OMAC #1 [1974] – Brother Eye and Buddy Blank

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Brace yourselves for “The World That’s Coming”.

OMAC ##1 is some strange stuff even by 1970s Kirby standards. What can you make of a book that opens with a full page splash of a disassembled robot woman “Build-A-Friend” in a box saying “Hello — Put me together and I will be your friend”? Just plain weird.

Also, kind of an unusual story structure for Kirby, as he opens with the climax of the story, then has a flashback to the origin building up to the first scene and then the conclusion. It works pretty well, as it moves the action right up to the front and sets up the rest of the issue nicely.

OMAC #1 [1974]

Anyway, after seeing OMAC bring down the Build-A-Friend shop, we flashback to his origin, as the faceless Global Peace Agency tell Dr. Myron Forest that they have selected Buddy Blank to be the subject of the OMAC Project, leaving Forest to activate the sleeping satellite Brother Eye. After a view of Buddy’s life at the offices of Pseudo-People, Inc. and some bizarre scenes of their “psychology section”, we see that he was befriended by the previously revealed to be a Build-A-Friend Lila, as part of an experiment in making lifelike beings. As Buddy stumbles onto the secret section and finds out the secret of Lila and the nefarious assassination plans she’s to be part of, Brother Eye transforms him to OMAC.

A wonderful issue, brilliant in its almost pure oddball insanity, if Kirby comics were drugs this issue would be the equivalent of mainlining uncut Kirby. Even the artwork seems like a heightened pure version of Kirby. Not for the faint of heart or uninitiated.

Mike Royer inks the 20-page story and the cover (which is a flipped version of the original art Kirby did for the cover). Kirby also writes a text page about how rapidly the world has changed and will continue to change, including the mention that part of the inspiration for this issue comes from seeing the “autitronic robots” during a trip to Disneyland with his granddaughter.

Published 1974

True Bride-To-Be Romances #20 [1956] – Cover

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Another of the mid-1950s Harvey published romance books that Kirby just did the cover for, this one featuring the familiar choice a woman has to make between her farmboy and cityslicker beaus. Happens more often then you’d think.

And that’s a really nice looking hand. Very nice inking overall on this cover, especially the clothing.

TrueBrideToBeRomances20_370.jpg

Published 1956

–Link– FF Movie

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Posted in Links.

No, not any links to the FF movie. As many of you know, there’s a movie based on the Fantastic Four due to be released soon. It’s not known at this time exactly what, if any, credit Kirby will get on the film, but it will almost certainly be less than he deserves (never mind the financial compensation). Also be prepared for a slew of newspaper, magazine and web articles that mention the film but don’t mention Kirby. Given that, I think it would be a good idea, especially among anyone reading this who has a weblog or site, or post on related message boards, to make sure you always mention Jack Kirby as creator or co-creator of the FF whenever the movie comes up, and maybe link to a relevant web site. A few recommended ones:

Mark Evanier’s Kirby stuff:
http://povonline.com/Jack%20Kirby.htm

The Jack Kirby Collector:
http://www.twomorrows.com/kirby/

In particular #9 and #33
http://twomorrows.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=57&products_id=281
http://twomorrows.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=57&products_id=235

A few TJKC articles:
http://www.twomorrows.com/kirby/articles/33ff15.html
http://www.twomorrows.com/kirby/articles/23notes.html

Google search for TJKC articles on FF

A few from this particular site, if I may
http://jackkirbycomics.blogspot.com/2004/09/fantastic-four-51-this-man-this.html

http://jackkirbycomics.blogspot.com/2005/03/marvel-milestone-edition-fantastic.html

Admin – Weblog format

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Posted in Admin.

Been modifying the look of the weblog at bit, obviously. Let me know what you think, if anything looks wrong on any browers/systems and anything like that.

Feel free to comment on anything else, too. I see from my counters that I’ve had a decent uptick in visitors in the last few weeks, almost triple the daily hits from the beginning of the month (either that or a lot of spiders/bots). Let me know what kind of stuff you enjoy about the weblog, what kind of stuff you’d like to see more of or less of.

–Link– San Diego Kirby panel

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Posted in Links.

Mark Evanier has posted his San Diego Con panel discussion schedule, including as in most years a Jack Kirby panel. If you’ll be there, here’s the time. If you’re not, THE JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR will no doubt run a transcript in a future issue as usual (recent comments on the Jack Kirby Mailing List suggest that the TwoMorrows folks might have another thing related to Kirby for the Con)

Friday, July 15
2:00 PM – 3:30 PM / Room 8

THE ANNUAL JACK KIRBY TRIBUTE PANEL

Another gathering, another batch of recollections about the
man they still call the King of the Comics. With STEVE SHERMAN, SCOTT
SHAW!,
Kirby lawyer PAUL S. LEVINE and ROBERT KATZ, manager of the Kirby estate, plus others to be named later.

Full Evanier Schedule

San Diego Comic-Con site

Kid Colt Outlaw #92 [1960] – Cover

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KID COLT was a character that pre-dated Kirby at Marvel, and was the main western character who he didn’t redesign. He did draw a lot of covers for the series, including this early gem inked by Dick Ayers.

