[updated to include the AC reprint book]

A couple of big things from in February. TwoMorrows has a new KIRBY COLLECTOR (#44 should be out soon). AC has some unspecified Kirby in a big book of old sci-fi reprints. Marvel gives SGT. FURY a hardcover, running all the way to #13, so it has all of Kirby’s full stories for the series. Should be worth a look. Also, the MARVEL ROMANCE TPB should be about one third Kirby, the first time any of those have seen print in a long while (there’s also a comic coming out where they re-script some old romance stories, including a Kirby one, but the less said about that the better). The recent MARVEL MONSTERS one shots get an oversized hardcover for some reason, including the reprint backups by Kirby. And in the trivial, ESSENTIAL MOON KNIGHT will have one cover by Kirby. DC’s SHOWCASE PRESENTS HOUSE OF MYSTERY volume should have one Kirby reprint, “The Negative Man” (originally from #84, as reprinted in #194).

JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR #45
Tabloid FormatThere’s no time like the present in JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR #45, as we take a trip in the KIRBY TIME MACHINE for Jack’s views of the past and future! There’s a never-published interview with KING KIRBY! A heartfelt new interview with Jack’s son NEAL KIRBY! MARK EVANIER’s regular column, plus our other regular columnists! Two Kirby pencil art galleries—THE PAST and THE FUTURE (both at whopping TABLOID SIZE)! Two rare, complete 1950s Kirby stories! An interview with Kirby Award winner and family friend MARK MILLER! Kirby’s first script, from the 1930s! Looks at Jack’s 3-D work, the Eternals, Devil Dinosaur, Justice Inc., war and gangster stories, and the 2005 Kirby Tribute Panel (with Evanier, nephew Robert Katz, Scott Shaw!, and Steve Sherman)! All behind a new Kirby/Royer montage cover, plus the unpublished Kirby cover to CAPTAIN 3-D #2, inked by BILL BLACK and converted into actual 3-D by RAY ZONE!

AC Comics
GOLDEN AGE SCIENCE FICTION TREASURY VOL 1 TP
by Various
The biggest reprint volume EVER focusing on classic science-fiction comics of the ’40s & ’50s, featuring stories originally appearing in Planet Comics, Strange Worlds, Space Detective, Space Adventures, Science Comics, and others! Super artists—Wally Wood, Al Williamson, George Evans, Jack Kirby, Reed Crandall, Steve Ditko, and Joe Orlando, working their sweet science (fiction) on such characters as Mysta, Mars, Gale Allen, Captain Science, Hunt Bowman, Auro, Star Pirate, and more!
SC, 216pgs, B&W SRP: $29.95

MARVEL MASTERWORKS: SGT. FURY VOL. 1
Written by STAN LEE
Penciled by JACK KIRBY & DICK AYERS
Cover by JACK KIRBY
WHA-HOOO! It’s time for Marvel’s first-ever war Masterworks with tales of Sgt. Nick Fury and his Howlin’ Commandos in thick of ol’ WWII! And for the icing on the cake, it’s a titanic team-up of the mighty talents of Sgt. Stan Lee and Infantryman Jack Kirby! That’s a pair storytellers so explosive you better make sure you keep your lid on when you read this one, soldier! Prepare yourself for drama, intrigue, humor and action galore as Fury, Dum Dum Dugan and the rest of the Howlers as they battle more Nazis than you can shake a bayonet at, team-up with Captain America and Bucky, battle the nefarious Baron Strucker and Zemo, and set out to capture Adolf Hitler himself! With a pedigree like that, get off your duff and reserve your copy today, goldbrick! That’s an order! Collecting SGT. FURY #1-13
320 PGS $49.99
ISBN: 0-7851-2039-4

MARVEL ROMANCE TPB
Written by STAN LEE, GARY FRIEDRICH & MORE
Penciled by DICK GIORDANO, JACK KIRBY, GRAY MORROW, SOL BRODSKY & MORE
Cover by JACK KIRBY
MY LOVE. TEEN-AGE ROMANCE. LOVE ROMANCE. Picking up a theme? The romance genre spanned nearly half a century, and now Marvel’s picked some of its best from the sixties and seventies! “It Happened at Woodstock!” “My Heart Broke in Hollywood!” “Love on the Rebound!” Featuring Smart Styles and Heavenly Hairdos with Patsy Walker in a pre-Hellcat tale! Collects LOVE ROMANCE #89 and #101-104; MY LOVE #2, #14, #16 and #18-20; TEEN-AGE ROMANCE #77 and #84; OUR LOVE STORY #5; and PATSY WALKER #119.
176 PGS. $19.99
ISBN: 0-7851-2089-0

