Sunday Funnies: "The Collector" by Coram Nobis and Wally Wood

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! Time for some twisted giggles courtesy Coram (David V. Reed) Nobis and Wally Wood from House of Mystery #251 (December 1977). "The Collector" looks like it was probably created for the late, great PLOP! mag, doesn't it? Enjoy!

Sunday Funnies: "Well, I'll Be a Kotter's Uncle!" by Edelman, Oksner, and Estrada

Welcome back, Groove-ophiles! One of Young Groove's fave TV shows was Welcome Back, Kotter. Those silly Sweathogs and their equally trippy teacher tickled the old funny bone most every Thursday night. Evidently, the folks at DC who produced the Welcome Back, Kotter comic mag watched the show, too, 'cause the characters sounded right--something that didn't happen a lot in the world of licensed comics. Writer Scott Edelman really "got" Kotter, and proved it with WB,K #9's (October 1977) "Well, I'll Be a Kotter's Uncle!" The main running gag of the show, which kicked off and ended nearly every episode, was Kotter telling a funny story about an uncle or aunt. Edelman decided to build an entire story around Kotter's kooky relatives--and wrote a story that even tops what we saw on the show itself. The art by Bob Oksner and Ric Estrada captured the look of the show's characters and took things a bit over-the-top--but in a good way. Kick back and enjoy, Groove-ophiles. Don't be surprised if you find yourself saying, "Very impressive, Mr. Edelman!"

Sunday Funnies: "Mental Block" by Doyle, Lucey, and Stone

What it is, Groove-ophiles! Y'know, in a lifetime of reading Archie comics, Ol' Groove has learned a lot. The cool thing is that Archie and the gang are the teachers who keep on teaching. Take this classic Frank Doyle/ Harry Lucey/Chic Stone collaboration from Archie #236 (April 1974). When Young Groove read "Mental Block" back in '74, I'm sure he sided with Archie in this giggle-filled generation gap saga--but now, I totally dig where his folks are coming from! Whaddya think?

Sunday Funnies: "Where Stomps the Scent-ry!" by Thomas and Colan

It's been a while since we got our giggles on with Marvel's self-parody mag, Not Brand Echh! Here's one for all of us Captain Mar-vell fans--Captain Marvin in "Where Stomps the Scent-ry!" What made Not Brand Echh so cool was that, whenever possible, Stan would have the regular creative team work on the parody of the very mag(s) they actually worked on. Such was the case with this silly story in Not Brand Echh #9 (May 1968). When Captain Marvel (Marvel's Space-Born Superhero, natch) got his own mag, t'was written by Roy Thomas and drawn by Gene Colan--so here they are poking fun at their own stories. Silly? Yes. Strange? Certainly. Entertaining? You bet'cha!

Sunday Funnies: "Family's Feud" by Howard Nostrand

Admit it, Groove-ophiles--if you had a TV back in the mid-to-late 70s, you were addicted to Family Feud. That Richard Dawson-hosted Match Game spin-off took the game show world by storm, lasting well into the 80s, and rising again, and again, phoenix-like decade after decade. If you have GSN, you no doubt realize that the original version is the bomb-diggety. Dawson, smooching every lady contestant in sight, thumbs in his vest-pockets, doing his best to be nice when he really wanted to bop some of those nutty contestants is unlike any other game show ever. Naturally, The Feud was a pop-phenomenon, which means that our fave humor mags poked fun at it in their pages. Howard Nostrand's "Family's Feud" from Cracked #154 (cover-dated October 1978) looks great and does a fine job of skewering the sillier aspects of that classic show. On your mark! Let's start..."The Family's Feud"!

Sunday Funnies: Wally Wood's PLOPular Poetry

Here's a treasure-trove of forgotten treats for ya, Groove-ophiles! From issues 18-24 (August 1975-August 1976) of DC's "Magazine of Weird Humor" PLOP!, Wally Wood produced a humorous hum-dinger of a feature called "PLOPular Poetry". "PLOPular Poetry" ran a full-page in each issue and featured three poems (presented alphabetically) about the strange and sundry folks and fiends who invaded the imagination of one of comics' pioneers. Enjoy!

I wonder if  poems "v"-"z" were ever completed? Enquiring minds want to know!