Congratulations, of a sort, to Greg Burgas for reaching his fifth anniversary with his solo blog, Delenda Est Carthago, at which point he decided to bow out from the solo blogging game.

Delenda Est Carthago is the blog Greg was doing when I asked him to blog here (he blogged about comics there, as well as history and popular culture).

So congrats, Greg! We'll miss the site!

3 Comments

• At October 28, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  Hey... miniscule sums? Where are my miniscule sums? I demand to be as infinitesimal as Burgas!

• At October 28, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Thanks, sir. It's hard writing so much! I don't know how you come up all the content for ...

• At October 28, 2009, Jakub wrote:

  great, now he'll be posting more here...

  I mean, Great! Now he'll be posting more here!

If you have any interest in DeMatteis (and you should, because he's a heck of a writer), then you'll get a kick out of this site.

For Abadazad fans, J.M. just did a little retrospective on the series on his blog. Well worth a read!

Check out the blog here.

5 Comments

• At October 22, 2009, Lt. Clutch wrote:

  I've been reading J. Marc's work since his Defenders run in the early 80's, through the Zeck Cap era, and ...

• At October 22, 2009, JoeMac wrote:

  Yes, thank you for the heads up. I always dug Mr. DeMatteis's work.

• At October 22, 2009, Stefan Wenger wrote:

  DeMatteis is my favorite American comic writer. Thanks for the link!

• At October 22, 2009, Mortenzen wrote:

  Yes, thanks for the info. I've added it to my feeds as well as Len Wein's blog.

• At October 26, 2009, Drew wrote:

  Hey, thanks for the DeMatteis info—and for mentioning Abadazad again. Too bad it looks like there won't be a happy ...

(I like doing these posts after a post gets everyone's hackles up. Don't we need the levity, people?!?!?!?)

14 Comments

• At August 6, 2009, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  Sounds like someone with way too much time on his/her hands. ;-)

• At August 6, 2009, Adam Jones wrote:

  Oh man..Pulp are the best band ever

• At August 6, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  Sims did the Common People bit ages ago with Archie, which was a lot more fun than the DD/Elektra one.

  But ...

• At August 6, 2009, jazzbo wrote:

  Wait, I thought it was Brad's job to post links to The ISB.

• At August 6, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Sorry, jazzbo. You've discoverd the blog's secret! It's just one person with Multiple Personalities!!!!!

  Sorry, Bill. I probably ...

• At August 6, 2009, jazzbo wrote:

  I knew it all along. But couldn't you at least have been creative enough to not use the name "Greg" ...

• At August 6, 2009, HammerHeart wrote:

  This is a thing of beauty.

• At August 6, 2009, Brad Curran wrote:

  "Wait, I thought it was Brad’s job to post links to The ISB."

  Yeah, it is. If you ever link to ...

• At August 6, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  I get to be John Cusack.

  I mean, no, no, Amanda Peet. Yes.

• At August 6, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Dang, good reference, Mr. Reed.

• At August 6, 2009, Da Fug wrote:

  Were hackles raised recently? Dang, I missed it :( I always enjoy the raising of the hackles.

• At August 6, 2009, Da Fug wrote:

  And suddenly... I found the hackles :) Man, those are some raised hackles.

• At August 7, 2009, Christian A. Dumais wrote:

  Thanks for posting the link, Greg. I don't recall Chris doing a "Common People" remix, and now I'm afraid to ...

• At August 7, 2009, buttler wrote:

  I love me some Sims, but I have to say, I like the Elektra version better. This round to ...

First, there's Douglas Wolk's excellent Promethea homage. Next, Caleb realizes that if Hal is quoting Glenn Danzig, the book makes a lot more sense. Finally, Cheryl Lynn gives us a certain Man of Steel figuratively bitch-slapping every Leaguer. Because he's, you know, Superman. (Thanks to Tim for pointing out the last one, or I might have missed it.)

More from the comments: The Mutt couldn't resist pointing out how hard it is keeping track of who's wearing what costume these days, while Mxy goes ahead and makes the faux title official. Thanks, guys!

Have you seen any others, good readers, as you peruse the web which spans the wide world? Let me know - I'll edit them in!

21 Comments

• At July 4, 2009, T. wrote:

  What is really strange to me is that at least to me most modern DC books read this horribly, but ...

