Category Archives: Bonus

Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen #133

Cooke Look: “Jimmy Olsen Brings Back The Newsboy Legion!”

[As a bonus, it makes sense to include a synopsis and brief (yeah, right) discussion of the issues as I go along, thus at the end of distilling all the wacky Kirby Kharacters ’n’ Koncepts, we’ll do just that! — JBC]

The word that might best describe Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen #133 is inventive. In a mere 22 pages, in his debut comic book during his 1970s tenure at DC Comics, Jack “The King” Kirby let loose his creative energies and hurled one new idea after another at our tender, unprepared noggins, and those of us who “got” it, those of us who didn’t compare this wild new material to his Marvel stuff with Stan Lee, those of us who were amused by his oft-corny interpretation of the youth culture… well, we were changed for good.

Would I feel the same way if the Kirby saga in Jimmy O was a stand-alone epic and not prelude to the cosmic mythology we now call Kirby’s Fourth World? I dunno, but as I mentioned in my introductory post, I distinctly recall picking up the orange-colored “first” issue and being just floored by the sheer inventiveness, and I do believe I would hold that book in the highest regard of, at least, the entire JO run (and don’t forget: Edmund Hamilton’s superb Nightwing and Firebird saga partially took place in the pages of that title, with that luscious Curt Swan and George Klein artwork, so it ain’t all “Jimmy as giant turtle-man” kitsch…).

But JO #133 was prelude to the greatest super-hero adventure of them all. (Alan Moore’s “Marvelman/Miracleman” epic might be the singular contender, though “Born Again” in Dardevil by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli also comes darn close, in my less-than-humble opinion.) Not only do we get the first inklings of the encroachment of Darkseid and his hordes of Apokolips, but we also get the reintroduction of a bona fide Kirby Kid Gang, The Newsboy Legion. Only now the group has left the gritty despair of Suicide Slum, and instead lives in an amazing futuristic new world of Kirby’s imagination… the best kind of nostalgia and yet not looking back. And, anyway, as we would subsequently learn, their presence would lead us to a revitalized golden avenger, a character I would grow to love.

I’ll admit that I have always been mildly annoyed with the other-dimensional quality to the myths Kirby embraced and/or created. Like, for instance, just exactly where was Asgard, home to the Mighty Thor and his brethren? And where precisely is the earth-side entrance to the Rainbow Bridge? Hell, I can buy the “fact” a Norse god flies earthly skies courtesy of a hammer only he could hoist (I mean, the physics alone boggle the mind!), or that a scrawny 4F 90-pound-weakling is injected with a serum to become a super-soldier, but I guess I yearn for some exactitude in the fantasies I love. And I’m not alluding to the exact “where” of Apokolips and New Genesis here (I’ll get to that conundrum in a post to come, you betchum!); what I wanna know, desperately, longitude and latitude, is the location of the Wild Area, okay? It seems far from Metropolis and yet is still within thermonuclear-explosion range… Boy, ain’t I pathetic and petty!

What I need to realize is it’s best just to be swept away by Jack’s uncharted creativity. Not worry about whether he drew Lightray’s mask correctly or how Scott Free just happened to be outside Thaddeus Brown’s house at a pivotal moment… I need to let go, let Kirby be Kirby, and be grateful to join the ride and not worry about unimportant matters like continuity and exact location…

What is important is that Kirby arrived at DC Comics with guns a’blazin’, his imagination unleashed as never before. If we thought his mid-Fantastic Four run was fertile — and it was one of the most creatively productive eras in comics history — we were still unprepared for the awe that was yet to come… Darkseid, Super-War, the Anti-Life Equation, Infinity Man, Scott Free, Glorious Godfrey, Granny Goodness, the Pact, Himon, Bug, Kalibak, Glory Boat…

So, as you can see, I hold JO #133 in the highest esteem. As introduction to Jack’s epic, with all its unabashed exuberance and unapologetic “gee whiz” approach, it counts as chapter one to a story arc I deem the finest of fantasy literature, as important as The Lord of the Rings or The Elric Saga, the 55-issue mammoth-sized tale we call the Fourth World…

(Before I end-rant, I just gotta comment about the trio of legendary “orange covers” DC published between 1968 and ’71, and their super-groovy contents: Wonder Woman #179 [Nov.-Dec. 1968], where Mike Sekowsky began a spectacular run re-inventing Diana Prince as a comic-book Emma Peel; and Superman #233 [Jan. 1971], with Denny O’Neil’s great reboot of the Supes mythos, aided by superb “Swanderson” art (and one of Neal Adams’s finest covers); along with JO #133… well, not comment exactly, just sigh over them one more time!)

