About Comics publisher Nat Gertler has informed me that the previously announced b&w collection of DESTROYER DUCK #1-#5 has been cancelled. But before you adjust the reserved spot on your bookshelf for it, expect news soon that’ll still see some Gerber/Kirby/Alcala on your shelf.
I’ve read more comics than are good for me, and I still have no idea what what Jack Kirby’s Atlas has to do with the Atomic Knights…
I’m still going to buy this book, though. And hey, some Ditko, some Swan, some Mayer…
SHOWCASE PRESENTS: THE GREAT DISASTER FEATURING THE ATOMIC KNIGHTS TP
Writers: John Broome, Jack Kirby, Gerry Conway, David Michelinie, Cary Bates, Sheldon Mayer, David Kraft, Paul Levitz, Steve Skeates, Dan Mishkin, Gary Cohn, Len Wein, Robin Snyder, Mike Bentley, George Kashdan, Wyatt Gwyon, Paul Kupperberg, Roger McKenzie, Jack Oleck and Elliott S. Maggin
Artists: Murphy Anderson, Jack Kirby, José Luis García-López, Walter Simonson, Pablo Marcos, Mike Nasser, Alex Saviuk, Vicitan, Bill Draut, Alfredo Alcala, Jack Sparling, Rich Buckler, Howard Chaykin, A.B. Magpali, Howard Bender, J.M. Matucenio, Steve Ditko, Buddy Generale, Paul Kirchner, Jeff Aclin, Frank Miller, Alex Niño, Curt Swan, Danny Bulanadi, Wallace Wood, D. Bruce Berry, Andy Mushynsky, Frank McLaughlin, Bob Layton, Bob Smith, Steve Mitchell, Bob Oksner, Terry Austin, Joe Rubinstein, Vince Colletta, Tex Blaisdell, Bob Wiacek, and Danny Bulanadi
Collects: FIRST ISSUE SPECIAL #1, HERCULES UNBOUND #1-10, SUPERMAN #295, DC COMICS PRESENTS #57, and stories from KAMANDI #43-46, STRANGE ADVENTURES #117, 120, 123, 126, 129, 132, 135, 138, 141, 144, 147, 150, 153, 156 and 160, WEIRD WAR TALES #22, 23, 30, 32, 40, 42-44, 46-49, 51-53, 64, 68, 69 and 123, HOUSE OF MYSTERY #318, HOUSE OF SECRETS #86, 95, and 97, TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED #215 and 221, and THE AMAZING WORLD OF DC COMICS #12.
$16.99 U.S., 576 pages
Two Kirby bits in the latest solicitations. Early AVENGERS reprints continue in AVENGERS CLASSIC with #3, and one fat collection of 15 fantasy/sci-fi books. Primarily Ditko stories in the latter, of course, but Kirby has covers and stories in the first six issues, plus of course the cover in the last, so just over 100 pages of Kirby in there, a fair chunk never before reprinted (and mostly over 30 years ago even for those that were).
(and just editing to add, I hope that they realize Dr. Druid is in fact Dr. Droom)
AVENGERS CLASSIC #3
Written by DWAYNE MCDUFFIE
Painted by MICHAEL AVON OEMING
Cover by ARTHUR ADAMS
HULK versus AVENGERS! For the very first time from Avengers #3! Plus, an all new Avengers tale – Iron Man unveils his awesome red and gold armor!
32 PGS. $2.99
AMAZING FANTASY OMNIBUS HC
Written by STAN LEE
Penciled by STEVE DITKO, JACK KIRBY, DON HECK & PAUL REINMAN
Cover by STEVE DITKO
Across six issues of truly amazing adventures, Lee, Kirby, and Ditko dreamed up a cadre of ten-story tall menaces from Torr to Manoo to the one and only Monsteroso to trash unwitting Earthlings on a month-in and month-out basis. Backed up by weird tales of wax museums, witchcraft, Martians, and the occult master who set the trenchcoat trend in comics, Dr. Druid, it seemed these titanic tales could never be topped.
And then Stan Lee and Steve Ditko did just that by launching “The Magazine That Respects Your Intelligence!” An all-new approach for the young comics sophisticate, Amazing Adult Fantasy presented Twilight Zone-tinged tales of otherworldly aliens, time travel, ghosts, atomic nightmares, and maybe even the secret of the universe itself. With story after lushly-illustrated story, Ditko set a new standard for comic book illustration, and Lee raised the bar ever higher with his scintillating scripts.
And, oh, in the last issue they created some guy named “Spider-Man.”
Collecting this lynchpin series of Marvel Comics’ history for the first time ever, the Amazing Fantasy Omnibus puts AMAZING ADVENTURES #1-6, AMAZING ADULT FANTASY #7-14 and AMAZING FANTASY #15 between two hardcovers 45 years in the making.
416 PGS. $74.99
And, just as one issue comes out, the next is scheduled. Looks like another winner. Wonder what they have planned for #50…
Strap on your armor for JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR 49, as we spotlight Kirby’s WARRIORS, such as Thor, Sgt. Fury, Challengers of the Unknown, the Losers, and others! Included is a rare Kirby interview (where Jack conveys the real-life horrors he went through on the battlefields of World War II), a new interview with JERRY ORDWAY, MARK EVANIER’s regular column, a look at hidden messages in BILL EVERETT’s Thor inks, an interview with Seven Soldiers writer GRANT MORRISON on his Kirby-inspired work, Kirby pencil art galleries, a complete 1950s Kirby story, an amazing Kirby wraparound Thor cover inked by JERRY ORDWAY, and more. Edited by John MORROW.
