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Mars Will Send No More

~ Comic books, art, poetry, and other obsessions

Mars Will Send No More

Tag Archives: Jack Kirby

Big Box of Comics: Mister Miracle by Jack Kirby, Expanded TPB

26 Sunday Jul 2020

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in science fiction

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

Big Barda, big box of comics, book review, DC Comics, Jack Kirby, Mister Miracle, mister miracle TPB

For a few months in 2013, I had a complete collection of all the individual issues of Jack Kirby’s Mister Miracle series. When I sold it as a set on Ebay, I knew I would miss it. But thanks to this blog’s readers, I was reunited this summer with this classic series in the form of a full-color, collected edition. Many other reviewers have focused on the dynamic art and the high-energy storytelling that characterize this and other “Fourth World” Kirby stories, so I’d like to discuss a few things that don’t get talked about very much.

But first, this collection is a great way to own all eighteen of the original Kirby issues. It’s complete, compact without reducing the page size, and “remastered” so that the art, ink, and colors are crisp and perfect. It includes all the original covers, which are brilliant works of art on their own, and all the back-up stories about the title character’s childhood. Kirby did amazing double-splash panels for this series that unfortunately get their centers lost in the gutter in a paperback-bound book, but I scanned some of the originals for you way back when.

If there’s one thing that bugs me about owning the series in this format, it’s that same perfection. When I collected the single issues, I settled for many low-cost VG+ and Fine gradings where the paper was severely yellowed (which affected the colors), and the covers had a worn, tattered look with folds and even bits missing around the corners and spines.

Only a complete maniac would claim that as a plus. But I enjoyed it. Having Mister Miracle in its original but degraded printings felt like I was unearthing some prehistoric fossil of primordial comic book awesomeness. In pristine form, it feels more like a current book that should be judged by current standards.

But current standards aren’t quite the right lens to look through for this book. In terms of the garish colors, modern mainstream comics now employ far more sophisticated coloring techniques in even the most run-of-the-mill titles. But in the 1970s, due to the pulp-quality paper, using super-bright primary colors made a whole lot of sense. Many online reviewers praise the bright colors of this collection, but sometimes they seem a bit too bright for the darker, more sinister aspects of life under Darkseid’s fascist reign explored in this series.

A scan from the original series. “Get back to your hovel!”

Also by current standards, Kirby’s treatment of “hip” slang, female characters, and “ethnic” characters might seem clunky and awkward to modern, younger readers. But it’s important to consider the standards of the day and realize Kirby was making a serious effort to be inclusive and progressive in the mainstream. When Mister Miracle began in 1971, it was three years before women in the United States could have credit cards in their own name without a husband co-signing for them. It was four years before the TV show The Jeffersons broke media stereotypes to portray a financially successful black family and their interracially married friends.

In the pages of the Fantastic Four, Kirby had already created Marvel’s first black superhero: the Black Panther. And from his editorial columns in his comics—including his 70s work at Marvel on Devil Dinosaur, the Eternals, and 2001—we know he was genuinely interested in scientific and social trends and in creating stories that reflected not just the current culture but its progress and potential.

Kirby’s idea of an African king as a technologically advanced superhero resonated with movie audiences in recent years. Wyatt Wingfoot, mentioned here, is a Lee/Kirby creation based on Native American Olympic athlete Jim Thorpe.

For me, the standout character of Mister Miracle isn’t the lead, but Big Barda. She is lightyears apart from the Sue Storm character in the early Lee/Kirby issues of Fantastic Four, who was constantly talked down to for being female. Sue was a weakling whose biggest power was to go away, at least until John Byrne wrote the series in the 1980s and changed the Invisible “Girl” into the Invisible Woman whose power became formidable.

In contrast, Big Barda totally owns her scenes through force of character. Where Sue Storm was originally a shrinking violet to be protected by the males in her group, Barda is never less than a total bad-ass. She might have a soft spot for the title character, but she never hesitates for one second to beat some ass or carve a path of destruction through her enemies, and she has zero qualms about assuming leadership and telling other characters exactly how shit will go down on her watch.

A scan from the original series. “You kill-crazy she-wolf!”

Barda also has a somewhat evil all-woman crew of warriors — the Female Furie Battalion — with hilarious names like Bernadeth, Gilotina, Lashina, and Stompa. They deal damage in ways you can guess from their names. They’ve got sweet costumes and boss weapons, and they read less like villains and more like your favorite all-girl roller-derby team starring in a modern movie.

A scan from the original series. Just a typical day for the Furies!

Barda is so awesome that I even forgive Uncle Jack for giving her a gratuitous bathtub scene. You know your writer is male when he puts a female character into a naked bathing scene for absolutely zero plot-related reasons. As a male reader who thinks Barda is the greatest thing ever and would bet money that she could even kick Conan’s naked ass, I vote that we give a pass to Kirby for this one. And a pass to me for enjoying it.

A scan from the original series. “I find this kind of moment tranquil and soothing!”

It’s that kind of tension between “great female lead” and “gratuitous female bath scene” that marks this run. Kirby was both a product of his time and way ahead of his time. Mister Miracle stands on the cusp of American history in the 1970s where society was in the midst of a massive and progressive cultural shift, one that even today we have not yet fully realized. I like the direction Kirby was trying to push that shift.

A scan from the original series.

