Groove's Faves: "Vacation" by Micheline, Carley, and Fradon

 Greetings, Groove-ophiles! It's October AND yesterday (October 1) was the amazing Ramona Fradon's birthday! Let's celebrate by digging on one of the coolest things Ms. Fradon did during her Groovy Age tenure--"Vacation" from Plop! #8 (August 1974), written by David Michelinie (with assist from Russell Carley). Heh...if this "gift" were a cake, it'd be "devil's food!"

Groove's Faves: "The Ghost Town Sheriff" by Newman and Gill

Dig it, Groove-ophiles: Ol' Groove totally digs the Lone Ranger. Always have, always will. Young Groove didn't buy a lot of Lone Ranger comics 'cause they were hard to find, but when I did find a stray Gold Key ish with those gorgeous painted covers, I'd snatch 'em up. I never new if an issue had new stories or reprints (until I started noticing those "Reprinted by Popular Demand" blurbs stamped on the first pages of the stories), but I didn't care. Take for instance "The Ghost Town Sheriff" from Lone Ranger #14 (February 1969). This gem by Paul S. Newman and Tom Gill could have come directly from the late 1800s for all I cared--I just knew a rousing fun story with terrific art when I saw one! Check it out for yourself...

Oh, and this one was, indeed, a reprint from Dell's Lone Ranger #100 (cover dated October 1956).

Groove's Faves: "The Batman Encounters--Gray Face" by Gibson and Yeates

Dig it, Groove-ophiles! When the Groovy Age ended, it definitely went out with a bang, not a whimper. Take for example, Detective Comics #500. Coming out just a couple days before Christmas 1980, this 84 page, square bound celebration of perhaps the greatest comicbook of all time was loaded with classic material. From the oft-reprinted and much loved "To Kill a Legend" to the well-known "Once Upon a Time", to the rarely seen  "The Strange Death of Doctor Erdel" and "What Happens When a Batman Dies?", to the never-reprinted "The 'Too Many Cooks...' Caper" and "The Final Mystery of Edgar Allan Poe", that legendary comic is a holy grail/must-have for ever Bat/'Tec fan. But, to Ol' Groove, the coolest thing in that coolest-of-cool comics was the prose feature, "The Batman Encounters...Gray Face!" illustrated by then-newcomer Thomas Yeates and written by...Walter Gibson. Yep, the man behind The Shadow wrote a special Batman prose feature for 'Tec #500. Gibson's (under the "house name" Maxwell Grant") Shadow tales were definitely huge inspirations for Batman creators Bob Kane and Bill Finger, so rather than hide that fact, DC allowed us to revel in it. And you, you lucky Groove-ophile, get to revel along with us today!

Groove's Faves: "Music Soothes" by Doyle, Lucey, and Epp

Can you dig it, Groove-ophiles? Mere weeks before the debut of the first Archies single (Bang Shang A Lang, don'tcha know) and the first Archie TV show (The Archie Show), Archie's very own comic is making fun of The Archies! These days, the song and show would've been promoted out the wazoo, but way back in July 1968? Everyone wants Archie's band to pull the plug, shut up, and go away! Reverse psychology? Maybe Ol' Groove hasn't been giving Frank Doyle, Harry Lucey, and Marty Epp enough credit? Hmmmmm...from Archie #185, see if you agree that..."Music Soothes!"

And just 'cause Groove loves ya (and Archie)...

Groove's Faves: "The Walking Bombs!" by Albano, Saaf, and Oksner

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! During the early 1970s when Supergirl was headlining Adventure Comics, one of the strip's main attractions was a pre-Vanna White "What's She Wearing This Time?" angle. Supergirl's costume changed pretty often, sometimes a couple times an issue. Some designs were pretty good, some were pretty awful, so ya paid yer money and ya took yer chances. The costume Supergirl wore in Adventure Comics #413 (October 1971; the costume had debuted in ish 412) was Young Groove's fave--and I still dig it quite a bit. The story is one of those kinda corny, very implausible melodramas that would actually play on a kid's emotions, so it's a sentimental fave I s'pose. One of the things I dig (besides Supergirl's threads) is the way writer John Albano used Kara's now-you-have-'em-now-you-don't powers to force the Maid of Might to use her brain to get out of some sticky situations. And isn't the art by Art Saaf and Bob Oksner just downright pretty? Look out for..."The Walking Bombs!"

Cover art by Bob Oksner

Groove's Faves: "Hellfire and Holocaust" by Conway, Giffen, and Wood

Dig it, Groove-ophiles! We're back with another awesome episode of The All-Star Supersquad/ Justice Society of America from All-Star Comics #61 (April 1976)! Gerry Conway, Keith Giffen (Don'tcha just love his layouts? He packed so much action and drama into 17 pages!), and Wally Wood were really clicking with this ish, baby! A very cool villain (visually especially), lots of action, a bit of anguish (what about Dr. Fate?), and even a few pages setting up the next ish! Nice character moments, as well, with Jay Garrick and his wife Joan, Wildcat, and Power Girl (almost always a show-stealer). And wrapped up nicely under an Ernie Chan cover, to boot! Enjoy!