Newsarama has an interview with JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR editor John Morrow in advance of next month’s release of KIRBY FIVE-OH!, the double sized 50th issue of the magazine.
-Link- John Morrow interview
Posted in Links.
New Kirby – Fourth World Omnibus v4
Posted in New Kirby.
Shipping to comic stores this week is JACK KIRBY’S FOURTH WORLD OMNIBUS v4, finishing up with the remaining 1970s work and then the new work done in the 1980s (“Even Gods Must Die”, “The Hunger Dogs” and the Who’s Who profile pages of the characters). Some of that material, in particular “The Hunger Dogs” is going to look quite different from the originally published versions. It might be a few weeks before I get my copy, so feel free to weigh in with a comment on how the new version looks.
Upcoming Kirby – Marvel in June 2008
Posted in Upcoming Kirby.
A bunch of Kirby from various eras represented in the upcoming books below. Early Silver Age with some classic monsters (and some Sgt. Fury covers), a few stories with the Hulk from a bit later, late Silver Age with the recent “Lost Adventure” packaged with some other stuff (I’m not sure of the page count of the other material, so no idea if they’ll be including the Kirby pencils, John Morrow article and reprint of #108), some 1970s stuff with the first half of the ETERNALS series and a few pages of later stuff used in the GALACTIC BOUNTY HUNTERS book, now in paperback.
FANTASTIC FOUR: LOST ADVENTURES BY STAN LEE PREMIERE HC
Written by STAN LEE
Penciled by JOHN ROMITA JR. & JACK KIRBY
Covers by JOHN ROMITA JR. & JACK KIRBY
The comic-book equivalent of a lost Beatles track! Together, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby produced 102 consecutive issues of FANTASTIC FOUR. But there was a 103rd story they’d begun in 1970, but never finished – until now! Working from copies of Jack’s penciled pages, Stan Lee and Joe Sinnott reunited to complete the work they started almost four decades ago! Plus: The legendary writer and Fantastic Four co-creator joins forces with artist John Romita Jr. to tell his final story of the team that started the Marvel Age! Collecting FANTASTIC FOUR: THE LOST ADVENTURE and THE LAST FANTASTIC FOUR STORY, plus rare Stan stories from FANTASTIC FOUR #296 and #543.
176 PGS./Rated A …$24.99
ISBN: 978-0-7851-3097-0
JACK KIRBY’S GALACTIC BOUNTY HUNTERS VOL. 1 TPB
Written by LISA KIRBY & STEVE ROBERTSON
Penciled by MIKE THIBODEAUX
Cover by JACK KIRBY
An All-New series featuring characters and concepts created by Jack “King” Kirby! Meet the Berkleys, your typical suburban California family. But when young Garrett Berkley discovers his parents’ secret – that the science-fiction stories his father writes aren’t fiction at all, but autobiography – he’s blasted into a whole new universe of adventure, mystery and danger. Now, Jack Berkley must put down his pen, reassemble his old team and take up the mantle of being a Galactic Bounty Hunter for one final mission! Collecting JACK KIRBY’S GALACTIC BOUNTY HUNTERS #1-6.
256 PGS./Rated T+ …$19.99
ISBN: 978-0-7851-2629-4
MARVEL MASTERWORKS: ATLAS ERA TALES OF SUSPENSE VOL. 2 HC
Written by STAN LEE, LARRY LIEBER & VARIOUS
Penciled by JACK KIRBY, STEVE DITKO, DON HECK,
PAUL REINMAN & REED CRANDALL
Cover by JACK KIRBY
It seems you just can’t scare the love of a good 80-foot thing from another dimension out of a Marvel Masterworks fan. We’re not one to argue with anyone whose postal code reads “Unknownable Beyond” – so with regrets to the mailman, prepare your post office box for the likes of Sporr, Gor-Kill, Elektro, the Colossus, Metallo and Kraa the Unhuman! This collection from the beyond is full of more amazing monster firsts than Masterworks we’ve yet imagined, and there’s no evidence better than the first-ever father/son space-monster invasion. Yes, it’s none other than the fan-favorite Goom, and Googam, Son of Goom! Complemented by tales of thrilling suspense and sci-fi from Marvel Founding Fathers Steve Ditko and Don Heck, there’s a something for anyone and everyone looking for a break from the bounds of reality in TALES OF SUSPENSE! Collecting TALES OF SUSPENSE #11-20.