Now, back to our story: just what is this “Mountain of Judgment” Yango keeps yammering about…?

X-Numbers:
Cover: X-111
Story: No visible #
Text Page: “Jack Kirby — Continued,” X-112

On Sale Date: Aug. 25, 1970

Where Fourth Art Thou? Part Two

Part Two: In the Beginning…

The story so far: Jack “The King” Kirby is dissatisfied with his arrangement at Marvel Comics and, negotiations having failed, signs up with rival DC Comics (a.k.a., National Periodical Publications). Let’s now join our story already in progress:

The bombshell news of Jack’s “defection,” as big a story in comics publishing as there ever was, hits the street in March, 1970. His intention at the House of Superman is to establish a DC Comics West, with Jack serving primarily as a sort of California editorial director of the outfit, writing and drawing a title or two, but mostly launching ideas into the hands of creative teams. Kirby’s idea is to initially launch three titles that encompass a “New Gods Trilogy” — The Forever People, Orion, and Mister Miracle — a wide-canvassed, interlocking epic to run over many, many issues of said comics, which he hopes, down the road, to be trimmed and edited into a huge graphic novel (to use modern parlance). Obviously, Jack’s concepts regarding comics publishing are as far-ranging as his imagination for the stories themselves: The King envisioned over-sized comics, magazine-sized comics, hardcover comics…

Carmine Infantino had been known much of his career at DC as the quintessential artist on The Flash and on “Adam Strange.” His art style was not unlike Kirby’s in some ways — it was kinetic, always in motion, well-designed and vibrant — and you can sense in the work a passion for the sleek and the modern, epitomized by his futuristic cityscapes in Mystery in Space and exploits of the Scarlet Speedster. When DC Comics, flush with Batman TV show merchandising money and buyer Kinney National Services’ hunger for “leisure time” industries, was sold, big editorial shake-ups were already in progress at the Lexington Avenue offices. The artist (“Enfant Rouge” was his self-styled nickname) was not only supremely talented, he was also ambitious to establish himself on the business side of things.

Carmine became close with Irwin Donenfeld, son of one of the publishers and a manager, and together they started planning for the future. Comics sales, despite the 1966-67 Batman bump, were plummeting (for whatever reason — Competition from TV? Shrinking newsstand distribution? The exodus of female readers?), needed a powerful jolt after the Era of Camp: A New Age of Relevancy. Whether by design or accident, Carmine hit upon a “daring and different” concept: Installing a new regime of “Artist as Editor.” In short order, a swath of the old-time editors either met with retirement, health issues, office intrigue or even death, and some of the field’s finest artists, each with tremendous storytelling ability, came on board as the new editorial staff. Among them were Joe Kubert, Mike Sekowsky, Dick Giordano (top-shelf talent recruited from bottom-tier Charlton Comics), and Joe Orlando (ex-Mad man, with whom Carmine had an especially tight bond), and they individually brought a refreshing graphic sensibility to the books (and Ye Blogger’s favorite era in DC Comics’ history, if you care to note). Suddenly double-page spreads opened invigorating and dynamic stories, and new, resonant and exciting characters abounded. Titles were revamped, staid characters re-invented for modern times… (Of course, some of the preceding events overlapped, but in general this was the case.) Young writers and artists were increasing allowed in to contribute, particularly Neal Adams (whose arrival predates the upheaval a bit, but the superb creator seized the opportunity to virtually reinvent the super-hero comic book), Marv Wolfman, Len Wein, and three of “The Studio” quartet, Berni Wrightson, Michael W. Kaluta and Jeffrey Jones. Veteran artists saw new freedom and hit the ground running, especially Gil Kane and Russ Heath, among others. It was, at least to this kid, a golden age…

