FANTASTIC FOUR #200 – November 1978, inked by Joe Sinnott. The last time Kirby would draw the FF for Marvel (although he would draw story-boards for a cartoon after this, and some of those boards would be taken and turned into a comic a few years later). A simple enough cover, but effective. Shame it only has one of the four team members, though. Nice that we got one final Doom cover by Kirby, though.
“The Big Boom” concludes the big battle with the Four-Armed Terror, unleashed on The Project by the Evil Factory. The Terror is a great villainous monster, which is probably why Kirby did a bunch of sketches with various characters (including the Hulk) battling him.
![Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen #138 [1971]](http://kirbymuseum.org/blogs/kirby/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2006/01/Supermans-Pal-Jimmy-Olsen-138-1971.jpg)
This story has a 15-minute countdown to the blow-up at the Project’s atomic power plant as the Terror closes in, and Superman has to race through to stop it, while the Guardian and adult version of the Newsboy Legion are in pursuit. The funniest part of the issue is probably the scene with Morgan Edge, being told to flee the city by his Intergang contacts, not caring at all about anyone on his staff.
It’s exciting stuff, but a bit off. Kirby originally had some other plans for this storyline, which apparently didn’t match what DC had planned in their other books. Mark Evanier eventually used some of those plans as the basis for his LEGENDS OF THE DC UNIVERSE #14 story with Steve Rude a few years back.
Vince Colletta inks the 23-page story, with the Superman characters adjusted by Murphy Anderson. Neal Adams inks the cover, which features one of Kirby’s collages, looking much better on cover stock than they usually did on newsprint (including the two-page spread with a collage in this issue).
Published 1971
This story is available in JIMMY OLSEN ADVENTURES BY JACK KIRBY v1.
Details on another issue of the KIRBY COLLECTOR are up on the TwoMorrows site. Looks like a lot of fun for the Fourth World fans.
THE JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR #46
80 pages – Tabloid Format
He’s got the whole Fourth World in his hands in JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR #46, as this issue focuses on Kirby’s FOREVER PEOPLE, NEW GODS, and perhaps Jack’s greatest villain, Darkseid! Also included is a rare interview with KIRBY, MARK EVANIER’s regular column, two FOURTH WORLD pencil art galleries (including Kirby’s redesigns for SUPER POWERS), a never-reprinted 1950s story, an interview with Kirby Award winner and family friend MARTY LASICK, a new Kirby Darkseid front cover inked by MIKE ROYER, a Kirby Forever People back cover inked by JOHN BYRNE, and more! Edited by John Morrow.
TWO-GUN KID #56, October 1960, inked by Dick Ayers – This is the original Two-Gun Kid, who’d be revamped in just a few issues. Ayers inking on Kirby western art is always a treat. Always a lot of nice detail on the outfits and the backgrounds.
BOMBAST #1, April 1993 – The characters for the Topps Kirbyverse comics were taken from unused character designs that Kirby had done some time prior, so the covers taken from those designs are are a bit bland, with just the figures on a crackly background rather than any story-related content. But they still work, with a nice kinetic pose on this Bombast figure (okay, so it kind of looks like a bowling pose) and some nice bold solid linework. The character always looked to me me like something halfway between the Eternals and the New Gods. Don’t know who inked this piece, but it’s very well done (some places credit Kirby with the inks, but I don’t see it).
INCREDIBLE HULK ANNUAL #5 cover, 1976, inked by Jack Abel (with some re-drawing of some of the monsters apparently by John Romita) – Neat to see Kirby drawing a bunch of the old monsters again, even for just some small figures on a cover. Groot and “Titan” (originally of course called the Hulk) are in especially fine form, if not quite coloured as they were originally.
AIRBOY v4#4, 1947, Simon&Kirby, published by Hillman – Bit of an oddity, S&K draw the title character and no interiors on this issue, while none of the actual stories they drew in subsequent issues featured Airboy, but were “Link Thorne, Flying Fool” stories. Nice cover, I especially like those alligators, and the shading effect on the water.
The first half of this issue is most of the original proposed CAPTAIN VICTORY #1 from the 1970s (except a few pages that were in #1), and the second half is from the pages that were added when the story was expanded to a proposed 50-page graphic novel, before finally being published by Pacific for the then-emerging direct market. Pick up the CAPTAIN VICTORY GRAPHITE EDITION for more details.
It’s interesting to read this imagining it as a first issue, without the background that was in the first issue. It does seem Kirby originally planned to jump right into the story, with the Insecton invasion already underway and starting with Victory’s first encounter with the law on Earth.
In this story, Victory goes with the local sheriff to check out an Insecton body they have at the morgue, which promptly self destructs. Meanwhile, the other Rangers face a small Insecton force, while in Spartanville the Insecton’s use their devices to take mental control of the population to use as workers and hostages.
![Captain Victory And The Galactic Rangers #2 [1982]](http://kirbymuseum.org/blogs/kirby/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2006/01/Captain-Victory-And-The-Galactic-Rangers-2-1982.jpg)
Victory orders the Tiger to seal off the area with an experimental negative barrier, which the Insectons manage to weaken by sacrificing some hostages and soldiers in a frontal assault while the Lightning Lady prepares a new type of Insecton.
Mike Royer inks the 25-page story and Mike Thibodeaux inks the front cover and backcover, which has headshots and brief blurbs on the major members of the main Rangers. The Kirby checklist credits Royer with inks on the alternate cover on the inside cover, but it looks a little flat to me compared to the other Royer inks.
Published 1982
STAR SPANGLED COMICS #38, 1944, was from the era when Simon and Kirby were in the army, and only did covers for the DC/National books. STAR SPANGLED was still running the Newsboy Legion as the main feature, as it has been since #7, and many of the covers were these kind of wartime propaganda style cover, usually these playful kinds obviously designed to appeal to the kids on the homefront. The enthusiastic looks on the kids’ faces are a nice touch.
Published 1944
RAWHIDE KID #33, 1963, is the first issue Kirby did just the cover for, after introducing the new Kid in #17. That’s quite the ambush he’s wandering into. Good western cover, I like the texture on the rocks in particular. Dick Ayers inks.
