Kamandi #14 by Jack Kirby

I used to rank Jack Kirby’s Fourth World series as my favorite of all his post-1970s comic book work, with Mister Miracle as my favorite title. Over the years, that shifted.

My favorite Fourth World title became Jimmy Olsen because of two things: (1) it’s such a whacked out, imaginative take on the Olsen universe and (2) it’s the first time anyone thought about Olsen as a character instead of the victimized afterthought he was for years in the Mort Weisinger comics.

But since then, my favorite has shifted once more. It’s Kamandi, The Last Boy On Earth. What began with the basic elements of Planet Of The Apes turned into an epic of post-apocalyptic Earth. Animals are in charge, humans are slaves or playthings, and only Kamandi stands as the last hope for mankind.

It’s been a long time since I read individual issues. I picked up a bunch on sale for $1 each during Free Comic Book Day, and Kamandi #14 was one of them, the earliest in the pack.

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Kamandi The Last Boy On Earth Omnibus

What do you do if you can't get the comic book license to Planet Of The Apes?

If you're DC publisher Carmine Infantino and the time is the early 1970s, you simply encourage someone to follow an old comic book tradition: create the homage.

Except that Infantino made that request of Jack Kirby and he took – to his credit – only the very basics of that idea (which was a staple of post-apocalyptic sci-fi for decades) and ran wild with it. According to Wikipedia, Kirby took the germ of Infantino's request, mixed it with a couple of pre-POTA projects of his from earlier and the result was Kamandi, The Last Boy On Earth.

It debuted in 1972 as part of Kirby's "2nd phase" at DC, after they cancelled all his debut books from the Fourth World series – New Gods, Forever People and Mister Miracle – and turned Jimmy Olsen back into a red-headed d-bag.

Click to continue reading Kamandi The Last Boy On Earth Omnibus

Happy Birthday, Jack Kirby!

Happy Birthday to Jack Kirby, who was born 93 years ago and who I think is the greatest creator of comic books ever. I just love his stuff. If you want to know more about Jack the man, Mark Evanier has a bunch of great stuff about him that’s well worth your time.

If you want some visual proof of Kirby’s greatness, Tom Spurgeon at The Comics Reporter has assembled a fantastic array.

If you want to read some of the classic monster stories that Kirby illustrated, the Monster Blog has a selection of 39 of them that have yet to be reprinted.

I met Kirby only once, at the San Diego Comic Con years ago, so I don’t have any personal anecdotes to share since all I did was shake his hand and burble something inconsequential. My pal Dave Olbrich, back when he was the publisher of Malibu Comics, was an occasional guest in the Kirby house - Malibu’s offices were in the same town as the Kirbys. I was too nervous to try to tag along. I love re-reading Kirby’s long run on Marvel Comics’ The Fantastic Four - it starts slow and builds to greatness. But I really like his stuff for DC Comics in the 1970s - his Fourth World books, especially Mister Miracle and, yes, Jimmy Olsen. Kirby’s the only creator who’s made that cub reporter interesting. I also love Kamandi and The Demon.

In the discussion and debate over Kirby’s many inkers, I go Joe Sinnott #1 and Mike Royer #2.

Happy Birthday, Jack!

[Artwork: The cover to Kamandi #1, by Jack Kirby, © DC Entertainment.]