Black and White Wednesday: "A Time Stop" by Will Eisner

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! Today we're going black, white, and blue as we take a look at a classic reprint of Will Eisner's The Spirit from Warren Magazines' far-out and truly groovy b&w mag of the same name. Issue #10 (August 1975) of The Spirit is an all-time fave. An extra-sized, extra-special summer special, it was chock-full of superior Eisner Spirit stories. One of Ol' Groove's faves is "A Time Stop" (originally published in January 1951), always made me wonder if Rod Serling read The Spirit (and Ol' Groove would just about bet his copy of Avengers #88 that he did), 'cause it's definitely the stuff from which a Twilight Zone episode was made!

Monday Miscellanea: Help a Fellow Groove-ophile Out, More Housecleaning, and Jack Kirby's Greatest Hits: Captain America Round Two

ITEM! Groove-dom is such a great place. We've got die-hard fans, casual readers, life-time fans, young whippersnappers, guys, gals, a few aliens, and quite a few comicbook pros populating the FOOG army. Ya know Ol' Groove loves, loves, loves ya! I also know that you're a great, giving bunch who would go the extra mile for a fellow Groove-ophile--and that's just what I'm about to ask ya to do! Loston Wallace, artist and co-creator of Image's Lorna: Relic Wrangler has come upon some hard times. His wife has been hit with breast cancer, so Mr. Wallace is wrangling up all the commission work he can to help offset the cost of the surgeries and treatments she'll have to undergo. Loston's not asking for hand-outs (though I'm sure he'd be tickled with any financial help he can get!), he's working hard to pay the bills, and I hope as many of you as possible will contact Loston with some commission bucks! Just so you can see for yourself how far-out his art is, here are a few samples of some commissions Loston's produced lately...

I know things are tight, but man, wouldn't it be cool to have some great art and help a man take care of his brave and beautiful wife at the same time? E-mail Loston or contact him through his Deviant Art page asap, Groove-ophiles! That's Loston Wallace at loston@lostonwallace.com or http://lostonwallace.deviantart.com/

ITEM! You might have noticed a bit of cyber-sprucing going on over in the sidebars. (And we finally have a Facebook page!) Well, Ol' Groove's straightenning up the place a bit, getting it ready for our THIRD ANNIVERSARY coming up this Wednesday. Why the housekeeping? Well, let's just say we're gonna have a bit of a new look around here. Hopefully it'll make Groove City more fun and functional. It's gonna be far-out and funky--and I sure hope you'll dig it! Just for a taste of what's to come, here's what the new header is gonna look like...

ITEM! Can't get enough Captain America? The flick was far-out (four and a half out of five spangled stars on the Groove-O-Meter), and Ol' Groove's dying to see it for--yes--a third time! To hold us over until the next viewing, here are some more of Jack Kirby's Greatest Captain America hits, from Captain America issues 100-109! Oh, yeah, the words are by Stan Lee! Wah-HOO!

Making a Splash: "Our Pal" Sal Buscema's Captain America--Round Three

Here it is, Groove-ophiles! Continuing what is probably the most famous and celebrated era of the Groovy Age Captain America (for the first two rounds, click here and here), represented by the stupendous splash pages supplied by Sal Buscema! We start off with the amazing Secret Empire saga (which guest-starred a then mag-less X-Men!), truck on through to the "Falcon Fights Alone" arc (complete with "Who Wants to Be Captain America?"), break it down with the intro of Nomad, and wind it up with Sal's fill-in work (during the time he was replaced, believe it or not, by Frank Robbins).

Ol' Groove really digs the "secret identity" author Steve Englehart dreamed up for Hawkeye. Golden Archer is a hilarious play on both DC's Green Arrow and McDonald's trademark Golden Arches. Genius!

Soon after, Jack Kirby would return to his co-creation--but that's not all for Our Pal Sal! No way, baby! Sal will return for yet another classic Cap run before the Groovy Age draws to a close. Stay tuned!

Making a Splash: "Our Pal" Sal Buscema's Captain America--Round Two

We're back with Round Two of Sal Buscema's far-out and fab Captain America splash pages, Groove-ophiles! The response to last week's Round One was huge--and Ol' Groove thinks things'll catch fire with this week's round! The following splashes represent a very important and much-loved Cap-era: the Cap-debut of author Steve Englehart, the secret of the 1950s Captain America and Bucky, the Serpent Squad, Cap's short-lived super-strength--and oh, yeah, Roy Thomas and Tony Isabella drop by to introduce the man who would become the second Baron Zemo. Enjoy!

Next: Moonstone! The X-Men! The Secret Empire! and Nomad!