Catching up on some Kirby release info, stuff’s been coming out steadily this year. One I missed on solicitations was that THOR #600 reprinted several “Tales of Asgard” shorts as backups, but more on that in a bit. Biggest release of the year so far is tomorrow, a collection of Kirby’s dozen OUR FIGHTING FORCES issues.

March 11, 2009 – THE LOSERS BY JACK KIRBY HC
March 4, 2009 – COLLECTED JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR – Volume 7
February 25, 2009 – MARVEL MASTERWORKS: THE FANTASTIC FOUR VOL. 1 TPB
February 25, 2009 – MARVEL MASTERWORKS: THE MIGHTY THOR VOL. 8 HC
February 11, 2009 – THOR #600 (several Tales of Asgard short stories)
February 4, 2009 – MARVEL MASTERWORKS: THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN VOL. 1 TPB (a few covers and a short back-up)
January 28, 2009 – MARVEL MASTERWORKS: GOLDEN AGE CAPTAIN AMERICA VOL. 3 HC

And a few new things announced from Marvel. The TALES OF ASGARD mini-series will presumably include all 49 five-pagers from JIM/THOR #97-#145, and probably six rather than five issues as listed, but with Marvel you never know. I’m guessing a collection of them soon after is likely, if not certain, and hopefully the “modern coloring” won’t be that bad. I assume that recent THOR #600 was a sample of what to expect, so if anyone picked that up and wants to comment, feel free. And all three of Kirby’s YELLOW CLAW issues from the 1950s are included with some other fine stuff , much of it never reprinted before, in one expensive book.

---

THOR: TALES OF ASGARD BY STAN LEE & JACK KIRBY #1 (of 5[?])
Written by STAN LEE
Penciled by JACK KIRBY
Cover by OLIVIER COIPEL
The legend has come true! By the will of the gods, I am alive! I am invincible! I am — THOR!!! And so began the very first epic tale of Marvel’s most revered hero, the mighty Thor, whose legend would grow alongside the success of Marvel comics, making him the most exciting super hero of all time! Never has Thor been more sensational than during these early tales, crafted by Marvel’s greatest, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Re-live classic Norse mythology in the mighty Marvel manner as well as Stan and Jack’s stories of the Norse Gods and Thor before he came to Earth as Don Blake. Witness as these masters breathe life into the thunder god and some of Marvel’s most enduring characters: Helmdall, Balder, Loki, Odin and Hela. Read these stories as never before with all-new, modern coloring and six extraordinary interlocking covers by current THOR artist Olivier Coipel. Collecting the “Tales of Asgard” backup stories from JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #97-104

48 PGS./$3.99

---

MARVEL MASTERWORKS: ATLAS ERA BLACK KNIGHT/YELLOW CLAW VOL. 1 HC
Written by STAN LEE, AL FELDSTEIN & VARIOUS
Penciled by JOE MANEELY, JACK KIRBY, JOHN SEVERIN, FRED KIDA & VARIOUS
Cover by JOE MANEELY
From the heroic times of King Arthur to the dangers of the Cold War, the Atlas Era brings you the greatest adventure stories from the 1950s. Presenting the original series of two legendary characters that have bridged the decades – all the way from the Atlas Era to the Avengers and Agents of Atlas – Black Knight and Yellow Claw are must-haves for every Marvel maniac! Sir Percy of Scandia may appear to be a foppish weakling, too timid to fight and the scorn of Camelot, but only Merlin knows the truth: Sir Percy is the gallant Black Knight! Come to drive Modred de Monfort from King Arthur’s court, he wields the ebony blade against Norman invaders, dragons, imposters and usurpers to the throne. With the pencil of Atlas great, Joe Maneely, delineating the action,Black Knight is a sure-fire classic! Then comes Cold War tales of mystery, espionage and world domination from the pages of Yellow Claw! Illustrated by the incomparable trio of Joe Maneely, John Severin and –in a rare mid-50s Atlas appearance– Jack Kirby, F.B.I. Agent Jimmy Woo’s mission to capture the century-old mystic from the root of the Himalayas is packed with gritty crime and unimaginable adversaries, from mind-bending mutants and UFO the Lightning Man to Temujai the Golden Goliath and the Living Shadows! Collecting BLACK KNIGHT #1-5 & YELLOW CLAW #1-4.
256 PGS. $59.99
ISBN: 978-0-7851-3515-9

Harry Mendryk has had some news recently on Joe Simon’s upcoming reprints of S&K studio material from Titan, the first book still a few months away but more books already being added to the plans. And for those able to go to the New York ComiCon next month, Joe Simon will be there doing a panel and signing two limited edition lithographs featuring some sweet S&K art at the Titan booth.