272 PGS./All Ages …$59.99
ISBN: 978-0-7851-2959-2
MARVEL MASTERWORKS: SGT. FURY VOL. 2 HC
Written by STAN LEE
Penciled by DICK AYERS
Cover by JACK KIRBY
Get off your duff, goldbrick, and get ready for another k-ration of the adventures of Nick Fury and his Howling Commandos! From the heart of the Marvel Age Stan Lee and Darlin’ Dick Ayers bring you an assortment of WWII adventures that define the “War comic for people who hate war comics!” That means it’s for you AND everybody else, bunky! Fury and his crack squadron tackle the Axis powers across both the European and Pacific theatres – over land and under sea, from scorching sands of North Africa to the darkest jungles of Burma, there’s no order too tall for the Howlers! They’ll square off against Baron Strucker and his cadre of Nazi commandos, the Blitzkrieg Squad; meet the young Hans Rooten for the first time; and before you finish turning these pages, one will fall in the line of duty, forever changing the life of Nick Fury. To top it off, we’re including the first SGT. FURY ANNUAL, featuring a rare adventure of the Howlers in the Korean War and the story of Fury’s promotion to Second Looie! Collecting SGT. FURY #14-23 & ANNUAL #1
240 PGS./All Ages …$54.99
ISBN: 978-0-7851-2928-8
ETERNALS BY JACK KIRBY BOOK 1 TPB
Written by JACK KIRBY
Penciled by JACK KIRBY
Covers by JACK KIRBY
Jack Kirby reveals a secret history of heroes and horrors as humanity’s cousins, the Eternals and the Deviants, vie to inherit the Earth! It’s a time of titans, terror and time travel as only the King could conceive – collected across two softcover volumes! Collecting ETERNALS #1-11.
208 PGS./All Ages …$24.99
ISBN: 978-0-7851-3313-1
HULK VS. THE MARVEL UNIVERSE TPB
Written by STAN LEE, ROGER MCKENZIE, BILL MANTLO, PETER DAVID & HOWARD MACKIE
Penciled by JACK KIRBY, MARIE SEVERIN, FRANK MILLER, SAL BUSCEMA, TODD MCFARLANE, JOHN ROMITA JR. & JORGE LUCAS
Cover by JOHN ROMITA JR.
Before WORLD WAR HULK, before PLANET HULK, the Green Goliath spent years fighting the finest the Marvel Universe has to offer! Hulk vs. the Thing! Hulk vs. Thor! Hulk vs. the Silver Surfer, Wolverine and more! Whether facing a tag-team match from the Fantastic Four and the Avengers or going one-and-one against Spider-Man and Daredevil, the Incredible Hulk’s the strongest one there is no matter who his opponents are! Also featuring the X-Men, S.H.I.E.L.D. and Fin Fang Foom! Collecting FANTASTIC FOUR #25-26, JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #112, TALES TO ASTONISH #92-93, DAREDEVIL #163, INCREDIBLE HULK #300 AND #340, PETER PARKER: SPIDER-MAN #14; and HULK VS. FIN FANG FOOM #1.
200 PGS./All Ages …$24.99
ISBN: 978-0-7851-3129-8
Happy Leap Day
Posted in Admin.
Once every four years, we put aside a day to celebrate Kirby’s greatest creation.
-Link- Evanier on KIRBY: KING OF COMICS
Posted in Links.
Mark Evanier mentions that if you’re going to WonderCon in San Francisco this weekend, you might be able to pick up a copy of KIRBY: KING OF COMICS and get it signed by him. Otherwise it should be out everywhere else soon, and he has some encouraging early word on orders for it.
Adding, CBR has a rundown of the WonderCon Kirby Panel.
