Author Archives: Bob

Upcoming Kirby – Demon, Eternals, etc

by

Major Kirby release in the latest solicitations is a complete run of THE DEMON, the first time any of those stories has been reprinted except for #1 in a digest almost 30 years ago. Over at Marvel THE ETERNALS gets completed in the softcover format, FF #108, in all its cobbled together glory, shows up amidst the post-Kirby work in the Masterworks format, and i plead ignorance on why a story from TALES TO ASTONISH #13 would be in the ANNIHILATION CLASSIC hardcover. There were two Kirby stories in that issue, “I Challenged Groot” and “I Found the Abominable Snowman”. I figure Groot (an alien tree-man) is the most likely to somehow tie into recent Marvel cosmic comics, but I could be wrong.


JACK KIRBY’S THE DEMON OMNIBUS HC
Written by Jack Kirby
Art and cover by Jack Kirby & Mike Royer

One of Jack “King” Kirby’s most memorable creations returns in this title collecting the entire, original 16-issue series from the early 1970s! Part man, part elemental fury, Etrigan the Demon was bound to Jason Blood by Merlin to defend Camelot, only to become a demonologist in the modern-day DC Universe.

on sale November 19 – 384 pg, $49.99 US


ETERNALS BY JACK KIRBY BOOK 2 TPB
Written by JACK KIRBY
Penciled by JACK KIRBY
Cover by JACK KIRBY

A time of titans, terror and time travel – as only the King could conceive! Imagine a race of immortal beings possessed of seemingly limitless superhuman abilities including energy projection, strength and flight. Once worshipped as gods, this fantastic group left Earth to explore the stars after warring with the Greek, Roman and Norse pantheons for supremacy over mankind. In 1976, Jack Kirby introduced what was to be his final great Marvel Comics creation: the Eternals! With nearly four decades of experience creating iconic characters, Kirby stretched his imagination to the limit for his last tale. Looking beyond the familiar ground of super heroes, Kirby crafted a cosmic epic that took comic-book fans on a spectacular adventure every month. Since Kirby’s groundbreaking work, the Eternals and their malevolent counterparts, the Deviants have become vital parts of the Marvel Universe. Awarding-winning creators such as Neil Gaiman have revisited the concept, finding new levels of meaning in Kirby’s visionary work. Now, for the first time, Marvel proudly presents the entire ETERNALS series in two softcover volumes – further proof that Jack Kirby was truly the King. Collecting ETERNALS #12-19 and ANNUAL 1.
188 PGS. $24.99


MARVEL MASTERWORKS: THE FANTASTIC FOUR VOL. 11
Written by STAN LEE with ARCHIE GOODWIN
Penciled by JOHN BUSCEMA with JOHN ROMITA & JACK KIRBY
Cover by JOHN BUSCEMA

The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine marches forward with a new great artist, Big John Buscema, and the same great man – Stan “The Man,” ‘natch – in A fresh set of epic adventures as only mighty Marvel can make ’em! It all begins when Johnny Storm’s ladylove, Crystal, must leave the polluted human world for the Inhumans’ sanctuary, but within her lies the secret solution to freeing the Thing from his rocky prison. Then, as Benjamin Grimm emerges with the power to change into the Thing at will, Reed Richards must descend into the dark of the Negative Zone to face entropic Annihilus and the mysterious Janus, the Nega-Man. But what good is controlling your powers, when you’re losing control of your mind? The Thing goes on a rampage and New York City better look out because it can only end in the biggest, the baddest, the best fist-pounding, building-toppling, earth-shaking slobbernocker in Marvel history! The ever-lovin’, blue-eyed Thing goes toe-to-toe with the gamma-powered goliath, the Incredible Hulk, and only one will walk out alive. That’s not all, though! Before the FF collect themselves, the all-powerful Over-Mind descends on the planet Earth – and you know it ain’t gonna be good for real-estate values when the Watcher shows up, too. It’s a menace so great that even the evil Doctor Doom joins forces with the FF, so reserve your copy today, True Believer – there’s plenty more classics to come! Collecting FANTASTIC FOUR #105-116.
272 PGS $54.99


ANNIHILATION CLASSIC HC
Written by TODD DEZAGO, LARRY LIEBER, MARV WOLFMAN, MARK GRUENWALD, BILL MANTLO, DOUG MOENCH, SCOTT EDELMAN & ROY THOMAS
Penciled by DEREC AUCOIN, JACK KIRBY, JOHN BUSCEMA, JOE SINNOTT, PAUL RYAN, MIKE MIGNOLA, TOM SUTTON, MIKE ZECK & GIL KANE
Cover by JOHN BUSCEMA, PAUL RYAN, GIL KANE & MIKE MIGNOLA

Space may be a vacuum, but Annihilation didn’t pull its heroes out of nowhere! Journey through time, space and continuity with the sensational space saga’s stars! The re-making of Adam Warlock and the first look at his nemesis Thanos! See the origin of Nova and the origin of Quasar, while Bug watches the origins of >tik< EVERYBODY! Monsters, mammals and more! Collecting BUG #1, TALES TO ASTONISH #13, NOVA #1, QUASAR #1, ROCKET RACCOON #1-4, MARVEL SPOTLIGHT #6, LOGAN'S RUN #6 and MARVEL PREMIERE #1.
232 PGS. $29.99

-Link- Ayers and Sinnott NYC Kirby panel vid

by
Posted in Links.

The main page of the Kirby Museum site currently has an almost hour long video of a recent convention panel of Dick Ayers and Joe Sinnott talking Kirby with Mark Evanier. You can also view it over here at Google Video.