Anyway, DC Comics’ new owner, Steve Ross of Kinney National Services/Warner 7 Arts, had confidence in giving his managers wide freedom to run their divisions. He thrived on his “people” skills and a refreshing hands-off attitude came from on-high. Carmine was intent to show the Big Guys that he had what it could take…

So, naturally, considering Jack Kirby was responsible for co-creating a vast majority of upstart Marvel Comics’ “universe” of characters and concepts, Carmine’s acquisition of The King’s services must have appeared quite the feather in the editorial director’s cap. (Note, too, that in 1968, Marvel had finally broke free of the yoke of Independent News, the distributor of Martin Goodman’s line, which was owned by the Distinguished Competition — DC to you and me — after being acquired by Perfect Film and joining up with Curtis Circulation Company to get on the nation’s newsstands. Marvel was flooding the market, finally free of the eight-titles-a-month limit imposed by IND, and was snapping at DC’s standing as industry leader. The game, as the good detective said, was afoot.)

Jack Kirby’s grand scheme to revitalize the comics marketplace — with new formats and an entire line of new books and magazines — was reined in by DC’s bean-counters. It was settled in New York that The King would write and draw the three inter-connected titles, plus take on an existing DC comic, which was Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen. But you knew that already…

Blogger’s Blurb

Just wanted to chat with the faithful that this site is a delight for Ye Blogger and I thank all youse guys for participating. As a longtime producer of magazines, it’s a revelation to be able to constantly and consistently update these postings — talk about living documents! They’re actually evolving!!! — when folks like you note errors and subjects to expand upon after my initial posting. (Thanks, Pat, Mike and Tommy!). With Comic Book Artist magazine (not dead just yet, folks!), I particularly enjoyed the “carpet bombing” approach of subjects, whether it was two(!) issues devoted to Charlton Comics or an examination of Tod Holton, Super Green Beret, and this takes it a step farther. I guess, being online for 15 years or so, I should have realized this innovation but, well, there ya go!

I sat down last night and, using a spreadsheet, started cataloging the characters and concepts of the Fourth World, getting as far as Jimmy Olsen #133-135, and the first issues of The Forever People, New Gods and Mister Miracle, and I’ve so far compiled 89 separate entries (admittingly, I did break down members of the Newboy Legions, both old and new, into individual categories, stuff like that, but still… !), leading me to think rather than not have enough to fill a full year, my cup runneth over! Note that I am delving into seemingly minor details, like devices and weapons, but as they are bona fide Kirby Kreations, why skip ’em?

Again, this is an evolving entity so please, if you’re interested, come back and check entries that caught your attention when first posted, as they just might have been edited, corrected and/or expanded on. Some postings will pretty likely be short and snarky… some of this stuff is hard to expound upon as they are often just ephemeral sparks flying off of Jack’s lightning bolt of creativity, so they might be short, and (knowing how long-winded I can be) some might just never appear to end.

Note, too, that in the short run, as I have to attend some serious domestic matters over the coming weekend (sorry, sports fans, no NYCC for me, but brother Andy WILL be there, selling copies of our documentary on Will Eisner — buy early and buy often!), so I might miss a day or two (or have sparse descriptions), but I am intent on pre-posting, in a manner of speaking, so we’ll see. I will catch up. The Sunday Bonus? Well, if I can sneak it in tonight, I’ll have it load on the weekend.

Oh, and you might note that I am finessing the formatting of the replies received, adding line breaks for aesthetics, popping in links here and there, correcting spelling. If anyone objects, give me a holler and I’ll keep hands-off on that score. (I will be approving the messages still, as I’m loathe to be host to firefights… I am totally through with that exhausting shit, lemme tell ya! This is about the JOY of Kirby, my friends!)

Before I go: The First 365JK4W Fearless Scrapper Trooper Award goes to… Rand Hoppe, curator of the “mother” site here and proprietor of the Kirby Museum, for suggesting I come on over from Facebook. Look for Rand at NYCC as he will be sharing a table with my widdle bruvver, Andrew D.! And if Lisa H. and Patty W. are there, give ’em both a hug from Ye Blogger!

