Ol' Groove's Request Line: "Curse of the Sea Monkey!" by Maiwald and Cruz

Check it out, Groove-ophiles! While Ol' Groove is running this post under the "Request Line" banner, this one was actually a plea spurred by last Friday's "Grooviest Covers" post. One "Concerned and perplexed M.P." "needs closure" after seeing Neal Adams' hauntingly amazing cover for House of Mystery #254 (June 1977)...

...So, M.P., here ya go, baby! You might be surprised at how different this story is from what you might expect from that cover, but in return you are getting a story featuring a creature that might have taken your comicbook moolah at one time or another...

Oddly enough, no Sea Monkey ad in this particular ish, but this crazy little ad was on page 17...

Weird, huh? Or was it all part of some sort of devious marketing plan...?

Was this one-and-only story written by the mysterious Lois Maiwald inspired by those kooky Sea Monkey ads that ran in our comic mags for oh, so many decades? Aw, great! Now Ol' Groove needs closure! Sigh...well, let's try to reign in our feelings and enjoy the cool story and fab-a-mundo E.R. Cruz art!

Ol' Groove's Request Line: "See No Evil!" by Kanigher and the Redondo Studio

Hey, hey, hey, Groove-ophiles! A few days ago, over on our FaceBook fan page (what? you haven't joined us on FaceBook? For shame!), Groove-ophile Burt B. mentioned that Ol' Groove had never run Ragman #3 and very politely requested that we share it here on the Diversions post-haste. Well, Burt, here 'tis! Dunno why we've never rapped about it here before. It's a goodie, with very nice Kubert-esque art by The Redondo Studio and one of those Bob Kanigher stories that hit all the high-notes: kids, kittens, and crooks with funky weapons (dig that bad-guy's wheelchair)! Here's "See No Evil!" from Ragman #3 (September 1976)!

Ol' Groove's Request Line: "Grudge", "Play War", and "Quick Trip" by George Baker and Fred Rhoads (?)

Hey, hey, hey, Groove-ophiles! For several months, a certain anonymous Groove-ophile has been banging the drum in an effort to get Ol' Groove to post some Sad Sack stories. Problem was, I was having trouble tracking down comics/scans, but Santa Claus came through with some Groovy Age Sad Sack scans! So, here for all to enjoy, are a featurette and two one-pagers from Harvey Comics' Sad Sack #200, plus the cover! According to Grand Comics Database, the cover and stories are by Sad Sack's creator, George Baker, but Ol' Groove is pretty sure the interior art (not sure about the writing, but according to this article from The Comics Journal, it's most likely Baker) is by Fred Rhoads, who drew the comic (and helped create several of the supporting characters) from 1954 to 1977 according to this article from the L.A. Times. The cover art and interior art styles are certainly very different. If I'm wrong, I'm sure someone out there will correct me! (Please be kind!) Anyhoo, enjoy "Grudge", "Play War", and "Quick Trip" from April, 1968!

Ol' Groove's Request Line: "Massacre by Remote Control" by Bates and Grell

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! We're back with a very special post from Ol' Groove's Request Line--Mike Grell's first full artwork on The Legion of Super-Heroes from Superboy #203 (April 1974)! This is a great big "Happy Birthday!" request for Groove-ophile (and artistic genius) James Sanders III! It's a milestone in the history of the Legion in more ways than one baby, right down the letters page (which Ol' Groove has included) and its heavy-handed handling of Dave Cockrum's departure from LSH! Here ya go, Jimbo! Happy Birthday!!