-Link- Jeremy Kirby’s site

by
Posted in Links.

Jack and Roz’s grandson Jeremy Kirby has a new site up at http://www.jackkirbyuniverse.com/. Some interesting art and photos up there now, with more promised in the months ahead. Also some items for sale, some 1970s material and some new stuff. The site is Flash based, so I can’t link to specific content, unfortunately.

Upcoming Kirby – JACK MAGIC bio by Theakston, new and old COLLECTOR

by

Greg Theakston has a biography of Kirby coming out in a few months. Direct ordering info will no doubt be up soon at the Pure Imagination site, or you can order it from your comic retailer (Previews June 2008, page 340, JUN084168). And some great TwoMorrows stuff is solicited as well.


JACK MAGIC TP
by Greg Theakston & Jack Kirby

The long-awaited biography of Jack Kirby, The King of Comics! Written by Greg Theakston, Jack’s workmate and personal historian, it’s a detailed study of Kirby’s life and career. Included are extensive quotes from Kirby, Joe Simon, Will Eisner, and many more. Profusely illustrated with classic art and family photos.
Softcover, 160pgs, B&W $25.00


THE COLLECTED JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR Volume 6
Edited by John Morrow

As Jack Kirby continues to garner worldwide acclaim as comics’ greatest creator, this sixth trade paperback reprints issues #23-26 of The Jack Kirby Collector, the critically acclaimed magazine about Kirby’s life and career. Included are issues spotlighting Jack’s ‘Greatest Battles,’ ‘Gods,’ and a special issue spotlighting Kirby’s Golden Age work with Joe Simon, from co-creating Captain America to pioneering Romance comics and beyond! There are several rare interviews with Kirby himself, plus new ones with comics pros Denny O’Neil, Jim Shooter, John Severin, and Walter Simonson! Plus: see a complete ten-page unpublished Kirby story! Jack’s awe-inspiring original pencils to Fantastic Four #49 (from the first appearance of the Silver Surfer)! A gallery of Kirby’s original concept paintings for the Fourth World characters! An analysis comparing Kirby’s margin notes to Stan Lee’s dialogue on classic Marvel comics! And a new special section with over 30 pieces of Kirby art never before published, including Jack’s un-inked pencils from The Fourth World, The Demon, Kamandi, Eternals, Captain America, Black Panther, and more! With page after page of rare Kirby art (much in its original pencil form), and an amazing 1960s Kirby Silver Surfer cover, it’s an unprecedented tribute to the most prolific creator in comics history: Jack ‘King’ Kirby!
Softcover, 288pgs, B&W $29.95


THE JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR #51

It’s a bombastic “Everything Goes” issue in Jack Kirby Collector, spotlighting a wealth of great submissions that couldn’t be pigeonholed into a regular “theme” issue! The issue leads off with a rare interview with Jack Kirby himself, followed by new interviews with two of the hottest artists in comics, Jim Lee and Adam Hughes, discussing Kirby’s influence on their work! In addition to numerous articles on all things Jack, there’s also Mark Evanier’s regular column about his former boss, two huge Kirby pencil art galleries, two color unpublished Kirby covers, and more!
Tabloid, 84pgs, B&W $9.95

-Link- Sky Masters en Español

by
Posted in Links.

I could have sworn I’d linked to Ferran Delgado’s site, with his work on the spanish edition of Sky Masters and other stuff before, but apparently I didn’t. Harry Just mentioned over on the S&K blog that the first volume (of three) of the spanish Sky Masters is out now. Posts about Kirby on Ferran’s site are here. An incredibly rough translation of those pages can be seen here.

New Kirby – Sex, Drugs, Violence and Hulk

by

HULK VS. THE MARVEL UNIVERSE collects, as you would guess from the title, the Hulk fighting people in stories including FF #25 and #26 and JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #112.

SEX, DRUGS, AND VIOLENCE IN THE COMICS is a new book from Pure Imagination, with three S&K stories on those timeless themes, plus other creators. From S&K :
I Was a Come-On Girl for Broken Bones, Inc. (JUSTICE TRAPS THE GUILTY #1, 1947) 8pg
The Bobby Sox Bandit Queen (HEADLINE COMICS #27, 1947) 13pg
Gang Sweetheart (YOUNG ROMANCE #23[V3N11], 1950) 15pg

And apparently THE COMPLETE JACK KIRBY v5, continuing the 1947 reprints, came out recently, though I don’t think it’s shipped to comic shops through Diamond yet. Both can be ordered direct from Pure Imagination, along with numerous earlier and upcoming PI publications, print and on CD, a few on sale.

-Link- Hodgman on Kirby in NYT

by
Posted in Links.

Author and Daily Show senior expert John Hodgman reviews some comics for the New York Times, including JACK KIRBY’S FOURTH WORLD OMNIBUS and KIRBY: KING OF COMICS. Check it out.

-Link- Joe Simon upcoming books from Titan

by
Posted in Links.

Here’s a press release outlining the plans for at least three books Joe Simon is putting together for Titan Publishing Group, Joe Simon: The Man Behind The Comics (an autobiography), The Best Of Simon & Kirby (a hardcover including superheroes, horror, detective fiction, westerns and romance comics), and The Simon & Kirby Superheroes (including Blue Bolt, Fighting American, Stuntman, and the Fly).

New Kirby – OMAC and more

by

Just updating the New Kirby page, so a quick note that the OMAC collection (which has a few pages restored to how Kirby drew them from how they were published) is out this week, and the last few weeks have seen a few big books, including the HULK OMNIBUS which is about half Kirby (some pages just layouts).