Where Fourth Art Thou? Part One

Part One: Lo, There Shall Be An Ending

[Embarking on this year-long adventure (fingers crossed!), perhaps it’s proper to set the right context and explain, as best I understand, just what is Jack Kirby’s Fourth World and from whence it came. And just like the full-color funny papers of yore once made each Sunday a special day of the week for the lovers of four-color adventure, yours truly is planning a special Fourth World-related essay every Sunday as an added bonus…JBC]

By 1970, Jack Kirby was truly the King of American comic book artists. In the early 1940s, with longtime partner Joe Simon (notably an artist, writer, and editor), Jack had struck gold for Timely Comics with the creation of Captain America, an immediate sensation with kids, and the strip was renowned for its kinetic violence, explosive action and no-holds-barred anti-Nazi sentiment. Unable to get a deal more to their liking at Timely (where they also created the kid gang sub-genre of super-hero comics), Simon & Kirby, a byline increasingly recognized by a growing legion of fans, moved over to top-shelf DC Comics, where they produced innumerable comics (significantly “The Newsboy Legion Starring The Guardian”). After World War II, the team would create the singularly most successful genre in the business, romance comics, but by the mid-’50s, Joe and Jack would break up the most successful creative team in the form’s history when the comics industry bottomed-out. Now solo, Jack rejoined Timely, re-christened Marvel Comics, and with the imprint’s editor and main writer Stan Lee (and important work by Steve Ditko), the duo (arguably to become the second most successful pairing) would go on to create what is today called the Marvel Universe, including the Fantastic Four, Incredible Hulk, Thor, Iron Man, and a resurrected Captain America, among many, many other characters. Super-hero comics would experience a renaissance during Stan the Man and King Kirby’s reign over the “Marvel Age.”

It is now part of Kirbyhead lore that Jack, after having created some of the most exciting and resonant super-hero adventures in comics, was becoming increasing dissatisfied with his standing at Marvel by the late ’60s. Though it is said he received one of the highest page rates at the House of Ideas, Jack was still just work-for-hire, on one hand creating the very cast and canvas that was attracting an ever-growing readership, on the other, not sharing in ownership of the profit engine. It’s important to note, too, the artist/writer (the King plotted most of the stories he drew, with Stan scribing the captions and dialogue from Jack’s margin notes — later dubbed “the Marvel Style” of comics production) was becoming frustrated with the creative end of things, as well.

First, there’s the Silver Surfer, whom Jack offhandedly created as the herald of Galactus in Fantastic Four. An immediate sensation, Jack envisioned the character as a sort of “Fallen Angel,” a Lucifer losing favor with God (Galactus) and exiled to Hell (Earth?), with the surfboard-riding space traveler perhaps more a threat to, rather than protector of, our green and blue orb. But Stan saw the former Norrin Rad as a “Wandering Jew,” endlessly travailing our planet alone, seeking answers to cosmic questions — another young person in the search of self in an age of new discovery. (Whose concept is the more commercial? Probably Stan’s, but Jack’s certainly had enormous potential for some complex and stimulating storylines.)

Thus, when Stan kept the news from Jack that Marvel was developing a new title — giant-size for 25¢, at that! — and assigned Silver Surfer art chores to the more artistically slick John Buscema (who had picked up and adapted the Kirby approach to bombastic action under orders from Marvel’s editor), and Jack saw the finished result, it must have been crushing. The origin story in SS #1 depicted the character as a love-lorn and self-pitying lost soul, seeking contact with earth folks and yet always running off (“Shane! Come back, Shane!”).

(For a taste of what might have been, refer to Silver Surfer #18, cover dated Sept. 1970, where Jack’s plot had the former Galactus herald on the advent of an anti-human rampage, a devil on a flying long board (if you will) raging at the world, “Let mankind beware! From this time forth — the Surfer will be the deadliest one of all!” Alas, though the last-page blurb trumpeted, “Next: The savagely sensational new Silver Surfer!” the promised revamping was not to be, as this would be the final issue in the character’s initial run.)