A few other upcoming publications, details below. The Kirby work in the first two YOUNG ALLIES issues is minor, just covers and some splash pages apparently, but stuff that hasn’t really been reprinted before. Softcover Masterworks books continue with AVENGERS v1, an unidentified S&K Captain America story in a back-up to some new stuff. JACK KIRBY QUARTERLY #15 came out a few months ago (more details here), but is distributed to comic shops for the first time with the February 2009 solicitations (FEB094563).

---

JACK KIRBY QUARTERLY #15
This is the 15th-anniversary special of the original and fully-authorized magazine dedicated to the King of Comics, Jack Kirby! In addition to little-seen artwork, the main focus of this title is the in-depth analysis of various facets of Kirby’s work across the decades, from his crime comics and westerns to his fantasy and superhero work, plus non-comics television and film projects. Contributors include Marv Wolfman, Kevin Eastman, William Stout, Greg Theakston, Peter Laird, Paul Gravett, Paul Gambaccini, and Dez Skinn. This speicial issue includes 18 pages of rare interviews with Jack and Roz Kirby, including one of Jack’s final interviews. (Quality Communications) (C: 0-1-2)
Magazine, 68pgs, B&W $7.95

---

MARVEL MASTERWORKS: THE AVENGERS VOL. 1 TPB
Written by STAN LEE
Penciled by JACK KIRBY & DON HECK

Pick up the adventures of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes from day one with the MARVEL MASTERWORKS! Comicdom’s greatest assemblage of super heroes burst onto the scene in 1963 as Marvel Comics revolutionized the comic-adventure art form. Gathering together to face the evil Loki, Iron Man, the Incredible Hulk, Ant-Man, the Wasp and the Mighty Thor formed the improbable core of the ever-changing super-team. But it was three issues later when, from the ice of the northern Atlantic, Captain America returned from the frozen depths that the Avengers truly took form. Illustrated by Jack Kirby and Don Heck, and written by Stan “The Man” Lee, you’ll find the first appearances of Kang the Conqueror, Wonder Man, the Space Phantom and Baron Zemo, the debut of the Masters of Evil and the Hulk’s departure from the team and “subsequent team-up with the Sub-Mariner to take down his former comrades. They’re Marvel Masterworks one and all!
Collecting THEAVENGERS #1-10
248 PGS $24.99

---

MARVEL MASTERWORKS: GOLDEN AGE YOUNG ALLIES VOL. 1 HC
Written by STAN LEE, OTTO BINDER & VARIOUS
Penciled by AL GABRIELE, JACK KIRBY, CHARLES NICHOLASWOTJKOSWKI, JACK ALDERMAN & VARIOUS
Cover by JACK KIRBY

The Young Allies, comics’ very first boy-adventure team, leap into four-color action once more with their debut MARVEL MASTERWORKS volume! Super-hero sidekicks unite when Captain America’s pal, Bucky and his Sentinels of Liberty team up with the Human Torch’s protege, Toro, and take on the Axis! And they won’t waste a second getting down to business. Right from issue #1 they take the fight straight to Berlin and, rest assured, the Red Skull, and even Hitler himself, won’t be walking out of this one without a bloody nose. Next up, the Black Talon returns from the pages of CAPTAIN AMERICA COMICS to terrorize the Young Allies, or maybe that should be the other way around? There are 5th Columnists, Nazis, Imperial generals, spies, and action galore in each of these Timely classics. The Golden Age of Comics packed in cover-to-cover adventure, but there are few that can compare to the massive, 60-pages plus, issue-length adventures of the Young Allies!
Collecting YOUNG ALLIES #1-4
288 PGS $59.99

---

CAPTAIN AMERICA COMICS #1 70TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL
Written by JAMES ROBINSON
Penciled by MARCOS MARTIN
Cover and Variant Cover by MARCOS MARTIN
Sketch Variant Cover by MARCOS MARTIN
Leading off a series of celebratory specials commemorating Marvel’s 70th Anniversary, James (STARMAN, SUPERMAN) Robinson and Marcos (AMAZING SPIDER-MAN) Martin bring you an untold story of the living legend. In the days before he becomes Captain America, a scrawny kid from Brooklyn named Steve Rogers shows the world that you don’t need a super-soldier serum to be a hero. Plus a classic Captain America tale from the Golden Age by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby.
48 PGS./One-Shot/All-New & Reprints $3.99

Couple of upcoming Kirby reprints announced recently. The issues of MARVEL MYSTERY in the Masterworks edition has the first four Vision stories, a few never reprinted before. Looks like the current plan is for the softcover Masterworks to follow the release order of the hardcover series, running monthly, so expect two volumes each of FF, X-Men and Avengers and one of the Hulk in 2009. Not sure what’s in that Fantagraphics SUPERMEN book, a few things could qualify under the premise. And that reprint of Atlas in the back of a book of recent Superman stories is out of left field.