MARVEL MONSTERS HC
Written by STEVE NILES, ERIC POWELL, TOM SNEIGOSKI, ROGER LANGRIDGE, MICK GRAY, PETER DAVID, JEFF PARKER & KEITH GIFFEN
Penciled by DUNCAN FEGRADO, ERIC POWELL, MARK FARMER, ROGER LANGRIDGE, ARNOLD PANDER, RUSSELL BRAUN & KEITH GIFFEN
Cover by ERIC POWELL
Marvel’s monsters unleashed in four timeless tales by today’s hottest creators! In MONSTERS ON THE PROWL, it’s the Hulk, the Thing, Giant-Man and the Beast vs. a tidal wave of classic creatures when the Collector inadvertently lets loose Droom, Grogg, Goom, Rombuu, Grattu and more on New York City! In DEVIL DINOSAUR, two young Celestials debate prehistoric Earth’s superior life form. But when the ferocity of Devil Dinosaur proves no match for the opposition, a savage from the future is brought back for a battle you thought you’d never see: Hulk vs. Devil Dino! In FIN FANG FOUR, four giant monsters — incarcerated for years for their crimes against humanity — now find themselves shrunk to human size and working at the home of the very people who captured them: the Fantastic Four! Meet Googam, Son of Goom; Elektro; Gorgilla; and Fin Fang Foom! But when Goom’s mad plan to rescue his father goes awry, the quartet must put aside their differences and become — the Fin Fang Four! And in WHERE MONSTERS DWELL, witness the terror of Monstrollo, the horror of Manoo and the fright of Bombu! Also collects classic stories from TALES TO ASTONISH #1, JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #62, STRANGE TALES #89 and TALES TO ASTONISH #10 – and the MARVEL MONSTERS: FROM THE FILES OF ULYSSES BLOODSTONE(AND THE MONSTER HUNTERS) handbook!
216 PGS. $20.99
ISBN: 0-7851-1893-4
Trim size: Oversized

ESSENTIAL MOON KNIGHT VOL. 1 TPB
Written by DOUG MOENCH, BILL MANTLO, STEVEN GRANT & FRANK MILLER
Penciled by DON PERLIN, MIKE ZECK, JIM MOONEY, JIM CRAIG, PABLO MARCUS, GENE COLAN, KEITH POLLARD, BILL SIENKIEWICZ, HERB TRIMPE & MIKE ESPOSITO
Cover by BILL SIENKIEWICZ
Debuting as both enemy and ally of the Werewolf by Night, Moon Knight’s three personalities equaled one eerie adventure after another by Moench, Miller and more! Earning enemies like the brutal Bushman and the macabre Morpheus early in his career, Moon Knight also teamed up with Spider-Man, the Thing, and others against well-known and forgotten villains alike! Spun by Cyclone! Caught by Crossfire! Plus: an early fight with the Purple Man alongside Luke Cage! Featuring Topaz from WITCHES and the original White Tiger! Includes black-and-white stories not reprinted in more than two decades! Collects WEREWOLF BY NIGHT #32-33, MARVEL SPOTLIGHT #28-29, PETER PARKER, SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #22-23, MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE #52, HULK MAGAZINE #11-15, 17-18 & 20, MARVEL PREVIEW #21, MOON KNIGHT #1-12 and MARVEL TEAM-UP ANNUAL #4.
528 PGS. $16.99
ISBN: 0-7851-2092-0

SHOWCASE PRESENTS: HOUSE OF MYSTERY VOL. 1 TP
Written by Len Wein, Robert Kanigher, Gerry Conway and others, art by Bernie Wrightson, Neal Adams, Gil Kane, Alex Toth and others, cover by Joe Orlando.
Do you dare to enterŠthe House of Mystery? Everyone who does will find a full 22 issues of this classic DC series. Beginning with editor Joe Orlando’s first issue (#174), this 552-page black-and-white trade paperback features a wealth of art from macabre masters.
552 pages, black and white, $16.99, in stores on Feb. 8.