Second, there’s Doctor Doom, Fantastic Four arch-nemesis, conceived in Jack’s eyes as a pathological narcissist, whose depths of selfishness would have the planet scorched to satiate his vanity. Jack’s concept was to have Victor Von Doom, the FF’s Reed Richards college-era roommate, a brilliant and gorgeous Latverian exchange student, suffer an apparently minor accident during a science experiment gone awry. A chemical explosion was to cause a tiny facial scratch (and deteriorating mental stability perhaps), an infinitesimally small marring of his otherwise perfect cheek. That slightest of imperfections would have Von Doom dilusionally believe he was scarred beyond belief and, loathing the image in the mirror, have him going to such extremes as to meld a red-hot iron mask on his face to permanently cover his flaw, hide his shame. This psychological make-up for the villain was a brilliant take, giving us the root and extent of his madness, telling of a subsequent hatred and envy for all things beautiful. Alas, a more melodramatic, hackneyed backstory was written by Stan the Man, having the future European monarch suffer massive facial damage, a face now worth hiding, instead. (Stan did subscribe to the raison d’etre for the bad doctor’s despising of the super-hero quartet, as Von Doom unfairly blamed young Reed Richards for the fateful disaster.)

Thirdly, and most relevant to this ongoing examination of his Fourth World, Jack had imagined a radical idea: In the pages of The Mighty Thor, completely eradicate the pantheon of Asgardian gods (as prophesied in ancient Norse mythology, on which Jack’s Thunder God & Company’s adventures had sprung), by bringing on Ragnarok, the twilight of the old gods, the end of Asgard, the death of the immortals, the arrival of the Valkyries to take the dead Viking warriors to their final rest in Valhalla… The Kirby innovation, besides exterminating a whole crew of characters that presumably made some shekels for Marvel, was to have new gods arise from the aftermath of the apocalyptic conflict, a new cast of celestial beings, not speaking in faux Shakespearean thee’s and thou’s as did Odin and his ilk, but rather super-beings rooted in modern-day, relevant concepts (the threats to our natural environment, the rise of malevolent technology — Life versus Anti-Life, as such) concerning us little folk. Needless to say, Stan passed on Jack’s reconception, preferring to keep Goldilocks as is, and consistently reviving (but never fulfilling) the teasing threat of Nordic Armageddon over the title’s span.

A review of Jack’s late-’60s work reveals his unwillingness to create new characters and concepts for the Marvel imprint after a cosmically fruitful surge of creativity during the decade’s middle years. Between 1965 and ’67, for instance, Jack would introduce in the pages of Fantastic Four the Inhumans, Galactus, the Silver Surfer, the one-issue masterpiece “This Man, This Monster,” the Black Panther, the Kree empire, and “Him,” who would later evolve into Adam Warlock. Thereafter, while still plotting and drawing vibrant and engaging adventures, it seemed Jack was reticent to continue producing original stories and guest-stars for the publisher.

Future investigation would reveal that, far from fermenting new ideas in his awesome (Kirby-sized!) imagination, Jack was privately conceiving of a new line of concepts and characters, musings he began with his End-of-Asgard notion, in titles he would helm as writer and editor, as well as artist. By 1969, while still plotting and penciling for Marvel (and receiving increasingly frustrating creative interference from the editor), Jack was secretly negotiating with DC Comics, the industry leader nervously watching the House of Idea’s ascent in the volatile marketplace of American comics. (By the mid-’70s, Marvel would, indeed, surpass DC as the number one comics publisher.) The artist met with Carmine Infantino, creative head (and soon-to-be publisher) of DC, and the King gave “Rouge Enfant” a full-blown presentation, which the editorial director approved. Contracts were signed, notice was given, and Jack Kirby was poised to start on perhaps the most creatively important chapter of his remarkable career.

Forty Years of the Fourth World

Welcome to Jon B. Cooke’s attempt at a year-long blog on (in this writer’s humble opinion) the greatest of Jack Kirby’s creations, the Fourth World, which debuted in the summer of 1970 with the release of Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen #133 [cover dated Oct. 1970]. I initially began this project in late September, on the Facebook “community page,” 365 Days of Jack Kirby’s Fourth World, and Kirby Museum head honcho Rand Hoppe asked me to share it with all Kirbyheads, so here I am!

