First Issue Special - Manhunter!

When Jack Kirby's grand project of the "Fourth World" was shelved because of disappointing sales he was nonetheless required to fulfill his contract for DC which called upon him to create many pages of new comics material. Many great projects resulted such as The Demon and Kamandi, the Last Boy on Earth. And there were several one-shots as well in 1st Issue Special such as Atlas in the debut issue of the try-out series. Now it came time for another Kirby creation and as he had done with The Golden Guardian in the pages of Jimmy Olsen, he plucked a hero from his halcyon days as a partner with Joe Simon during DC's  Golden Age. That hero was Manhunter. 

Manhunter had been like Sandman, a hero that Simon and Kirby had revised and polished up but alas they did relatively few issues with the hero. The "Manhunter" name was used by DC several times over the decades as in a one-shot issue of 1st Issue Special's precursor Showcase. More famously Archie Goodwin and Walt Simonson  had revived Simon and Kirby's hero Paul Kirk in a much admired series which alas saw the demise of the tragic hero. Now it was Kirby's turn to bring back the "Manhunter" name and his hero is a well-meaning fellow named Mark Shaw. 

Shaw is a dedicated public defender who is frustrated that justice is so elusive for those without means and influence and that those who deserve punishment escape it too often. His uncle informs him of an ancient cult dedicated to justice called the "Shan" and their "Manhunters". Shaw makes contact and is a accepted into the still-thriving cult and becomes a Manhunter, wearing striking red armor and a blue metallic mask. He is successful in defeating a weird collector who enslaves people and severs their heads, and the story stops abruptly as he makes his way to confront an enemy named "The Hog". 

This Manhunter is seen no more until a few years later when Steve Englehart revives the character of Mark Shaw and the Manhunters, turning the concept on its head a bit and making them into robotic zealots who hide a dark secret as old the DCU itself. The Manhunters become a grand concept which supplied DC with some dandy storytelling twists for years to come in the post-Crisis era. 

Next time Kirby strikes again with a brand new kid gang. 

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