Upcoming Kirby – Kamandi, Thor etc
Posted in Upcoming Kirby.
Catching up on a few recently announced upcoming Kirby publications. The upcoming seventh MARVEL MASTERWORKS for Thor brings them one book from finishing Kirby’s run, which I think will pretty much wrap up Kirby’s silver age super-hero stuff at Marvel in that format. The KAMANDI one-shot is a nice cheap sampler of the series for those unfamiliar and unwilling to dip your toes at hardcover prices (and #29, not yet reprinted elsewhere, is a great little story, and a favourite of many people). There’s a big storyline in Marvel about Skrulls, hence the reprint of FF #2 in a book of more recent stuff. The TwoMorrows Free Comic Book Day sampler should be a good look at their various magazines, and a few more Kirby covers should be included in the final two issues of AVENGERS CLASSIC (and, I usually don’t comment on the non-Kirby contents of these books, but an Avengers story by Bob Burden? Woo!).
MARVEL MASTERWORKS: THE MIGHTY THOR VOL. 7 HC
Written by STAN LEE
Penciled by JACK KIRBY
Cover by JACK KIRBY
The epic saga of the God of Thunder continues as the Marvel Masterworks present another volume of Mighty Thor masterpieces by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby! And there’s no holds barred from these masters of storytelling from page one: The evil Loki, God of Mischief, has created a dilemma of Asgardian proportions (natch!). Only with the medical skill of his guise as Dr. Donald Blake can Thor save the life of the lovely Lady Sif, but only with the power of Thor can he keep Loki at bay!
Meanwhile, in the darkened depths, a threat greater than any Thor has ever before faced rises when the malignant Mangog threatens to unsheathe the Odinsword and bring Ragnarok upon the Norse gods. It’s a tale considered by many to be Lee and Kirby’s most-pulse pounding Asgardian epic. Need we say more?
We do! Because with Stan and Jack, there’s always more amazing revelations around the corner. Like the startling secret hidden from Donald Blake, and a galaxy-spanning adventure that includes the origin of Galactus and a melee that pits Thor and Ego the Living Planet up against the infamous world devourer! Collecting THOR #153-162
224 PGS./All Ages …$54.99
ISBN: 978-0-7851-2924-0
COUNTDOWN SPECIAL: KAMANDI, THE LAST BOY ON EARTH 80-PAGE GIANT
Written by Jack Kirby
Art by Kirby, Mike Royer and D. Bruce Berry
Cover by Ryan Sook
Collecting stories from KAMANDI: LAST BOY ON EARTH #1, #10 and #29, written and illustrated by Jack Kirby!
On sale April 2 – 80 pg, FC, $4.99 US
COMICS GO HOLLYWOOD—FCBD 2008 EDITION
TwoMorrows Publishing presents Comics Go Hollywood, unveiling secrets behind your favorite on-screen heroes! Our regular magazine editors have assembled this special 32-page behind-the-scenes guide, where you’ll learn what’s involved in taking a character from the comics page to the big screen! It includes: Storyboards from DC’s animated hit The New Frontier (courtesy of Draw! Magazine)! Jeph Loeb on writing for both Marvel Comics and the Heroes TV show (courtesy of Write Now! magazine)! Details on the unseen X-Men movie (courtesy of Alter Ego magazine)! A history of The Joker from his 1940s origins to his upcoming appearance in The Dark Knight (courtesy of Back-Issue Magazine)! And a look at Marvel Universe co-creator Jack Kirby’s Hollywood career, with extensive Kirby art!