• At July 4, 2009, Adam wrote:

  Cue the anything-Jeph Loeb-related jokes!

• At July 4, 2009, stealthwise wrote:

  That first link is awesome! Weeping Gorilla indeed...

  LOL to the Misfits reference.

• At July 4, 2009, Joe wrote:

  Snaaaaaap.

  It's weird, I'm not seeing much inbetween on opinion of this comic. Either people love it or hate it.

  IGN gave ...

• At July 4, 2009, T. wrote:

  Cue the anything-Jeph Loeb-related jokes!

  What does Jeph Loeb have to do with this book?

• At July 4, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  T.: It's been a while since I read a lot of regular DC superhero books, so maybe I've missed it. ...

• At July 4, 2009, GarBut wrote:

  Someone must be able to do something with the DARK REIGN roundtable.

  Come to think of it, with anything Bendis.

• At July 4, 2009, Jack Tango wrote:

  Ah, I've enjoyed these edits...

  http://www.4thletter.net/category/ultimate-edit-week/

  and this

  http://www.4thletter.net/2009/05/cabal-edit/

  pretty sure there's a Secret Invasion one somewhere on that site, but I haven't the ...

• At July 4, 2009, Adam K wrote:

  "Come to think of it, with anything Bendis."

  That's a lot of word bubbles to fill.

• At July 4, 2009, The Mutt wrote:

  http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u51/The_Mutt_pics/Page_1-9.jpg

• At July 4, 2009, Michael P. wrote:

  Don't bother, Greg. T's sort of the Mirror Universe version of a Marvel Zombie: He'll attack DC at any given ...

• At July 4, 2009, Sean Whitmore wrote:

  I loved: "This cat STAYS on my nerves."

• At July 4, 2009, Mxy wrote:

  Heh, well, I actually liked the book, but there's something about it that inspires photoshopping (or, uh, Paintbrushing, in this ...

• At July 4, 2009, Michael P. wrote:

  Perhaps how unrelentingly serious it takes itself?

• At July 5, 2009, T. wrote:

  T.: It’s been a while since I read a lot of regular DC superhero books, so maybe I’ve missed it. ...

• At July 5, 2009, T. wrote:

  Don’t bother, Greg. T’s sort of the Mirror Universe version of a Marvel Zombie: He’ll attack DC at any given ...

• At July 5, 2009, Ted wrote:

  "using first names" doesn't seem like a big deal to me.

• At July 5, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  I will admit that Morrison’s Batman and Robin seems to escape this, it doesn’t read like the other books. The ...

• At July 5, 2009, geekmobster wrote:

  T

  You summed up exactly why I don't buy DC books... And Marvel... well I don't buy them either for completely ...

• At July 5, 2009, T. wrote:

  I favor Morrison’s minimalist style over many writers’ overworked narration and mawkish dialogue.

  I've given Morrison a lot of flak on ...

• At July 6, 2009, Capt USA wrote:

  I didn't hate or love this book, it was bleh, and another one of those "been there, done that.." before ...

So here are "10 Superheroes Who Need New Catch Phrases" (along with suggestions for new phrases).

9 Comments

• At February 11, 2009, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  Another catch-phrase that I'm soooooooooooooooo sick and tired of reading is :

  "look, up in the sky, it's a bird, no, ...

• At February 11, 2009, King Oblivion Ph.D. wrote:

  Brian, you are a brother in villainy.

  And don't worry, folks. We'll be taking on our own kind, supervillains, and their ...

• At February 11, 2009, Blackjak wrote:

  Love that "You wouldn't like me when I'm Ang Lee"..

  Disagree about the GL one though... I don't remember him ...

• At February 11, 2009, chris wrote:

  GL's is not in fact a catch phrase. It is more of a motto, or a pledge. It ...

• At February 11, 2009, Lord Paradise wrote:

  Truth, Justice, and the American Way.

  Luke Cage and The Thing get to keep their catchphrases, cause really who's going to ...

• At February 11, 2009, Grico wrote:

  Well I don't really agree on the idea the catch phrases should not reveal what the hero is about to ...

• At February 12, 2009, hangmanjury wrote:

  Yeah yeah, "Superman is a dick," we get it, it's funny. Can we please move on?

• At February 12, 2009, Dalarsco wrote:

  How is Sweet Christmas racist?

