Groovy Age Gold: "The Riddle of the Clown" by Kanigher and Kubert

If you're a regular reader of DotGK, then this piece of Groovy Age Gold won't need an introduction. If this is your introduction to the Golden Age Greats (writer, artist, and/or characters) we're about to enjoy...you're welcome. From Detective Comics #439 (November 1974, originally published in Flash Comics #92, cover-dated February 1948), here are Hawkman and Hawkgirl in "The Riddle of the Clown" by Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert!

Groovy Age Gold: "The Count That Never Ended!" by Kanigher and Kane

Hey, hey, hey, Groove-ophiles! How 'bout some early Bob Kanigher and Gil Kane on Wildcat? It's a match made in heaven when Wilcat meets The Huntress in "The Count That Never Ended!" This one originally appeared in Sensation Comics #71 (November 1947), but we got to read it in 100-Page Super Spectacular #DC-20 (June 1973). Check it out!

Groovy Age Gold: "I Sustain the Wings!" by Weisinger and Ray

It's Veteran's Day here in the U.S. and to celebrate, Ol' Groove would like to share a favorite Golden Age Superman story with ya! "I Sustain the Wings" was originally published in Superman #25 (cover dated November/December 1943). The story was "Prepared in cooperation with the Army Air Forces Technical Training Command, Major General Walter R. Weaver, Commanding General" while both writer Mort Weisinger and artist Fred Ray were still in the service, so some might call it propaganda or a recruiting tool or somesuch, but to Young Groove, this story represented what it meant to be a true hero. Not a guy with super-powers, but a regular Joe (or in today's story, Larry) who gives up his personal freedom and risks his own well-being to defend the freedom of others. Dated and even hokey this story may be, it's meant a lot to me since I first read it in 100-Page Super Spectacular DC-18 (cover dated July 1973). Ol' Groove hopes you like it, too!

Grooviest Covers of All Time: Nick Cardy's JLA, Round 2

Hey, hey, hey, Groove-ophiles! Ol' Groove just remembered that waaaaaay back in April we took a look at a pile of far-out Nick Cardy Justice League of America covers with the understanding that we'd look at the rest of Nick's JLA covers in the near future. Well, at least it's the future! From Justice League of America #'s 110-116 (December 1973-December 1974), here's Nick covering the JLA's 100 Page Super-Spectacular area. Nick was a master, there is no doubt, and what makes these covers so cool is to see how many ways he conquered the multiple-stories-on-the-cover mandate the Specs seemed to require. Ready for some fun with Superman, Batman, Flash, and the rest of our super-gang?

Making a Splash: Cool Contents

No, they're not really splash pages, but during DC's experiment with making several of their titles 100 page mags, they would often give the first page over to a table of contents. Most of the time the art on the contents page was some cut and paste job featuring older, reworked art from random sources. Sometimes, though, a wise editor would commission a brand new piece of art from a fave artist like Walt Simonson, Sal Amendola, or Howard Chaykin (not 100% sure on that one, though...). Once in a while a hot up-and-coming artist like Pat Broderick (often inked by yet another newcomer, Terry Austin) got a shot at creating contents page art. Here are some of Ol' Groove's faves from Brave and the Bold, Detective Comics, and World's Finest!


Throughout the remainder of the Groovy Age, DC would commission some cool contents page art for their sixty-cent and Dollar Comic mags. We'll look at some of those masterpieces in a future post. Sound good to ya, Groove-ophiles?

Groovy Christmas' Past: The JLA must find "The Man Who Murdered Santa Claus!"

When you're in the fifth grade, headed home from the doctor who just tended to your broken arm (which you broke at school--take Ol' Groove's advice: never play soccer with a basketball on a snowy/icy blacktop playground while wearing cowboy boots), and it's not quite Christmas, things can be a little rough. But when you stop at the drugstore on the way home from that terrible trip and see a gem like Justice League of America #110 (100 pages for sixty cents!) sitting on the spinner rack, things can brighten up considerably. I know they did for Young Groove. So here's an extra special Christmas treat guaranteed to make even the Scroogiest of Scrooges smile. From December, 1973, here's a big dose of holiday cheer from Len Wein, Dick Dillin, Dick Giordano, and Julie Schwartz..."The Man Who Murdered Santa Claus!"