SECRET INVASION: THE INFILTRATION TPB
Written by STAN LEE, BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS, BRIAN REED & DAN SLOTT
Penciled by JACK KIRBY, JIM CHEUNG, LEINIL YU, MARK BAGLEY, MICHAEL GAYDOS & DAVID MACK
Cover by LEINIL YU
Retrace the roots of THE INFILTRATION all the way back to the beginning of the Marvel Age of Heroes! First, in FANTASTIC FOUR #2 (1962), it’s a close encounter of the Skrull kind as four shape-changing aliens pose as Mr. Fantastic, the Invisible Girl, the Thing and the Human Torch in an attempt to destroy the fledgling Fantastic Four! Then, flash-forward to the present day as the SECRET INVASION stands revealed in the pages of NEW AVENGERS: ILLUMINATI, NEW AVENGERS, MIGHTY AVENGERS and AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE. Conspiracy. Paranoia. Betrayal. Who do you trust? Collecting FANTASTIC FOUR #2, NEW AVENGERS: ILLUMINATI #1 and #5, NEW AVENGERS #31-32 and #38-39, MIGHTY AVENGERS #7, and AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE ANNUAL #1.
232 PGS./Rated T+ …$19.99
ISBN: 978-0-7851-3231-8
AVENGERS CLASSIC #11
Written by STAN LEE & TOM BELAND
Penciled by DON HECK & JUAN DOE
Cover by ART ADAMS
The mighty Avengers meet Spider-Man! And the only blurb we can write is “WOWEE!” Also re-introducing the mysterious KANG! Yes, it’s another classic spectacular story by Stan Lee with incomparable illustrations by Don Heck…plus an all-new masterpiece from the peerless minds of Tom Beland and Juan Doe!
32 PGS./Rated A …$2.99
AVENGERS CLASSIC #12
Written by STAN LEE & BOB BURDEN
Art by DON HECK & JUAN DOE
Cover by ART ADAMS
“THIS HOSTAGE EARTH!” In which the mighty Avengers battle to save their beloved planet from a fate so deadly that none but the macabre Mole Man could have devised it! A timeless Marvel tale of most compelling excellence by Stan Lee and Don Heck! PLUS! An astonishing all-new Avengers adventure chockablock with madcap mayhem from masters of mirth Bob Burden (Flaming Carrot Comics) and Juan Doe (FANTASTIC FOUR: ¡ISLA DE LA MUERTE!)!! And MORE all-new material in this double-sized final issue!
48 PGS./Rated A …$3.99
New Kirby – FF: THE LOST ADVENTURE
Posted in New Kirby.
Out in comic stores this week is FANTASTIC FOUR: THE LOST ADVENTURE, the long awaited reconstruction of the story intended for FF #102, newly inked and scripted by Kirby’s regular collaborators of the era, Joe Sinnott and Stan Lee, along with reproductions of the Kirby pencils and margin notes, commentary by John Morrow and a reprint of the version of the story (with additional pages by John Buscema) that saw print in FF #108.
Steve Gerber, R.I.P.
Posted in Admin.
Mark Evanier posts the sad news that Steve Gerber passed away yesterday at age 60. Among his many other works, Gerber of course co-created the vastly entertaining DESTROYER DUCK series with Kirby in the 1980s, as well as working on animation projects like THUNDARR together.
Destroyer Duck #1 [1982]
Destroyer Duck #2 [1983]
Destroyer Duck #3 [1983]
Destroyer Duck #4 [1983]
Destroyer Duck #5 [1983]
I had a few brief e-mail exchanges with Gerber over the last decade, and he was always very charming and helpful. He was definitely one of the good ones, and he’ll be missed.
-Link- KING OF COMICS out soon
Posted in Links.
Mark Evanier reports that he now has a copy of his book KIRBY: KING OF COMICS, and copies should be arriving in stores and shipping from mail-order places within the next few weeks. Links to some reviews by Pete Sanderson already over on this page, where I’ll post other review links as I come across them.
2007 – A Kirby Odyssey
Posted in Admin.
The current flood of Kirby reprints and publications continued in the past year, with slightly fewer items than the last few years, but a lot of thick ones keeping the volume up there. 38 items listed below, and I know I missed a few (anyone have details on the Disney digest which reprinted some Black Hole strips?).
Highlight of the year, I’d have to go with the FOURTH WORLD OMNIBUS, with the promise of having finally having the whole epic in four matching volumes available in a few months.
TwoMorrows got out just two issues of their regular Kirby fix this year, but it was some choice stuff, including some reprints of old S&K classics.