KidColtOutlaw92_366.jpg

I really like the composition of this one, with the multiple levels, almost a 3-D effect. The faces of the horses are great as well. Also kudos to the anonymous Marvel production types of the era for a lot of little touches in the colouring, and the way that horse’s leg comes in front of the title card (on the other hand, that giant CCA stamp covering part of the logo is an eyesore).

Published 1960

The Eternals #16 [1977]

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The beginning of the story has the end of the big fight against the cosmic powered Hulk robot of the last two issues. That whole thing kind of fizzles out, I think it’s safe to say that Kirby’s heart wasn’t in this plotline as much as most.

The battle does bring the Eternals into a long hidden underground lair, where an ancient enemy has been awakened. Ikaris is pulled under first, and Makarri follows. After Zuras stops a fire with his powers he follows.

The Eternals #16 [1977]

He recognizes the enemy as Dromedan the Brain-Snatcher, who is forcing Ikaris and Makarri to fight each other. Zuras frees them of Dromedan’s control and faces off against his old foe.

As I said, the Hulk robot thing ended weak, but the rest of the issue is stronger, especially the bits of Zuras’ character. While obviously sharing some characteristics with previous Kirby god/rulers (Highfather/Odin/Zeus), he’s a very different character in some fundamental ways.

Mike Royer inks the 17-page story and Frank Giacoia inks the cover (where “Ikaris” is spelled wrong).

Published 1977

Upcoming Kirby – Max FF & TJKC

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September looks like a clear field for KAMANDI ARCHIVES as the only scheduled Kirby, but here’s some stuff for later.

TwoMorrows has released some details for THE JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR #44, coming out in October. Focus on mythological characters, including Etrigan and Thor, and a reprint of a BLACK MAGIC story.

Marvel has officially rescheduled MAXIMUM FANTASTIC FOUR, the reprint/analysis tome of FF #1, for November, being advance solicited with the September solicitations if you’re going to get it from a comic shop.


Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usTHE JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR #44
Fall 2005 – 80 pages – Tabloid Format

Mythadventures rule in JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR #44, focusing on KIRBY’S MYTHOLOGICAL CHARACTERS, including THE DEMON, THOR, ATLAS, ETERNALS, and others! There’s a rare interview with KIRBY, never-seen by most comics enthusiasts! MARK EVANIER answers Frequently Asked Questions about Jack in his regular column, while our other regular columnists give their take on all things Kirby! There’s also two Kirby pencil art galleries; one of THE DEMON, and another featuring some of his other classic mythological characters (both at whopping TABLOID SIZE)! Just in time for Halloween, there’s a never-reprinted BLACK MAGIC story from the 1950s! Also, we present an interview with Kirby Award winner and family friend DAVID SCHWARTZ (with tons of little known anecdotes and info about Jack and Roz), a new Kirby Demon cover inked by MATT WAGNER, and more! Edited by John Morrow.

MAXIMUM FANTASTIC FOUR
Introduction and afterword by WALTER MOSLEY
Commentary by MARK EVANIER
Designed by PAUL SAHRE
FANTASTIC FOUR #1 by STAN LEE & JACK KIRBY

Ushering in momentous change in comic-book illustration and ingenuity, Jack Kirby’s immense artistic contribution to FANTASTIC FOUR #1 revolutionized visual storytelling and brought the art of reality to the extraordinary lives of super heroes. The ripple effects of that single issue continue to influence comic-book art to this day. As a tribute to Kirby’s rendering of Marvel’s First Family and their first adventure, MAXIMUM FANTASTIC FOUR re-presents FANTASTIC FOUR #1 AS YOU’VE NEVER SEEN IT BEFORE – highlighted by a super-size, digitally remastered, panel-by-panel exploration of the entire issue that captures every single detail and nuance of Kirby’s groundbreaking artwork. The book also contains a substantial introduction and afterword by bestselling author and comic-book enthusiast Walter Mosley; art commentary by Kirby expert Mark Evanier; the stunning design of Paul Sahre; and a scale-sized, high-resolution reproduction of FF #1. This immaculately packaged coffee-table masterpiece is must-have for any Jack Kirby enthusiast, Fantastic Four fanatic, or sequential art fan!
224 PGS./All Ages …$49.99
Format: Jacketed hardcover
Trim size: 8 7/8″ x 11 7/8″
Special effects: four-color matte lamination, spot UV jacket; four-color matte lamination, spot UV case; and spot varnished interior pages.
ISBN: 0-7851-1792-X

The Avengers #25 [1966] – Cover

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A nice Kirby/Ayers cover, the Avengers facing off against Doctor Doom. I especially like the posing of this cover, with the Avengers getting ready for action and Doom just standing up to them in the foreground, supremely confident.

Avengers25_363.jpg

Published 1966

New Kirby – FF Omnibus

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Apparently the FANTASTIC FOUR OMNIBUS volume, the $100 oversized 848 page collection of FF #1 – #30 and Annual #1 with a new restoration of #1 better than the one they’ve been using (presumably even reprinting the real cover), original letter pages and various other special features is out this week. Haven’t decided if I’m getting it yet, and might not even see a copy, so I’ll be curious to hear from people who get it how it looks and what the extra features are.