Random Reads: "The Day of the Devil" by Levy and Amendola

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! It's been a long time since we rapped about Atlas/Seaboard's ka-razee Phoenix (last time we rapped about Phoenix was way back here), so today Ol' Groove is dusting off Phoenix #3 (March 1975) for ya! What can one say about a comic mag in which the hero actually fights The Devil? Just this: Gabe Levy and Sal Amendola made me read it!

Cover art by Frank Thorne

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!

Bring on the Back-ups: "The Sight Stealers!" by John Broome and Sal Amendola

One of the coolest things DC did during the Groovy Age was introduce us young'uns to the Golden Age of comics via their 52-pages-don't-take-less era back-ups. What was really, really cool was when they would occasionally dig up an unused tale from that bygone era and publish it for the first time. Then there's Adventure Comics editor Joe Orlando's style--bring us "new" Golden Age material with a Groovy Age twist. For example, today's post features an unpublished Dr. Mid-Nite tale, written by John Broome and penciled by "artist unknown" rescued from their 1940s "files of the forgotten". The story had never been inked, so Joe handed it to Dick Giordano assistant Sal Amendola to finish, and viola! Golden Age meets Groovy Age. "The Sight Stealers!" finally made its debut in Adventure Comics #418 (January 1972). Check it out!

Later, also in the pages of Adventure, Joe and company unearthed a script for an unpublished, book-length Seven Soldiers of Victory tale, had it drawn by Groovy Age artists, and ran it as back-up for several issues.

Yeah, Ol' Groove'll be sharing that one with ya'll soon. After all, the holidays are upon us and Groove is nothing if not charitable!

Random Reads: Atlas/Seaboard's Phoenix #2

What it is, Groove-ophiles! It's been waaaay too long since we last visited astronaut Ed Tyler--aka Phoenix, so let's take a look at his swingin' second issue (December 1974). Lemme tell ya, man, this is a wild one! As mentioned in Ol' Groove's post about ish 1, Phoenix was a wild, though not totally successful, mish-mash of sci-fi and the Bible, as you'll no doubt glom on to as you peruse the following imperishable pages. It's definitely entertaining (and quite violent by Groovy Age standards), and to say the least, writer Gabe Levy and artist Sal Amendola gave us a rather...unique...superhero experience. Ya wanna see? Then read on...