THE JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR #48
THE JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR #49
The big news from DC was the FOURTH WORLD OMNIBUS line. In 2007 they reprinted most of the 1970s material, some of it reprinted in colour for the first time, and early 2008 will see the rest of that, plus the 1980s material.
JACK KIRBY’S FOURTH WORLD OMNIBUS VOL. 1
JACK KIRBY’S FOURTH WORLD OMNIBUS VOL. 2
JACK KIRBY’S FOURTH WORLD OMNIBUS VOL. 3
Some Kirby in DC’s regular reprint lines, one high-end hardcover book full of Kirby and one low-end black and white book with one reprint of a reprint among its 500+ pages
KAMANDI ARCHIVES VOL. 2 HC
SHOWCASE PRESENTS THE HOUSE OF MYSTERY VOL. 2
And for a more inexpensive taste of Kirby, one special tying in with a current crossover.
COUNTDOWN SPECIAL: JIMMY OLSEN 80-PAGE GIANT
Marvel, of course, had the bulk of the Kirby printed for the year. Most of the material in BOUNTY HUNTERS was non-Kirby, but a few covers and pages were Kirby.
JACK KIRBY’S GALACTIC BOUNTY HUNTERS #4
JACK KIRBY’S GALACTIC BOUNTY HUNTERS #5
JACK KIRBY’S GALACTIC BOUNTY HUNTERS #6
JACK KIRBY’S GALACTIC BOUNTY HUNTERS HC
Marvel’s Omnibus format really took off this year, for those who like big thick books. Some never before reprinted stuff in AMAZING FANTASY and DEVIL DINOSAUR, too.
AMAZING FANTASY OMNIBUS HC
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN OMNIBUS VOL. 1 HC
DEVIL DINOSAUR BY JACK KIRBY OMNIBUS HC
FANTASTIC FOUR OMNIBUS VOL. 2 HC
SILVER SURFER OMNIBUS VOL. 1 HC
Kirby was well-represented in the old Masterworks line as well, with three volumes being primarily Kirby work, and three more with minor bits of Kirby.
MARVEL MASTERWORKS: DAREDEVIL VOL. 4 HC
MARVEL MASTERWORKS: GOLDEN AGE USA COMICS VOL. 1 HC
MARVEL MASTERWORKS: NICK FURY, AGENT OF S.H.I.E.L.D. VOL. 1 HC
MARVEL MASTERWORKS: RAWHIDE KID VOL. 2 HC
MARVEL MASTERWORKS: THE MIGHTY THOR VOL. 6 HC
MARVEL MASTERWORKS: THE SUB-MARINER VOL. 2 HC
Not as good a year for Kirby on the black and white Essential line, with just a few stray covers in two volumes.
ESSENTIAL DEFENDERS VOL. 3
ESSENTIAL GHOST RIDER VOL. 2
And a few more stray bits of Kirby in primarily non-Kirby books.
INVADERS CLASSIC VOL. 1 TPB
SPIDER-MAN: SAGA OF THE SANDMAN TPB
STAN LEE MEETS HC
And wrapping up Marvel’s Kirby year with some stuff showing up in that classic old stapled comic book format we all know and love.
AVENGERS CLASSIC #1 – #7
HULK VS. FIN FANG FOOM
Meanwhile, Image provided a hardcover collection of some later Kirby.
JACK KIRBY’S SILVER STAR HC
And the current copyright holder of the old Gilberton comics, Jack Lake Productions, reprinted one of Kirby’s contributions to the line.
CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED SPECIAL: THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES SC
2008 is looking good already. Evanier’s KING OF COMICS, several publications from TwoMorrows (the double sized TJKC #50, more COLLECTED KIRBY COLLECTOR, and updated Kirby checklist and more), FOURTH WORLD OMNIBUS wrapping up, OMAC, hopefully another COMPLETE KIRBY, and some other golden age stuff from Joe Simon, quite a few more Omnibus and Masterworks books from Marvel, and FF – THE LOST ADVENTURE as well, hopefully some more 1980s stuff from Image.