Kirby was a soldier in Europe during World War II, and his portrayal of the oppressive, fascist society on planet Apokolips might be read as a simple indictment of the Third Reich. But Kirby was no stranger to discrimination in the States, having changed his name from the Jewish “Kurtzberg” to “Kirby” to improve his chances of being accepted and making a living.

He was the son of two Austrian-Jewish immigrants in New York in a time when anti-immigrant sentiment, racism, and anti-semitism abounded in America. While the Third Reich turned those ideas into a massive extermination program, the Nazis did not invent those ideas, and they had many adherents in the States. Sadly, that is still true today. When I read Kirby’s 1970s works, I sense a subtext that he saw fascism and discrimination not as merely “foreign” problems but ones that troubled many nations, including his own.

A scan from the original series.

It’s easy to read Mister Miracle as a series of simple adventure stories full of gadgets and gimmicky escapes, and Kirby clearly wants us to be entertained, first and foremost. But we would do him a disservice if we didn’t acknowledge the socially progressive ideas he wrapped in that cloak of entertainment. Kirby didn’t finalize his ideas about humans and our place in the universe when he was a young man. He continued to explore new ideas and grow. He saw our knowledge of science, humanity, society, and ourselves as an ever-expanding field that had no lack of new horizons to explore.

And where there’s an unexplored horizon, there’s a kick-ass story waiting to be told.

Collector’s Guide: Mister Miracle by Jack Kirby, Expanded TPB; DC Comics, 2017. Also available on Amazon. Or, get the original issues.

Origin of Galactus

26 Tuesday Apr 2016

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in superhero

≈ 19 Comments

Tags

Galactus, galan, Jack Kirby, John Byrne, mark gruenwald, Origin of Galactus, Stan Lee, Super Villain Classics, Thor, watcher

We posted these pages in serialized form in the early days of this blog, but that’s proven inconvenient for people searching for this entire epic. Here they are, all in one spot for those legions of internet users who want to know the answer to the most burning question in the universe: Where the heck did Galactus come from?!

Super Villain Classics #1 (1983) compiled pages from even older Thor comics by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Some supplemental art and dialogue was added to streamline the story into one coherent narrative. Are you interested in those original Thor issues? Check our archives for samples of Thor #162 here and here! Super Villain Classics #1 was reprinted in 1996 as Galactus the Origin.

sketchbook sundays

15 Sunday Mar 2015

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in art studio

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

art, cards, cute animal cards, digital photography, drawing, Jack Kirby, pillows, postcards, sketchbook sundays

moms cards (2)
For today’s Sketchbook Sunday, let’s take a moment to spotlight these cute animal cards Mom sent us. In 2010, Mom had never had an email address. We encouraged her to get one, and then she started discovering the joys of Google – especially for finding images and materials for her preschool classes. Last year she took her first online course, a class in digital photography to support her animal photo enthusiasm. Now she is having her own cards made from her digital pictures. Pretty cool! Here are three of our favorites, below.
moms cards (3)

moms cards (4)

moms cards (5)
Readers of Mars Will Send No More may recall how we collaged our table with pages from old Jack Kirby comics a few years ago. The Kirby table has served us well, fueling our inspiration and filling our life with Kirby Krackle as we paint and eat. But now, it is time for a little refinish.
kirby table refinish (4)
Love those panels of people freaking out in a morass of cosmic crackle! But as you can see, the well-loved surface is now a disaster, and it’s impossible to even tell if the thing is clean enough to eat on or not at any given moment.
kirby table refinish (3)
So, we sanded down the big chunks with some 60 grit and a palm sander, then gave it a black and white starry cosmos finish with some old spray paint from a box of leftovers in a friend’s garage.
kirby table refinish (5)

kirby table refinish (7)
This week, our pillows arrived. Below you see a 20×20 throw pillow featuring the image of Meteor Mags playing piano in her black dress and silly pirate hat.
pillows (2)
The pillows are nicely made with a sturdy outer cover. The image is printed on both sides. They have a zipper on one edge. It opens to reveal a polyester pillow. The pillows in the 20×14 products are much cuddlier than the 20×20 products. They are stuffed more. The 20×20 is beautiful, but the 20×14 pillows are more snuggly.
pillows (3)

pillows (2a)
And that’s all we have time to share this weekend! Thank you for dropping by ~ and happy sketching!

Kamandi!

23 Monday Feb 2015

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in science fiction

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

DC Comics, Jack Kirby, Kamandi, kamandi last boy on earth, Longbox Graveyard

A look inside a vintage issue of Kamandi, featuring the awe-inspiring extermination of Morticoccus… The Ultimate GERM!

Longbox Graveyard

Longbox Graveyard #143

Welcome to the Dollar Box, where I look at single comics issues or short runs of books that had an original cover price of a dollar or less. This time I turn my attention to Jack Kirby’s Kamandi — the last boy on Earth!

