Upcoming Kirby – TJKC #46

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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 [1960] – Cover

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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.

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Bombast #1 [1993] – Cover

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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).

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The Incredible Hulk Annual #5 [1976] – Cover

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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.

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Airboy Comics #v4n4 [1947] – Cover

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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.

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Captain Victory And The Galactic Rangers #2 [1982]

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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]

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] – Cover

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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.

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Published 1944

Rawhide Kid #33 [1963] – Cover

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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.

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Nova #5 [1977] – Cover

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NOVA #5, 1977, inked by Frank Giacoia, another one of those covers done in that era for non-Kirby characters. I kind of like Nova’s design, it’s very compatible with the Kirby look. The “Earth-Shaker” villain seems a bit ridiculous, though. I always think “robo-clown” when I first see this cover rather than “drilling machine”. Looks like good goofy fun, I guess, especially with the crowds fleeing / crowds in peril look so common in the old monster books.

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World of Fantasy #19 [1959] – Cover

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One of the not quite so long-lived Marvel monster books, this issue at least had a pretty cool Kirby monster, apparently inked by Christopher Rule. Very weird look on the monster’s face, he looks a bit tired of this rampaging lifestyle he finds himself trapped in.

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Published 1959