Black and White Wednesday: Groovy Bob Brown Original Art

Bob Brown was one of those comicbook artists we took for granted back in the Groovy Age, wasn't he? His art was solid, but not spectacular, his storytelling was really amazing, but not flashy. When he drew Batman, Superboy, or Daredevil, especially coupled with the right inker like Murphy Anderson, Wally Wood, Dick Giordano, Klaus Janson, or (can you believe it?) Keith Pollard, Young Groove dug it. Young Groove had a much harder time with his Avengers work, though I always loved his Avengers debut (#113) with the very different but, in my eyes, very stunning Frank Bolle inks. Brown's art was very dependent on an inker for some reason. His style was always readily recognizable, but some inkers (sorry Don Heck) didn't flatter his pencils at all, while others (Dave Cockrum, sigh...) made 'em look pretty awesome. Now, Ol' Groove can see the mastery of the form displayed by Brown's art, and it really shows in these cool original pages I found scattered all over the Internet. Enjoy, Groove-ophiles!

Making a Splash: Joe Staton's Super, Boy!

Happy birthday, Joe Staton! One of Groove City's absolute favorite artists is celebrating today, and we wanna help celebrate in our own small but far-out way! As most of you know, Joe's snazzy art has graced the pages of tons of comics from most every publisher. He's especially revered for his co-creations E-Man, Mike Mauser, and the Huntress, as well as his art on comics featuring the Avengers, the Hulk, the Justice Society, Green Lantern, Legion of Super-Heroes, and so many more (right up to the Dick Tracy strip and E-Man revival--in Charlton Arrow-- going on right now)! Did ya know that Joe drew several Superboy solo-stories during the Groovy Age? No jive! Joe drew several issues of the Superboy strip in Adventure Comics (in 1977/78 between the Aquaman and Dollar Comics eras, issues 456-458), and stayed on when the Boy of Steel moved to the front of Superman Family (issues 191-194 and 196 in 1978/79). Would you like to see the smashing splashes from those super stories? Well, then, here ya go!

Thanks, Joe!

Making a Splash: Dave Cockrum's Legion

Check it out, Groove-ophiles! Today would have been Dave Cockrum's seventy-third birthday, so it seemed like a great time to remember that highly-regarded master of the comicbook arts. His career began its rocket-ride into the super-hero stratosphere in 1972 when he got to draw the Legion of Super-Heroes back-up in Superboy #184 (February 1972). He re-designed most of the Legion (as well as their mode of travel and club-house), then left for Marvel where he helped launch the All-New, All-Different X-Men, re-design the Guardians of the Galaxy and Ms. Marvel, and draw tons-o-covers. Today we're focusing on his LSH work: Superboy issues 184, 188, 190, 191, 193, 195, and 197-202. Watch a great artist grow, and the Legion get cooler issue by issue...

This post is dedicated to my pal, Jim Sanders III!

The Grooviest Covers of All Time: More Mike Grell!

Iron Mike Grell had a birthday this past Tuesday, so let's wish him a happy 69th birthday by looking back at a smattering of some more of his grooviest Groovy Age covers!

Making a Splash: James Sherman's Legion

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! James Sherman is one of those Groovy Age artist who won and wowed us, but also tantalized us by doing way too few comics. I loved Sherman's style (especially when he got out from under the overpowering inks of Jack Abel and was teamed with guys like Joe Rubinstein, Bob Wiacek, and Bob McCleod. Sherman is probably best remembered as the artist on Superboy and the Legion of Superheroes, replacing Mike Grell. Sherman did either lead stories, back-ups, or entire issues of SatLoS in numbers 225-226 (December 1976-January 1977), 228-231 (March-June 1977), 233 (August 1977), 236 (November 1977), 240-242 (March-May 1978), and 262 (January 1980). As you'll see, Sherman was stunning us by the time issues 240-242 came around, kicking off the well-remembered "Earth War Saga" with writer Paul Levitz. Creative differences with Levitz caused Sherman to leave the title, but he came back for one more Groovy Age Legion hurrah with author Gerry Conway in ish 262.

Sherman had a really cool, organic style that was totally original, but kinda lined up with awesome then up-and-coming artists like Michael Golden, Alan Weiss, and Keith Giffen. We'll dig on more of James' incredible artistry on down the line, but until then, check out these sensational Superboy and the Legion of Superheroes splashes!