|
|
Post by brutalis on Feb 23, 2017 14:12:38 GMT -5
So far, Kirby seems like he is just riffing, putting together stories like a jazz artist creates a piece of music. The idea of an epic, suggested at the beginning, with Morgaine Le Faye has not really played out. Instead, the series has been more episodic, with different monsters, many borrowed from Universal and other cinematic horrors. Kirby the jazz musician is truly what he was in my own opinion. Kirby could riff on anything, any subject and make it all his own and turn out something special and unique. Kirby had such imagination and creativity and energy i believe he thought in epic terms but was so busy trying to place all of his "imagery" down on paper that he lost sight of the full remembrance of what he was doing. Like many of us who wake from a dream and may remember it most vividly upon waking only for it becoming dimmer or lost the more we try to retain the memory of it Kirby was so busy doing multiple stories i can believe that his initial momentum sometimes either became lost or changed once he put pencil to paper and he may have only vague thoughts about what he at first wanted to portray. |
|
|
|
Post by docthompson on Feb 23, 2017 21:26:26 GMT -5
Kamandi was the best of the DC Comics.Interesting at time,but just dragged the last boy on earth,making him the laziest boy on Earth.He never helped humanity get anywhere and just walked into whatever Hollywood movie Jack Kirby liked at the time.I originally stopped after the Gulliver Effect and only recently read the rest.Kirby did boneheaded mistakes like killing off Flower,because duh Nova got off in Beneath the Planet of the Apes-a goofy sequile.
|
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Feb 23, 2017 22:52:04 GMT -5
So far, Kirby seems like he is just riffing, putting together stories like a jazz artist creates a piece of music. The idea of an epic, suggested at the beginning, with Morgaine Le Faye has not really played out. Instead, the series has been more episodic, with different monsters, many borrowed from Universal and other cinematic horrors. Kirby the jazz musician is truly what he was in my own opinion. Kirby could riff on anything, any subject and make it all his own and turn out something special and unique. Kirby had such imagination and creativity and energy i believe he thought in epic terms but was so busy trying to place all of his "imagery" down on paper that he lost sight of the full remembrance of what he was doing. Like many of us who wake from a dream and may remember it most vividly upon waking only for it becoming dimmer or lost the more we try to retain the memory of it Kirby was so busy doing multiple stories i can believe that his initial momentum sometimes either became lost or changed once he put pencil to paper and he may have only vague thoughts about what he at first wanted to portray. Mark Evanier talks about that a lot, both in his book and in the afterwords to the 4th World Omnibi. He said Jack would sometimes forget what he had done in previous issues and would even stop a work in progress and tear it up and start over! With the 4th World, Jack had been thinking about these characters for a while and had a destination in mind, though he took a rather meandering path. With Demon I think it was more DC wanted more "mystery" titles, since they were selling, and Kirby hit upon the idea of a demon as they main character, then redesigned it, after looking at a Prince Valiant collection (according to Mark's book) and that probably brought Morgaine into it. I suspect he didn't consider her for much more than introducing things and then just started playing with his favorite horror movies and stories. At the same time, Kirby was contractually obligated to produce 15 pages a week (!!!!!!) and didn't have a lot of time to sit down and work out an intricate long-term plot, like an Alan Moore or Chris Claremont. Free form storytelling worked best for Jack, under those circumstances. |
|
|
|
Post by berkley on Feb 24, 2017 1:19:30 GMT -5
Yeah, that episodic nature is a weakness of series like the Demon and Kamandi, perhaps Devil Dinosaur - or would have become so had they lasted for longer runs. As it is, there are so few issues of The Demon that the monster-of-the-month stories don't really bother me. But yes, if it had gone on for a more extended run, I would have hoped for some kind of long-term structure to emerge, whether that involved Morgaine or some aspect of the Demon's origin or whatever. Kamandi did last longer and I think it does suffer a little from a kind of aimlessness, but I haven't read the entire run yet so that impression could change.
