autobiographical U.S.S. Stevens, were best known and best lauded, and Ol' Groove really dug his work on Westerns, too. He had a long, great career, and you can learn all about it via Mark Evanier's News From ME. Here are some of Mr. Glanzman's \ stunning covers and splashes...

Sadly, Stan Lee's wife, Joan, also passed away this past weekend. Our condolences to Stan and his family.

Random Reads: "The Games of Raging Gods!" by Mantlo, Tuska, and Colletta

Hey, hey, hey, Groove-ophiles! Way back in August 1975, Iron Fist had departed the pages of Marvel Premiere and lizard-lept (made that up--but it does sound kinda kung-foo-y, huh?) into his own mag. That left MP to become the mag it was originally intended to be--a try-out mag with different concepts getting a shot every ish (or two or three). The first character to "premiere"? Hercules, the Prince of Power, baby! Yeah, I agree, it should have been published in Marvel Spotlight, but Marvel never really seemed to differentiate between who was "premiering" and who was being "spotlighted"... According to the splash page (which seems to have been added as an afterthought to moi), the story was a celebration of Herc's tenth anniversary in the Marvel Universe. Looked like a sequel to Avengers #'s 49-50 to Teen Groove, but, whatever. I actually got it for the incredible Jack Kirby/Vinnie Colletta cover (Jack was back at Marvel! Hoo-hah!)! Strangely enough, Herc mentions The Champions, although this particular mag came out between the first and second issues of that short-lived but much-loved super-team's series (which were the first two parts of a three part saga, mind ya), so I guess this story would come between Champions 3 and 4? Sheesh! That's a lotta yappin' about a middling one-shot story, Groove! Okay, I'll shuddup and let Bill Mantlo, George Tuska, and Vinnie Colletta lay "The Games of Raging Gods!" 'pon ya!

Amazed by Aparo: "The Feud" by Skeates and Aparo

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! Today we're gonna gaze on some early Jim Aparo artwork from the back pages of Charlton's Hercules #1 (July 1967). Thane of Bagarth was written by Steve Skeates, set in the days of King Beowulf and read a whole lot like a companion strip to Prince Valiant. Skeates' stories were (as always) intriguing, and Aparo's art was a joy to behold. Check it out!

Man, wouldn't it have been cool to have seen JA take on Conan? Oh, the missed opportunities!

Far-Out Fantasy Week! Black and White Wednesday Groovy Guest-Post: "The Isle of Fear!" by Mantlo and Mayerik

Hey, hey, hey, Groove-ophiles! Mighty Mike Mikulovsky is back with yet another Groovy Guest-Post! This time, the Mighty One is reminiscing about the far-out Hercules back-up found in Marvel Preview #10 (early 1977). Ready? Set? Go!!

I've always been a big Thor fan, but I'm an even bigger Hercules fan. After grabbing Marvel Preview #10 off the shelf, I learned that not only did it have a great Thor cover by Ken Barr, but also a beautiful frontispiece by Jim Starlin! The Thor feature was by Jim Starlin, Tony Dezuniga, and story by Len Wein! To my pleasant surprise, when I got to the second half of the mag I found a even greater feature to me: Hercules by writer Bill Mantlo and artist Val Mayerik of Frankenstein and Man-Thing fame. Val drew similar to Barry Windsor Smith in this story! It looks spectacular! "The Isle of Fear" retells the story of Hercules' greatest battle during his time with  Jason and the Argonauts. Bill sure knew how to write entertaining tales, too. His work a few years later on the Micronauts, then on Rom, Spaceknight, and the Incredible Hulk were always, well, incredible! (Bill's on FaceBook for anyone who like to write on his wall.) Whenever I think of Marvel's/Kirby's Hercules, I think of Steve Reeves! (I was always disappointed Marvel wrote Herc as a buffoon, which I didn't like. Herc could be a hot-headed, ego maniacal, party animal and womanizer--and he could be careless at times, sure. But I never thought of him as stupid.) I hope you enjoy this story as much as I did in the winter 1977 and still do today. For Olympus! No wonder I ended up naming my huge maine coon cat Zeus!