Our Pal Sal: "The Dreams of Death!" by Englehart, S. Buscema, and McLaughlin

What it is, Groove-ophiles! For about 40 issues, Our Pal Sal was the mainstay artist on the Defenders. Writers and inkers (great ones!) came and went, but Sal kept pushing that pencil to tell give us the adventures  of the world's greatest non-team. Sal is a huge part of why the Defenders was a must-read for yers trooly, along with a goodly portion of Marveldom Assembled. For ish number 6, Sal was joined by writer Steve Englehart, whose story kinda pointed the way toward the far-out types of tales that Steve Gerber would lay on us a couple'a years on down the road. The tone, the motives, personality, and plans of villain Cyrus Black, along with a plot that hinges on the existential angst (and madness) of our baddie is the type of thing we'd eventually get on an even wilder level from Gerber's versions of the Headmen and Nebulon. Oh, and this is a rare Hulk-less ish of the Defenders, leaving much of the spotlight to fall on The Silver Surfer. From March 1973, here's "The Dreams of Death!" inked by Frank McLaughlin...

Our Pal Sal: "The Woman Who Never Was!" by Claremont, Buscema, and Leialoha

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! Today we're gonna take a look at the grand finale of Marvel Team-Up's Spider-Man/Black Widow/Shang-Chi/Nick Fury epic! Not only do we have a great story by Chris (X-Men!) Claremont to wrap things up, but we get one more lingering look at one of Our Pal Sal Buscema teaming with one of his absolute best artistic partners, Steve Leialoha. You guys really seem to have dug this MTU epic, so let's send it off with a bang! From MTU #85 (June 1979), here's "The Woman Who Never Was!"

Our Pal Sal: "Catch a Falling Hero" by Claremont, S. Buscema, and Leialoha

Hey, hey, hey, Groove-ophiles! We're back with the third chapter of Chris Claremont, Sal Buscema, and Steve Leialoha's Spider-Man/Black Widow/S.H.I.E.L.D. super-saga! This time, Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu joins in on the fun, with baddies like Madame Hydra/Viper, Silver Samurai, and Boomerang making things extra hard for our hallowed heroes! From Marvel Team-Up #84 (May 1979), here's "Catch a Falling Hero"!