|
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Feb 26, 2017 12:31:46 GMT -5
Kamandi 9  Cue up some Prince, because it's time to Batdance! Kamandi and the guys are somewhere over Central America and run into some giant bats, as you do. Apparently, these bats favor onsies...  From that goofiness we go to a Kirby collage, showing Tracking Site..  Apparently, the space program was testing magnetic repulsions, when the Great Disaster hit, leaving the sphere stuck hovering above a volcanic crater. This is Tracking Site and where the boys are headed. After some gunplay, they splashdown (!!!!), inside the sphere, in the grand tradition of the Apollo program, and meet up with some robots. They are taken to a an aircraft carrier deck (more NASA stuff), where they pass an honor guard to deliver their recordings to the NASA Mind, a computer which is compiling data about the changed world. They are attacked by a robot, leaving only Kamandi standing. He fights it out and shoots the tank carried on the robot's back, which feeds its weapon, causing it to explode. It is then Kamandi meets the person behind the attack, who looks like MODOK's little brother...  The creature is the Misfit (of Science) and he controls the robots and will soon extend mental control over all life. He has Ben and the boys knocked out. He has the robots fit a chair/neck harness on Kamandi and rides him like an upright mule...  Shades of Master/Blaster!  He shows Kamandi a super germ (big ugly hairy thing) which wiped out life within the Tracking Site, except the mutants, like Ben & the gang and Misfit. He says it will destroy all life in the world and its threat will make him supreme ruler. Kamandi decides to put a stop to this and backdrops himself and Misfit into an electrical unit, zap the little "pumpkin-head troll." (Kirby's words). That shorts out the Site's defenses and the bats attack. Kamandi tries to help Misfit; but, he is dying. Misfit is moved by Kamandi's empathy and frees Ben & the boys to fight the bats, before their rampage unleashes the germ. Lot of weird stuff, lot of action, and some goofy science exposition. Just what you look for in a Kamandi comic. The whole splashdown bit is a nice piece of nostalgia, having watched the Apollo missions as a kid. We are left on a pretty decent cliffhanger, as the bats are whooping the robots and Ben and the other guys have just woken up. Will they defeat the bats (after a breakfast of paste and Tang, I assume)? Tune in next time for "The Killer Germ", or "Sneezes to Pieces!" |
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Feb 26, 2017 14:51:51 GMT -5
The Demon #9  Based on the cover, it appears Etrigan is being goaded to run for public office. Like Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman, he isn't having it!  When we last saw our hero, the Phantom had taken away Glenda marks, who he believes is his Galatea. Jason Blood was unablle to unleash Etrigan, who he said was dead. Glenda saw the Phantom's scarred face? What happens next? Etrigan defends a medieval town from a sorcerer and his monsters!  Wait, what?  ?!!!!! ? Kirby throws a bit of a James Bond prologue, as we see Etrigan smash some monsters and fight off their sorcerer leader. Jason Blood has lived in this town for decades, defending it against the forces of darkness. We also see that intense cold is a weakness for the Demon. He whoops the magician and reverts back, then decides to make like David Banner and hit the road. In the present Jason is whining about Etrigan being gone and demonstrates how the Philosophy Stone did it, to Harry and Randu. They watch news footage of the Phantom escaping from police. We cut to his lair, where he has Glenda and is monologuing and menacing her, talking about how she is the witch who scarred him. Glenda pleads with him and tries to reason, but, he grabs some rope and gets all "It puts the lotion on its skin!" Brrrrrrrrrrr......... Jason and the boys go a-huntin' in the sewers and nearly stumble on the Phantom. He takes the bound Glenda into an old theater, to a dilapidated stage. There he hauls out flamepots and candles and says that she was a witch who worked in his stage magic act, who performed a real ritual that stole his soul and scarred him. While this is going on, Jason takes a tumble in the water and hits some electrical lines, getting zapped. He's amazed to find he survived, thanks to the Philosopher's Stone. he wonders if it can bring back Etrigan and tries. We get a shot of a half Etrigan, half Jason, who crawls after the Phantom, Farley Fairfax. Farley is going to force Galatea (Glenda) to reverse the ritual and return his soul and face. He gets creepier and crazier and then