[Note, book has been cancelled, news pending on Duke’s future]
Thanks to About Comics publisher Nat Gertler we have a bit more info on the upcoming DESTROYER DUCK collection, including the planned cover (subject to change) over at right, and a link to pre-order it from Amazon. You can also order it from Tales of Wonder, or if you frequent a comic shop that will order stuff for you ask them for it by name or by number (MAY073113).
Nat also passed along the following page, featuring Duke’s battle with the fairly brilliant Elektra parody Medea, as an example of how the book will look.
Kirby Weblog posts on DESTROYER DUCK:
Destroyer Duck #1 [1982]
Destroyer Duck #2 [1983]
Destroyer Duck #3 [1983]
Destroyer Duck #4 [1983]
Destroyer Duck #5 [1983]
Again courtesy of Erik Larsen, some more SILVER STAR pages, comparing the original with the new colouring for the upcoming reprint, this time pages from #6. Old pages on left, new pages on right.
The book is scheduled for July. You can order it from your local comic shop now, using order code MAY071842, or you can order it online from Amazon or Tales of Wonder.
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.
A pair of upcoming Marvel books with Kirby reprints that I missed on the first go-round. Early Avengers are great to see. The INVADERS book, assuming it has all the covers to the reprinted issues, nine of them are by Kirby.
AVENGERS CLASSIC #2
Written by DWAYNE MCDUFFIE
Penciled by MICHAEL OEMING
Cover by ART ADAMS
Stan and Jack bring you AVENGERS #2 in all its Hulk-out glory! Plus a bonus back-up story by Dwayne McDuffie and Mike Oeming featuring the INCREDIBLE HULK in a story of misunderstanding and mayhem! Don’t miss out, it’s only 3 bucks!
And check out that far-out Art Adams cover! It’s a gas!
32 PGS. $2.99
INVADERS CLASSIC VOL. 1 TPB
Written by ROY THOMAS
Penciled by FRANK ROBBINS, RICH BUCKLER, DICK AYERS & DON HECK
Cover by FRANK ROBBINS
The Big Three of Marvel’s Golden Age — Captain America, the Human Torch and the Sub-Mariner — entered their first alliance when the U.S. entered World War II! But the Axis had more than bombs to throw at them, as they soon learned in a battle with the Star-Gods! The Red Skull wants the Invaders themselves as Hitler’s top hitmen, and only a second gathering of Golden Age greats can stop him! Featuring the first appearances of Spitfire, Union Jack and more! COLLECTING INVADERS #1-9, GIANT-SIZE INVADERS #1 and MARVEL PREMIERE #29-30.
240 PGS. $24.99
ISBN: 0-7851-2706-2
[Note, DESTROYER DUCK book cancelled, further news pending]
Here are a pair of Kirby reprints that will be listed in the May issue of Diamond Previews for publication this summer. I hadn’t heard anything about them before. The About Comics website just mentions DESTROYER DUCK as an upcoming book. The current publisher of CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED, Jack Lake Productions, has it listed on their upcoming books list. It’s 26 pages of Kirby/Ayers if it’s a full reprint of this book. More info if I find out more. Also, Verotik has their old 1998 reprint of the Simon&Kirby BLUE BOLT re-listed.
ABOUT COMICS
DESTROYER DUCK TP
by Steve Gerber, Jack Kirby, & Alfredo Alcala
The mad genius behind Howard the Duck teams up with the artistic visionary who brought us Fantastic Four, X-Men, and the Hulk! Destroyer Duck takes on GodCorp to fight for the Little Guy in this 25th anniversary collection of this historic comic. Includes the complete Gerber/Kirby run, and a new introduction by Gerber.
SC, 7×10, 120pgs, B&W $8.99
CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED/JRS
CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED SPECIAL: THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES SC
Follow the American Civil War from Fort Sumter, Bull Run, Shiloh, Gettysburg, and the Appomattox Court House to the Reconstruction. Fillers include “The Exile’s Dream” and “The Peasant’s Revolt.” Introduction by Bill Jones, author of Classics Illustrated: A Cultural History with Illustrations, with artwork by Geoffrey Biggs, Jack Kirby, Sam Glanzman, Till Goodan, George Peltz, George Evans, Edd Ashe, John Tartaglione & Stan Campbell.
SC, 7×10, 96pgs, FC $14.99
Some details on the upcoming reprint of SILVER STAR, this time colour and in hardcover. I’m really not sure about that price, unless the book is going to be some sort of over-sized format. And if this comes in at $35, how much is CAPTAIN VICTORY, with three times as many pages, going to be?
Written, art and cover by Jack Kirby.
Jack Kirby’s Silver Star is collected in an oversized full color hardcover at last! Chronicling the rise of Homo-Geneticus, a genetically altered Breed of humanity, designed to survive an impending apocalypse, which spawns both the heroic Silver Star and the sadistic Darius Drumm! Silver Star is a surreal masterpiece! Insightful, thought-provoking, uproarious, frantic and deadly! Silver Star was Kirby’s final creation, originally published by Pacific Comics in the early ’80s. It’s a huge, sweeping epic, filled with classic Kirby trademarks: crackling energy, memorable characters, outrageous dialogue, explosive action and ham-fisted romance! Featuring lush inks by Mike Royer and lovingly reconstructed colors by Erik Larsen, this deluxe hardcover is a must-have for any Kirby fan!
144 pages, $34.99, in stores on July 18.