Quite a few books. Two hardcover MASTERWORKS from Marvel, one the first reprinting the pre-hero fantasy books with the first ten TALES TO ASTONISH. Kirby did eight stories in that run (one never reprinted), totaling 45 pages, plus nine of the ten covers. The third volume for the Hulk picks up on the other end of the TtA run, with Kirby layouts on the first five issues included, plus a few of the covers. And MACHINE MAN #1 is reprinted among a few other stories in another MILESTONES special.

Over at DC, the previously mentioned SHOWCASE PRESENTS: GREEN ARROW reprints all of Kirby’s 1950s GA stories (11 stories, 67 pages) in black and white, and continues into the rest of the silver age solo stories and major crossovers.

MARVEL MASTERWORKS: ATLAS ERA TALES TO ASTONISH VOL. 1
By STAN LEE, JACK KIRBY, STEVE DITKO, JOHN BUSCEMA, AL WILLIAMSON, DON HECK, JOE SINNOTT & FRIENDS
Cover by JACK KIRBY
Marvel Masterworks have brought you classic stories from Marvel’s Silver Age super-hero heyday and the start of it all with its Golden Age. Now thrill to the first offering of Marvel’s Atlas Era! Before the dawn of the Marvel Age, the comics world sat astride the shoulders of Atlas Comics – a world full of gun-fighting outlaws, romantic heartbreak, death-defying heroism in battle, terrifying depths of horror, and visionary science fiction. In TALES TO ASTONISH return to the days when atomic monsters roamed the Earth and alien invasions were a daily occurrence. Marvel’s classic creators will make you quake at the sight of the 9th Wonder of the World! You’ll tremble before the Things on Easter Island! Beware the might of Mummex-King of the Mummies! Flee before the Giant from Outer Space! Dare defy the Floating Head! Prepare to be Astonished! Collects TALES TO ASTONISH #1-10 (1959-1960).
272 PGS. / $49.99
ISBN: 0-7851-1889-6MARVEL MASTERWORKS: THE INCREDIBLE HULK VOL. 3
Written by STAN LEE & GARY FRIEDRICH
Penciled by JACK KIRBY, BILL EVERETT, JOHN BUSCEMA, GIL KANE & MARIE SEVERIN
Cover by MARIE SEVERIN
Brace yourself, True Believer, Hulk is smashing his way into another marvelous monster-sized Masterworks! The batty bullpen declareth that you’d better hide behind a Hulk-Buster because it’s not a happy Hulk who faces off against the likes of bombastic Boomerang, the android Hulk-Killer and the one and only Abomination in his classic first appearance by Stan “The Man” and Gil Kane! That’s only the warm up, though! The cosmos itself shudders when the strongest man-like being in the Marvel U. goes toe-to-toe with the Silver Surfer, Prince Namor and the Mighty Thor himself!
Grab a crash helmet, bunker down and prepare yourself to be Hulk-inued this January!
Collecting TALES TO ASTONISH #80-101 and INCREDIBLE HULK (Vol. 2) #102
288 PGS. / $49.99
ISBN: 0-7851-2032-7

MARVEL MILESTONES SPECIAL: BLOODSTONE, X-51 & CAPTAIN MARVEL II
Written by JOHN WARNER, DAN ABNETT, ANDY LANNING, JACK KIRBY & ROGER STERN
Penciled by MIKE VOSBURG, PAT BOYETTE, MICHAEL LOPEZ, JACK KIRBY & JOHN ROMITA JR.
Cover by GIL KANE
He has lived for untold centuries, but today is the day he may die! It’s the fear-fraught first appearance of Ulysses Bloodstone from MARVEL PRESENTS #1 (October 1975). And proving that Bloodstone runs thicker than water, his daughter, Elsa, inherits the family business in BLOODSTONE #1 (December 2001). Plus: They made him in their own image, then condemned him to death for being too human! Machine Man, the Living Robot-hunted, hounded-fights to survive in a hostile world in MACHINE MAN #1 (April 1978). And finally, who’s that lady? Presenting the exciting origin of the all-new, all-different, all-terrific Captain Marvel from AMAZING SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL #16 (1982).
104 PGS. $4.99

