Steve Rude on Jack Kirby's Metron, Orion, Big Barda!

I recently joined the Steve Rude fans page on Facebook where I found a number of New Gods related commissions...

Darkseid and Orion, father and son.

Metron! Holding a little Mother Box the X-Element (see this image and comment below) in his hand, very nice.

Orion versus The Demon!

Big Barda.

Big Barda and Oberon!

Infinity Man.

Lashina, lashing out!

Nuff Said!

Jack King Kirby's 99th birthday

Often times when I think about Jack Kirby - I remember this house ad from 1970 in various DC Comics...

At the time I really didn't know what this meant! I had just started reading Marvel, the very first Fantastic Four issue I read had art by John Romita! Of course I was reading some Kirby material in reprint books like Marvel's Greatest Comics. But there was no Internet. It was way before I knew about fanzines or could subscribe to The Comic Reader. 

You know what my first thought was? This ad was promoting a religious line of comics! The Great One.

But later we did see that it was indeed Jack "King" Kirby and he was taking over, of all the DC Comics in the world - Jimmy Olsen! That was later in 1970. As terrific as Jimmy Olsen was - we still had no idea what a Boom Tube was.

Late in the fall of 1970 we probably saw this house ad, advertising the first 3 titles in the Fourth World series: New Gods and Forever People in late December followed by Mister Miracle later in 1971.

I never was able to find Forever People #1 on the newsstands! I searched and searched, too, because it had Superman on the cover. But I was unable to read that until many years later.

I did buy New Gods #1 as soon as I saw it. The cover was amazing...even this photo does not do it justice. It was like no other comics cover I had ever seen before. The work inside was amazing and promised to unfold an even bigger epic in the months ahead.

The King had arrived at DC Comics! We hoped he would reign for a decade or more, but alas, it was meant to be a short tenure. But even during that period of 4-5 years he created some of the most amazing characters and concepts that is surely about to propel DC's new Justice League movie. 

Nuff Said.

Celebrating King Kirby and the Fourth World

I missed writing on Jack Kirby's two days ago but still wanted to celebrate.  Earlier this year I went through several of DC Comics' Fourth World Omnibus books, plus the second Omnibus featuring Kamandi.

The Fourth World series was phenomenal and I enjoyed it even more than when I was a kid.  I had read all of these when they came out: Jimmy Olsen, New Gods, Mister Miracle -- but somehow skipped both the Forever People and Kamandi.  Kirby's colorful depiction of New Genesis is shown above.  The first few issues of each series were an explosion of characters and cosmic concepts, probably the release of the King's imagination after feeling mistreated at Marvel.

In particular the New Gods story which made a big impact this time around was "Glory Boat" in New Gods #6.  After doing a quick search on the Internet, I see that I am not alone in my admiration for this story, with a beautiful climax in the splash page featuring Orion and Lightray on top of a giant Source-infused warhead ready to take down Deep Six.  This illustration was also featured in Mark Evanier's King Kirby biography.

I've read and re-read the Mister Miracle series more than any of the others, as this is probably my favorite Kirby character after the Silver Surfer and the Thing.  I love the whole concept of the character and the origin of Scott Free and how this intersects with Orion and Highfather.  But the series really comes alive with the introduction of Big Barda.  How did Kirby get away with that skimpy red metal bikini?  And my favorite issue #6 featured Funky Flashman (Excelsior!) meeting Barda, who quickly sees right through his massive bullshit.

There was always one big gap to my Fourth World history: the Forever People!  I only bought one or two issues in the 70s.  Perhaps this was because the first issue had spotty distribution -- it was impossible to find and I gave up since I wasn't there at the beginning.   But this series was equally as wacky and cool, with characters like Big Bear, Beautiful Dreamer, Serafin, and Mark Moonrider.  Finally after reading it now, I understood the power of the Anti-Life equation and also why Sonny Sumo was such an important figure that Grant Morrison referred to him in Final Crisis.  In another Final Crisis link, I always wondered why the Omega Beam transported Batman back in time -- that is answered in FP #6 and #7.  It doesn't always kill!

One thing I noticed in this re-read: for some reason the sixth issue of each series is almost the high point of each one!  New Gods #6 is Glory Boat.  Mister Miracle #6 features Funky Flashman.  Forever People #6 features Darkseid, Sonny Sumo and the Anti-Life equation.

Reading the Kamandi volumes was another joy.  Why, why, why did I not collect Kamandi during this period?  I am a huge Planet of the Apes and science fiction fan.  Nearly every issue of Kamandi is a mind blower in terms of a new concept being introduced.  It's pure single issue fun with little overriding story arc.  And with solid inking throughout the series it seems like pure Kirby.  Incidentally, my theory about issue #6 being the best holds up here -- Kamandi #6 is titled "Flower" about his girlfriend with a shocking ending.

I am sure at the time when New Gods, Forever People, and Mister Miracle were cancelled, that must have seemed like an epic failure to Kirby.  Likewise when his long run on Kamandi ended with Gerry Conway dialoging his last few issues it must have seemed like the final nail in the coffin.  But these stories seem timeless and they endure.  I have heard that parents can read these stories to their kids with no problem.  Can you imagine what a Kamandi animated series would look like, especially if Bruce Timm was involved?  I think this is a hidden goldmine for DC.  Nuff Said.

Jack Kirby Fourth World Gallery: pinups by Byrne, Simonson, and more!

Whenever I feel a bit down, the best therapy is always to go explore my long boxes. A couple of weeks ago, I came across the 1996 pin-up special, Jack Kirby Fourth World Gallery!

New Gods assembled by Walt Simonson.  I really think Simonson drew my favorite interpretation of these characters after Kirby.  Orion of the New Gods was a great series and still holds up to reading today.

Orion by John Byrne.  Of course, Mr. Byrne was no slouch at capturing the power cosmic of these Kirby characters as well.  Love how he draws Orion coming out of an exploding galaxy here.

Lightray by John Byrne.  Magnificent vista of New Genesis in the background!  Lightray has to be the most positive character in the history of comics.

Mister Miracle by Steve Lightle.  Funny that Lightle resisted the urge to go for a full profile shot and instead drew this image of Scott Free in space.  Was this a rejected cover for an earlier series?

Forever People by Dan Jurgens and Brett Breeding, who do a pretty good job of drawing these timeless hippies alongside the Infinity Man.

Seeing these images makes me feel good about the original incarnations of these characters.  I usually like Grant Morrison's work, but I feel his re-imagining of the New Gods in Seven Soldiers was a huge mistake.  Even worse were the final fate of the New Gods in Final Crisis.  I am sure someone is planning for their return in the New 52 DC Universe.  Will it be the classic versions or Morrison's weird take?  Let's wait and see.  Nuff Said!