---

SUPERMAN: THE COMING OF ATLAS HC
Written by James Robinson and Jack Kirby
Art by Renado Guedes, Jack Kirby, Jose Wilson Magalhaes and D. Bruce Berry
Cover by Alex Ross

Titans clash in this first hardcover collection of SUPERMAN tales from fan-favorite writer James Robinson (STARMAN)! Featuring SUPERMAN #677-680, this is the battle to end all others as Superman faces off with Atlas, lost god of myth. And when Atlas stakes a claim on Metropolis, it’s up to Superman and Krypto to take Atlas down.

As a bonus, this collection also includes FIRST ISSUE SPECIAL #1, the 1975 tale by Jack “King” Kirby that introduced Atlas!

on sale April 8 – 128 pg, FC, $19.99 US

---

MARVEL MASTERWORKS: THE FANTASTIC FOUR VOL. 1 TPB
Written by STAN LEE
Penciled by JACK KIRBY
Covers by JACK KIRBY & DEAN WHITE

In 1961 Stan Lee and Jack Kirby lit the fuse on the greatest revolution in comic book history, the Marvel Age of Comics, and right here in the pages of The Fantastic Four, you can experience it from page one. With the space race, on Reed Richards, Ben Grimm, Sue Storm and Johnny Storm shoot for the stars, but after their craft is bombarded by cosmic rays, they return to Earth with the startling powers of the Fantastic Four! These weren’t just any super heroes, though, they were a realistic, relatable, bickering and loveable family that couldn’t float their rent and didn’t always enjoy their superpowers. So come join the Marvel Masterworks and witness the first appearance of such Marvel U. cornerstones as the Skrulls and Dr. Doom, the Sub-Mariner’s return, the debut of the Mole Man and his many monsters, Miracle Man, the Puppet Master and more! Collecting THE FANTASTIC FOUR #1-10.

272 PGS/All Ages …$24.99

---

MARVEL MASTERWORKS: GOLDEN AGE MARVEL COMICS VOL. 4 HC
Written by JOE SIMON, RAY GILL, ANDREW MCWHINEY & VARIOUS
Penciled by CARL BURGOS, BILL EVERETT, JACK KIRBY, PAUL GUSTAVSON, STEVE DAHLMAN, BOB OKSNER & BEN THOMPSON
Cover by ALEX SCHOMBURG

And now the flagship title of Marvel’s Golden Age REALLY heats up! From day one Marvel Comics brought you CarlBurgos’ blazing Human Torch and Bill Everett’s undersea powerhouse Sub-Mariner, but two of the Golden Age’s most thrilling characters just wasn’t enough for MARVEL MYSTERY COMICS–Enter, the Vision! Created by Timely’s titanic team of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, the Vision, burst into the Earthly world via Professor Enoch Mason’s dimension smasher and brought to MARVEL MYSTERY COMICS an eerie crime-noir serial that sealed the comic’s place at the very top of the Golden Age’s greatest! Joined by the crime-fighting Angel, boy-adventurer Terry Vance, the caterwauling science fiction tales of Electro, and Ka-Zar’s jungle action, there’s no comparison for variety and excitement, so celebrate Marvel’s 70th anniversary and reserve your copy today! Collecting MARVEL MYSTERY COMICS #13-16.
280 PGS/All Ages …$59.99

---

SUPERMEN! THE FIRST WAVE OF COMIC-BOOK HEROES (1939-41)
Edited by Greg Sadowski; Introduction by Jonathan Lethem

Of the 22 stories appearing in SUPERMEN! the vast majority haven’t seen print since first publication, including the notorious 1939 Wonder Man debut by Will Eisner. Wonder Man lasted one issue after a successful DC Comics lawsuit cited the similarity to its son of Krypton.

This lawsuit inspired more individual and offbeat approaches, and it’s on these mavericks and oddballs we focus this collection. The roster features such notables as Basil Wolverton, Jack Kirby, Jack Cole, Fletcher Hanks, Ogden Whitney, Lou Fine, Charles Biro, Fred Guardineer, and Dick Briefer. Fighting villainy is hard work and in SUPERMEN! it’s downright ruthless.