SHOWCASE PRESENTS: GREEN ARROW VOL. 1 TP
Written by Jack Miller, Ed Herron, Gardner Fox and Bob Haney
Art by Jack Kirby, George Papp, Mike Sekowsky and Neal Adams
Cover by Lee Elias & Jerry Ordway
The Emerald Archer’s Silver Age adventures get the spotlight! This volume reprints stories from ADVENTURE COMICS #250-266, 268-269, THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD #50, 71, 85, JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #4, and WORLD’S FINEST #95-140. Along with his sidekick Speedy, see Green Arrow take on all manner of crime in Star City!
On sale Jan 18 – 528 pg, B&W, $16.99 US

Kirby hits DC’s version of the Marvel ESSENTIAL line with two books next year. The Green Arrow volume starts with his run from 1958 and continues on from there, the same stories included in the 2001 GREEN ARROW BY JACK KIRBY collection. The House of Mystery volume is a bit more trivial, but for the record it will have a reprint of the reprint of “The Negative Man” from HoM #84 in 1959.

SHOWCASE PRESENTS: GREEN ARROW VOL. 1 TP
Writers: Jack Miller, France Herron, Gardner Fox, Bob Haney, Dave Wood, Dick Wood, Robert Bernstein, and John Broome
Artists: Jack Kirby, George Papp, Mike Sekowsky, Neal Adams, Lee Elias, Bernard Sachs, George Roussos and Jerry Ordway
Collects stories from ADVENTURE COMICS #250-269, WORLD’S FINEST COMICS #95-134, 136, 138 and 140, JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #4 and THE BRAVE & THE BOLD #50, 71 and 85
528 pages, $16.99 US, black & white

SHOWCASE PRESENTS: HOUSE OF MYSTERY VOL. 1 TP
Writers: Joe Orlando, Sergio Aragones, Howie Post, E. Nelson Bridwell, Otto Binder, Robert Kanigher, Jack Oleck, Marv Wolfman, Len Wein, John Albano and Jack Miller
Artists: Joe Orlando, George Roussos, Lee Elias, Doug Wildey, Bernard Baily, Carmine Infantino, Mort Meskin, Neal Adams, Sid Greene, Jack Sparling, Sergio Aragones, Howie Post, Bill Draut, Jim Mooney, Win Mortimer, Jerry Grandanetti, Gil Kane, Wallace Wood, Bernie Wrightson, Alex Toth, Wayne Howard, Al Williamson, John Celardo, Mike Peppe, Tony deZuniga, Leonard Starr, Tom Sutton, Ric Estrada, Ralph Reese, Frank Giacoia, Jim Aparo, Gray Morrow, Don Heck, Russ Heath, Jack Kirby, John Costanza and Nester Redondo
Collects HOUSE OF MYSTERY #174-194
552 pages, $16.99, black & white

Two Marvel collections with Kirby artwork among the contents. ALL-WINNERS #1 and #2 both have S&K Captain America stories. The one from #2 is currently unreprinted but should be in the GIANT SIZE INVADERS #2 before the Masterworks comes out, along with several other stories that will be in this hardcover. The S&K story from #1 has been reprinted once or twice before. And of course Kirby’s WHAT IF issue was recently reprinted in MARVEL VISIONARIES – JACK KIRBY, so that’s only of marginal interest, but he did also do the cover to #9 which should be in there. He also did an unused cover to #10, and Marvel has been running that kind of stuff in the back of their tradepaperbacks lately, so it might show up.

MARVEL MASTERWORKS: GOLDEN AGE ALL-WINNERS COMICS VOL. 1
Written by CARL BURGOS, STAN LEE, JACK KIRBY, JOE SIMON & BILL EVERETT
Penciled by CARL BURGOS, AL AVISON, JACK KIRBY, JOE SIMON, BILL EVERETT, JACK BINDER, PAUL GUSTAVSON, PAUL REINMAN, ALLEN SIMON, MIKE SEKOWSKY, JOHN FORTE, BOB POWELL, HOWARD JAMES & AL GABRIELE
Cover by ALEX SCHOMBURG
Marvel Comics proudly presents more Golden Age greats, collecting the first four issues of ALL-WINNERS COMICS, from 1941-42 – newly remastered and restored. The Human Torch, Captain America, the Sub-Mariner, the Destroyer, the Whizzer and more battle for victory for America – both together and in solo adventures!
280 PGS./ $49.99
ISBN: 0-7851-1884-5