• At February 13, 2009, stephen cade wrote:

  I also know someone who loves to use the, "You wouldn't like me when I'm Ang Lee." line.

  I do myself, ...

You can check it out here.

He started it at Christmas time. It's been fun so far! Be sure to give it a read!

5 Comments

• At January 5, 2009, Strider wrote:

  Nice, I was waiting for him to start blogging again.

• At January 5, 2009, Ian A. wrote:

  Yay! Welcome back, Dave!

• At January 5, 2009, tk. wrote:

  Hot diggity!

• At January 5, 2009, Dave wrote:

  yay we share the same name

• At January 5, 2009, MJ wrote:

  Wow. I was just thinking this morning, "I wonder if Dave Campbell is back to doing a blog?" ...

So welcome Robot 6 to Comic Book Resources! Robot 6 is the comic blog made up of the former members of Blog@Newsarama!

Check them out here.

Chris Mautner has the first installment of the (soon to be) regular Robot 6 feature - "What are you reading?" Each week they'll ask different comic folks. This week, they asked a few CBR staffers for their opinions, including me. Check that out here.

2 Comments

• At January 5, 2009, JK Parkin wrote:

  Thanks Brian! We're happy to be here!

• At January 6, 2009, Julian wrote:

  Haha. Yes! Fantastic.

He has well over a hundred drawings on the site, and let me tell you, it is fascinating.

Click here to see the site (which is amusingly titled, "Hey Oscar Wilde, It's Clobberin' Time!!!", and read more for a few samples that I picked to show y'all from the artists already featured on A Month of Comic Art Stars.

Colleen Coover's Elizabeth Bennet

Steve Lieber's Dunstan Ramsay

Ryan Sook's Erle Stanley Gardner

Christine Norrie's Nancy Witford

There's quite a few more artists who will be showing up in the Month of Art Stars who are also featured here (there's also some HUGE names here, like Alex Toth, Bill Sienkiewicz, Michael Golden, Walt Simonson, Mike Allred, Barry Windsor Smith, etc.)

Be sure to check it out!!

11 Comments

• At September 12, 2008, Matthew Lazorwitz wrote:

  Thanks for posting this, Brian. You have just guarenteed me hours of poring over all of those illustrations.

• At September 12, 2008, Dan Bailey wrote:

  >>their favorite literary author/creator/character

  I take it that the artist who drew Howard Stern didn't quite understand the assignment.

  I *hope* ...

• At September 12, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Maybe Private Parts was a huge influence. :)

• At September 12, 2008, DubipR wrote:

  Impressive site!

  Dan, actually Patrick Morgan did understand the assignment. Stern's a 2 time best selling author. Seems he's ...

• At September 12, 2008, Dan Bailey wrote:

  DupipR --

  Probably you're right. I know Stern has written a book (didn't realize he'd done two), though I guess I ...

• At September 12, 2008, Mason King wrote:

  Great call, Brian. What an eye opener. I forget sometimes that comic artists are ARTISTS. So much great technique, expressive ...

• At September 12, 2008, Ariel S. wrote:

  That site is AWESOME!!

  Please tell me that one of the next comic stars is Eduardo Risso! (who submitted a great ...

• At September 13, 2008, fanboy d wrote:

  i stumbled upon this the other day googling cliff chiang art - went STARIGHT in the favs tab :D

• At September 15, 2008, Eric Michael wrote:

  Brian, I can never thank you enough for linking to this site! For book and comic nerds like my ...

• At September 16, 2008, Dunc wrote:

  Mark Buckingham likes George Bernard Shaw! IT's like multiple parts of my existence have been reconciled!

• At November 6, 2008, Pam Harrison wrote:

  How awesome!!!

For what it's worth, I think I would have gone with the panel of Xavier mind-wiping Magneto then a panel with Wolverine's bone claws (yes, it is a full page, but it's still a panel, right?), or SOMEthing making clear what happened to Wolverine, as the two most notable events of Fatal Attractions - Xavier mind-wiping Magneto and Magneto tearing the metal out of Wolverine - were not really in Sandy's panels (although with the latter, he did try).

6 Comments

• At September 9, 2008, Sandy wrote:

  You might be right, Brian. I guess I tried to do more of a teaser trailer-type thing for this ...

