Hey, hey, hey, Groove-ophiles! Long-time readers know that one of Ol' Groove's favorite authors is Ron Goulart. Whether it's pulp/comicbook history, sci-fi/fantasy prose, or comicbooks, Mr. Goulart's skills have always brought yers trooly great delight. Imagine how ecstatic Teen Groove was when he got his hands on Marvel Preview #18 (May 1979)! Not only did the new Star-Lord creative team of Doug Moench, Bill Sienkiewicz, and Bob McLeod blow me away (check it out), but Marvel had snagged Ron Goulart to write an amazing back-up sci-fi saga! I looooove Goulart's sci-fi satire, and "Into the Shop" had the wit and bite I loved so much. Even more cool, it was brought to artistic life by recent graduates of  the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art's first class (and future super-stars in their own right) of Steve Bissette and Rick Veitch,. The young artists captured both the humor and the horror of Goulart's tale starring Clint Eastwood--er Marshal Clemens' nightmarish adventure. Here's a hidden treasure you won't find anywhere else, baby! Dig it!!















Dig it, Groove-ophiles! An anonymous citizen of Groove City just informed Ol' Groove that this mini-epic was made into an episode of Welcome to Paradox (Episode 13, 9/9/1998, according to IMDB) starring Dana Ashbrook!

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! If you live here in the U.S. of A., tomorrow's the day you've been dreading: your last chance to do your taxes! What could possibly give you more chills, shivers, and white-knuckled nerves than doing your taxes? Probably nothing, but Ol' Groove's gonna lay some creepy-cool on ya all week long, just to try to take some'a the chill off your wallet and onto your spine? How're we gonna kick things off?

 Why, with one of Gil Kane's best jobs of the early 1970s, that's how! You really get Kane's mastery of making his characters "act". Their facial expressions and body language keep propelling the story forward, drawing you into the terror that awaits. Editor Roy Thomas did a great job of teaming Kane with high caliber talent on "Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper!" considering it's based on a classic short story by Robert ("Psycho") Block, scripted by one of my all-time favorite authors (and comics historian supreme) Ron Goulart, and inked by the incredible Ralph Reese. Yeah, it would have taken a strong, strong fan to have passed up Journey into Mystery #2 (September 1972)!

Cover art by Gil Kane and Tom Palmer

Many times has Ol' Groove ruminated on the magnificence of Jim Starlin's titanic tenure as writer/artist on Adam Warlock's strip, but we must ne'er forget the greatness of Gil Kane as he and Roy Thomas re-created Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's Him as the bejeweled messiah of Counter Earth. With inkers like Dan Adkins and Tom Sutton, and writers like Mike Friedrich and Ron Goulart, Kane supplied some of his most stupendous splashes (sometimes more than one per ish!). Though he only drew a half-dozen issues (Marvel Premiere #'s 1-2, Warlock 1, 3-5, January 1972-January 1973), Kane's designs, along with the power of his pencils, made Warlock a cult fave and helped pave the way for Judo Jim's legendary saga.

One of Ol' Groove's all-time favorite authors, Ron Goulart, dabbled with writing comics for Marvel during the early-70s. The writer of sci-fi, horror, humor, mystery, adventure, fantasy, and comics history spent the better part of 1972 writing terrific tales for Journey Into Mystery, Supernatural Thrillers (you can find two of those tales here and here), and Warlock. Today's focus is on a trio of terrifying tales Mr. Goulart authored for Journey Into Mystery issues 3-5 (November 1972-March 1973). The first, "The Shambler from the Stars!"with art by Jim Starlin and Tom Palmer, adapted a 1934 Robert Bloch classic. The second, "The Haunter of the Dark!" with art by Gene Colan and Dan Adkins, adapted an H.P. Lovecraft shocker, and the third, "The Shadow from the Steeple!" with Rich Buckler/Frank Giacoia art, was an all-original sequel to "Haunter". Turn down the lights, pull the covers up to your chin, and prepare for some high-quality chills, Groove-ophiles!