Night Of The Manhunter!

Well I wanted some slam bang Kirby action and the Manhunter Special #1 delivers. In this story written by Keith Giffen and Dan Didio, and drawn by Giffen and  Mark Buckingham we meet an intense Paul Kirk who is prowling the night in full-blown predator mode and beating down thugs and gangsters he comes across. Enter the Sandman and his sidekick Sandy the Golden Boy who object to Manhunter's overly violent methods and suddenly the heroes are blazing across the pages with ferocious fisticuffs of their own.

The battle is evokes the energy of a vintage Kirby story and uses elements of his classic Bronze Age style without openly swiping it, a tricky balance. The story reads quickly, but was what I wanted.

(Not art from the comic book.)

More atmospheric is The Demon story by Sam Humphries and Steve Rude. Rude is the artist who to my eye most successfully evokes the energy and drama of the "King" and still he's distinctively himself at all times. Jason Blood wants out of his occult partnership with the demon Etrigan and seeks a monk to help him out. It doesn't go as planned, but you knew that already.

Also on tap in this comic are some tasty reprints. There are few Golden Age pages from the debut issue of Real Fact Comics which picture a wild and weird future. And there's an Atomic Age story from the pages of Tales of the Unexpected which reveals the weird secret of an actress who hides her face. Twists galore in this one.

All in all a pretty nifty comic with a properly potent Bruce Timm cover, which held up to the reputation of the myriad characters and styles they represent.

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