• At September 10, 2008, DanCJ wrote:

  Fatal Attractions really was terrible!

• At September 10, 2008, wwk5d wrote:

  I would have maybe switched the panel from X-factor with the first appearence of Exodus. But other than that, good ...

• At September 10, 2008, EndlessMike wrote:

  Who was doing the art on X-Force then?

• At September 10, 2008, Jeff Ryan wrote:

  Hey, how about Maximum Carnage in only 12 panels? if I recall correctly, though, you'd really only need one or ...

• At September 10, 2008, Teebore wrote:

  Greg Capullo was near wrapping up his X-Force run at that point. It was good stuff, especially coming after Liefeld.

Check it out here and congrats to Kirk for the anniversary!

3 Comments

• At August 6, 2008, Sijo wrote:

  Aww, I thought this thread was going to be about DC holding a garage sale of all the failed ideas ...

• At August 6, 2008, darquehex wrote:

  Kirk Warren does not deserve any accolades for his meager accomplishment into the blogosphere.

• At August 6, 2008, Eric wrote:

  I was really looking forward to winning a bunch of Hawkgirl and Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis issues based on the ...

32 Comments

• At April 27, 2008, Dan Bailey wrote:

  *sigh* I'm in a bit of a snit toward Morrison at the moment, having ordered the SeaGuy back issues a ...

• At April 27, 2008, nadir wrote:

  i could not agree more dan, seaguy was plainly awful. but if i have to put up with a stinker ...

• At April 27, 2008, DWright wrote:

  Wow, Dan, way to be an absolutist. I'm a huge fan of much of Morrison's work, and I don't think ...

• At April 27, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  *sigh* I’m in a bit of a snit toward Morrison at the moment, having ordered the SeaGuy back issues a ...

• At April 27, 2008, Michael wrote:

  I could do without the "I don't like hard SF and so it is USELESS" babble, but not too bad ...

• At April 27, 2008, Lynxara wrote:

  Yeah, I found the article's tremendous and unsupported assumptions about the value and nature of soft vs. hard SF to ...

• At April 27, 2008, Mark Kardwell wrote:

  While I'm not the world's biggest Morrison fan, I thought SEAGUY was great. I love anything Morrison does that comments ...

• At April 27, 2008, gopher wrote:

  " If you’re in a snit toward Morrison, Dan, then why are you even replying?"

  Wait, so now we're only supposed ...

• At April 27, 2008, Michael wrote:

  No, gopher, we're just not supposed to troll. Which is what Dan was obviously doing.

• At April 27, 2008, Dan Bailey wrote:

  >> you’re in a snit toward Morrison, Dan, then why are you even replying?

  Ummmm ... because the topic happens ...

• At April 27, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Again, Dan, the topic was amypoodle's essay, which had nothing to do with Seaguy.

  Feel free to disagree with her ...

• At April 27, 2008, Dan Bailey wrote:

  Fair enough, Brian. I guess my original post just goes to show how VISCERALLY I disliked SeaGuy.

  (I certainly don't ...

• At April 27, 2008, Red Scharlach wrote:

  Seaguy is amazing and I hate you.

• At April 27, 2008, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Dan, as the "blogger" who coined that phrase, don't you think maybe it's done tongue-in-cheek a little bit?

• At April 27, 2008, T. wrote:

  No, gopher, we’re just not supposed to troll. Which is what Dan was obviously doing.

  Oh brother, that is just ridiculous. ...

• At April 27, 2008, Dan Bailey wrote:

  Greg --

  Well, of course, but my interpretation -- abject apologies if I'm dead wrong! -- has been that with it ...

• At April 27, 2008, Dan Bailey wrote:

  T. --

  Thanks. I sure didn't (& don't) FEEL like a troll. Though maybe sometimes one's own self is the last ...

• At April 27, 2008, Ditranko wrote:

  Amypoodle might not be a 'her' you know people. Just saying.

• At April 27, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Excellent point, Ditranko. I tried to avoid saying "her" for that reason until just then in the comments.

• At April 28, 2008, Joe Gualtieri wrote:

  Red- agreed, Seaguy is brilliant. The other six issues can't come fast enough. I'm looking forward to Final Crisis anyway, ...