Etrigan pops in, in full demon glory. And then, to quote the words that were the bane of every wrestling fan in the territorial days, "WE'RE OUT OF TIME!!!!!!!" Man, just when Etrigan was about to go all Kirby on Farley! So, Kirby departs from Leroux and turns into Thomas Harris (before Harris ever created Hannibal Lecter), as Farley Fairfax gets pretty insane and evil in this one. There is a real sense of dread and horror in all of this, as Kirby has Farley ranting and raving and looming, with the decayed theater and the implements of fire juxtaposed. This doesn't bode well for Glenda. Then, we see Jason slowly transform into Etrigan and do his run-in, at the end. You know readers were coming back next issue, to see what happens! The prologue seems a bit out of place, though it does highlight the role of the Demon, through the ages. I would have liked to have seen more of these adventures, across history. I kind of wish that it was how Kirby had approached the series, taking him from a dying Camelot to the present, over several issues; then, running up against Morgaine again. Ah, well; hindsight... |
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Feb 26, 2017 15:41:01 GMT -5
Kirby Magazines!!!!!!! One of the grand experiments Jack Kirby undertook at DC were two black & white magazines, to rival the Warren line. Kirby had actually proposed a series of sophisticated, glossy adult magazines, that would be more in line with the future Heavy Metal, than a Creepy rip-off. This being DC, they went cheap and greenlit a black & white mag and then half-assed the distribution (or non-distribution, as, apparently, there were undistributed stacks in a warehouse), where even Mark Evanier and Steve Sherman couldn't find them, in Los Angelese (!!!!). These things were DOA (or DON-A, for non-arrival), even before any sales figures were to be had, like a Hollywood film dumped with no publicity, to assure it will be a flop. The first of these is The Spirit World..  This is a horror magazine, with three stories from Kirby, with a narration by Dr E. Leopold Maas, as a sort of ersatz Rod Serling. The first story, "The President Must Die!" sees a woman have a premonition of the assassination of Pres. Kennedy. Kirby pulls out the collages to a stunning effect...  and the original...  The woman, Lucille M, desperately tries to contact the president and urge him not to go to Dallas. Her hysterics cause delays, as the Secret Service try to get her to calm down and present some proof. We see the visions of a man unpacking a rifle and taking aim. In the end, she is too late. It's all very Twilight Zone-lite, though Kirby's opening collage elevates it some. If only he had used the technique throughout, he might have had something more than a rather cliched parapsychology story. The second story, "The House of Horror," is a ghost story, with another spectacular collage...  The story revolves around Dr Maas' investigation of a haunted house, where he finds the ghost of a runaway slave, that was pursued by a Confederate team of commandos. It's fairly run-of the mill, with the opening being the distinguishing feature. Kirby doesn't really take the idea into deeper territory, which would have made the tale more effective, given the ghost subject. The third story, "Children of the Flaming Wheel," sees Kirby using the fumetti photo technique, made famous in Italian comics, where a series of photos take the place of comic panels, to tell the story. This one has some teenagers in home-made costumes, acting out a cult ritual.  It's all very trippy and shows more artistic promise than the bulk of the magazine, though little really happens. The last story is "The Screaming Woman," where a modern woman sees visions of a past life, as a woman burned at the stake, as a witch, by the Spanish. It goes a bit further than Kirby's normal stuff; but, never as far as EC or Warren. Kind of tame, really. There is a prose story, followed by a story about Nostradamus..  ...which perpetuates the fantasy that the vague quatrains predicted anything, other than people reading historical events into them, after the fact. The issue ends with a Sergio Aragones page, that looks like something intended for Plop or House of Mystery. It's a rather tame horror magazine. Kirby certainly uses his artistic muscles with the collages and you are left wishing the magazine consisted solely of those, as they are far more effective than the line art. Part of the problem with the issue is that Kirby isn't really someone who is interested in the supernatural, other than as a plot device. he never gets very horrific, for something unbound by the Code. Even later Charlton had more meat than this stuff. Kirby could have done more with an art magazine, devoted to the collage and photo pieces, which would have been spectacular in a slick, glossy magazine package. Perhaps the compromise is why it seems so less. |