Kamandi #10, Jack Kirby

If Wikipedia can be trusted, Kamandi was born when DC Comics failed to land the Planet of the Apes license, and turned to Jack Kirby to create something similar. You can almost imagine the conversation, with Carmine Infantino saying, “Jack, can you do us a Planet of the Apes strip?” and Jack saying, “Never saw the movie — what’s it about?” Carmine: “A ruined future, where men are beasts and humanoid apes rule.” Jack: “Got it!” Of course, Kirby wasn’t going to content himself with drawing a bunch of human actors in ape-face. Jack’s post-apocalyptic world of tomorrow would be ruled…

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gallery of kamandi splash pages by jack kirby

05 Thursday Feb 2015

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in science fiction

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

DC Comics, Jack Kirby, Kamandi, kamandi last boy on earth, Kamandi Omnibus

Kamandi 30-12

Did you ever wake up in the morning and wish you could scroll through 146 pages of pure awesome? Then this is your lucky morning! Since we started this crazy blog four years ago, we’ve come into possession of tons of scans of Jack Kirby’s Kamandi for DC Comics.

Collector’s Guide: These days, you can avoid paying collector’s prices for the original single issues of Kamandi by choosing to pick up the Kamandi Omnibus Volume One and Volume Two by Jack Kirby.

Kamandi 18-17

And you really should do that, because this series has just about everything that ever kicked ass: planetary destruction, talking anthropomorphic animals, shooting massive underground worms in the face with laser pistols, and dramatic landscapes only Kirby could conceive. So go for it: Dig this little gallery, let Jack Kirby pummel your cerebellum with his almighty pencil of the gods, and see for yourself the wonders of Kamandi: The Last Boy on Earth!


















































vintage splash pages from strange tales

01 Friday Aug 2014

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in science fiction

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Dick Ayers, Don Heck, Jack Kirby, Marvel Comics, monsters, Paul Reinman, Steve Ditko, Strange Tales

Strange Tales 77 -  (10)

We hope you enjoyed our recent romp through the archives of Marvel’s Strange Tales series this week. To close it out, we present a selection of splash pages that appeared between 1960 and 1962, approximately. You will see artwork from Steve Ditko, Jack Kirby, Paul Reinman, Don Heck, and Dick Ayers. You won’t find many copies of the originals around any more, but you might get a kick out of Marvel’s high-quality hardcover reprints: Marvel Masterworks – Atlas Era Strange Tales. Enjoy!

Strange Tales 99 -  (16)
Strange Tales 77 -  (16)
Strange Tales 77 -  (21)
Strange Tales 98 -  (3)
Strange Tales 98 -  (10)
Strange Tales 98 -  (16)
Strange Tales 98 -  (21)
Strange Tales 97 -  (10)
Strange Tales 96 -  (11)
Strange Tales 96 -  (17)
Strange Tales 96 -  (23)
Strange Tales 95 -  (3)
Strange Tales 77 -  (3)

Mister Morgan’s Monster!

29 Tuesday Jul 2014

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in science fiction

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Tags

Dick Ayers, Jack Kirby, Marvel Comics, monsters, robot, Strange Tales

Strange Tales 99 -  (3)

Collector’s Guide: From Strange Tales #99; Marvel Comics, 1962. Pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Dick Ayers.
Explore our archives of Jack Kirby’s Monsters from vintage Marvel titles!

Strange Tales 99 -  (4)
Strange Tales 99 -  (5)
Strange Tales 99 -  (6)
Strange Tales 99 -  (7)
Strange Tales 99 -  (8)
Strange Tales 99 -  (9)

The Original Mutant Massacre!

15 Tuesday Jul 2014

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in superhero

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Captain America, Captain America Annual, Great Mutant Massacre, Jack Kirby, Magneto, Mutant Massacre

jack kirby captain america artwork (8)

The Mutant Massacre storyline from Chris Claremont’s legendary run on Uncanny X-Men remains fondly remembered by X-fans of the mid-1980s. Marvel collected it recently in a 320-page The Mutant Massacre. But before the X-men, Captain America faced the original mutant massacre in Jack Kirby’s Captain America Annual #4.

Magneto plays the villain here, with the fate of a horrifying but sympathetic mutant driving Kirby’s plot. Conceptually and visually, Annual #4 has much to offer. Just look at these splash pages! On the other hand, Kirby’s Captain America run in the 70s did little with Cap as a character. In this and other Kirby Captain America stories, Cap functions as a pretty generic action hero. The interest lies in Kirby’s penchant for exploring mind-blowing science fiction concepts, and rendering them as no one else can.

jack kirby captain america artwork (10)

Not nearly as far-reaching in scope and consequence as Claremont’s mutant massacre, Kirby’s The Great Mutant Massacre nonetheless planted the seed. Perhaps it even laid the foundation for Claremont’s development of widespread societal hatred of mutants in his stories. Would we have Days of Future Past without Kirby’s oft-forgotten Captain America Annual? Pick up a copy and judge for yourself!

jack kirby captain america artwork (9)

postcards 13

03 Saturday May 2014

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in postcards

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cedar waxwing, Jack Kirby, postcards, squirrel, wildlife art

We may have ‘maintained radio silence’ in the month of April, but that doesn’t mean our readers’ postcards and messages went unappreciated. So, let’s kick off May with a few highlights from the Martian Mailbox.