As prologue, let me tell you who I am and about my intentions. I am former associate editor of The Jack Kirby Collector, editor of Comic Book Artist magazine, and author/editor/designer of a number of books on the history of American sequential art. I am also co-producer and writer of a full-length feature film documentary, Will Eisner: Portrait of a Sequential Artist (now available on DVD and Blu-ray! End of plug), and, by day, a graphic designer, husband and father (at night, things change…).

It was picking up JO #133 in a London newsagent shop — I was likely 12, as it was no doubt a few months after its U.S. release — when I instantaneously changed from a comic book reader to a full-fledged “All In Color For a Dime (and a Half)” fanatic. Quite truthfully, my young mind was blown away with the riot of concepts and unhinged energy  exploding from those pages. Up to then I liked the rather sedate and non-threatening style of Mort Weisinger’s line of Superman family titles, as well as Classics Illustrated, Dennis the Menace, various Gold Key titles, and Harvey Comics. The stories they featured were pat, self-contained, geared for children and, well, safe. The Marvel Comics my oldest brother Richie so avidly had collected in the 1960s, were threatening and grotesque to me and, frankly, I despised the “To Be Hulk-inued,” multiple-issue story lines. The Kirby and Ditko art wasn’t slick like Curt Swan and Murphy Anderson (the “Swanderson” team, my faves at the time and just ascending as the official art pairing (Swan pencils, Anderson inks) on the revamped Superman)… Jack and Steve’s work was gritty, bombastic and strange…

(I confess that I did, a few years earlier, pick up an issue of Captain America #108 when it was on the stands and, for some reason, I distinctly recall the day: drinking a bottle of Coke, chewing on Carmel Creams, and picking out that issue by Jack Kirby, with Cap smashing through the Dec. 8, 1941, newspaper front page… that was impressive…)

Before JO #133, blurbs appeared in the DC Books: “Kirby is Coming!” and I honestly had no idea what or who Kirby was. (I was vaguely familiar with his work, but I pretty much found it… I dunno… vulgar or mildly distasteful, and I didn’t link his name to the work.) But, as my interest in the Superman books was on the rise, and I was getting excited  because of the hype. My younger brother, Andy, and I, were on a year-long visit to Europe with our mom, and comics were becoming an important touchstone to help ease the tinge of homesickness we’d have. We were starting to draw and create our own comics (Andy had Mighty Boy and I had Atomic Man), so we avidly read and started to collect American (as well as the British weekly) comics.

So then came that spectacular orange cover of Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen #133. Like I said, it had a profound effect on me, and I was instantaneously hooked. Obviously, I will pontificate at length about why I think the Fourth World is so resonant, thus suffice to say I remain, at 51, as enthusiastic and appreciative of Jack’s magnum opus as I was as a snotty 12-year-old.

My thesis, this blog’s raison d’etre, is to attempt to confirm my suspicion that there are enough unique characters, concepts, notions, etc., to respectively discuss for 365 days, one Kirby Fourth World Koncept, one day at a time. I’ll probably stretch it out by including a synopsis for each issue, but I probably won’t do that to start.

I will be primarily be using the actual comics as canon, aided and abetted by DC Comics’ spectacular four-volume Jack Kirby’s Fourth World Omnibus, maybe with limited outside research to start. (I tend to get anal about passions like this, so my delving beyond the actual comics might increase… we’ll see.) I intend to go pretty much page-by-page, zeroing in on the subjects as they come.

I hope 365 Days of Jack Kirby’s Fourth World will generate interest and discussion. I remain in awe of the subject and am still somewhat uncertain exactly why the epic continues to retain such a grip on both my intellect and my id… maybe, with a very close reading of the original series and daily scribing about the subject, I’ll finally get an inkling. Maybe that doesn’t matter. Whatever the outcome, I’m betting this will be a fun drive… Please, buckle up, and come along!

Before I go, just one more thing: As mentioned, I started this examination on a Facebook community page with the same name as our blog. Since I’ve initiated that a few days before starting this Kirby Museum blog, those entries will be unpolished first drafts and, time permitting, I will try to refine and expand them here as needed.

All strapped into the Whiz Wagon? Well, then, off to the Zoomway!