Daily Archives: January 22, 2005

Kamandi, The Last Boy On Earth #7 [1973]

by

“The Monster Fetish” is one of my favourite KAMANDI stories, great high-adventure in Earth A.D. Opening somberly with the funeral of Flower, Kamandi’s brief companion killed in the previous issue, with full military honours courtesy of Sultin of the Lion Rangers, they’re then attacked by a gorilla scout. It turns out the gorillas are trying to free the simple-minded giant gorilla Tiny, who’s being held by the lions. They succeed in freeing Tiny, but he turns on them, being interested only in Kamandi, who he thinks of as a toy.

Kamandi, The Last Boy On Earth #7 [1973]

After Tiny is knocked out and Kamandi is freed, Sultin takes Kamandi to the lion city, which is surprisingly sophisticated compared to most that Kamandi would encounter, and Kamandi finds out about their legends of the Founding Lions from the fabled land of “Zuu”. Tiny attacks again, this time scaling a skyscraper, and is knocked down by the new experimental bi-planes the lions have designed from old photos. As Kamandi observes, “even the ancients, with their imaginative movies, couldn’t have produced anything like this”.

Mike Royer inks the 20-page story and the cover, and really shines on this issue, even more so than usual. I love the texture he brings to the art in this one, especially the animal faces and hands, which Kirby clearly had a blast drawing.

Published 1973

The Human Torch #1 [1974] – The Human Torch

by

This short-lived reprint series of the mid-1970s featured both the solo adventures of the FF’s Torch from STRANGE TALES and golden age adventures of the original android Torch. The first issue had the Torch’s solo debut from STRANGE TALES #101 (1962). Unfortunately, it’s slightly edited, taking out a full page and one panel, most of which recap the origin of the FF, replacing it with a single later panel of the team.

Early on we see Johnny’s room, which is amusingly almost completely coated in asbestos, thanks to Reed. I’m not sure, but I suspect he has the basis for a lawsuit there (as if the poorly shielded space-ship wasn’t enough).

This is also back when they had this misguided attempt to give the Torch a secret identity for the first few issues (and I love the explanation from a few issues later that everyone was just humouring Johnny about the secret identity thing). So a lot of these early stories is filled with Johnny distracting people so he could flame on in secret.

ht1

It’s an okay story otherwise, with the Torch foiling a villain who is trying to shut down an amusement park. Johnny eventually figures out that the high rides in the park offered a vantage point which would have exposed the landing point of a hidden communist sub. That Long Island is a nest of spy activity. There’s some nice art along the way, especially of the amusement park rides done in Kirby style, and Ben Grimm makes a brief cameo.

Dick Ayers inks the now 12-page story.

Published 1974

Tales Of Suspense #94 [1967] – If This Be Modok

by

An excellent Kirby adventure in this issue, with a great villain. In this story, Cap and the as-yet-unnamed blonde SHIELD agent are captured by the bee-keeping minions of AIM, who are now under the command of their mysterious creation, Modok. They decide that their best bet is to pit Cap and Modok against each other, so they can easily take them both out after they wear each other out. That’s when we get our first good look at the glory that is Modok.

ts94

Cap battles Modok until a squad of AIM agents attack, wounding Modok. Cap and the SHIELD agent are able to defeat the AIM agents aboard an escape sub easily, while the dying Modok destroys the main ship.

Fun enough story, but the real charm is in the crazy big-head design of Modok. I’m surprised that such a great villain was just a throwaway.

Joe Sinnott inks the 10-page story and the cover (which rather oddly has Modok stuck in a corner almost as an afterthought, when you’d think he’d either be the focus of the cover or not there at all (if he’s meant to be the big reveal).

Published 1967