The fifth most influential man on Pinterest certainly has our number, as evidenced by this wonderful Jack Kirby postcard from the Jack Kirby Museum.

postcard jack kirby museum

Up next, a postcard made out of wood. Yes, we know paper comes from wood, but this isn’t paper. It’s a slab of wood with a squirrel on it! Now that’s how to do wildlife art.

postcard squirrel

Last but not least, we present a card from Mom, who recently picked up photography as a hobby and is learning all about digital cameras. This bird is a Cedar Waxwing, for those of you who haven’t seen one before.

postcard cedar waxwing

Marvel Treasury Edition: Thor by Kirby

26 Wednesday Mar 2014

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in superhero

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Jack Kirby, Mangog, Marvel Comics, marvel treasury edition, ragnarok, Stan Lee, Thor

Marvel Treasury Edition 10 Mighty Thor (2)
Marvel Treasury Edition #10 features the mighty Thor in a four-issue saga by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby. The original issues reprinted in this gloriously oversized edition are Thor #154, #155, #156, and #157. Considering any one of these original issues will run you from $15 in a VG condition to $200 in a CGC-graded 8.0 VF condition, a $15-$30 copy of this treasury edition will leave some cash in your pocket and deliver the goods in a superior format.
Marvel Treasury Edition 10 Mighty Thor (3)
And it truly is superior. Just look at these gorgeously reproduced pages and that mind-stunning back cover! Jack Kirby’s artwork at this size never fails to crank the awesome-meter into the red.
Marvel Treasury Edition 10 Mighty Thor (4)
The story itself starts off well, with a big bad monster foolishly released by some power-mad moron. Guess what? It presages the end of the universe! Oops!

The monster – called the Mangog – begins an unstoppable march towards Thor’s home in Asgard. Its ineluctable progress drives just about all the action in this story, as hero after Asgardian hero fails to stop Mangog’s tenacious travels. It’s very dramatic, true, but essentially you get one long fight scene bathed in delicious Kirby Krackle.
Marvel Treasury Edition 10 Mighty Thor (5)
Normally we would hate spoiling the ending, but this story spoils it on its own. After all this cosmic-level struggle, the pay-off kind of sucks. Odin steps in at the end, waves his hand, and puts a stop to the whole thing in deus ex machina fashion. This cheapens the epic struggle that comes before it by suggesting that, well, we had nothing to really worry about the whole time.
Marvel Treasury Edition 10 Mighty Thor (6)
Despite this let-down of an ending, one can have some great fun with Thor and his friends along the way, valiantly struggling to overcome their implacable foe. Readers who may have looked forward to Ragnarok (end of the universe, basically) would have to wait until Thor #200, some pages of which we have in our archives.
Marvel Treasury Edition 10 Mighty Thor (7)
Whether you collect Jack Kirby art or classic Thor issues, Marvel Treasury Edition #10 probably deserves a place on your shelf. We recently sold ours on eBay, but you can usually find it in stock. It’s big, it’s bold, and the lame ending does little to detract from Kirby’s masterful visual approach leading up to it.

Readers who don’t mind black and white reprints will find this story in the Essential Thor paperback #3. Let’s have a look at some more interior pages from this titanic tome!
Marvel Treasury Edition 10 Mighty Thor (8)
Marvel Treasury Edition 10 Mighty Thor (9)
Marvel Treasury Edition 10 Mighty Thor (10)
Marvel Treasury Edition 10 Mighty Thor (11)
Marvel Treasury Edition 10 Mighty Thor (12)
Marvel Treasury Edition 10 Mighty Thor (13)

An Inhuman Retrospective

24 Monday Mar 2014

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in superhero

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Amazing Adventures, collection, Doug Moench, first issue, George Perez, Gil Kane, Inhumans, Jack Kirby, Jae Lee, Marvel Comics, Paul Jenkins

inhumans collection (1b)

We’ve always had a fondness for the Inhumans as characters and concepts despite the lackluster treatment they often receive in print. The Inhumans first appeared as supporting characters in the Fantastic Four when creators Stan Lee and Jack Kirby still masterminded that title together. In 1970, Kirby launched Inhumans on their own adventures in Marvel’s second attempt at an Amazing Adventures title.

inhumans collection (1a)

Marvel ran the 1961 Amazing Adventures for just half a year, its first six issues collecting some entertainingly vintage stories by Kirby and Steve Ditko, Dick Ayres, Paul Reinman, Don Heck, and Larry Leiber. You can preview many of these golden-age sci-fi and monster stories in our archives.

Beginning with a new #1 issue — something that seems a monthly event at Marvel these days — the 1970 Amazing Adventures put both the Inhumans and the Black Widow on the cover. The Black Widow stories have some wonderful John Buscema and Gene Colan artwork you can preview at Diversions of the Groovy Kind.

The Inhumans get the full Jack Kirby treatment for three issues. He writes and draws them in pretty straight-forward superhero adventures. We have the first story in our archives. Like Kirby’s Black Panther, they lack  depth but make fast-paced action stories for young readers. 1970 also gave Inhumans fans another Jack Kirby treatment of his genetically-modified heroes: the final issue of the first Silver Surfer series.

inhumans collection (1c)

Even the Mandarin appears in these Amazing Adventures, in his utterly ridiculous “Asian Villain” outfit! The Inhumans made it about sixteen issues in this format, with Roy Thomas and Neal Adams stepping up to create new stories after Kirby left. But like Thomas & Adams’ X-men, the Inhumans were doomed as a publication.

inhumans collection (1d)

Okay. Not exactly doomed. They got their own title after that! Leaving behind the anthology comic format, the Inhumans had earned their own shot as title characters. Doug Moench and George Perez launched them with Inhumans #1 in 1975. We have that first issue in our archives, too: Spawn of Alien Heat!