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Feb 26, 2017 16:43:22 GMT -5
The other magazine Kirby launched was a bit more up his alley; In The Days of the Mob!  Kirby was born and raised in Hell's Kitchen, in New York, where gang fights and mobsters were a way of life. All we have to do is watch Sergio Leone's Once Upon A Time in America, to see where Kirby could have ended up, if he hadn't been an imaginative, nice boy who loved pulp stories and comic strips more than fighting and petty thievery. The stories are introduced by Warden Fry, better known as Satan, the jailer of the souls in Hell. He is the caretaker of these evil and vicious mobsters. The prison imagery for Hell adds a nice modern and ironic touch...  The first story is "Ma's Boys," about Ma Barker. Kirby tells a lively tale of a vicious Ma and her murderous boys, each meeting their end, until ma herself is gunned down by the FBI. This all fits well with the standard movie image of Ma Barker, as well as the pulps and detective magazines, which perpetuated the story told by J Edgar Hoover. Factual accounts tend to throw cold water on the idea, with Ma, at best, being an accomplice by helping her boys; but, having no actual role in committing or planning crimes. Many historians believe Hoover concocted the image of the murderous Ma to justify his agents gunning down an old woman. The story itself is right at home with the old Warner Bros. gangster films, with Jimmy Cagney and George Raft, which were favorites of Kirby.  It's funny; but, Kirby's Capone looks a bit more like Kirby, than it does Capone! "Bullets for Big Al" sees the New York mob send a couple of hitmen to take Capone out, in Chicago, so they can install their own man. Kirby gets to strut his stuff, with a Capone soiree, complete with a band and dancers...  The hitmen never make it to the party, as their car is wired with dynamite. Capone's men take out the rival gangsters with blackjacks and beat him to death (Kirby sets the image, then pulls back to Capone's face, keeping it bloodless). It's not quite The Godfather or Scorsese; but, it's pretty good stuff, if kind of short. A featurette, "The Breeding Ground," explores the Depression and Prohibition as the catalyst for the criminal superstars of the time.  Steve Sherman and Mark Evanier have a prose story, then Kirby follows with the story of the Kansas City Massacre and Pretty Boy Floyd. As with Ma Barker, Kirby is going with the folklore, perpetuated by Hoover, though historians disbelieve that Floyd was involved in the shootout, which killed 4 lawmen and bank robber Frank "Jelly" Nash. It's a violent tale, filled with bullets. Kirby ends with "Method of Operation, about a day in the life of a mobster, Country Boy, that includes fishing, dancing with his girl, and arrest by the FBI. The magazine ends with another Sergio Aragones page, probably from Plop. All in all, this is pretty good stuff; certainly better material than The Spirit World. There are no grand artistic experiments here; just good old fashioned guns and violence, from an artist who grew up in the era. It looks like a Warner Bros. film and makes for a fine read, if you like that kind of stuff. I can't see it lasting long, just on that kind of material; but, the "men's adventure" magazines were still chugging along in the early 870s, though their heyday was past. Detective magazines were very prevalent on newsstands, though. They dated back to the earliest days of magazine publishing and featured lurid covers, plenty of accounts of violence, and seemy interior photos and illustrations. They were still prospering in the more permissive 70s and who's to say that a mob magazine couldn't have found an audience, though it was nowhere near as nasty as the Charles Biro stuff, which helped usher in the Comics Code. So, Kirby's experiment was put to sleep early, with mixed results. The Spirit World features some interesting artistic feats, with rather tame stories, while In the Days of the Mob has livelier (if fictitious) true-crime stories and plenty of violence and gunplay. It would have been interesting to see if they would have sold, had DC actually distributed the darn things, let alone publicized them beyond a house ad. They might have been surprised. |
|
|
|
Post by brutalis on Feb 27, 2017 11:28:11 GMT -5
The Demon #9 Demon was Kirby's chance to shine with all of his monster/demon/sorcery creations. Kirby truly was King and excelled at the artistic renderings of the horrific and science fiction/fantasy in whatever comic he was doing. |
