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Kirby Komix!
SolitaireRose
Posts: 1,445
I am a HUGE Jack Kirby fan, and have recently been reading some of the Kirby stuff I haven't read in a long time, so I'm gonna post my thoughts on it, and maybe generate some good, old school CGS positive discussion about great comics!
I have recently read the first four issues of Kirby's 2001: A Space Odyssey, and am really impressed with what Kirby was doing with the book. Let's face it, after Kirby adapted the movie in a Treasury edition, the idea of a comic book series based on the movie seems like a REALLY odd choice. However, Kirby dived in, and as he did it, it played into his ideas about space gods, as well as humanity growing beyond its violent and destructive roots.
The first issue sets the tone as he mirrors the structure of the movie (in a 17 page comic!). We first meet a caveman who is a small step above his bestial companions, and in meeting the monolith, learns to create the first edged weapon. We switch to the future where his supposed descendent is trapped on the moon... Issue two follows the same structure with a female protagonist. The highlight of these two issues is getting a Kirby story of ancient man, and then followed up by Kirby's version of the Kubrich future. His art is powerful, and while I'm not the biggest fan of Royer's inks (I feel he followed Kirby's pencils a little TOO slavishly, rather than bringing his own influence to them like a Joe Sinnott or Joe Simon did), Kirby's art is strong, filled with action and does an incredible job of leading the reader from panel to panel.
Issues three and four are a leap forward as he leaves behind the format's structure and tells the story of Barak who uses the knowledge from the monolith to create the world's first army. Kirby is at a peak here with some incredible two page battle sequences, wonderful end of page reveals and excellent pacing. We also go from fearing Barak's barbarianism to understanding his shift from brutal leader to a man who is bringing humanity forward in his own drive for both conquest and love. It shows that Kirby really enjoyed the fantasy/prehistoric style adventure he did in Kamandi, and his...well...quirky dialogue works perfectly in this type of story (as it did in The New Gods).
It was not a huge hit at the time, and I see it as some of Kirby's most under-rated work.
I have recently read the first four issues of Kirby's 2001: A Space Odyssey, and am really impressed with what Kirby was doing with the book. Let's face it, after Kirby adapted the movie in a Treasury edition, the idea of a comic book series based on the movie seems like a REALLY odd choice. However, Kirby dived in, and as he did it, it played into his ideas about space gods, as well as humanity growing beyond its violent and destructive roots.
The first issue sets the tone as he mirrors the structure of the movie (in a 17 page comic!). We first meet a caveman who is a small step above his bestial companions, and in meeting the monolith, learns to create the first edged weapon. We switch to the future where his supposed descendent is trapped on the moon... Issue two follows the same structure with a female protagonist. The highlight of these two issues is getting a Kirby story of ancient man, and then followed up by Kirby's version of the Kubrich future. His art is powerful, and while I'm not the biggest fan of Royer's inks (I feel he followed Kirby's pencils a little TOO slavishly, rather than bringing his own influence to them like a Joe Sinnott or Joe Simon did), Kirby's art is strong, filled with action and does an incredible job of leading the reader from panel to panel.
Issues three and four are a leap forward as he leaves behind the format's structure and tells the story of Barak who uses the knowledge from the monolith to create the world's first army. Kirby is at a peak here with some incredible two page battle sequences, wonderful end of page reveals and excellent pacing. We also go from fearing Barak's barbarianism to understanding his shift from brutal leader to a man who is bringing humanity forward in his own drive for both conquest and love. It shows that Kirby really enjoyed the fantasy/prehistoric style adventure he did in Kamandi, and his...well...quirky dialogue works perfectly in this type of story (as it did in The New Gods).
It was not a huge hit at the time, and I see it as some of Kirby's most under-rated work.
Comments
Has it been collected?
It's interesting that in the Evanier book it says that Kirby didn't have much fun doing 2001 and yet it was arguably his best work from that time period.
Cory, you said 2001 was a 17-page comic but Evanier calls it a 71-page tabloid sized comic. I haven't read it, and I'm too lazy to fact check, so I'm just wondering who is right?
Celebrate by reading some Kirby!! I'm gonna read some of his early Ant Man stuff simply because I don't know if I've EVER read it!
And in case anyone is interested, TwoMorrows is running a sale on Kirby books and mags this month in honor of his birthday.
Stan scripted the first one, and Roy scripted the second, and for Kirby they were pretty typical of his 1970 work for the company. The story was simple, Kraven the Hunter comes to the Savage Land to hunt Zabu. When Kirby was drawing the action stuff, it was everything you would expect, but the non-action scenes seemed pretty lifeless.
The weird thing to me was in issue #2, a LOT of Ka-Zar's faces were drawn by someone else, and on one of the pages, every Ka-Zar panel was VERY CLEARLY redrawn. It did whet my appetite for Kirby to do a Ka-Zar series (although most of the story was in New York, and I'd rather have seen him flesh out the Savage Land), and really seemed a lot like his work on Kamandi.
I'm reading Kirby's Black Panther run from the 70's. I liked it at the time, but I was upset that they'd ended Don McGregor's run for it. Don was doing some brilliant work at the time, and his Black Panther is a classic...Kirby's stuff however was just fun comics.
The thing that is so great about the book is that while the stories were continued and had on-going plot threads, each book could be read on its own. So many wonderful ideas and concepts were jammed into this comic. Mr Little and the collectors, King Salomon's tomb, a human from six million years in the future, a hidden city of immortal samurai, vibranium turning T'Challa's half brother into a monster...all done with action that never EVER lets up! The letters pages had people complaining about Kirby's new direction, but these books have been PURE FUN!
I also like that he has Black Panther unmasked almost as much as masked in the stories...he doesn't wear a mask to protect his identity, it's part of his ceremonial garb. I love other comics from the 70's, but Kirby's stuff are comics that I just can't read fast enough...and unlike today when creator rehash and rehash all of the old concepts, Kirby just starts throwing new ideas at you at a pace no one could even attempt now.
And no one, and I mean NO ONE drew a fight sequence better than The King.
Kirby's last story was VERY dark, and has a lot of moments of real horror involved. He also altered the Black Panther's powers, giving him ESP and clairvoyance from being exposed to raw vibrantium. Not the best idea, but I can see why Kirby wanted to up the power level of the character a bit.
All in all a fun series with a dull thud of an ending. I also REALLY want to talk about the letters pages, which may have been the best example of the office politics Kirby accused Shooter and others of playing.
I did!
Just listened to your "Jack Kirby Part 1 – 1917 – 1943" episode.
Well done! Can't wait for the next instalment.
I would have been one of those kids on the bus that traded away the Kirby books. When I was a kid, I just didn't get why everyone thought he was such a big deal.
Of course now I'm kicking myself for missing out on all those great Kirby books. Can't get enough of his stuff.
Royer is awesome and this is probably some of the best Kirby work ever. Issues 6, 7, and 8 were brilliant.
A new cover from the later reprint of the first 11 issues...