WHAT IF? CLASSIC VOL. 2 TPB
Written by DON GLUT & JACK KIRBY
Penciled by JACK KIRBY, RICK HOBERG, BILL BLACK, SAL BUSCEMA, ALAN KUPPERBERG & JIM MOONEY
Cover by JACK KIRBY
Daredevil’s secret exposed? The identity of Thor passed down to another? A new Hulk? Multiple Spider-Men? Some of the ideas that shook Marvel’s foundation got their start right in the realm of remote possibility overseen by the wondering Watcher! But can even Uatu believe his eyes when Jack “King” Kirby rewrites himself and his fellow legends as the Fantastic Four? Plus: from a concept by Roy Thomas, the Avengers of 1958! Collects WHAT IF? #7-12.
216 PGS./ $24.99
ISBN: 0-7851-1843-8

Marvel apparently announced a general overview of some of their plans for 2006 at a retailers thing this past weekend. All plans are tentative at this point, of course. Most notable surprise is the plan for a hardcover reprint of Kirby’s THE ETERNALS series of the 1970s. Also, an X-MEN OMNIBUS to come out when the next X-Men movie does, so presumably like the FF book about the first 30 issues, with letter columns.

Plans also for 24 volumes in the ESSENTIAL series and 18 in the MASTERWORKS, almost sure to be a few in each with Kirby (if I were betting I’d say the final Kirby FF volume for each of those is certain, and volumes of THOR in each are likely).

Four Kirby books in the latest solicitations, including some stuff never reprinted.

GIANT-SIZE INVADERS #2 – The story from ALL-WINNERS #2 has never been reprinted, so that makes this a must-have. The other stuff looks like fun, too, and that’s a great price for it.

FANTASTIC FOUR: THE WEDDING SPECIAL – Yet another reprint of FF Annual #3. I’m going to hope in vain that we’ll get a decent reprint of it this time around (as decent as you can get given the inking, at least). The new story in this issue sounds good, too.

MARVEL MASTERWORKS: THE FANTASTIC FOUR VOL. 9 – Wow, two volumes in one year? That’s unexpected. Wonder if that means they’ll finish up the Kirby run early next year, or this is just the “have something new when the movie comes out on video” thing. Anyway, each issue has a few pages that haven’t been included in previous reprints.

ESSENTIAL MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE VOL. 1 TPB – Not mentioned in the solicitation, but Kirby did five of the covers for books reprinted in there, all but one of his TWO-IN-ONE covers.

GIANT-SIZE INVADERS #2
Written by ROY THOMAS, BILL EVERETT, CARL BURGOS, JOE SIMON & JACK KIRBY
Penciled by JAY ANACLETO, FRANK ROBBINS, BILL EVERETT,
CARL BURGOS, JOE SIMON & JACK KIRBY
Cover by JAY ANACLETO
Captain America, the Sub-Mariner and the Human Torch – together again, in a brand-new story Written by the legendary Roy Thomas! Plus: The greatest super heroes of World War II unite to battle the Axis powers in INVADERS #1-2 (August-October 1975); the Sub-Mariner takes on the Torpedo Boat Terror, from ALL-WINNERS COMICS #1 (Summer 1941); the Human Torch gets caught in the Carnival of Death, from ALL-WINNERS COMICS #2 (Fall 1941); and Captain America cracks the Strange Case of the Malay Idol, also from ALL-WINNERS #2.
96 PGS. $4.99

FANTASTIC FOUR: THE WEDDING SPECIAL
Written by KARL KESEL
Penciled by DREW JOHNSON
Cover by GENE HA
A true Collector’s Item celebrating one of the greatest events in comics history – the marriage of Reed Richards and Sue Storm! Hard to believe they tied the knot 40 years ago… and it certainly doesn’t seem that much time has passed to Reed and Sue themselves when a special evening out gives them a chance to look over their entire life together – past, present and future – in an all-new 30-page story by Karl Kesel and Drew Johnson. Also included as an added bonus: Reed and Sue’s original 1965 wedding extravaganza, guest-starring the Avengers, X-Men, Spider-Man and a cast of thousands – an epic that could only be told by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby! So, like all great weddings, this Special mixes something old (The original Lee/Kirby FF Wedding Spectacular) with something new (“The Life Fantastic” by Kesel/Johnson) – even though there’s nothing borrowed, and the only thing blue will be any fan who misses this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!
64 PGS. $4.99

