We've Got Work To Do!

And still we say it ain't so! The unfolding tragedies in Texas point to a world which has always been dangerous to wee humanity planted on its surface, but who have in the last many centuries turned nature to its collective will.  But always that sense of control vanishes when storms rage and waters rise and despite all our gall we see humans cast about in floods which absorb the evidence of our existence. We cling to life and to each other in these moments of strife and in many instances we find the best of ourselves. Countless public servants earn that title when they toil to save citizens from the ravages of nature, a nature turned enemy against which all of us can strive together to fend off. One man in particular, a policeman in Houston lost his life when despite his wife's pleas he went out into the terrible rains to do what was needed. His only words simply were "We've got work to do."

That is a mantra we all should cleave to, one which should guide us in the years to come. We suffer a collapse of faith in our institutions because those we have place in the roles of leadership misunderstand their responsibilities and turn the power they are given to merely serve their own immediate ends. The government of the people and by the people must serve the people, and those we elect must see themselves as public servants and not our masters. The good work being done by countless folks to save those who need saving must be recognized and even celebrated, but when the waters recede and the immediate dangers dwindle, we must not forget our responsibilities to our mates in this world and the generations to come.

The climate is changing in ways which will beggar the imagination in years and decades and centuries perhaps to come. We must gird ourselves for these changes and find leadership which will not deny the obvious and strike out for the new territory which must be discovered. We must change what we know, we must alter what we have and we must do it together. As the man said my friends -- we've got work to do.

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Born To Be Wild!

You say the name "Steppenwolf" and I immediately flash on the band by that name  (borrowed from Herman Hesse's novel ) and  the album cover below featured in countless ads in scores if not hundreds of vintage comic books.

I hear the energetically morose voice of John Kay as he somberly oozes the lyrics of "The Pusher" and "Magic Carpet Ride", and "Born to Be Wild".

But I'm a Jack Kirby fan, a devotee of the Fourth World and so I also think of Darkseid's devious uncle featured on the cover of New Gods #7. This malicious Steppenwolf was one among many pawns in the back plots of the young son of Apokolips and he played a crucial part in breaking the peace by attacking Izaya the Highfather and killing his wife Avia.

The rage which spilled forth led Izaya to battle and ultimately slay Steppenwolf the leader of the Dog Cavalry of Apokolips (the perfect name for such a one as it means describes the wild dogs of the Asian steppes). And that act set the stage for Darkseid's rise to power and the initiation of "The Pact" which resulted in the exchange of Scott Free son of Izaya and Orion son of Darkseid as hostages to the peace. It was a peace broken when Scott Free lived up to the name he'd gotten from Granny Goodness and slipped away to Earth to become Mister Miracle.

Later, illogically, Steppenwolf was revived and revised to be part of the "Super Powers" toy universe.

And now we hear that Steppenwolf will be among the very first of the to wage war against the Justice League in the Silver Age superteam's very first major motion picture ever. I for one cannot wait! As John Kay would thrum, this one "was born to be wild".

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Omnibus Of The Fourth World Kind!

Around Christmas time, DC is planning to cap off its year-long celebration of the "King of Comics" Jack Kirby with a ginormous collection which gathers together under one single cover all fifty-seven of the delicious Fourth World comics produced in that hectic period in 1971 to 1972 and a little beyond when Kirby's unabashed creativity was sprawling across the newsstands. Jimmy Olsen #133-139, New Gods #1-11, Forever People #1-11, Mister Miracle #1-18, along with the later stuff in the 80's which put a period on this era in DC Graphic Novel #4 (The Hunger Dogs) and a bit more from New Gods #4 (the reprint series). That's a lot of comic books under one honking cover.

I'm a "Fourth World Baby"! I was there in the 70's when New Gods #1 dropped onto the local newsstands and it changed my world. I followed the series in its original form  (without fully grokking it, but always aware it was greater than the sum of its parts). I eagerly snatched up the revival in the 80's when Kirby was asked in his latter days to put a coda on the saga. I was there in the 90's when the first reprints hit the stands. I was there in the new century when a full-color reprint series arrived which cataloged the books just as I always stored them, as chapters in a long unfinished novel. I was there only a few years ago when IDW started issuing some of the stories in the original art formats. And I've been there all along picking up this bit and that scrap as DC has issued the original Kirby in all sorts of weirdo packages.

Do I need this omnibus? Hell no! Do I want this omnibus? Hell yes! Will I buy this omnibus? We'll see -- I probably will.

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100 Days Of The King - Day 100!

When I started this project over three months ago with this image, I knew this would be the final one hundredth image. This startling picture is to my eye is the epitome of how Kirby came to apprehend and understand technology, not something apart from us, but something bonded to, through and within us in the most intimate ways. If the "King of Comics" had made it into the modern day to see how people coax, cuddle and caress their "devices", often to the detriment of their health as they blunder into obstacles, he might think that we are all machine heads, though far less elegant. We all have our "Mother Boxes" now, though sadly they seem not always to have our best interests at heart. We each carry a siren in our pocket, calling us to our destiny.