• At April 28, 2008, text wrote:

  "*sigh* I’m in a bit of a snit toward Morrison at the moment, having ordered the SeaGuy back issues a ...

• At April 28, 2008, T. wrote:

  And this post wasn’t a “unbearably silly exercise in self-indulgence” itself?

  Not from where I'm sitting. Let's get real here, ...

• At April 28, 2008, Lynxara wrote:

  Uh, no, I'd be pretty upset, because the comment was absolutely and totally off-topic. Nobody would care about the Seaguy ...

• At April 28, 2008, Andy wrote:

  Just to contribute to the off-topicing, I thought Sea Guy was very reminiscent of the Invisibles in a lot of ...

• At April 28, 2008, BDaly wrote:

  Thanks for letting me know what happens to Chubby, Andy. I haven't read it yet.

  Dan definitely wasn't trolling, but ...

• At April 28, 2008, Dan Bailey wrote:

  BDaly --

  You're right on target, BDaly. Right after reading it I'd said much the same thing over on the Classic ...

• At April 28, 2008, BizarroBeachHead wrote:

  Actually, I liked SeaGuy because it was a fairly straightforward hero's journey story. I'm not really sure what else ...

• At April 28, 2008, text wrote:

  "Not from where I’m sitting. Let’s get real here, if he said the exact same type of thing but directed ...

• At April 29, 2008, Andy wrote:

  [quote]Thanks for letting me know what happens to Chubby, Andy. I haven’t read it yet.[/quote]

  Whoops. I guess I thought ...

• At April 29, 2008, Anthony Strand wrote:

  Not to beat a dead horse, but Seaguy and identity Crisis are hardly the same thing, spoiler-wise. Pretty much anyone ...

• At April 29, 2008, MarkAndrew wrote:

  Actually, I liked SeaGuy because it was a fairly straightforward hero’s journey story. I’m not really sure what else there ...

• At September 10, 2008, Fascination Place » Superheroes and Science Fiction wrote:

  [...] while back, Comics Should Be Good linked to a pair of articles written by ‘amypoodle’ at Mindless Ones about ...

What is it about KAMANDI?

If there was ever an example of a comic that works in spite of itself, this is it. On first glance, it's a ridiculous concept, with a half-naked blonde guy of indeterminate age as the central character. Of course, the artwork is dynamite, and every page jumps at you with signature Kirby explosiveness, but past the immediate appeal of the illustration, it looks a little childish and exceedingly violent. Not to mention the fact that he covers had the most bizarre taglines ever to grace a comic after 1960.

Usually, a Great Comic has a clear hook, or a great plot, or rich characters; concepts that you can wrap your head around and say, "This is what makes this comic exceptional". KAMANDI, I am bewildered to say, has none of that, beyond simply being gorgeous to behold, art-wise. Aside from coming from the Pen of Kirby, it doesn't seem to have much going for it.

Yet it's still something of a masterpiece, and quite possibly the best comic of the Seventies. Against all odds, KAMANDI worked in a way that few comics do. It holds up, conceptually, even today. Despite major flaws, it remains infectious and joyous and a total kick in the ass.

What are these "major flaws"? Well, they're pretty fundamental, and all in one basket together, they would sink any other book, by any other creator...

1. "KAMANDI" IS A RIP-OFF

KAMANDI was borne out of the popularity of PLANET OF THE APES. This is a given; the first issue even features the image of a decrepit Lady Liberty, an image made famous by Charlton Heston on his knees in the sand, screaming at the sky. The plot of KAMANDI (such as it is) revolves around the last remaining bare-chested human, making his way in a savage world where evolved animals rule, and humans are mute beasts, used as slaves. His best friend is a benevolent animal scientist, and he frequently travels with a beautiful, topless human female, hoping she will speak some day. This is all very familiar.

Of course, this is filtered through the awesome brain of JACK KIRBY, so the additions to the familiar tropes are many many and grand. While PLANET OF THE APES (for all its goodness) was kind of bland, design-wise, KAMANDI is a technicolor world filled insane machines, crumbling cities, giant monsters, and brightly garbed animals of all types. Rather than Gorillas with single-shot rifles, we are given giant bats, snakes with robot arms, leopard pirates, and tigers that wear some of the coolest clothes ever drawn in comics.

