Monday, August 31, 2009

Random Reads: Black Goliath in "Survival!"

While Young Groove always dug the Black Goliath character, the short-lived comicbook series never really lived up to its promise. Until the final issue. After four issues of run-of-the-mill super-heroes punching out third-rate super-villains, "Survival!" was a breath of fresh air. I dunno if it was the amazing Keith Pollard art, or regular scripter Chris Claremont (who wrote issues 2-on) finally cutting loose with a full-out sci-fi story, but after four mediocre issues, Black Goliath #5 (August 1976) just blew me away. While the plot isn't earth-shattering (or even all that original), it is a touching tale of friendship, heroism, and sacrifice. But. It. Was. The. Last. Issue. Wonder what Claremont and Pollard would have dreamed up for issue #6 had the series continued? Ah, well. We'll always have Kirgar.

3 comments:

  1. Groove:

    I didn't like this one quite as much as you did, though I did think the Keith Pollard art was swell. I gave this issue a B on Comics Bronze Age. (But I just added a quote from your review and a link back to this page so people could come here for a Second Opinion!)

    Cheers,
    Andrew

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hey, cool, Andrew! Being quoted makes ya feel more like "somebody" than having your name in the phone book! (Yes, I am a Steve Martin fan!)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hey, Groovy-Agent! Thanks for posting this tale! I loved it as much as you did! This was a great tale. And Pollard really exploded in this issue. Yeah, I loved him on FF and Spidey and Thor, but I really wish Black Goliath continued. If only because of having a different thing on the spinner rack.

    ReplyDelete

LinkWithin

Blog Widget by LinkWithin
Special thanks to Mike's Amazing World of Comics and Grand Comics Database for being such fantastic resources for covers, dates, creator info, etc. Thou art treasures true!


Note to "The Man": All images are presumed copyright by the respective copyright holders and are presented here as fair use under applicable laws, man! If you hold the copyright to a work I've posted and would like me to remove it, just drop me an e-mail and it's gone, baby, gone.


All other commentary and insanity copyright GroovyAge, Ltd.

As for the rest of ya, the purpose of this blog is to (re)introduce you to the great comics of the 1970s. If you like what you see, do what I do--go to a comics shop, bookstore, e-Bay or whatever and BUY YOUR OWN!