Diversions of the Groovy Kind

Features to Fire Up Your Facilities for Fun!

noreply@blogger.com (The Groovy Agent) — Fri, 10 Jan 2020 06:27:33 PST

Hey, Kids! Comics from 50 Years Ago!
January 6 & 8, 1970

Groovy Age Splash Page of the Week

Art by Jack Kirby and Mike Royer

Groovy Age Spotlight On...

Christopher Mills' Atomic Action Comics!

If you're like Ol' Groove, the above ad is a real grabber. We all miss comics made in the Groovy Age style. We long for the clean art, the fun storytelling, done-in-one stories that you could jump in on without having to search the Internet for a decade's worth of backstory before the mag you just bought could make any sense. Many an indie publisher promises and tries to do comics like they used to make 'em--but Christopher Mills and the Atomic Action gang have succeeded, baby!

Ol' Groove has purchased, read, and re-read all three of the Atomic Action mags that have been released so far (all pictured in the ad above) and I truly dig 'em, Groove-ophiles! They really do read like mags from the Groovy Age, the art really does look like art from the Groovy Age, the ads and editorial material really do give it all an authentic Groovy Age vibe! If the mags were on newsprint (an impossibility for small-press undertaking such as this, alas), you'd swear they came from the Groovy Age!

Mills' idea was pure, simple, genius: take PD characters from the Golden Age, create stories about them as if they'd been continuously published into the 1970s! THESE Atomic Action mags "are" the books that were published in the 70s!

Christopher Mills, a pro for 30 or so years has surrounded himself with other pros like Rick Burchett, Matt Webb, Peter Grau, Nik Poliwko, Joe Staton (!), and many others, to bring this dream project to life. Oh, and besides the three titles in the ad (Space Crusaders #'s 1-2 and Sleuth Comics #1--available RIGHT NOW at Indyplanet, by the way), Mills and company have several more titles and characters in the works as this pin-up by Rick Hoberg shows us...

Yep, besides Rex Dexter, Spacehawk, and The Owl, be on the lookout for "70s" updates of Crom the Barbarian, Cave Girl, Black Terror, The Heap, Miss Fury, and other Golden Age titans! For more info, get thee to Atomic Action Comics right now! And tell 'em Ol' Groove sent ya! See ya next week, Groove-ophiles! Pax!

noreply@blogger.com (The Groovy Agent) — Fri, 03 Jan 2020 06:53:42 PST

Welcome to the brand new, 2020 model Diversions of the Groovy Kind! Ol' Groove hopes you dig the new weekly format! Onward, Groove-ophiles!

Hey, Kids! Comics from 50 Years Ago!

January 1, 1970

Groovy Age Splash Page of the Week

Superman Vs. Spider-Man #1 (January 1976). Art by Ross Andru and Dick Giordano (with Terry Austin)

Groovy Age Spotlight On...

The Iron Fist of John Byrne!
One of Young Groove's favorite mid-70s mags was Iron Fist. Before they went on to super-stardom on X-Men, scripter Chris Claremont and penciler John Byrne knocked my socks off with their marvel-ous combo of soap opera, super-heroics, and kung-fu action. Looking back, it's STILL one of Ol' Groove's fave Groovy Age mags, and Mr. Byrne's fun, funky, and energetic art is definitely one of the main reasons! Check out these brilliant pieces of original art found scattered hither and yon round about the interwebs...

IF #12, inks by Dan Adkins

IF #6, inks by Frank Chiaramonte

IF #9, inks by Frank Chiaramonte

IF #11, inks by Dan Adkins

Inks by Terry Austin

And best of all, here's the UNUSED BYRNE COVER for IF #11!

That's all for this week, Groove-ophiles! Let us know what you think about the new, weekly Diversions of the Groovy Kind in the comments! And please be sure to keep checking for new updates for the new Diversions comic mag coming in early 2020! Ol' Groove's hoping you're gonna dig it the most! See ya next weekend! Pax, baby!

Merry Christmas 2019!

noreply@blogger.com (The Groovy Agent) — Tue, 24 Dec 2019 21:02:00 PST

Season's Greetings, Groove-ophiles! As is our tradition in Groove City, we're sharing a favorite mag from the Groovy Age Yuletide Season, this time it's Freedom Fighters #1!

Back on December 9, 1975, DC unleashed Freedom Fighters #1 (Quality Comics heroes Uncle Sam, The Ray, Black Condor, Phantom Lady, Doll Man, and Human Bomb) on the spinner racks, and boy, was Young Groove ever glad! That snazzy Ernie Chan cover just begged to be bought, and the interiors by Ric Estrada and Mike Royer looked like fun (as was the story by Gerry Conway and Martin Pasko)! Len Wein and Dick Dillin had already introduced us to the super-team from Earth-X in Justice League of America issues 107-108 (June-August, 1973) and I really dug 'em, so finding this mag was quite a thrill! Ol' Groove hopes you get a kick out of it on this particular Christmas Day (or whatever day you might be reading it) four color memory!

The Story Behind the Story

And it wouldn't be a Christmas post without giving you a glimpse into Groove's Goodies for this year:

All the best to you and yours this Holiday Season! See you next year with the new, weekly Diversions of the Groovy Kind! Pax!