Random Reads: "Maximilian's Treasure"

Howdy there, Groove-ophiles! Not too long ago, Ol' Groove moseyed on down to the local Cracker Barrel to fill his belly with some good breakfast grub. While waiting for a table, I was drawn to the spinner rack (love spinner racks!) filled with DVD collections of classic TV shows. What did my wondering eyes behold but an old, long unseen (for moi) fave, the first season of The Wild, Wild West! Now, to Li'l Groove, that show was right up there with Lost In Space and Batman, baby, so I had to nab that sepia-toned box of memories. Watching them made me remember Gold Key's short-lived comix series based on that awesome old show, and viola! a new post is born! Jump in the WABAC machine and let's see what comicbook shenanigans the James Bond of the West and his Master of Disguise partner could get into...

Can anyone help identify the credits for this story? All the Grand Comics Database can tell us is that Sal Amendola inked it... Thanx!

The Boys from Derby: "Moonless Night/Intelligent Species" by Cuti and Staton

Hey, Groove-ophiles! As many times as we've grooved to the greatness of Charlton's adaptations of the cult-fave TV show SPACE: 1999, we've never glommed the fabulous first ish of the color mag (August 1975)! It was only natural that the powers-that-were at Charlton handed that dyn-o-mite debut over to the titanic talents of Nick Cuti and Joe Staton. Just as it was only natural that our Boys from Derby could create a scintillating sci-fi mini-epic like..."Moonless Night/Intelligent Species"!

Groove's Faves: "Berserker" by McKenzie and Simonson

The original Battlestar Galactica TV show was must-see TV for Teen Groove. That such a short-lived show is so well remembered (and revamped with yet another fan-fave TV show) decades later speaks much for Glenn A. Larson and company. The reality is, though, BG wasn't the huge hit it was meant to be, so it didn't last as long as it deserved. Thank goodness, then, for Marvel Comics. Marvel licensed and adapted BG from the get-go, with the comicbook series outlasting the show by over a year (the TV series lasted from September 1978-April 1979, while the comic lasted 23 issues from December 1978-October 1980). Ol' Groove's all-time favorite is is #16's (March 1980) "Berserker" by Roger McKenzie and Walt Simonson. McKenzie's story is fast-paced and action packed. Plenty of laser-guns and space ships and the coolest Cylon ever. This allowed Simonson to really strut his storytelling stuff, giving us all kinds of wild action angles, explosions, innovative layouts, and cool sound effects. Walt even colored the ish, adding yet another layer of storytelling to his already prodigious artistic arsenal. You're gonna really dig this one, Groove-ophiles!