Wednesday, July 26, 2017

Black and White Wednesday: "Among the Great Divide" by Gerber, Starlin, and Wiacek

Check it out, Groove-ophiles! Steve Gerber and Jim Starlin were to of the strongest, most unique, most, yes, idiosyncratic voices of the Groovy (or any) Age. Their comics were the ones you looked forward to because you really didn't know what to expect--except that it would be a comicbook experience like no other. They worked together a few times, with varying degrees of success. An early collaboration in Iron Man #56 (legend has it) got 'em fired from the mag by Stan Lee, himself. Then you get a macabre, thought-provoking, uncomfortabley amazing piece like "Among the Great Divide" from Rampaging Hulk #7 (December 1977). Since the story features one of Gerber's signature characters, Man-Thing, when Teen Groove flipped to the back of the mag, he knew he was in for a treat. When I saw that the art was by Jim-freakin'-Starlin (inked by Bob Wiacek)--yeah, I knew I'd spent my buck well. Everyone was still buzzing about the TV mini-series Sybil (starring future Aunt May (!), and soon-to-be Emmy  and Oscar winner, Sally Field), but of course Gerber and Starlin took their look at the serious subject of Dissociative Identity Disorder (then known as Multiple Personality Disorder) and gave their story--and the disorder, itself--its own twists...though most of my friends didn't know that this, superior, story even existed. Many folks still don't. Well, if you're reading this--you know it now...






















1 comment:

  1. I can see why you really dig this tale, oh Groovy one. This transcends the medium of comics, its almost a morality play, the basis of a novel, a movie.
    This is one of those few comic stories that fall into the category of all time greats in Comicdom.

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