Of course I love the Kirby leaps, strides and punches, but one of my favourite Kirby visual cues (and one far less copied than the big ones) is the quieter hand across the chin when a character is thinking or planning. Not sure why, but it always makes me smile when I see that pose, very well constructed and telling, especially when you’ve got some good crazy eye-action to go along with it.

“The Flames of Battle” continues the great Troll War, as Thor goes down to Earth to rescue Sif, imprisoned by Ulik, while in Asgard the forces of King Geirrodur, guided by the powers of the captive Orikal, launch an all out attack on Asgard, where even Odin armours up for combat. This is just a gorgeous story, full of big battles and big concepts.

In the Tales of Asgard back-up, Thor and his compatriots are in the middle of “The Quest for the Mystic Mountain”, which brings them in battle with the monstrous one-eyed guardian of Wizar the Prophet. Always good to see Thor against a monster, and a good Volstagg joke to end the story.

Colletta inks the cover, 16-page lead and 5-page backup.

Published 1967

Kirby takes back control of one of his creations from a decade earlier with this issue, jumping right into a wild ride as T’Challa has been led on a mission by collector Abner Little, an acquaintance of his grandfather. The find King Solomon’s brass frog, which turns out to be a time machine, responsible for all sorts of strange historical happenings, including Ali Baba’s Genie (?) and the Loch Ness Monster.

The beings the frog summons have the unfortunate tendency to kill their summoners without the control codes found in Solomon’s tomb. Unfortunately after finding the frog, they’re confronted by Princess Zanda, another collector, and in the ensuing battle Mister Little is apparently killed and the frog is activated, bringing forth the futuristic Hatch-22.

Kirby’s run on Panther had a few problems, but it more than makes up for them with some of the inspired goofiness, epitomized by Abner Little and the search for a time machine in a brass frog being the opening gambit.

Mike Royer inks the cover and 17-page story. Kirby also writes a text page about his plans for the series.

Published 1977

A reprint from X-MEN #10 (1965) in this issue, as the X-Men hear about a mysterious being down in the Antarctic, and suspecting it may be a mutant (and craving some adventure) they go down and find a hidden land of long-extinct beasts and of course Ka-Zar (pronounced Kay-Sar, but since I didn’t see that helpful hint until a few years after I first saw the character I still pronounce it the other way. Of course, I also still say “Mag-net-o”). In a not-then-quite-as-cliche turn of events, they fight…

…and then they team up to rescue captured members Marvel Girl and the Angel. Along the way are a few dinosaurs, mastodons and other assorted creatures.

Chic Stone inks the 20-page story and the original cover reprinted inside. Not my favourite of Stone’s ink jobs, really. While I’ve grown to appreciate his work a lot more over the past few years, this one has a few more of the clunky bits that detractors of Stone’s work tend to mention. Still, there are some good bits, especially a few of the shots of Zabu.

Published 1995

Boy, thank goodness the people at “X-Men” magazine were willing to work with those people at “Tales of Suspense” magazine to allow this crossover. I wonder what that special arrangement entailed?

Sol Brodsky inks (uncertain, see the comments) on this attractive cover. I love anything that gives a different kind of view of those great Kirby cityscapes, and Iron Man’s then-new armour looks great on here.

Published 1964

Kirby contributed a cover to this issue spotlighting one of the most fun supporting character from his classic THOR run. I like this one a lot, even with the Colletta inks, it captures a lot of the look of the mid-1960s work. I think Kirby could have had a lot of fun with a Hercules solo series.

Published 1975

After introducing the new line-up, Kirby was back on just covers for AVENGERS with this issue (although there are some minor touch-ups on the interior art of this issue that some people think Kirby had a hand in). This cover is nicely inked by Frank Giacoia, and I love the look of the bad-guy on here, as well as one of those great Scarlet Witch poses.

Published 1965

Probably thanks to some deadline issues, a couple of 1977 issues of FANTASTIC FOUR wound up carrying Kirby reprints, like “The Torch That Was”  from FF ANNUAL #4 (1966). This is the story that briefly returns the original Human Torch to life, thanks to the work of the Thinker, as Johnny and Wyatt briefly return from their quest for the Inhumans, thanks to Lockjaw. Love the Lockjaw.

The original Torch is a reluctant tool of the Thinker, trying to defeat the Johnny in the desert, until the rest of the FF find them and take the battle to the Thinker. Also of interest in this issue is the Thinker’s other ally, the intelligent machine known as Quasimodo, which is one of those great throwaway Kirby creations who I assume returned at some point after his two brief FF ANNUAL bits, since the new (non-Kirby) cover makes a point of mentioning this was his introduction.

Joe Sinnott inks the 19-page story.

Published 1977

This was the first issue of CHALLENGERS in two years when it came out, and reprints two stories from 1959, although changing the Challs jumpsuits from the original purple to a red/yellow combination.

First up, “The Isle of No Return”, a 12-page Kirby/Wood story from CotU #7. Investigating a thief using advanced scientific devices. They follow him to an island (with June along as a stowaway), and find out that the thief has even more devices, stolen from a now dead reclusive scientist, including a device which shrinks the Challs.

Fortunately June is able to find them, and with some help from a pet parrot and the late scientist’s own safeguards they manage to defeat him.

Next is “The Sorceress of Forbidden Valley”, also Kirby/Wood, a 10-pager from CotU #6. This time June is flying through a storm and is forced to make a crash-landing on a mysterious island. The Challs go looking for her, and find her with magical powers and under the control of a criminal who had found a hidden city. Fortunately they’re able to escape.

I don’t think the half-issue stories for the Challengers are as good as the full issue stories, they all seem to end kind of abruptly, but they do give Kirby a good chance to draw various scenes, like a hidden city and a lab packed with scientific wonders.

The cover is also reprinted from CotU #7, with a few minor modifications, and the splash page is a reprint of the Kirby/Stein introduction to the team that appeared in CotU #1 (1958).

Published 1973

Old Greenskin and a whole lot of non-Kirby characters getting the Kirby treatment on this, Kirby’s last of four DEFENDERS covers. Joe Sinnott inks, with some modifications by John Romita.

Published 1977

This issue of JiM marked the first issue where Kirby didn’t do the interior Thor story, missing most of the next year until taking over fulltime. The Carbon Copy Man isn’t the greatest of villains (oooh, carbon copy!!! Scary!!), of course, but the frozen Thor is pretty cool, especially the shading effect on the legs. Thor looks kind of young on here, though. Dick Ayers inks this cover.

Published 1963