inhumans collection (1e)

That series showed a lot of potential, but its struggle to find its feet is almost palpable. You can find it reprinted in a hardcover format as Marvel Masterworks: Inhumans #2 from 2010, the first volume of which covers all those Amazing Adventures stories plus their origin story from Thor.

inhumans collection (1f)
inhumans collection (1g)

Marvel billed the Inhumans as “uncanny” in this series, a word they would later apply to the X-men. The “Uncanny X-men” stuck, and few readers of bronze-age Marvel recall anyone but the X-men ever being uncanny! Gil Kane moved from cover art to interior art in this series. Although his style seems rough after Perez’s smooth work, Kane delivers some truly classic 70s work in stories like “A Trip to the Doom” in issue #7.

inhumans collection (1h)
inhumans collection (1i)

In what now feels like a desperate ploy to boost sales, the Inhumans fight Hulk in their final issue. The same thing happened to Kirby’s Eternals in the mid-70s. Bad sales figures? Hulk Smash! “Let Fall the Final Fury” turns out to be the last appearance of the Inhumans in their own title for about 25 years.

inhumans collection (1j)

Despite some great guest appearances in John Byrne’s Fantastic Four in the 1980s, the Inhumans never really got a stellar treatment until Paul Jenkins and Jae Lee crafted a twelve-issue limited series for them in the 21st century. We have some of that artwork in our archives. The Inhumans live up to their potential in this compelling story, despite its reliance on the same old struggle with Maximus the Mad.

The four-issue Inhumans series by Carlos Pacheco earlier that summer had some stunning art by Ladronn. It attempted to free the Inhumans from the only two stories they ever seemed to get: the fight with Black Bolt’s mad brother, and their thing about needing to live on the moon. Pacheco stepped in and said, “Let’s shake this up a bit,” taking their conceptual struggles in the next logical plot direction.

inhumans collection (1k)

But, in the wake of the Jenkins/Lee story, Marvel decided on a “next generation” approach to the Inhumans. The book became more teen-friendly and introduced a new, younger set of Inhumans characters, some of whom we met in Jenkin’s story. This 2003 Inhumans series ran for twelve issues. It has its merits and perhaps competed at the time with Marvel’s Runaways and Exiles for a teen audience wanting teen characters. Of those three, only Runaways kept our attention, proving to be a book about teens that older audiences could appreciate, too.

inhumans collection (2)

And that, dear Martians, is why some lucky buyer overseas ended up with a stack of Inhumans comics from us! We collected those first Kirby issues, the run of their 1970s title, and the Jenkins/Lee paperback, along with some other minor Inhumans goodies from over the years. It was fun to have them all close at hand for a few years, and we did hold on to our single-issue copies of the Jenkins stories.

inhumans collection (3)

And One of Them Was Destroyed!

13 Thursday Mar 2014

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in art studio

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

art, comic book panel, drawing, Eternals, Jack Kirby, pen and ink, sharpie, sharpie marker, sketch, sketchbook sundays, study

and one of them was destroyed study - Copy

Sharpie Marker study of a comic book panel from The Eternals by Jack Kirby (Marvel, 1976.) I don’t recall exactly which issue, since this page is lacquered onto my table top. Here is my digital restoration of the original splash panel (two-page spread) from a scan. So much Kirby Krackle!

jack kirby eternals splash 3

The Day the Nazis Ruled Latveria, and Other Astonishing Tales!

13 Thursday Mar 2014

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in superhero

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Astonishing Tales, Barry Smith, Black Panther, collection, Dr. Doom, Gene Colan, Gerry Conway, Herb Trimpe, Jack Kirby, Ka-zar, Kraven, Larry Lieber, Marvel Comics, Red Skull, Roy Thomas, Stan Lee, Wally Wood

astonishing tales 1-8 ka-zar doom set (1)

Of all the glorious splash pages in Astonishing Tales #1-8, this one of the Red Skull turning Latveria into Nazi Nation cracks us up the most. It’s so wrong in so many ways. Red Skull, what were you thinking? Do you have ANY idea what Dr. Doom is going to do to you when he gets home? And why does the decor look like a high-school assembly?

But let’s start at the beginning. Long before we used the controversial picture above to sell the set on eBay, Jack Kirby kicked off Astonishing Tales #1 in 1970 with a Ka-Zar story.

astonishing tales 1-8 ka-zar doom set (4)
astonishing tales 1-8 ka-zar doom set (5)

Ka-zar versus Kraven sounds like a manly jungle free-for-all, but the tale lacks substance. Each issue, however, provided two stories, and the second one features Dr. Doom. Roy Thomas teams up with artist Wally Wood for several issues of unique stories in the Dr. Doom archives.

astonishing tales 1-8 ka-zar doom set (6)

After Stan & Jack wrap up the Kraven story, Gerry Conway and Barry Smith tell what may be the greatest Ka-zar story of all time. X-men fans may recall Garokk the Sun God from the days of Chris Claremont and John Byrne’s run. Byrne & Claremont’s tale, one of our favorites, has its roots in the pages of Astonishing Tales. Barry Smith renders the Savage Land and its inhabitants like never before or since. Conway’s tale is so awesome we could almost forgive him for killing Gwen Stacy — but we won’t.

