Groovy Age Gold: Secret Origins of Vigilante and Kid Eternity

Hey, hey, hey, Groove-ophiles! Today we're gonna dig on Secret Origins #4 (June 1973) which features not only the origins of two very cool and very different heroes, Vigilante and Kid Eternity, but these tales also happen to be their debut stories as well. Vigilante's origin comes from Action Comics #42 (November 1941) and features the titanic talents of Mort Weisinger and Mort Meskin. Ol' Groove has always had a soft spot for DC's "modern-day cowboy", and Meskin's art is soooooo cool, innit? Kid Eternity, published by Quality in the Golden Age and acquired by DC in the Groovy Age, has to be one of the most unique and original characters in all of comicdom. His origin story also happens to be his debut story from Hit Comics #25 (December 1942) and features yet another high-quality creative team: Otto Binder and Sheldon Moldoff. Squeeze these fun and far-out features under a Nick Cardy cover for two thin dimes, and, baby, you got yourself one uber-cool comicbook!

Sci-Friday/Addicted to Alex Nino: "The Time Machine" by Wells, Binder, and Nino

Part of Marvel Comics' ever-growing expansion of the Groovy Age was Marvel Classics Comics which ran for two years (1976-78) and 36 issues. The majority of the stories published in that series were new, but several, like today's The Time Machine,  presented in Marvel Classics Comics #2 (1976), was reprinted from Pendulum Press' Now Age Books imprint (circa 1973), which was a series of "miniature graphic novels"; upscale black and white comicbooks with color cardstock covers. (I've seen a few of them still floating around in various schools in my area as part of a remedial reading program for high schoolers.)

Today's is a particular fave. H.G. Wells deserves to be called a master, as he created and/or innovated so many sci fi concepts we take for granted these days. The adaptation was written by the great Otto Binder, one of comics' greatest writers, best known for his work on the Golden Age Captain Marvel and Superman, as well as for creating such concepts as DC's "Imaginary Stories", Brainiac, the Phantom Zone, Krypto, and so much more. But best of all is the incredible art of our main man, Alex Nino. Who but Alex Nino could make a so-called "educational comic" look so trippy and cool? Wordy as Binder's adaptation was (and had to be), Nino provided some breathtaking flourishes that special-effects artists of the day would have loved to have been able to replicate. Enough talk! Enjoy!!