SC, 8 1/2 x 11, 176 pages, FC, $24.99

Bunches of recently announced upcoming Kirby. TwoMorrows brings the COLLECTED KIRBY COLLECTOR up to the end of the standard magazine format issues. All the tabloid issues are still available, so no idea if they’ll ever collect those in some format. And of course they continue with #52 (#51 should be out in a few weeks). DC collects Kirby’s dozen issues of OUR FIGHTING FORCES featuring The Losers, some great stuff in there. Marvel starts a softcover version of their Masterworks line. A few pages of Kirby inked by Ditko in that first release, obviously expect much more Kirby in other probable releases. The old Masterworks hardcover line is still catching some strays, like one Kirby story and a bunch of covers in the second Human Torch volume. And the original X-Men get a thick OMNIBUS volume collecting all of the issues with Kirby pencils and layouts and beyond, including almost all the covers he had a hand in.

---

COLLECTED JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR – Volume 7
288 page Trade Paperback – Edited by John Morrow

This seventh trade paperback completes the compilations of the first thirty regular-size issues of The Jack Kirby Collector, the critically acclaimed magazine about Kirby’s life and career. This volume reprints Jack Kirby Collector #27-30, with in-depth looks at Jack’s 1970s Marvel Comics work, and his ’80s work in comics and animation, plus a special two-part focus on how widespread Kirby’s influence is! It features rare interviews with Kirby himself, plus new interviews with Watchmen’s ALAN MOORE and DAVE GIBBONS, NEIL GAIMAN, Bone’s JEFF SMITH, MARK “Luke Skywalker” HAMILL, and others! See page after page of rare Kirby art, including a NEW special section with over 30 pieces of Kirby art never before published, and more! Edited by John Morrow.
ISBN-13: 978-1-605490-12-0
ISBN-10: 1-605490-12-1
$29.95 US

---

THE JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR #52
Winter 2009 – 84 pages – Tabloid Format

This issue spotlights Kirby Obscura, uncovering some of Jack’s most obscure work! Learn about such little-known projects as an unused Thor story, his unseen Bruce Lee comic, his animation work, his stage play, and see original unaltered versions of pages from Kamandi, Demon, Destroyer Duck, and more! It also includes a feature examining the last page of his final issue of various series before editorial tampering (complete with lots of surprises)! There’s also Mark Evanier’s regular column about his former boss, two huge Kirby pencil art galleries, a complete Golden Age Kirby story, a color Kirby front cover inked by DON HECK, and a color back cover inked by PAUL SMITH! Edited by John Morrow.
$10 US

---

THE LOSERS BY JACK KIRBY HC
Written by Jack Kirby
Art by Jack Kirby, D. Bruce Berry & Mike Royer
Cover by Jack Kirby & Mike Royer

For the first time, Jack Kirby’s tales of World War II are collected! In 1974, while Jack Kirby was hard at work on such mind-bending epics as MISTER MIRACLE and KAMANDI, he also created a series of stories that drew on his own experiences in World War II. Starring DC war heroes Johnny Cloud, Captain Storm, Gunner and Sarge, this volume features stories in which The Losers stop a German attack using a tactic found in a comic book, German and American athletes who faced each other at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin meet again on the field of combat, and much more! Don’t miss this amazing collection of tales from OUR FIGHTING FORCES #151-162, and featuring a foreword by best-selling author Neil Gaiman (THE SANDMAN).

on sale March 11
240 pg, FC, $39.99 US

---

THE X-MEN OMNIBUS VOL. 1 HC
Written by STAN LEE & ROY THOMAS
Penciled by JACK KIRBY, JAY GAVIN,
WERNER ROTH & JACK SPARLING
Covers by JACK KIRBY & ALEX ROSS

In 1963 the slow boil of the Marvel super-hero revolution exploded in a full eruption with a slate of new heroic adventurers that redefined comic-book adventure forever. Joining the Fantastic Four, the Amazing Spider-Man, Ant-Man, Hulk, Thor, Iron Man and Dr. Strange came the Avengers and an odd sister book featuring a weird assortment of brand new characters: Cyclops, the Beast, Iceman, the Angel, Marvel Girl, and the mysteriously-named Professor X. They were the X-Men, and little did anyone know that they would come to take the comic book business by storm. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby billed their new creations “The Strangest Super-Heroes of All!” and while their mutant powers were certainly weird, the binding concept of this band of heroes, a group feared, hunted and hated because the of prejudice of their fellow man was pure Marvel relevance, striking at the heart of Civil Rights battles of the time. So join us as we collect in this massive, painstakingly restored, archival volume as we recount the earliest adventures of the world’s most-famous super-hero team as they encounter for the very first time their nemesis Magneto, the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, the Juggernaut, Ka-Zar and the Savage Land, Master Mold and the Sentinels, and many more of Marvel’s greatest heroes and villains. Supplemented with a bevy of behind-the-scenes bonus material, critical and historical essays, and original artwork, this volume is a bona fide must-have for each and every X-addict! Collecting THE X-MEN #1-31.
768 PGS./All Ages …$99.99
ISBN: 978-0-7851-2958-5