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Mar 1, 2017 14:11:20 GMT -5
Kamandi #10  When last we left Kamandi, he had bats in his belfry!  The gang fights the bats, but numbers overwhelm, until Misfit hits them with a brain blast. Kamandi gets him to safety, while the mutant "astronauts" turn to steel, to fight the bats. Kamandi puts Misfit in a room, behind a steel vault door. It turns out to be the lab where the morticoccus virus is kept. Misfit plans to unleash it and let everyone die. Kamandi tries to reason with him, based on saving his life. Misfit shows him tapes of the scientists who contained the germ, at the costs of their lives. The leader is Hiram Boxer, Ben's father. He is also behind Ben's mutation and Misfit's birth. Kamandi finally threatens Misfit, when reason doesn't work; but, the bats hit the room. Ben gets Kamandi out through a convenient trapdoor he knew about (always handy) and they set off the engines that launch Tracking Site towards space. The group escapes in the Fantasti-car (or a reasonable facsimile), while the virus is unleashed and attacks Misfit (who wasn't immune) and the bats. It ends up in space, where it can't harm the Earth.   Pretty scary stuff; monsters banging on doors, crazy mutant brains, big hairy germs oozing over the place......kind of reminds me of dorm life, in college! Pretty standard monster/sci-fi movie stuff here, really. Kirby handles the action and suspense well, even though close examination of the logic involved will give you a headache. The entrance into the sealed lab that only Ben knew about is quite convenient; but, hey, comics! The only real repercussion is that Kamandi and Ben have lost a technologically advanced site, leaving them without support for their explorations. We will have to see how that works out. Ben and the guys turning to steel only after things have gone totally TU reminds me of the original Ultraman series, where the hero would fight monsters hand-to-well, claw and tentacle, then, when his timer was beeping, remember he had the energy powers and blast to monster to pieces. Same dynamic here. Monster fighters do seem to be morons. |
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Mar 1, 2017 14:42:29 GMT -5
The Demon #10  Looks like Etrigan interrupted this guy in the shower! We open with Etrigan casting a spell to see past events behind Farley Fairfax's scarring and his beef with Galatea, who he has confused with Glenda Marks.  It turns out that farley was cheating on Galatea; so, she summons up some creepy soul-sucker, who rips off Farley's face! Yeesh!!!!!! Hell may have no fury like a woman scorned; but, that's Sesame Street compared to an actress who is ticked off at her co-star! She taunts him about ham acting and groupies and gets pretty darn bitchy! Kirby gives her suitably evil eyebrows (and some impressive, um, "Golden Globes"). Seriously, this whol sequence is pretty darn horrific and the thing stealing Harley's face brings to mind the face-hugger, in Alien, before the movie was even conceived! Etrigan confronts Farley in the present and stops him from doing anything to Glenda. he summons up Asmodon, the Steward of Satan (who probably constantly hits that little call light, like every other annoying jerk on a plane!) and demands to know where to find Galatea. Asmodon tells him they have to fight for it, since this is a Kirby comic. Before you can say BIFF! BAM! POW! and BORT!, Etrigan uses some demon-flame and Asmodon cries uncle. he casts a spell to summon Galatea, which is a spell to summon the dead. he disappears as Etrigan realizes he has been tricked, that Galatae is dead. However, Etrigan can also summon spirits and uses Glenda to provide a host for Galatea, promising her nothing will happen to her. Yeah, right! Galatea inhabits Glenda, does a bit of rampaging, summons up some inky vapors, which contains Farley's face. he goes in after, only to be grabbed by huge hands, of the Soulsnatcher! Ick! Etrigan drives it off with his demon Zippo, then farley collapses, with his old face. he immediately ages and dies; so, be careful what you wish for. The cops show up and find Glenda, with Etrigan looming over her, and start firing (oblivious to Glenda in firing range) and Etrigan makes like the Hulk and flees. Meanwhile, Harry and Randu stumble onto the Phantom's sewer HQ and find the Galatea mannequin, which becomes possessed by the spirit of the real one. She sets off a convenient bomb that Farley had lying around and melts into slag (the guys escape, of course. Etrigan witnesses it and gives the eulogy. Geez that was some creepy stuff! The Soulsnatcher