The Boys from Derby: "The Swamp Creature" by Gill, Larson, and Boxell

Hey, hey, hey, Groove-ophiles! Ya know how much we love swamp creatures here in Groove City, so anytime Ol' Groove chances upon a tale featuring some sorta muck we're gonna put it up here for all to see! This one, the oh-so-brilliantly titled "The Swamp Creature" by Joe Gill, Rich Larson, and Tim Boxell is no Swamp Thing, but it's still pretty cool. Can you hear it sloshing your way from The Many Ghosts of Dr. Graves #58 (May 1976)?

The Grooviest Covers of All Time: Joe Staton at Charlton

Plant your peepers on this pile of pencil and pen pulchritude, Groove-ophiles! Joe Staton made Young Groove plunk down more quarters for Charlton than any other artist, and here are a few reasons why...

(And yeah, my MOM bought the copy of For Lovers Only, not Young Groove. Sheesh!)

Diggin' Ditko: "Don't Lose Your Head!" by Gill and Ditko

Beware the Ides of March, baby (especially if you're name is Julius)! While Ol' Groove isn't here to stab anyone in the back, I am here to share a classic shocker by Joe Gill and Sturdy Steve Ditko from The Many Ghosts of Dr. Graves #43 (September 1973). Remember: be extra careful today...and "Don't Lose Your Head!"

The Boys from Derby: "The Arena of Lost Souls" by Pellowski and Vosburg

What it is, Groove-ophiles! Let's check out a classic chiller from Charlton's Many Ghosts of Dr. Graves #45 (February 1974). It's a bit different from our "usual" fare in that it's not by members of our regular stable of Boys from Derby, but it does represent some very early work by a couple of comics' most talented and enduring practitioners, Mike Pellowski and Mike Vosburg. For the record (and according to the Grand Comics Database) "The Arena of Lost Souls" is writer Pellowski's seventh pro comicbook script, while it's artist Vosburg's second pro/color job. Not only is this tale an oldie, but it's a goodie! But ya don't have to take Ol' Groove's word for it...

The Boys from Derby: A Nick Cuti Tuesday Two-fer

Summer is officially over, the days are getting shorter, the nights are getting longer...it's time to settle in for some thrills and chills from things that go "bump!" in the night. One of Ol' Groove's favorite thriller-chillers is Nick Cuti, co-creator of E-Man and Mike Mauser, and hands down my fave Charlton writer of the Groovy Age. I know all you Groove-ophiles dig Nick's wordsmithing, too, so let's get down with a double-shot of Cuti! First up, here's Nick teaming with Joe Staton in The Many Ghosts of Dr. Graves #43 (September 1973). Watch out for "The Things in the Subway"!


To wrap things up, check out this titanic teaming with the criminally underrated Tom Sutton from Monster Hunters #3 (September 1975). Good lord! Choke! It's horrible! It's not human! It's Charlton's twisted answer to Swamp Thing and Man-Thing! It's "The Wakely Monster"!

Famous First Fridays: Don Newton Debuts!

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! It's another Famous First Friday, and this time the FFF spotlight shines on a true fave, Don Newton. Don came into comics the old-fashioned way--working his way up the ranks of fandom, getting his pro "break" at Charlton (The Phantom and much more), then moving on to become a top DC artist (Star Hunters, Aquaman, Man-Bat, Shazam!, the New Gods, Batman). His elegant, moody style was easily adaptable to most any genre, and in the early 80s he reached his dream of becoming one of the top Batman artists of the era. Sadly, he left us in 1984, but his magnificent body of work won't be forgotten by those of us who were there when he was making that comicbook magic.

From Ghost Manor #18 (February 1974), here's Newton's debut tale, "The Empty Room!" (And, yep, it's written by the ever-entertaining Joe Gill, you betcha!)