KAMANDI is PLANET OF THE APES with intensity replacing the brooding, insane landscapes replacing a bland desert, and dynamic mutant rebels with cyclotronic hearts replacing the psychic guys who worship that missile underground.

So while it is true that KAMANDI started as a rip-off, it immediately evolved into something far more vast and tremendously more exciting than Roddy McDowell in a funky rubber mask.

2. KAMANDI IS A BORING CHARACTER

Kamandi himself is little more than a cipher with feathered hair and a pistol. His personality consists of getting angry a lot, traveling endlessly and pointlessly, and enjoying kicking animal ass. He's a pretty blank slate. Even visually, there's not much going on there; he wears cutoffs and boots, and his only accessories are a gun and a holster. Even with "simplicity of design" in mind, he's still pretty weak. While the primary yellows and blues of his hair and clothes are striking, the boldness is purely graphic. Kamandi would make a pretty lame costume or action figure. He's no Indiana Jones.
But what Kamandi lacks in personality and visual interest, he more than makes up for in bare-knuckle, two-fisted, balls to the wall Excitement. This is a kid who jumps feet-first into every fight, has an incredibly short fuse, and lives in a world where THAT'S ALL THAT MATTERS! Anger, fearlessness, and a high protein diet are what it takes to survive! He doesn't need subtleties or depth, he needs a gun.... so that he can kill some frikkin' gorillas!

What do we learn about about Kamandi over the course of the series? We learn that he hates it when animals disrespect him. And we learn that he will kick their asses for disrespecting him. As far as I'm concerned, that's about as much character development as you need, when the next scene you might read involves Kamandi taming a giant cricket so that he can ride it like a horse.

3. "KAMANDI" MAKES NO SENSE

The world of KAMANDI is EARTH AD... AFTER DISASTER! What was the "Great Disaster"? No one knows. It apparently involved radiation. How did the new society evolve? How did humanity devolve? Why are some animals (horses, buffalo, insects) still the same, while some animals (tigers, dogs, killer whales) have evolved into intelligent human hybrids? And what's the deal with the wide variety of mutants and monsters?

The answer is, "Don't worry about it. Just accept that weird things will happen."

One of the fundamental rules of writing fiction, and particularly speculative fiction, is that the world you place your characters in must have some sort of logic unto itself, and internal consistency. As loopy and ridiculous as STAR WARS is, if Chewbacca could turn into The Thing by putting on a magic ring, that would likely be a step too far outside the established rules of that fictional world. (Although it would be awesome.) KAMANDI is an exception to this rule, and wears this exception like a badge of honor. Think you've got things remotely figured out? Just wait for the next issue, because something so bizarre will come out of left field it will make your head spin.

The only established rule in the KAMANDI universe is that there are no rules. It makes no sense. As much as people accuse Grant Morrison of being "weird for weird's sake", Kirby was turning Arbitrary Weirdness into a cottage industry long before Grant ever communed with extra-dimensional aliens. Every issue of KAMANDI was chock full of bizarre concepts that added to the enormous Earth AD tapestry of Things-That-Shouldn't-Work-Together-But-Somehow-Do.

4. "KAMANDI" HAS NO POINT

Superman is on Earth to fight injustice. Batman wants to avenge his parents by bringing justice to criminals. Spider-man is eaten up with guilt, Sam Beckett is trying to find his way home, and Frodo has to destroy the Ring.

There is General Thrust to most fiction; you know where the characters are going, and mostly you know why. Sometimes it's as vague as "Philip Marlowe solves mysteries because he can. And he gets paid to do so." You, the reader, understand the point of the story, even in the most general terms.

With KAMANDI, there is such a cannonball momentum to the pace, you never have a chance to stop and think "Why is this happening?" Kamandi spends so much time reacting to the insanity around him, there is never a moment where you feel like he has a priority in life. He spends so much time either simply surviving, angrily fighting back against tormentors, or just exploring for excitement's sake, the narrative thrust never expands beyond "Holy Crap Look What's Happening RIGHT NOW!!!"

This is where we really see Kirby's genius as a writer at work. The man never lets up, not for an instant. The point of the story never forms around a "Character A has to accomplish X, despite Y" storyline, nor does it need to. It is a rollercoaster of a plot where every page is a new twist, and the fact that many of them come out of the blue is part of the thrill. The plot of KAMANDI has no point, because that would take time to establish, and between lions on motorcycles, submerged cities, and rats in hot air balloons, there was no time to spare!