sequence predates Giger by a long shot and some have suggested that Kirby's art inspired many visuals in Alien, from Giger's conceptual work. This is some pretty good horror, up there with the best of House of Mystery, when the ending kind of undercuts it. We are fine up to the twist of Farley getting his face back and learning that it he has been tricked and starts aging again and dies. Then, the police, the bomb in the lair; all of that seems rather abrupt and out of place. I think Kirby got stuck on an ending and just went with the first idea that came, even if it didn't quite gel. Pretty good issue, despite that. Lot of stuff here that would influence others (insert Hellboy reference here.) |
|
|
|
Post by brutalis on Mar 1, 2017 15:05:50 GMT -5
The Demon #10 Looks like Etrigan interrupted this guy in the shower! Considering all that sulfur smoke arising are you certain it was the shower? Might have been he was upon the toilet doing his daily newspaper reading checking for incoming souls in the obituaries. And check out that 2 page spread. Nobody but nobody could outdo Kirby for creating an eye catching spread and filling it creatively with so much gorgeous artistry for the eyes to indulge upon. WOWZERS! |
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Mar 1, 2017 15:13:30 GMT -5
Kobra #1  Um, okay, this gits a bit complicated. Kobra grew out of a concept that Kirby created for DC, King Kobra. The issue says Carmine Infantino initiated the project,wanting an update on Dumas'The Corsican Brothers, with one on the side of law and the other on the side of evil. Maybe, though that sounds more like something up Jack's alley than Carmine's. Probably a little from column A and a little from column B. Anyway, Jack created a story and turned it in, then went back to Marvel. The thing sat around for a while, was scheduled for First Issue Special, then got its own (deservedly) short-lived series. Marty Pasko was tasked/picked up on the idea, removed Kirby's dialogue and rewrote it, with Pablo marcos adding additional art and corrections.  The story starts out with a group of killers meeting up with Kobra and his cult, in their lair. Reading the sequence, I am reminded of the movie The Vengeance of Fu Manchu, with Christopher Lee, where a German crook meets up with the Lord of Strange Deaths and joins his team. Actually, there is a lot of Fu in here, and more than a bit of foo, in a rather cliched and uneven story. Kobra shows off a bunch of relics and things he has accumulated, including an alien robot that he uses to kill the Germans. He then sends it after Jason Burr, his brother, who survives. Jason meets a cop who explains about his past, as half a pair of conjoined twins (the comic uses the old-fashioned "siamese" term), one who was thought to have died. Turns out is was stolen away by a snake cult to be their foretold leader. We see his development and the fact that the brothers share each others pain, even on the other side of the globe. They set a trap and brother faces brother; but, Kobra escapes. Quite frankly, this is pretty darn derivative. Kirby doesn't get a chance to develop anything and he seems to have tossed it off to fulfill his contract, as it was one of his last jobs for DC. Of course, they kept it so they could still publish Kirby, after he went back to Marvel. But, they didn't, for nearly a year. Pasko's script is pretty ham-fisted and the redone art stands out like a single dandelion on a green lawn. The series was a wasteland of young artists, as a new one seemed to come on with every issue, before it was killed in the Implosion. The snake would rear its head a couple of times (including a rather decent Superman story, #327, where Kobra has Jonathan and Martha Kent prisoner, after snatching them from the past...  ) Kobra was revived in post-Crisis, eventually, turning up in Suicide Squad and elsewhere, as the leader of a death cultist cult, based on the Thugee (or, at least, the Gunga Din/Indian Jones version). Ostrander used him well in Suicide Squad; didn't think much of the other uses I read. This stuff didn't help Kirby's reputation with critics in the fan world; but, he was too busy creating stuff like Eternals and mind-blowing visuals for 2001 to be bothered. |
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Mar 5, 2017 15:10:46 GMT -5
