Black and White Wednesday: Gene Day's Scream-ing Psycho Nightmares

What it is, Groove-ophiles! Today we're gonna dig on some stunning and scary art by none other than the late, great Gene Day. Day was best known during the Groovy Age as an awesome Marvel Comics inker, making an indelible mark on Master of Kung Fu, as well as Marvel Two-In-One and elsewhere. Post Groovy Age, his penciling talents were allowed to shine, again on MoKF, as well as on Star Wars. But seeing art both penciled and inked by the amazing Mr. Day was usually seen in the b&w mags and the "ground-level" comics from companies like Star*Reach. Day's earliest U.S. work, however, appeared in the waning days of Skywald's wild n spooky Horror-Mood mags, Nightmare, Psycho, and Scream. Day did ads, spot illos, and pin-ups from late 1973-early 1975, and Ol' Groove's dug up most (if not all) of those pages for your perusal! Enjoy!

Black and White Wednesday: May the Groovy Age Force Be With You!

Happy May Fourth, Groove-ophiles! We all know that the (arguably) greatest science-fantasy film of all time, Star Wars, is a product of the Groovy Age. We also know that Marvel Comics (thanks in a huge part to Roy Thomas) brought George Lucas' masterpiece to comicbook life way back then. Thomas, along with Archie Goodwin, Howard Chaykin, Carmine Infantino, Steve Leialoha, Terry Austin, Bob Wiacek, Gene Day , and others made monthly masterpieces of the continuing saga of Luke Skywalker and company for the rest of the Groovy Age, and Marvel kept using the force until well into the 80s. Today The Fourth is with DotGK as we dig on some far out original art pieces mined from the four-gazillion corners of the wwweb! Enjoy, baby!

Thursday Team-up: "Suffer Not a Warlock to Live!" by Gruenwald, Bingham, and Day

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! Today's the big wrap-up of Mark Gruenwald, Jerry Bingham, and Gene Day's "Her" saga from Marvel Two-In-One issues 61-63 featuring The Thing, Starhawk, and Moondragon! Man, did Ol' Groove both love and hate this issue when it came out! My heart nearly jumped outta my chest when I saw Adam Warlock's hand popping up out of that grave on that amazing George Perez/Terry Austin cover! I was thrilled at the cosmically inspired art by Bingham and Day, and oh, how I loved how Gruenwald filled in the continuity gaps concerning Sphinxor, changes in the Soul Gem, Counter-Earth, Warlock's temporary cosmic giantism, and what the High Evolutionary had been up to while Adam was out doing all the dirty work. That's the love part. We'll explore the hate part after you read "Suffer Not a Warlock to Live!" from Marvel Two-In-One #63 (February 1980). Don't wanna spoil the story...

Are you ready for the hate part now? Okay, here goes...I really, really hoped that Warlock would be back for good--and boy, was Teen Groove bummed when he wasn't. I eventually realized what a truly classy move it was on Gruenwald's part not to revive Adam. These days of hokey, obviously temporary "deaths" makes me appreciate Gruenwald's decision even more. Was this a great three-parter or what? Love that Groovy Age!!

Thursday Team-up: "The Taking of Counter-Earth!" by Gruenwald, Bingham, and Day

Hey, hey, hey, Groove-ophiles! Last Thursday you thrilled to The Ever-Lovin' Blue-Eyed Thing teaming with Starhawk as they got caught up in the mystery of Her! Today we're digging on part two, which adds Moondragon and even The High Evolutionary to the mix! Toss in flashbacks featuring Adam Warlock and a glimpse of Thanos, and you'll understand why we heaped such praise 'pon author Mark Gruenwald and artists Jerry Bingham and Gene Day back in January 1980, when this ish of Marvel Two-In-One (#62 to be exact) first appeared! It's a mix of Marvel continuity and Marvel cosmic, baby!

Cover art by George Perez and Joe Sinnott

Oh, and if ya dig team-ups and cross-overs, wait'll tomorrow, baby! Ol' Groove is doing a special team-up/cross-over post with my pals Doug and Karen at Bronze Age Babies featuring the grooviest team-up covers evah! It's gonna be faaaaaar-out!