Random Reads: "It's Only Magic!" by Lee, J. Buscema, and Verpoorten

Dig it, Groove-ophiles! Today we've got Stan the Man Lee, Big John Buscema, and Jumbo John Verpoorten teaming for the inaugural ish of Chamber of Darkness (July 1969)! Marvel was dipping into the waters DC was swimming so successfully in with their "house" mystery mags (House of Mystery, House of Secrets, and, eh--the Witching Hour--okay, they weren't all "house" mags), that publisher Martin Goodman no doubt said, "C'mon, Stan! You were doing these kinda mags in the 50s--do 'em again!" So Marvel did, complete with (short-lived) horror hosts like today's Headstone P. Gravely. What is it when Stan, John, and John get together to tell us the tale of a boy and his djinn? Why..."It's Only Magic!"

Marvel-ous Monday: Three Weird Wonder Tales with art by Powell, Wildey, and Torres

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! Doing something wild, weird, and (hopefully) wonderful on this first Monday of September 2018 (Labor Day to those of us in the U.S.): focusing on three specific reprints from Marvel's Weird Wonder Tales #7 (September 1974). While the venerable Grand Comics Database doesn't list the author(s) for this trio of shockers, Ol' Groove can't help but wonder if Stan Lee didn't write some or all of 'em. (He did edit them.) "It Walks Erect!" was drawn (again, as per the info on GCD) by Bob Powell, "The Wrath of Chondu!" was drawn by Doug Wildey (though a certain Wikipedia entry credits George Evans--Ol' Groove sides with GCD), and "Prisoner of the Fantastic Fog" was illustrated by Angelo Torres. Why did Ol' Groove choose these three seemingly random tales from a seemingly random ish of a reprint mag focused on pre-Marvel Age sci fi? To separate the MEN from the boys? Literally? 'Cause, for those of you who were around during the Groovy Age, you probably already know, especially when you realize that the stories feature Arthur Nagan, Jerry Morgan, and Chondu. For those of you still scratching your HEADs, you can cheat and google search, or follow the above links, or...you can wait 'til next Monday to learn...the big secret!

Cover art by Larry Lieber and Vinnie Colletta

Marvel-ous Monday: A Loving Look At Marvel Treasury Edition #1 Featuring the Spectacular Spider-Man

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! Remember that giddy feeling you'd get when you'd see an ad for a mag that you just had to have? Young Groove got that feeling a lot, especially, it seems, when it came to gi-normous comicbooks. Like those promised in this DC ad:

That one kept me on the prowl for weeks. But nothing. No-THING beat this ad for what would have to be the absolute greatest Spider-Man collection of all time:

Young Groove bought a comic he didn't even want just to get that ad. I'd stare at that ad, as if a genii was going to appear and give me a copy. That didn't happen, natch, but I did  get a copy the day it went on sale...from a musty drug store shelf about three hours from my home (after searching every store in Harlan, KY). And it was worth it! Just check out the goodies and splashes from the enormous 100 page hunk of comicbook heaven that was Marvel Treasury Edition #1 (which went on sale on this very date in 1974)…

An awesome original feature just for MTE#1 by Gerry Conway and Marie Severin

Sigh. Man, Ol' Groove loves this comic!

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.