Kamandi #11  Say it with me now, "Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!" When we last left Kamandi, Ben and the boys, they were joy-riding in a craft that matches the description of a stolen vehicle, reported by one R. Richards, of New York City. Apparently, the boys have blown the engine, because it is going down, right next to a floating department store/pirate ship...  The boys hit the surf and Kamandi is knocked unconscious, to be later fished out by Captain Bli....  See, this is what comics need more of, today: LEOPARD PIRATES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Things progress as usual: Kamandi gets mouthy, leopard pirate smacks him, told not to kill him, leave him alone to escape. Kamandi skulks around the ship, finding old artefacts and slaves! There are lions and tigers and bears; oh my! There are also human animals, penned next to the slaves, which they don't like. There is also some kind of large creature, a "devil" under a tarp and chained, kept at bay with some noxious, odorous concoction. Kamandi is found, dumped down by the devil, and put in chains. The cargo is brought to the Sackers Company ("We Sell Anything to Anybody!") for immediate resale. Kamandi doesn't like the idea, grabs a pistol and forces the leopard to unchain him, then goes off through the area, falling down stairs and running into the devil. Kamandi decides to skeedaddle; but, he is found, AGAIN, and much fighting ensues. he decides he needs an ally and shoots off the chains and cab;es holding the devil, revealing........... A GRASSHOPPER? Really? All that build-up for a grasshopper? Ooh, beware, he might munch on your plants! Okay, to be fair, he is the size of a horse; like, a Clydesdale. I mean, Kirby doesn't do monsters little. Not a ton of story here; mostly capture, escape, recapture; repeat. Hopefully, Kirby will explore the Sackers Co. and their slaving and pirate expeditions more, next issue. Right now, we have a hint at an allegory; lost in a sea of fights. |
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Mar 5, 2017 15:41:01 GMT -5
The Demon #11  This calls for some music... Etrigan is chilling in Gotham City Central Park, when a crowd runs in terror and out stumbles Frankenstein's Monster...  I know what you are thinking; but, no, Batman does not follow him! This was the 70s, before Batman had to be in every comic (which is good, as he would have scared the heck out of Sugar and Spike!). This being Kirby, the Monster doesn't just "RRRRRRRRRrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr" and stumble along; he picks up a statue pf a hero on a horse (it's Washington, we all know it) and throws it at Etrigan! However, the Monster doesn't want to fight, he just wants to get away from the bad men. He hears music and falls on his knees, whimpering, asking Etrigan to save him. Along comes Igor, who is playing some kind of flute (more of a Pan flute) and the Monster gives in to go back with Igor. Etrigan confronts him and gets hit with ariff, which makes him pass out and turn back into Jason Blood. Igor brings him back to his master, Baron Von Evilstein! I suppose, with a name like that, your career choices are a bit limiting. Whoops, it turns out his name is Von Rankenstein (who wrote this, Scooby Doo? Roinks!) and others just call him Evilstein (that's Evil- steen). So, while the Baron goes on about showing those fools who mocked him, they push Jason down a corridor, strapped to a table, where something vile is going to happen. Meanwhile, Harry and Randu are at the hospital, checking up on Glenda, after the events of the last two issues. This short interlude ends and we are back to the Monster finding Jason and attempting to free him, when the Baron and Igor come in with electric lashes and decide to put Jason's brain in the Monster, to control him better. We get a lot of torturous experiments and see the still bodies of other lab animals, while Jason is put back in storage. The monster tries freeing Jason again and we also see him making psychic contact with a woman being studied by a parapsychology professor friend of Randu's. The monster gets beaten and the Baron shows Jason some nasty looking implement that he will use to put Jason's mind in the monster's body, when the issue runs out! Your basic Frankenstein rip-off turns into a bit more sympathetic portrayal (though the monster is always sympathetic) and we also get a bit of a statement about the ethics of scientific experimentation, especially on living creatures. We also get some body horrors, which is always good fodder for a horror story. All in all, Kirby keeps this from being a run-of-the-mill story with sheer artistry and emotional depth (in a rather heightened delivery, to be sure). It's obvious that he is out of any real ideas with the book and is just riffing on his favorite horror movies; but, Kirby riffing on horror movie tropes is like Count Basie riffing on "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star;" it may sound familiar, but it is totally unique. |
|
?!!!!!