---

MARVEL MASTERWORKS: THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN VOL. 1 TPB
Written by STAN LEE
Penciled by STEVE DITKO with JACK KIRBY
Cover by JACK KIRBY & STEVE DITKO

Celebrate Marvel’s 70th anniversary by experiencing the tales of the world’s most-famous super heroes from the very beginning! The Marvel Masterworks have brought readers deluxe hardcover collections of Marvel’s classics from the Golden Age, Atlas Era, and the mighty Marvel Age, and now you can join in the Masterworks excitement with our new, monthly Marvel Masterworks trade paperbacks. And where better to start than where comics’ most robust line of archival comic collections began-the Amazing Spider-Man! In 1962 in the pages of a comic book slated for cancellation, Stan Lee and Steve Ditko gave birth to one of the most-enduring icons in American popular culture-the one and only Amazing Spider-Man! Turning the concept of a super hero on its head, they imbued the young, guilt-ridden Peter Parker with the fantastic powers of an arachnid and the fantastic pressures of an everyday teenager. The combination was pure magic. So join us in the following pages as we present stories of spectacular web-slinging adventure from Spidey’s very beginning including, the tragic origin that started it all, the first appearances of the Daily Bugle, J. Jonah Jameson, Doctor Octopus, the Sandman, the Vulture, Electro, and guest-star nods by the Fantastic Four and Human Torch. And to top it off, we’ve packed this volume full of bonuses galore, including the complete original artwork to Spider-Man’s Amazing Fantasy #15 origin from the Library of Congress archives! Collecting AMAZING FANTASY #15 & THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #1-10.
272 PGS/All Ages …$24.99
ISBN: 978-0-7851-3692-7
MARVEL MASTERWORKS: THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN VOL. 1 TPB – DM ONLY
272 PGS/All Ages …$24.99
ISBN: 978-0-7851-3693-4

---

MARVEL MASTERWORKS: THE HUMAN TORCH VOL. 2 HC
Written by STAN LEE & LARRY IVIE
Penciled by DICK AYERS, BOB POWELL, CARL BURGOS & JACK KIRBY
Cover by JACK KIRBY

Hot dog! It’s a treat, the swingin’ ’60s solo adventures of the Human Torch come to cacophonous conclusion in this much-demanded Masterworks milestone! Written by the one-and-only sultan of the Silver Age, Stan Lee, and illustrated by the Bullen’s professor of penciling, Darlin’ Dick Ayers, these tales of the Torch (and his odd-couple partner, the ever-lovin’ blue-eyed Thing) are bona fide and certified cover-to-cover fun! Join in as the Torch tests his mettle against the Wizard, the riotous Rabble Rouser and Plantman. Then, place your bets in the battle of fire and ice between Johnny Storm and the X-Men’s Iceman, illustrated by Jack Kirby! After that we waste no time because it’s team-up time. The Thing joins the show and wastes no time getting down to clobberin’ time vs. Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch, Paste-Pot Pete, the Beetle (not those Beatles, they come later), the Mad Thinker and the Puppet Master. And before we close it all down comes…the Watcher! Guest-staring the Amazing Spider-Man, the X-Men, four guys named John, Paul, George and Ringo, and if that doesn’t sell you on it, then I’ve got five words that will: “Thing in a Beatle wig.” That’s it! We stuck a fork in ya. So reserve that copy today, True Believer! Collecting STRANGE TALES #118-134
256 PGS./All Ages …$54.99
ISBN: 978-0-7851-3505-0
MARVEL MASTERWORKS: THE HUMAN TORCH VOL. 2 HC – VARIANT EDITION VOL. 113
256 PGS./All Ages …$54.99
ISBN: 978-0-7851-3506-7

Quite a bit in the future, but keep an eye out for more info on the 2010 release THE ART OF THE SIMON & KIRBY STUDIO from Abrams, reprinting some as yet unspecified work from the original artwork. Should be a great companion to the books Simon is releasing through Titan next year.