Showcase 12 (January-February 1958)

George Klein is far from Kirby’s worst inker, but he doesn’t bring much to the art either. Maybe the subject matter is just inherently less visual.

The Challengers track a criminal and his gang to an island–they’re lawfully deputized to work as a paramilitary vigilante organization, don’t you worry–and these ancient vials cause trouble. Giant thugs, a fire monster, a sea monster and duplicating criminals.

The narrative’s not bad, though Wood fails to even attempt cliffhangers. I don’t think any of the Challengers are in sustained danger. Maybe once. They also don’t have any personalities and are even less different from one another here since none of them have any solo missions. Wood even forgets Prof’s name… or maybe he finally remembers it. Last issue it was Harrison, now it’s Haley again.

Wood and Kirby’s approach seems to be to go big (literally); it works out reasonably well.

Showcase 11 (November-December 1957)

Bruno Premiani should not ink Jack Kirby. I don’t know who Premiani should ink, or if he should ink at all, but he should definitely not ink Kirby. I couldn’t even tell this issue–a Challengers story–had Kirby pencils. It looks like someone imitating Kirby. Poorly.

As for Dave Wood’s story, it’s decent enough but shows the big problem with his Challengers writing. The more involving the plot, the less important the characters. One of the Challengers goes missing for the entire fourth chapter of the issue and I didn’t even realize he was gone. Wood brings in two supporting characters to help out and they’re just as vibrant of characters as any of the Challengers.

Except, of course, for the outfits.

The plot involves aliens trying to take over the Earth with some cool technology. At least the Kirby layouts are good.

It’s a breezy, fun, disposable read.

C+

CREDITS

The Day the Earth Blew Up!; writer, Dave Wood; penciller, Jack Kirby; inker, Bruno Premiani; editor, Jack Schiff; publisher, DC Comics.

Showcase 7 (March-April 1957)

While there’s still nothing resembling character development for the original Challengers–scientist June Robbins offers to join, it’s unclear if she’s accepted, and Wood gives her a lot more personality than the boys–this issue’s really strong.

Even someone only marginally familiar with Kirby’s work (like me) can see in this Showcase the ancestors of his New Gods design work. He gets a little lazy on the faces, but there are still some amazing visuals of a giant robot run amok.

Wood’s script is a mix of King Kong and a super-computer thriller. He uses June Robbins to bring thoughtfulness and compassion to the story, making it unique. The plotting is also rather strong, though the chapter cliffhangers are tepid.

The story’s also of historical note as it involves the Challengers helping a Nazi war criminal. Apparently they weren’t evil on face value in 1957?

It’s a good read.

Showcase 6 (January-February 1957)

This Showcase predates Jason and the Argonauts. I wonder if someone on the movie read it–the Challengers of the Unknown face a giant, Greek or Roman looking statue monster who’s out to destroy civilization.

Jack Kirby’s visuals are imaginative, even if the art isn’t as polished as it could be.

The issue opens with some vague sexism–four women are called heroes, but we don’t get to hear about their adventures, just the boys. Has anyone else ever noticed the Challengers don’t have much in the way of personality? Prof Haley is the only one with any distinction and then only because he’s supposed to be smart.

They get involved with magic and ancient technology and have a three chapter adventure. It’s a decent enough issue, with Kirby and co-writer Dave Wood getting in a lot of content.

Pleasant but unaffecting might be the best description for it.

Marvel Premiere (1972) #2

Marvel premiere 1972 2

Ladies and gentlemen… the writing stylings of Roy Thomas! Yay! Yay!

Oh, wait. Umm. No. Not yay.

I suppose if someone wanted to read some really bad seventies young person counterculture dialogue, he or she could read Roy Thomas’s Adam Warlock story. It’s painful to read. And eventually painful to see too.

It’s another issue where Gil Kane’s art falls apart after a certain point. There’s this private detective who Kane draws terribly, but also disturbingly. He looks like an evil, poorly drawn Peter Lorre.

Oh, and the villains. The villains are these giant animals–a rat, a snake–and Kane butchers them. It’s like he can’t draw anything but regular people. Worse, the art all starts good and then plummets.

It’s a confusing story. Thomas loves to overwrite.

There’s a Jimmy Woo backup too, from Jack Kirby. It’s not any good, but it’s mildly interesting as a fifties relic.

Marvel Premiere 2 (May 1972)

Ladies and gentlemen… the writing stylings of Roy Thomas! Yay! Yay!

Oh, wait. Umm. No. Not yay.

It’s a confusing story. Thomas loves to overwrite.

There’s a Jimmy Woo backup too, from Jack Kirby. It’s not any good, but it’s mildly interesting as a fifties relic.

Creatures on the Loose 17 (May 1972)

For some inexplicable reason, probably because he liked to read himself (I don’t think Marvel paid by the word in the seventies), Roy Thomas has his protagonist spouting expository dialogue every panel.

Thomas and Gil Kane do the feature, Guillvar Jones, and it’s beautiful to read. Kane eventually does have some weak panels, but most of them are fantastic. Lots of fluid movement. Just great.

And Thomas doesn’t do bad with the first person narration. It’s fine. All the expository dialogue (protagonist talking to himself) is terrible and narratively pointless, if not incompetent.

The issue also has some old reprints. There’s a pretty good giant sea monster one from Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko. The twist is the sea monster is intelligent, but Lee doesn’t explore that point enough. Nice art.

The other reprint is sci-fi (from Lee and Don Heck). It’s fine until the moronic ending.

The Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #8

Asm08

So, there’s a point to about seventy percent of this issue. The rest is a back-up with Spider-Man battling the Human Torch, then the rest of the Fantastic Four, because Spider-Man wanted to show off for the Torch’s girlfriend. It’s an addle-brained waste of pages. The only possible purpose would be if Sue Storm ever hooked up with Spider-Man, but she never did. So it’s a bunch of phooey. The Kirby art isn’t as nice as the Ditko art on the principal story either.

The principal story is basically an all-action issue–it’s either Spider-Man versus the Living Brain (an utterly inelegant unstoppable killing machine) or Peter Parker versus Flash Thompson. Lee comes up with a great resolution to the Flash fight and also betrays some of Peter’s new self-image.

Spider-Man is, in Parker’s thought balloons, his true identity.

Only okay.

The Amazing Spider-Man 8 (January 1964)

Spider-Man is, in Parker’s thought balloons, his true identity.

Only okay.

CREDITS

The Terrible Threat of the Living Brain!; artist, Steve Ditko; letterer, Art Simek. Spider-Man Tackles The Torch!; penciller, Jack Kirby; inker, Ditko; letterer, Sam Rosen. Writer and editor, Stan Lee; colorist, Stan Goldberg; publisher, Marvel Comics.

Thor: Tales of Asgard (2009) #6

Tta6

So, for a forty year old comic, originally serialized in back-ups (and a double sized reprint), this issue is essentially a done in one. Thor and his sidekicks (are they called the Warriors Three?) hunt down this bad guy (called Mogul, no relation to the intergalactic Superman villain–this Mogul is from the Mystic Mountain, or Zanadu, or Xanadu or Zandu–lots of spellings) and set out to depose him from his throne.

And Mogul doesn’t appear very intergalactic here.

He’s Muslim.

He’s, in fact, a stand-in for Mohammed, which Lee’s readers probably wouldn’t have realized but I think Stan did. And Stan has Thor and his sidekicks fight for the American way.

In other words, it’s a very political comic book. More, I think, than any Silver Age Marvel book I’ve ever read.

Still good stuff. And, hey, with Bill Everett on inks, Kirby’s art is luscious.