astonishing tales 1-8 ka-zar doom set (7)
astonishing tales 1-8 ka-zar doom set (11)

Stan’s brother Larry Lieber takes the reins from Roy Thomas to continue Doom’s adventures, which include revolution, androids, and bringing a mummy back to life. It’s a whacky mix of themes that Wally Wood renders like it’s still the golden age at EC Comics. And did we mention the Red Skull shows up while Doom is on vacation? Guess what — he turns Latveria into Nazi Nation! What an idiot.

astonishing tales 1-8 ka-zar doom set (10)
astonishing tales 1-8 ka-zar doom set (8)

Just when you are thinking that you might subscribe to a monthly title featuring Dr. Doom drawn by Wally Wood, the creative team begins changing. Gene Colan joins Gerry Conway for a pretty awesome Black Panther story, the goofy gimmick of drilling underground in Wakanda serving as an excuse for a fine character study of the opposing monarchs, Doom and T’Challa.

astonishing tales 1-8 ka-zar doom set (12)

Colan’s pencils seem to become more flowing and abstract in his next few issues of Doom. Inker Tom Palmer certainly deserves some credit for that effect, and if you’d like to see how different inkers have interpreted Colan, Comic Tropes has a great short video that will show you.

astonishing tales 1-8 ka-zar doom set (15)

Doom’s mystic battle is one of our favorite examples of Colan’s style, rendered in bold flowing areas of black ink.

astonishing tales 1-8 ka-zar doom set (16)

Herb Trimpe steps in with what seems a Frazetta-inspired pose for Ka-zar.

astonishing tales 1-8 ka-zar doom set (13)
astonishing tales 1-8 ka-zar doom set (14)

But despite these creative high points in these little-known and certainly underrated stories, they might have been too odd for the market at that time. Doom got the axe, and the book became Ka-zar’s title for more than a year beginning with the ninth issue.

Later, it would become a sort of proving ground for potential characters. Tony Isabella and Dick Ayers would give us “It!” for a few issues, and then Deathlok by Rich Buckler and Doug Moench. The Guardians of the Galaxy also make an appearance, but Marvel axed the whole title after issue #36, six years after it began.

We recently sold our ‘reader’s copies’ set of the first eight issues, but you can usually find Astonishing Tales (Marvel, 1970) in stock. Many well-worn copies exist, so prices on VG+ Marvels from this era remain relatively cheap. Just try finding VF/NM copies, though, and you will have yourself a collecting challenge!

astonishing tales 1-8 ka-zar doom set (2)
astonishing tales 1-8 ka-zar doom set (3)

Silver Surfer by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby (1978)

23 Sunday Feb 2014

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in superhero

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

1978, book, Fireside, Jack Kirby, paperback, Silver Surfer, Silver Surfer graphic novel, Simon & Schuster, Stan Lee

Silver Surfer by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby (2)
Silver Surfer by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby (3)
Silver Surfer by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby (7)
Silver Surfer by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby (8)

The 1978 version of the Silver Surfer by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby stands apart from the rest of the characters and history of Marvel Comics. It does not have the obligatory cameo appearance by Spider-man, and it does not cross-over with the Avengers. In fact, it re-tells the first Silver Surfer story: the Surfer rebels against Galactus so that Galactus will spare Earth. But here, we have no Fantastic Four, no Watcher, nothing from the first time Lee & Kirby spun this yarn. Instead we have a love story, featuring a previously unseen female counterpart for the Surfer.

Silver Surfer by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby (9)

Honestly, we did not care for the story. The love story felt contrived for maximum pathos without really mattering at all, and the additional “average person” characters trotted on stage seemed generic or bland. Reading a different version about a Surfer scenario we already knew backwards and forwards felt almost like a waste of time.

Silver Surfer by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby (10)

So why did this book get made? If we had to guess, Marvel hoped to pick up a more adult audience for the comic book. Notice that Fireside, apparently a Simon & Schuster company, published this “ultimate cosmic experience” — not Marvel. This book seems aimed at a general audience, not your die-hard Marvelite. Stan and Jack stripped off all the superhero stuff from the original Surfer tale and turned it into a science-fiction “movie” that adults could get into but also share with their kids. As such, we can appreciate this book as an example of early efforts Marvel made to penetrate mainstream culture by expanding into more media and adapting their intellectual property to the new media. And just look at them now.

Silver Surfer by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby (11)

Anyway, regular visitors to Mars Will Send No More will understand we bought this book for exactly one reason: the stunning jack Kirby artwork. So why don’t we have a look inside and blow our minds together?

Collector’s Guide: You can often find Simon & Schuster’s original Silver Surfer printings from 1978 in stock in both paperback and hardcover.

Silver Surfer by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby (12)
Silver Surfer by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby (13)
Silver Surfer by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby (14)
Silver Surfer by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby (15)
Silver Surfer by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby (16)
Silver Surfer by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby (17)
Silver Surfer by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby (18)
Silver Surfer by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby (19)
Silver Surfer by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby (20)

Incredible Hulk Pocket Book 1978

22 Saturday Feb 2014

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in first issue, superhero

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

1978, collection, Herb Trimpe, Hulk, Incredible Hulk, Incredible Hulk Pocket Book, Jack Kirby, paperback, Pocket Book, Pocket Books, reprint, Stan Lee

Hulk Pocket Book 1978  (2)

This handy paperback has most recently proven useful in settling questions about Hulk history. Often these stories get forgotten in the vast expanses of Hulk lore, with his origin retold so many times that any two people probably have a different version in their heads. Here, Hulk remains more a man than a monster — a sullen and irritable man with a limited vocabulary, but far from the dim-witted “Hulk Smash” of the 1970s. In these stories, Banner hulks out at night, not simply from rage.

