Category Archives: Upcoming Kirby

Greg Theakston is doing a new reprinting of Jack Kirby’s 1958-1961 science fiction comic strip SKY MASTERS OF THE SPACE FORCE.  Looks like he’s doing it in two volumes this time, with the first one being 138 pages, which is about right for the first 500 or so of 774 daily strips (4 to a page in the previous edition), with the remainder of those and the 53 Sunday full pages left for a second book.  Diamond comic order code is AUG111171.

There’s also the usual slate of Marvel stuff coming out, the last monster/fantasy TALES TO ASTONISH hardcover volume, FANTASTIC FOUR reprints, a YOUNG ALLIES reprint backing a collection of new stories and a new version of the old FANTASTIC FIRSTS book, now MARVEL FIRSTS: THE 1960s (so, bonus, no Wolverine this time…).

Coming this fall from Abrams ComicsArts is THE SOMEDAY FUNNIES, edited by Michel Choquette, an anthology of comics about the 1960s begun in the early 1970s, and including among the contributors Jack Kirby with a two page story “The Ballad of Beardsley Bullfeather, or, Tune In — Cop-Out and Drop-Up!”.  It’s a nice little story, but if you don’t want to buy a $55 book just for that, other contributors include C. C. Beck, Rene Goscinny, Harvey Kurtzman, Moebius, Art Spiegelman, William Burroughs, Federico Fellini, Frank Zappa and Gahan Wilson.

Bit of an odd choice both in timing and content for this book from DC:

DC COMICS PRESENTS: THE JACK KIRBY OMNIBUS SAMPLER #1
Written by Various
Art by JACK KIRBY and others
Cover by JACK KIRBY
On sale OCTOBER 26  96 pg, $7.99
With the JACK KIRBY OMNIBUS VOL. 1 – STARRING GREEN ARROW HC on the way, DC presents this selection of Kirby mystery stories from the 1950s, pulled from the pages of HOUSE OF SECRETS #3, 8 and 12, HOUSE OF MYSTERY #76, TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED #13, 1 and 24 and MY GREATEST ADVENTURE #15, 16 17, 20 and 21, plus a Green Arrow tale from ADVENTURE COMICS #251!

That KIRBY OMNIBUS that this is sampling should be out in a few weeks, and this sampler is a bit under a third of the contents of the book. You’d think they’d have the sampler come out prior to the book in question.  I also think this would have been more effective as an overall Kirby sampler, maybe with a few of these stories mixed in with some Sandman, Newsboy Legion, Boy Commandos, one of the as-yet-unreprinted Manhunter tales, a Challengers story, maybe a 1970s story or two.

Also from DC,

JACK KIRBY’S FOURTH WORLD OMNIBUS VOL. 1 TP
Written by JACK KIRBY • Art and cover by JACK KIRBY and VINCE COLLETTA
On sale NOVEMBER 30 304 pg, FC, $39.99
At last, the first title in the acclaimed FOURTH WORLD series is in trade paperback, collecting SUPERMAN’S PAL, JIMMY OLSEN #133-139, FOREVER PEOPLE #1-3, NEW GODS #1-3 and MISTER MIRACLE #1-3! Featuring the debuts of Orion, Darkseid, Mister Miracle and more!

The contents suggest that’s a straight softcover edition of the 2007 book, although the page count is low for the contents, so one or the other is probably a typo.

For those who like such things, another pair of Fighting American t-shirts coming out soon, to go with the previously announced shirts and mugs.

To go with the previously announced but not yet released first volume, Greg Theakston’s concluding volume of his Kirby biography is also scheduled for this summer:

Jack Magic Vol. 02: The Life & Art of Jack Kirby
by Greg Theakston
Witness Jack Kirby up close with almost 200 illustrations that support 160 pages on the King of Comics. From the Marvel era to past the end of his life, Kirby’s influence is investigated. Unseen art kisses unknown fact. Theakston writes an insider’s view of what happened.

Titan has some officially licensed merchandise of the Simon and Kirby creation Fighting American coming out and listed in the May 2011 Diamond Comics Previews catalog.

That’s two different t-shirt designs and two mugs.  The shirts are listed at $20 each (page 366) and the mugs $9 (page 428).