And so it was that KAMANDI was the best seller of all of Kirby's DC books. It lasted the longest, and despite the recent surge of interest in the FOURTH WORLD saga, KAMANDI was the first to get the Archive treatment. Thirty years later, it's impossible to read any random issue and not get excited, or enjoy yourself. It was an unstoppable thrill-ride that worked despite not working at all. It broke every rule of what makes good fiction, and yet these comics are still something you can hardly put down. In the end, what makes KAMANDI so awesome is very primal. It seems ridiculous to try and define it. I just chalk it up to the genius of Jack Kirby, and the eternal appeal of watching tough guys beat up animals.

27 Comments

• At April 14, 2008, Patrick Joseph wrote:

  Point by point:

  1. Kamandi was a ripoff. No. Kamandi was created by Kirby in 1957 before the Planet of the ...

• At April 14, 2008, googum wrote:

  I've only read a bit of Kamandi, but having loved Thundarr the Barbarian as a kid, I've liked it OK. ...

• At April 14, 2008, jazzbo wrote:

  I've managed to put together a complete run of original copies of Kamandi. I've only read about 20 issues so ...

• At April 14, 2008, T. wrote:

  Kid looks like a real sissy.

• At April 14, 2008, Michael wrote:

  It strikes me that part of Kamandi's success in the '70s may have stemmed from the general atmosphere of decline ...

• At April 14, 2008, M Bloom wrote:

  Kamandi might be awesome, but that still doesn't make it alright that Countdown wasted two of its final issues on ...

• At April 14, 2008, The Fiendish Dr. Samsara wrote:

  Michael said:

  >>It strikes me that part of Kamandi’s success in the ’70s may have stemmed from the general atmosphere >>of ...

• At April 14, 2008, T. wrote:

  Kamandi might be awesome, but that still doesn’t make it alright that Countdown wasted two of its final issues on ...

• At April 14, 2008, slaz wrote:

  If Kamandi wasn't a rip-off of Planet of the Apes, Alex can certainly be forgiven for believing otherwise. I do ...

• At April 14, 2008, alex cox wrote:

  KAMANDI was a direct rip of POTA.

  Kirby had a proposed series from the 50's that used the name "kamandi", but ...

• At April 14, 2008, McK wrote:

  http://books.google.com/books?id=TrZ7Jx2nqIQC&pg=PA108&lpg=PA108&dq=%22kamandi+of+the+caves%22&source=web&ots=NA3ViEkRvC&sig=1Nb0e7Sa1ssqECCRrWaMaJ76ogE

  Hopefully that link works. It's a great analysis of Kamandi's development from The Jack Kirby Collector.

  Read it and draw ...

• At April 14, 2008, fourthworlder wrote:

  In Tales to Astonish Ronin Ro said that Kamandi of the Animals was an idea Kirby had floated for ...

• At April 14, 2008, mrjayberry wrote:

  Kamandi, yeah!

  Also, ignore everything DC does with Kamandi today, all the Tommy Tomorrow/Countdown ect. ect. nonsense

• At April 14, 2008, benday-dot wrote:

  Nice Kamandi piece. Kamandi was above all a CONTACT comic. It's about the rush of wind in your face and ...

• At April 14, 2008, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  Is there an affordable collection, like the Fourth World Omnibuses, on the way?

  I'd love to check Kamandi out, but I ...

• At April 14, 2008, Anthony Strand wrote:

  Well, the Archives cost $49.99, the same price as the Fourth World Omnibuses.

  That said, a Countdown 80-Page Giant containing 3 ...

• At April 14, 2008, Apodaca wrote:

  Every issue of Countdown is a waste.

  That's a strange thing for a Marvel zombie like yourself to say. I mean, ...

• At April 14, 2008, Brad Curran wrote:

  "Kamandi might be awesome, but that still doesn’t make it alright that Countdown wasted two of its final issues on ...

• At April 14, 2008, jccalhoun wrote:

  "“Don’t worry about it. Just accept that weird things will happen"

  Isn't the pretty much true of everything that Kirby wrote?

• At April 14, 2008, John Trumbull wrote:

  You know, 22 years later, I still have no idea why DC decided to write Kamandi's future out of the ...

