It’s easy to look back at the incredible body of work that Jack ‘The King’ Kirby was involved with (Captain America, Fantastic Four just to name a few).
But there are so many other comics ‘The King’ was involved in that don’t get the attention for one reason or another.
Today, I’m counting down Jack Kirby’s Top 5 Most Underrated Projects! These are titles, characters or runs that I feel for the most part are neglected by fans.
To comic fans now in 2012, we look at everything he did as amazing and ahead of it’s time! But I can remember a time, before his death in 1994; many fans looked at anything he did after leaving Marvel in 1970 as not very good! It took years before his Fourth World characters (including Mister Miracle and a guy named Darkseid) were not taken seriously!
Can you imagine the DC Universe without Darkseid?
So here we go with some unappreciated gems you need to discover!
1. Our Fighting Forces #151 - #162 – The Losers were given an incredible boost with Kirby penciling and drawing these issues. As I look back now I rate two of those issues (154,159) as two of my all time single favorite war comics.
2. Kamandi – This series will blow your mind! Kirby wrote and drew the first 37 issues that feature the end of the world, talking animals and a gorilla that wears a Superman costume! Pure genius from the King! Ahh, the Great Disaster certainly was great!
3. Mister Miracle – A character that is not only real cool, but has one of the best costumes ever designed. He is my favorite Fourth World / New Gods character and over the years, his story became more complex and certainly more interesting.
4. Devil Dinosaur – A red Tyrannosaurus and a monkey boy? If any other creator did this it would have been a laugh! But because it was a Kirby, it rules! Devil Dinosaur is red because he was nearly burned to death by the tribe Killer-Folk. Could anyone else have pulled that off but the King?
5. Captain America (#193 – #214) – I have head many comic fans say this run is lazy and written for any character. They say you could have dropped anyone into these stories to fight the Mad Bomb, The Swine and Arnim Zola. What I read was pure gold and the stuff that made me a Cap fan!
So what do you think? I encourage you to look for these classics! All of them have been collected in trade with Devil Dinosaur and Kamandi being collected in ‘Omnibus’ form!
But there are so many other comics ‘The King’ was involved in that don’t get the attention for one reason or another.
Today, I’m counting down Jack Kirby’s Top 5 Most Underrated Projects! These are titles, characters or runs that I feel for the most part are neglected by fans.
To comic fans now in 2012, we look at everything he did as amazing and ahead of it’s time! But I can remember a time, before his death in 1994; many fans looked at anything he did after leaving Marvel in 1970 as not very good! It took years before his Fourth World characters (including Mister Miracle and a guy named Darkseid) were not taken seriously!
Can you imagine the DC Universe without Darkseid?
So here we go with some unappreciated gems you need to discover!
1. Our Fighting Forces #151 - #162 – The Losers were given an incredible boost with Kirby penciling and drawing these issues. As I look back now I rate two of those issues (154,159) as two of my all time single favorite war comics.
2. Kamandi – This series will blow your mind! Kirby wrote and drew the first 37 issues that feature the end of the world, talking animals and a gorilla that wears a Superman costume! Pure genius from the King! Ahh, the Great Disaster certainly was great!
3. Mister Miracle – A character that is not only real cool, but has one of the best costumes ever designed. He is my favorite Fourth World / New Gods character and over the years, his story became more complex and certainly more interesting.
4. Devil Dinosaur – A red Tyrannosaurus and a monkey boy? If any other creator did this it would have been a laugh! But because it was a Kirby, it rules! Devil Dinosaur is red because he was nearly burned to death by the tribe Killer-Folk. Could anyone else have pulled that off but the King?
5. Captain America (#193 – #214) – I have head many comic fans say this run is lazy and written for any character. They say you could have dropped anyone into these stories to fight the Mad Bomb, The Swine and Arnim Zola. What I read was pure gold and the stuff that made me a Cap fan!
So what do you think? I encourage you to look for these classics! All of them have been collected in trade with Devil Dinosaur and Kamandi being collected in ‘Omnibus’ form!
RSS Feed