MARVEL MASTERWORKS: THE FANTASTIC FOUR VOL. 9
Written by STAN LEE
Penciled by JACK KIRBY
Cover by JACK KIRBY
FIELD TRIP!
That’s “Field Trip” as defined in the Lee/Kirby Dictionary, which means you’d better pack that bag lunch in unstable molecules and strap yourself in for a trip around the universe beyond your wildest imagination!

First stop: A little visit to the neighbor’s place, and hanging with the incomparable Inhumans and titanic team-up against Maximus the Mad!

Second stop: Europe. Paris is beautiful in the springtime, but that’s nothing. According to the brochure, Latveria’s lovely year round. You might want to take that visitor’s guide with a grain of salt, though. The savvy traveler never trusts a Chamber of Commerce run by Doombots.

Third stop: Down under. Way down under for a big-time battle with the Mole Man!
Last stop: Now here’s a trip that’s far out. The ever lovin’ blue-eyed Thing gets whisked away on a galactic tour as a gladiator in the scurrilous Skrulls’ slave arena! If that’s not enough outer-space exotica for ya, then welcome yourself to a world wrapped in the Roarin’ Twenties!

With tour guides like Stan and Jack, you’d best make those travel plans today, True Believer. Tickets for this trip are guaranteed to sell out! Collecting FANTASTIC FOUR (Vol. 1) #82-93
272 PGS./ $49.99
ISBN: 0-7851-1846-2

ESSENTIAL MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE VOL. 1 TPB
Written by LEN WEIN, MIKE FRIEDRICH, STEVE GERBER, CHRIS CLAREMONT, ROY THOMAS, BILL MANTLO, ROGER SLIFER, MARV WOLFMAN,
SCOTT EDELMAN, TONY ISABELLA & JIM SHOOTER
Penciled by JIM STARLIN, GIL KANE, SAL BUSCEMA, GEORGE TUSKA, HERB TRIMPE, BOB BROWN, RON WILSON, ARVELL JONES,
DICK GIORDANO, MIKE ESPOSITO, DAVE HUNT, SAM GRAINGER, MARIE SEVERIN & JOHN BUSCEMA
Cover by JIM STARLIN
The Thing can’t stay out of trouble, but at least he makes friends wherever he goes! The Ever-Lovin’ Idol o’ Millions teams up with heroes both frontline and forgotten against menaces spanning time and space! Gods! Aliens! Spies! Demons! Dinosaurs! Time travellers! Martial artists! The Living Eraser and the Mountain That Walked Like a Man! A veritable who’s who of history’s horror heroes! Fans of NEW INVADERS take notice of Ben’s team-ups with the Invaders AND the Liberty Legion! Collects MARVEL FEATURE #11-12; MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE #1-20, 22-25 and ANNUAL #1; MARVEL TEAM-UP #47; and FANTASTIC FOUR ANNUAL #11.
576 PGS. $16.99
ISBN: 0-7851-1729-6

In addition to the previously mentioned JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR #44 and Marvel monster books with Kirby reprint backups, the latest solicitations see a new hardcover Masterworks volume for Thor, only five years after the last one.

Collects 10 issues from JiM #121 to THOR #130, some great comics featuring Thor in battle with the Absorbing Man, Hercules and the hordes of the Netherworld, plus some of the best Tales of Asgard back-ups, with the conclusion of the grand quest and the revelation of Ragnarok and the aftermath which evokes the New Gods. The reproduction of a few of these was a bit weak in the recent ESSENTIAL THOR v2, so hopefully they can be punched up a bit here. The usual $50 price for the regular edition, $55 if you want a dustjacket matching the first printings of the early volumes.

