The ever-dependable Frank Giacoia inks this very sharp cover for a Thing/Iron Man crossover that brings back one of the most obscure characters from the original FF series (I think Prestor John just appeared in one issue as more of a sidenote, don’t know if he was in any non-Kirby stuff in the interim).
Published 1975
Chic Stone inks this cover (*), from soon after they finally realized that the Thing was the breakout star of the FF, not the Torch, and brought him in as the co-star for STRANGE TALES. Kind of a shame they realized that after the point where Kirby was drawing anything but covers, as it would have been very fun to see what he could have done with a series starring Ben. Good cover here, always good to see close-quarters combat in the Mighty Kirby Manner.
(*)possibly Sol Brodsky
Published 1964
In “Doctor Vundabar and His Murder Machine” Kirby has a lot of fun with his new Big Barda character this issue after her debut the previous issue, as she exercises out in the yard for the opening splash, shows off her strength as Scott takes delivery of a Civil War cannon for his act. While Scott and Oberon practice the act, Barda enjoys the scenery like nothing she’s seen on Apokolips but gets attacked by Virman Vundabar’s men.
![Mister Miracle #5 [1971]](http://kirbymuseum.org/blogs/kirby/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2005/07/Mister-Miracle-5-1971.jpg)
And yes, Kirby even makes a point about how the name “Virman Vundabar” is goofy, so don’t bug me about it. It’s Granny’s sense of humour. She named “Scott Free”, after all.
Scott flies off to the rescue, and winds up in the car wash of doom. God, just those bizarre connections that Kirby could make work. Great scene with Scott, having escaped, standing behind the gloating villains not aware he’s there.
Letter column plugs the next issue with Funky Flashman, who “doesn’t know the meaning of the words ‘Fair Play’ or, if he does, he’s never bothered to practice it”. Ouch. I’ll have to get to that issue soon.
Also in this issue, the first chapter of the “Young Scott Free” story that leads into the classic “Himon” in #9. A great story as you get a look at Granny Goodness and her treatment of her “orphans” and their indoctrination and Scott’s early defiance, leading to his first encounter with Metron.
Mike Royer inks the 22-page lead story, his first issue of this title. It’s kind of notable because this is the issue where he changed Barda’s face on the first go-round, prompting Kirby to take the original heads from the photocopies of the pencils so they could be restored, so the copies of these pencils have those faces removed and Royer was much more faithful after that. Colletta inks the back-up and Royer inks the cover, with some touch-up by Neal Adams to make the weapons look more obvious (the original version appears in COMIC BOOK ARTIST SPECIAL EDITION #1).
The S&K reprint for this issue is “The Invasion of America”, a Boy Commandos story from DETECTIVE #76 (1943), previously covered from another reprint. A fun story, I especially like the scene with the kids coming into New York harbour, talking about how the role of their own countries in New York history.
Published 1971
Another of the early covers from when S&K were off in the military and DC just ran covers by them on their various books. This is a fun one, with nice bright colours, a great pose for Gabby and great reaction shots on the Guardian and other Newsboys.
Published 1944
Following an introduction where Vanilla Cupcake™ meets the Reagans, the battle with the Cogburns continues in this issue, and we get the origin of Booster Cogburn as our heroes flee to the airport. Inspired if extremely mean stuff when you know what it’s a parody of. “The machismo posturing, the overblown ego, and the company man mentality are all artificially encoded in the genes”. “…would lead them to a disturbing truth: that human exist who possess the capacity to create something new, something beyond a flawed replication of what’s gone before”. I love this stuff, that scene is probably the highlight of the DD series.
Beyond the Cogburn scenes, this issue features the set-up for the final battle in Hoqoom, as GodCorp’s plans there continue apace and Duke and his friends are on the way, with Duke suspecting that the Little Guy may be alive.
Steve Gerber writes of course, and Alfredo Alcala inks the 20-page story and cover. Very attractive work in this issue, I thought the previous two issues were a bit loose but the Kirby/Alcala combination seemed to click better this time around.
Published 1983
Ka-Zar arrives in New York on his search for Zabu, held by Kraven. For some reason Kraven decided to keep the sabre-tooth tiger in his hotel room. Kraven attacks Ka-Zar in the lobby, where Ka-Zar uses his battle cry to inform Zabu that he’s there.
Zabu with the sheathed feet cracks me up. Zubu in general is always fun. We need a team-up of Zabu and Lockjaw. There’s some fun as Kraven and Ka-Zar battle above the city, but it ends kind of abruptly as Kraven is wounded and lives up to his name, and Ka-Zar encounters the Petrified Man and has to return to the Savage Land for a story Kirby wasn’t involved in.
Sam Grainger inks the 10-page story.
Published 1970
Latest monthly feature on Joe Sinnott’s website is a gallery of his collaborations with Jack Kirby on FANTASTIC FOUR. Check it out.
http://www.joesinnott.com/pages/1/index.htm
Scott Saavedra posts over on his always fun Comic Book Heaven site about Kirby attending a charity event hosted by his father back in the 1970s.
http://comic_book_heaven.blogspot.com/2005/07/quick-jack-kirby-story.html
Another in the string of odd cover assignments Kirby was given in the late 1970s, this one featuring I believe the first solo outing of Moon Knight. He always was the Batman of the Marvel universe, so I guess a giant chess board makes sense.
Al Milgrom inks on this one. I especially like his linework on the chess pieces in the foreground.
Published 1976
Sorry, hitting the covers a bit much lately. I’ll get back to some story stuff soon. And you can’t really complain too much about stuff like this. Kirby Checklist has this as Sol Brodsky inks on the final pre-Iron Man ToS (but with the fantasy stories continuing as back-ups for a little while). That’s one tough looking genie.
Published 1963