To Read, Perchance To Dream!

The summer is fading and another year of educational folly looms. But before the avalanche of eager learners descends upon me, I'd like to read a little bit more choice Jack Kirby goodness. The theme (such as it is) this month is dreams and that means taking a look at the Simon and Kirby studio offering The Strange World of Your Dreams, a four issue oddity which many devoted fans of the dynamic duo regard as some of their best.

And of course there is The Sandman from the pages of Adventure Comics, the venerable DC feature Simon and Kirby took over (alongside Manhunter and new features Newsboy Legion and Boy Commandos) when they took their talents across NYC to the still developing "Distinguished Competion". Simon and Kirby were bonafide stars when they signed with DC during this period and Sandman was a mainstay.

So identified with them that they finished off their decades long collaboration after a many year hiatus with a single issue Sandman which updated the concept. Kirby went on to draw more of these though Simon dropped off, and we'll take look at those too.

The "100 Days Of The King" feature finishes up as we close in on the centennial celebration of the King's birth. I've saved some of my favorites for the finale so hopefully we have something to look forward to.

Early on expect a review of the very first Inhuman stories from the pages of the Fantastic Four. Clearly Kirby was exerting more and more control of the plotting as he introduced and continued as a long-running sup-plot the saga of the genetically enhanced denizens of the Hidden Land.

And turning to another Kirby epic, I'd like to take a gander at Tales of Asgard, the back up feature with came to be a most significant expression of Kirby's interest in gods both old and new.

In the "Favorite Covers" daily feature, the Dojo presents this month and next some of the many dandy covers Jack Kirby produced for Marvel when he returned to the House of (mostly his) Ideas in the Bronze Age. He became a go-to cover artist for Marvel and generated some exciting images.

All that and whatever else comes across me noggin as August proceeds. Hang in amigos.

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