So, assuming that gun falling away is Kid Colt’s, and there appears to be one in his holster, plus the one in his hand… How many guns did this guy need, anyway? I thought the Two-Gun Kid was being excessive.
Nice little Kirby/Ayers cover, although the Marvel age of hype was clearly in full force by this time, and is a bit distracting.
Published 1963
The previously linked Newsarama interview has some samples of the colouring for the reprint of the first issue of SILVER STAR, which is very much like the original (but printed on much nicer paper this time). As Erik Larsen mentions in the interview, the original colouring for #5 and #6 were quite different, so are being recoloured to make the whole series more seamless. Erik has passed along a few pages from those issues, so you can see what the new colouring looks like.
Here are a pair of pages from #5. New pages on right. Click to embiggen, as they say.
Some pages from #6 soon.
Erik has also confirmed that the reprint will be oversized (exact size still to be determined), not 7×10 as some online information lists it.
The book is scheduled for July. You can order SILVER STAR from your local comic shop now, using order code MAY071842, or you can order it online from Amazon or Tales of Wonder.
Comics Continuum has several images from JACK KIRBY’S FOURTH WORLD OMNIBUS v1, the cover and first four pages of NEW GODS #1 and the Grant Morrison introduction.
The book is scheduled for the end of this month. You can look for it at your local comic shop (order code JAN070303), or you can order it online from Amazon or Tales of Wonder.
Newsarama has an interview with Image publisher Erik Larsen about the upcoming SILVER STAR reprint. Erik’s passed along a few additional images of the colouring for #5 and #6, which I’ll be running here over the next few days.
The book is scheduled for July. You can order SILVER STAR from your local comic shop now, using order code MAY071842, or you can order it online from Amazon or Tales of Wonder.
There’s a massive 30-page PDF preview of Tim Lasiuta’s upcoming book Brush Strokes With Greatness: The Life & Art of Joe Sinnott over on the TwoMorrows site. Some gorgeous looking stuff, with a lot of his 1950s solo work, plus of course a lot on his work with Jack Kirby (including some comments on recently inking the “lost FF” issue). The book should be out later this month.
The book can be ordered at the above link, your local comic shop (order code MAR073744) or from Amazon or Tales of Wonder.
I swear, Marvel’s reprint department in the 1970s, sometimes I just don’t know about them…
This issue reprints “Gorgilla Strikes Again” from TALES TO ASTONISH #18 [1961], the Kirby/Ayers sequel to the original Gorgilla story that had been then-recently reprinted in MONSTERS ON THE PROWL #9 [1971] (not “Where Monsters Prowl”, as the note on the splash page says). The story is pretty good, although not as good as the original Gorgilla story, where he got to fight dinosaurs. In this one, Gorgilla feels a kinship with the humans who had recently discovered him. For some reason this kinship doesn’t extend to the people in the port city he sneaks into, or even the people on the boat he hides out in. No, Gorgilla is holding out for his true family, the people of New York City.
On arriving in the city, like most tourists, Gorgilla is feared and hunted, but he remains oblivious to that, and takes in a Yankees game. Meanwhile, some communists decide to take advantage of the confusion and stage an elaborate attack on a visiting foreign leader. Fortunately, Gorgilla stumbles across their plan, and this somehow leads to him chasing the spy up the Statue of Liberty, where a blast from a bazooka downs him. Yeah, I’m not clear on all of it myself. It does look great though. Gorgilla at a baseball game? Beautiful.
One page is edited out somewhere, I’m sure the one that makes the whole thing logical, making this a 12-page story now.
The cover is where it really gets confusing. Originally, the cover to TtA #18 featured art from the splash page of the story. I guess that didn’t feel right in 1971, so of course they commissioned a new cover, right? Nope. They grabbed the Kirby/Ayers cover to TALES TO ASTONISH #24 [1961], featuring the Abominable Snowman. Who doesn’t look that much like Gorgilla, and the scene doesn’t make much sense for this story. And they re-letter a few bits. And to compound the confusion, even though Gorgilla is brown, and the Abominable Snowman is brown, on this cover they re-colour the character white. Someone actually sat down and made these decisions…
Published 1971
Very attractive Kirby/Stone cover for this issue, really getting the concept of defeat across. Also, very nice job on the colouring, which gets the heat and dryness of the scene across.
Published 1965
Here’s a nice bold, in-your-face western cover by Kirby and Chic Stone. The Kid’s pose is nicely confident and ready for action.
Published 1965
Kirby’s finishes up his stint on the adventures of T’Challa this issue, ending on a cliff-hanger to be resolved by the following creative team. Well, at least it’s better than OMAC’s “and then everything blew up” paste-up ending…
Pretty good story despite the lack of an ending. T’Challa still has his ESP powers as a result of exposure to vibranium in his previous adventure, and gets a message from his captured cousin Khanata about the villainous Kiber, a mad scientist type who is conducting strange experiments in matter-transmission and conversion of matter to energy.
The Panther goes to the rescue, allowing himself to be captured by Kiber’s minions so that he can lead a mass escape by the other captives while he goes to confront the real Kiber behind the image.
Kirby has a lot of fun with the effects of characters walking through walls and doing other highly irregular things thanks to their energy states this issue.
Mike Royer inks the 17-page story. The cover is one of those uncertain ones. The Kirby Checklist has Klaus Janson, which doesn’t seem implausible if the JUNGLE ACTION #18 from a few years earlier is also Janson, but there’s nothing really distinctive to make an identification easy.
Published 1978
(pre-publication covers always subject to change of course)
(and presumably Amazon will restore their previous 30%+ discount before the book comes out)
(edited to add, hey look, they just did. Listed at 34% off again)