Hulk Pocket Book 1978  (3)

Stan Lee provides a brief but entertaining introduction as he did with all the Pocket Books we’ve seen from the 1970s. These books were great fun to own then, and we read these stories until we had them memorized. Ditko’s artwork — featured in one story here and in the similar Spider-man paperback — and Kirby’s artwork entertained us to no end.

Hulk Pocket Book 1978  (5)

These days, they seem a bit dated. Hulk is always fighting Commies, the art is far more simplistic than Kirby’s later style, and the plots seem kind of goofy. Stan and Jack probably hit the nail right on the head for their audience: boys and young men who enjoy action stories full of conflict and gadgets, at a particular time in history. Today they are curious beasts, an odd lot from a simpler time of comics where pulp horror and science fiction met in the mainstream to create superheroes.

Hulk Pocket Book 1978  (6)

Stan and Jack had no idea how big this thing would blow up, and readers fifty years later would seek out these stories for reference and entertainment. The charm in these first six Hulk tales lies in that very lack of self-consciousness, innocently dashed out in a few days or weeks. Just look at the utter disregard for backgrounds and ornamentation on these pages: direct, economical, focused entirely on figures and dialogue.

Hulk Pocket Book 1978  (7)

This little volume from Pocket Books in 1978 held up remarkably well. Even as a mass-market paperback, it enjoys very solid production: durable pages with clear art and color, a firm binding more than thirty-five years later, and a tight, glossy cover.

Hulk Pocket Book 1978  (8)

It even comes with a bonus two-page spread of “Hulk’s life in a single image” by Herb Trimpe. Trimpe had put his unmistakable stamp on the Hulk by the time this reprint book arrived in 1978, visually defining the Hulk for a generation of fans.

Hulk Pocket Book 1978  (10)
Hulk Pocket Book 1978  (11)




Jack Kirby’s Captain Victory: Splash Panel Gallery

14 Saturday Dec 2013

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in indie, science fiction

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Captain Victory, Captain Victory and the Galactic Rangers, Galactic Rangers, Indie Comics, Jack Kirby, outer space, Pacific Comics, science fiction

jack kirby captain victory splash panels- (41)

In the early days of Mars Will Send No More, we ran a series of daily splash panels from many of Jack Kirby’s masterpieces. Captain Victory proved very popular, perhaps because not many readers have seen this underrated series near the end of Kirby’s career.

jack kirby captain victory splash panels- (31)

As Kirby continued what seems now like a life-long struggle for creative control, he released Captain Victory through Pacific Comics. But in 1981, well before the Internet or even specialty comic shops had taken root in America, most readers of Marvel and DC never even heard of Captain Victory. What Kirby lost in widespread promotion, however, he made up for in unrestrained outrageousness and endless gallons of Kirby Krackle.

jack kirby captain victory splash panels- (6)

We think you will agree the over-the-top awesomeness of Jack Kirby’s comic book style rarely looked better than in these eye-popping splash panels. And so, in celebration of sharing three years of comic book awesomeness with you here on Mars, please behold the splendor of Captain Victory.

Collector’s Guide: From Captain Victory and the Galactic Rangers #1-13; Pacific Comics, 1981.

In 2011-2012, Dynamite Entertainment published a new Captain Victory series with some wonderful Alex Ross covers.

















Jack Kirby’s Mister Miracle Splash Panels

12 Thursday Dec 2013

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in superhero

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

DC Comics, Jack Kirby, Mister Miracle

jack kirby mister miracle splash panels- (30)

Behold the splendor of these splash and double-splash pages from Mister Miracle, one of Jack Kirby’s most visually striking series. We also have a more recent review of the collected TPB, Mister Miracle by Jack Kirby.

Collector’s Guide: From Mister Miracle; DC, 1971. Reprinted in Jack Kirby’s Mister Miracle TPB (1998; issues #1-10; black and white), Jack Kirby’s Fourth World TPB (2001; issues #11-18; black and white), and all 18 issues together in 2017’s Mister Miracle by Jack Kirby Expanded TPB (Also available on Amazon).


















Behold the Awesomizer; comic book pop art painting inspired by Jack Kirby

04 Wednesday Dec 2013

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in art studio

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

acrylic, art, awesomizer, behold the awesomizer, comic book art, eBay, Jack Kirby, Kirby Krackle, outer space, painting, science fiction

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Painted in bright, primary acrylics with chrome enamel highlights, it has a protective high-gloss varnish. Behold the Awesomizer measures 16x20x1 inches, with the artwork extending uninterrupted over the edges of the canvas.

Inspiration for this work of comic book-themed pop art comes from comics legend Jack Kirby, whose style practically defined Marvel Comics art of the 60s and 70s. Best known for co-creating Captain America, the Fantastic Four and Silver Surfer, the Eternals, OMAC, and the DC classics of his own Fourth World series, Kirby published Captain Victory and the Galactic Rangers near the end of his career.