In October, Marvel is publishing four new one-shots featuring various Marvel monsters, and each will have a Jack Kirby reprint as the backup. To wit:

MARVEL MONSTERS: DEVIL DINOSAUR
“I Was a Slave of the Living Hulk!” from Journey Into Mystery #62, November 1960 by Kirby/Ayers.

MARVEL MONSTERS: FIN FANG FOUR
“Fin Fang Foom” from Strange Tales #89, October 1961 by Kirby/Ayers

MARVEL MONSTERS: WHERE MONSTERS DWELL
“I Was Trapped By Titano” from Tales to Astonish #10, July 1960 by Kirby/Sinnott

MARVEL MONSTERS: MONSTERS ON THE PROWL
“We Found the Ninth Wonder of the World” from Tales to Astonish #1, January 1959 by Kirby/Rule

More info here.

September looks like a clear field for KAMANDI ARCHIVES as the only scheduled Kirby, but here’s some stuff for later.

TwoMorrows has released some details for THE JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR #44, coming out in October. Focus on mythological characters, including Etrigan and Thor, and a reprint of a BLACK MAGIC story.

Marvel has officially rescheduled MAXIMUM FANTASTIC FOUR, the reprint/analysis tome of FF #1, for November, being advance solicited with the September solicitations if you’re going to get it from a comic shop.

THE JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR #44
Fall 2005 – 80 pages – Tabloid Format

Mythadventures rule in JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR #44, focusing on KIRBY’S MYTHOLOGICAL CHARACTERS, including THE DEMON, THOR, ATLAS, ETERNALS, and others! There’s a rare interview with KIRBY, never-seen by most comics enthusiasts! MARK EVANIER answers Frequently Asked Questions about Jack in his regular column, while our other regular columnists give their take on all things Kirby! There’s also two Kirby pencil art galleries; one of THE DEMON, and another featuring some of his other classic mythological characters (both at whopping TABLOID SIZE)! Just in time for Halloween, there’s a never-reprinted BLACK MAGIC story from the 1950s! Also, we present an interview with Kirby Award winner and family friend DAVID SCHWARTZ (with tons of little known anecdotes and info about Jack and Roz), a new Kirby Demon cover inked by MATT WAGNER, and more! Edited by John Morrow.

MAXIMUM FANTASTIC FOUR
Introduction and afterword by WALTER MOSLEY
Commentary by MARK EVANIER
Designed by PAUL SAHRE
FANTASTIC FOUR #1 by STAN LEE & JACK KIRBY

Ushering in momentous change in comic-book illustration and ingenuity, Jack Kirby’s immense artistic contribution to FANTASTIC FOUR #1 revolutionized visual storytelling and brought the art of reality to the extraordinary lives of super heroes. The ripple effects of that single issue continue to influence comic-book art to this day. As a tribute to Kirby’s rendering of Marvel’s First Family and their first adventure, MAXIMUM FANTASTIC FOUR re-presents FANTASTIC FOUR #1 AS YOU’VE NEVER SEEN IT BEFORE – highlighted by a super-size, digitally remastered, panel-by-panel exploration of the entire issue that captures every single detail and nuance of Kirby’s groundbreaking artwork. The book also contains a substantial introduction and afterword by bestselling author and comic-book enthusiast Walter Mosley; art commentary by Kirby expert Mark Evanier; the stunning design of Paul Sahre; and a scale-sized, high-resolution reproduction of FF #1. This immaculately packaged coffee-table masterpiece is must-have for any Jack Kirby enthusiast, Fantastic Four fanatic, or sequential art fan!
224 PGS./All Ages …$49.99
Format: Jacketed hardcover
Trim size: 8 7/8″ x 11 7/8″
Special effects: four-color matte lamination, spot UV jacket; four-color matte lamination, spot UV case; and spot varnished interior pages.
ISBN: 0-7851-1792-X

KAMANDI ARCHIVES VOL. 1 HC
Written by Jack Kirby
Art by Kirby & Mike Royer
Cover by Kirby
The first archive in a series collecting the adventures of Kamandi, the last boy on Earth, by Jack Kirby! In these tales from KAMANDI #1-10 (1972-1973), Kamandi — one of the few survivors of the Great Disaster — must make his way in a world populated by bizarre mutated animals and other strange wonders!
On sale Sept 14 – 244 pg, FC, $49.99 US