Marvel-ous Mondays: "The Battle of New Brittania!" by Thomas, Friedrich, Trimpe, and Sutton

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! Here's another truly cool and far-out Ka-Zar adventure for your comicbook consumption! "The Battle of New Brittania!" (written by Roy Thomas and Gary Friedrich with art by Herb Trimpe and Tom Sutton) blasted its way to the spinner racks in Astonishing Tales #8 during Marvel's brief fling with the twenty-five cent, fifty-two page format, July 1971. Edgar Rice Burroughs had nothing on this creative team who gave us the continuance of WWII in the "modern day" (if that term even applies) Savage Land, complete with an early appearance of Bobbi Morse (who would become Mrs. Hawkeye/Mockingbird many years later). And boy oh, boy, do Trimpe and Sutton ever make an art team that's well-suited for a high-caliber jungle adventure!

Cover art by Marie Severin and Frank Giacoia

Famous First Fridays: Mockingbird

What it is, Groove-ophiles! We all know that Clint (Hawkeye) Barton's wondrous wife Bobbi Morse started her four-color life as an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. in the Ka-Zar strip and that she eventually became a super-heroine in her own right as The Huntress. We know that, 'cause Ol' Groove laid those facts on ya here. Did'ja know, however that Bobbi wasn't originally to have been Mockingbird, though? According to late-lamented creator Mark Gruenwald, Mockingbird was created as a villainess, a foil for Spider-Woman (when Gruenwald served as her mag's scripter)...and she was to have been a totally different character. However, when ace-writer Steven Grant wanted to come up with a new character to debut/partner-up with Spidey in Marvel Team-Up #95 (April 1980), he and Gru worked out a plan to combine the original evil Mockingbird with the heroic Bobbi, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., and viola! Hawkeye's future spouse was born. You can read all about it in the yellow box below if ya wanna...
With suh-wheet art by Jimmy Janes and Bruce Patterson, get ready to dig on the fabulous first appearance of Mockingbird in "...and No Birds Sing!"


AWESOME UPDATE! Be sure to check out the comments section on this post, Groove-ophiles, since none other than the author of the above web-zinger, Steven Grant, himself, has stopped by and added even more incredible info than the Gru's yellow block gave us. Thanks for stopping by and sharing, Mr. Grant!

Black and White Wednesday: Introducing the Huntress--Marvel Style

Barbara "Bobbi" Morse started her four-color career as a S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent 19 playing a supporting role in the Ka-Zar strip (Astonishing Tales #'s 6-8, 10-13, 15-20, Ka-Zar issues 3-5, Savage Tales #8). It was a rocky road from there to becoming Mockingbird, aka Mrs. Hawkeye, card-carrying member of the mighty Avengers. Between her days as Agent 19 and becoming Mockingbird, she worked briefly as The Huntress, her one appearance in that guise appearing in the legendary Marvel Super Action #1-and-only way back in 1975. She did a great job of holding her own in that testosterone-drenched action mag, sandwiched between none other than The Punisher and Howard Chaykin's Dominic Fortune. While The Punisher trudged on to super-stardom and Fortune played it fast and loose on the fringes becoming a cult-hit, Bobbi Morse would have to wait a few more years before taking her signature role as Mockingbird (Marvel Team-Up #95, April 1980)--and a few years more before she'd hit the big-time as the wife of Clint Barton and co-founder of the West Coast Avengers. Dig her first (and only) starring gig as The Huntress as Mike Friedrich, EC-legend George Evans, and Frank Springer reveal the "Red-Eyed Jack Is Wild!"