Behold the Awesomizer pays tribute to Kirby and to the sense of cosmic wonder found in science-fiction comic books. As the powerful hand emerges from a whirlpool of rippling energy, a metallic eye shoots beams of light into the krackling vastness of outer space. Kirby Krackle coalesces around the hand as beams of light radiate from its fingertips. Inside it all, a great cosmic brain thinks thoughts that only you can determine.

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I Saw the End of the World!

27 Sunday Oct 2013

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in golden age, science fiction

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Don Heck, end of the world, giant ants, grottu, Jack Kirby, mole men, Paul Reinman, Steve Ditko, Strange Tales

Strange Tales 73 -  (9)

What a great page from Steve Ditko! The rest of this issue of Strange Tales is pretty awesome, too — a personal favorite of ours. Jack Kirby and giant ants to lead off!

Collectors’s Guide: From Strange Tales #73; Marvel, 1960.

Prototype issue (Ant-Man). “Grottu, King of the Insects!” with pencils by Jack Kirby; “I Saw the End of the World!” with art by Steve Ditko; “I Was Captured By the Mole Men!” with art by Don Heck; “I Am a Walking Time Bomb” with art by Paul Reinman; plus a two-page text story, “The Tree.” Kirby cover pencils. Cover price $0.10.









I Was Trapped in the Nightmare World!

26 Saturday Oct 2013

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in golden age, occult

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

dreams, Jack Kirby, Paul Reinman, Steve Ditko, Strange Tales

Strange Tales 74 -  (16)

 
Collector’s Guide: From Strange Tales #74; Marvel, 1960.

“Gorgolla! The Living Gargoyle!” with pencils by Jack Kirby; “Beware the Hands of Hundu” (art by Don Heck?); “I Was Trapped in the Nightmare World” with art by Paul Reinman; “When the Totem Walks!” with art by Steve Ditko; and a two-page text story, “The Whirlpool of Gairloch.” Kirby cover pencils. Cover price $0.10.









With My Own Eyes I Saw the Two-Headed Thing!

23 Wednesday Oct 2013

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in science fiction

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Jack Kirby, Jack Kirby Monsters, Strange Tales

…And I don’t mind telling you it freaked me out more than a little bit! Here is an off-beat monster story pencilled by Jack Kirby and printed in Strange Tales #95.

 
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Strange Tales 95 -  (9)

Jack Kirby Crime: Tomorrow’s Murder!

04 Friday Oct 2013

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in crime

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

crime, golden age, Jack Kirby, Prize

Prize published Treasure Comics from 1943-1947. It had all kinds of stories, from humor to adventure to fantasy. Lurking in the pages of the tenth issue you will find a crime story by Jack Kirby and Joe Simon: Tomorrow’s Murder! Kirby and Simon did not stay on the title for long but other greats like Frank Frazetta were also featured in it before its demise.

Collector’s Guide: From Treasure Comics #10; 1946



Alarming Tales 4: The Forbidden Journey by Jack Kirby!

18 Sunday Aug 2013

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in science fiction

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Alarming Tales, Harvey Comics, Jack Kirby

In 1957 and 1958, Jack Kirby created stories for Harvey’s six-issue series Alarming Tales. These hard-to-find comics from the Golden Age showcase Kirby’s early flair for science fiction.

You will see familiar themes like Martians, strange dimensions, conscious robots, and alien worlds. You will witness harbingers of future sciences like genetic engineering and cloning. And, you will see a few ideas Kirby revisited decades later. Behold the walking dogs and rats of “The Last Enemy” who resemble the animalistic characters of Kamandi, and a flying chair that would get an upgrade to seat Metron of the New Gods. Enjoy!

Collector’s Guide: From Alarming Tales #1-4; Harvey, 1957-1958. Issues #1-3 are now collected in a Kindle version!



From Here to Insanity: 20,000 Lugs under the Sea, by Julius Vermin

15 Thursday Aug 2013

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in golden age, science fiction

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

20000 Leagues Under the Sea, Charlton comics, Comet Feldmeyer, From Here to Insanity, giant squid, golden age, Jack Kirby, Julius Vermin

You have enjoyed our 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea posts featuring the Moby Books adaptations and Pablo Marcos artwork. Now, let’s just keep proving that Jack Kirby did it all — including a giant squid! Today you will find in our gallery a six-page story from 1955, published by Charlton Comics, that spoofs the Jules Verne classic.

Just for fun, we threw in a one-page superhero spoof from Uncle Jack, too: Comet Feldmeyer and his lovable companion The Electronic Nuisance! Consider yourself a major geek if you get the “Dial M for Myrtle” comics reference, and move to the head of the class.

Collector’s Guide: from From Here to Insanity #11; Charlton, 1955. All art by Jack Kirby other than four pages out of the 68-page issue.

Underwater adventures also await you in Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea!




Jack Kirby’s Captain 3-D!

13 Tuesday Aug 2013

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in first issue, golden age, superhero

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

Captain 3D, golden age, Harvey Comics, Jack Kirby

One of our guest bloggers, Kandou Erik, covered Captain 3-D by Jack Kirby for us in detail. We refer you to that post! Since then, we found scans of the entire issue you might like to see. Enjoy!

Collector’s Guide:
– From Captain 3-D #1; Harvey, 1953.
Pencils by Jack Kirby; Inks by Steve Ditko.













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