This little project has been a hoot. Thanks to everyone who has traveled along with me through one hundred posts as we have celebrated the centennial of the greatest comic book artist of all time. Happy Birthday to the King!

But I'm not done. There's more Kirby to come as next month we get into Kirby's work at Pacific Comics and in October it's a horde of Kirby Monsters! I even hope to tackle the Fab 4 again before the year wraps up, and maybe some Thor before it's all done, but don't hold me to that. As I've learned, life is unpredictable.

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The King And Eye!

One hundred years ago today Jacob Kurtzburg was born. He was just one of countless youngsters born among the tenements of New York City, an environment which bred toughness, especially during the dark throes of the Great Depression. Kurtzburg took to comics, especially the luxurious pages of Hal Foster and soon was plying his chosen trade in the rough and tumble world of comic books, a business which was as much scam as industry in its earliest days. He was a worker bee, a guy who kept his head down and did the job through long hours day in and day out. That quality made him a prized resource for publishers voracious for content.

Soon enough Kurtzburg became "Jack Kirby" and he found a reliable partnership with Joe Simon, the "Mutt" to Kirby's "Jeff" and the  truly dynamic duo rocked the comic book world with their patriotic superman Captain America. They followed that success with many others, and bounded around the comic book world trading on their brand unlike almost no others in the business. They worked for everyone even themselves until the time came for the partnership to end as comic books seemed to be giving up the ghost.

Kirby soldiered on and eventually came to Marvel and a new partnership with Stanley Leiber (Stan Lee) and before you can say "Excelsior" the duo had fabricated the Marvel Age of Comics which transformed the industry. Kirby was a savant, a creator unlike any other and he at last took his talents to DC again after many years where he fashioned the "Fourth World", an epic unlike any seen to that time. But sales fell below the value of his talent, and he was left to battle for work and for his reputation. He found some monetary solace at last in animation before his final burst in the direct sales market with Pacific Comics and a few other publishers.

His great talent began to desert him but his reputation grew and grew and finally at long last he began to get his due respect in those years just before he passed away in 1994. And it never stopped. Jack "King" Kirby is still the most potent talent the comic book field has ever seen and his influence as only grown in the quarter century since his passing.

I discovered Kirby when I discovered comics, way back in 1967. He was at that time already entering his fully mature stage, having invented Captain America in the 40's, the Challengers of the Unknown in the 50's, the Fantastic Four, Thor and others in the 60's. He would go on to make the New Gods the best damn comic I ever read and the mythic impact of that robust story lingers in my imagination to this day.

I make a point to read the Fourth World saga again every couple of years just to savor its greatness and some fresh nuance makes its mark each time.  I became a devoted follower of the "King" and while I might trade away most of my comics in due course, I will never part with my original Fourth World books. They are too precious.

Jack Kirby was a talent unlike any I've ever encountered, bristling with creativity and flush with a wisdom born from years of dedication to his family, his country, and to his craft. He's a personal hero for sure, and while I have perhaps maybe the merest mote of his talent, I still know that knocking it out each and every day while you have the chops is the way things get done.

Thanks Mister Kirby. Salute!

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100 Days Of The King - Day 99

To me this is the pinnacle of Jack "King" Kirby's awesome accomplishments in comics. I will never forget the sheer thrill which filled me up when I first saw the cover of debut issue New Gods atop the spinner rack at the local drug store. I'd been familiar with Kirby at Marvel on Fantastic Four and Thor but had fallen in love with the work of John Buscema and so didn't give the "King" his proper due. The Fourth World books made me a confirmed Kirby fan for life and I've picked up almost everything he's done since that day.

The saga he told in the Fourth World books of a world of gods which had fallen allowed him to continue thematically the work he'd begun at Marvel in the pages of Thor in which he described Ragnarok, the ultimate battle at the end of the universe.

The battle to end all battles is picked up and the ferocious nature of the war strikes to the core of anyone who cares to understand the consequences. This is the end, and out of that ultimate destruction will come something new, if not necessarily improved. (Note: The presence of inker Vince Colletta, though much derided by many was critical in making sure this transition was smooth and evident.)

It's Orion, the black-souled son of Darkseid the master of Apokolips we see come out of the chaos. Riding stoutly atop his Astro-Glider, he's the very angel of destruction come to deliver the word.

He tells us that the battle is coming and when wars break out it's incumbent on all people to choose their sides. It's the crucial choice of right or wrong and in the New Gods as nowhere else in comics that division was strikingly marked. It's definitely a decision we must all make even in our modern day. Orion spoke to us then and he speaks to us still today. We all must choose.

One more installment to come Kirby fans!

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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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