Funny Stuff: "Dr. Deranged vs Deadpan!" by Thomas, Colan, and Grainger

Dig it, Groove-ophiles! Roy Thomas and Gene Colan (with inker Sam Grainger) brought us a doozy of a supernatural, super-hero parody in Not Brand Echh #13 (February 1969). Can ya believe..."Dr. Deranged vs. Deadpan!"? (And how 'bout that Spookter cameo?)

Making a Splash: Ms. Marvel, Year One

Hey, hey, hey, Groove-ophiles! Wanna take a look back at the first year's worth of sizzling Ms. Marvel splashes by titantic talents like the Brothers Buscema, Jim Mooney, Keith Pollard, Joe Sinnott, Frank Giacoia, Tom Palmer, and Sam Grainger? Yeah, Ol' Groove thought you might! Well, here there are from issues 1-13 (October 1977-October 1978)!

The second year-plus would bring talents like Carmine Infantino, Dave Cockrum, and Mike Vosburg to the fold. We'll check 'em out in a future post if ya wanna!

Marvel-ous Monday: "...Under the Name of Ritual--" by Conway, Colan, and Grainger

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! A few weeks ago (right 'chere) we rapped about Daredevil #77 and the DD/Sub-Mariner/Spider-Man free-for-all that ended with Spidey and Subby following a mysterious lady into another dimension via a tear-drop shaped mystic portal. Well, today we're gonna find out where our sensational super-heroes went--and what kinda trouble they got into! Sub-Mariner #40 was one of three extra-special comics that Dear Ol' Dad bought me to cheer me up while I was feeling under the weather one fateful Sunday in May 1971, so it's a sentimental fave. (The other two were Fantastic Four #112--Hulk vs. Thing, and Batman #232--the first appearance of Ra's al Ghul--yeah, DoD had great taste in comics--and a lotta luck, too, since the Batman comic was a couple months old! Ya had to love comicbook distribution in the 70s, baby!) Young Groove really dug the Gene Colan/Sam Grainger art, and Gerry Conway's story was pretty cool, too, especially that weird villain, Turalla. I still think it's a fun yarn. Hope you dig..."...Under the Name of Ritual--"

Cover art by George Tuska (Turalla looks like very Gene Colan-ish to moi), Frank Giacoia and John Romita.

Marvel-ous Mondays: "The Sun God!" by Conway, Smith, and Grainger

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! Here's yet another sample of Barry (not-yet-Windsor-) Smith growing as an artist by leaps and bounds--but not on Conan the Barbarian! While everyone knows about Barry's legendary run on REH's greatest barbarian, Bashful Barry's Ka-Zar work in Astonishing Tales seems to have flown totally under the radar. Well, here's your reminder, baby! Written by Gerry Conway and inked by Sam Grainger, from Astonishing Tales #4 (November 1970) here comes..."The Sun God!"

Cover art by John Buscema and Joe Sinnott