• At April 15, 2008, Bombardem wrote:

  Kamandi was the book that really sold me on Jack Kirby. Those two page splashes on EVERY page 2-3 and ...

• At April 15, 2008, Rohan Williams wrote:

  To be fair, Kirby claimed to have never seen Planet of the Apes. Someone at DC told him to make ...

• At April 15, 2008, Doug Atkinson wrote:

  "You know, 22 years later, I still have no idea why DC decided to write Kamandi’s future out of the ...

• At April 15, 2008, Tariq Leslie wrote:

  I think the Tommy Tomorrow idea was pretty dumb, and highlights a creative problem that DC has with all their ...

• At September 19, 2008, Jonathan Nolan wrote:

  Personally I think Kirby, despite all the hype, really was a comicbook genius. He was not only enthusiastic, which showed, ...

• At October 1, 2008, Anonymous wrote:

  scary

• At June 14, 2009, Robot 6 @ Comic Book Resources - Covering Comic Book News and Entertainment » Six by 6 | Only the end of the world again wrote:

  [...] friends at Comic Should Be Good had a great post about Kamandi last year. Alex Cox described it as ...

11 Comments

• At February 15, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Yikes - I didn't link to that already? Sorry, David!!

• At February 15, 2008, joshschr wrote:

  Nerd-fricken-tastic! I wonder about the results if you compared this method to story lines. Ultimate Clone is the only ...

• At February 15, 2008, John Trumbull wrote:

  Funny - I thought the Ultimate Universe was ALREADY redundant.

• At February 15, 2008, Steven R. Stahl wrote:

  Lewis is apparently unaware that “Secret Invasion” was already done in THE ULTIMATES. The Skrulls went by an alternate name ...

• At February 15, 2008, A. Dave Lewis wrote:

  You know, Steve's got a solid point there. Of course, there have been plenty of "alien invasion" plots out there ...

• At February 15, 2008, plok wrote:

  Well, actually the whole Skrull infiltration thing has been run through in the Marvel Universe once or twice before -- ...

• At February 16, 2008, Omar Karindu wrote:

  Let's not forget that a big part of the Kree-Skrull War involved a Skrull who'd made into the higher ranks ...

• At February 17, 2008, Paul O'Brien wrote:

  Wasn't "aliens infiltrate Earth posing as humans" one of the major storylines in ROM, too?

• At February 18, 2008, comixkid2099 wrote:

  about the article, i think this is why the writers should introduce a few new Ultimates Exclusive characters into the ...

• At February 19, 2008, The Dane wrote:

  The author makes one error that I found striking:

  Considering how quickly the Ultimate universe is burning through the 40-plus years ...

• At April 28, 2008, Hondo wrote:

  I agree with The Dane.

  It's sort of a Mirror Mirror twisted Marvel U, but is that a bad thing ? ...

Both his fairly negative review (here) and Valerie D'Orazio's fairly positive review (here).

Interesting to read both back to back.

6 Comments

• At January 21, 2008, MarkBlack wrote:

  The latter wasn't too in-depth a review.

  I enjoyed the Twelve and I think you can make comparisons to it and ...

• At January 21, 2008, MarkBlack wrote:

  er too easy.

• At January 21, 2008, Michael Rawdon wrote:

  As is usual for my reviews of any of Straczynski's comic books, my own review focused on his recurring limitations ...

• At January 22, 2008, Gonger wrote:

  If I didn't know (think) any better (different), I'd assume Watchmen was the only comic the reviewers had ever read. ...

• At January 22, 2008, Omar Karindu wrote:

  Yeah, the "Watchmen effect" is really, really annoying, especially when you get pull-quotes like the one that claimed Millar's Wanted ...

• At January 22, 2008, DCD wrote:

  Wanted was barely the Infinity Gauntlet of supervillains, much less the Watchmen.

Check it out here.

So many amazing features.

It is a really good comic book blog.

1 Comments

• At November 30, 2007, Graham Vingoe wrote:

  thanks for the tip Brian, I was still of the impression that the blog was dead so its good to ...

It's a truly fascinating issue. As Don mentions in the comments, it was a follow-up to this earlier piece.

13 Comments

• At October 4, 2007, Don MacPherson wrote:

  Thanks for the link, Brian.

  The article to which you've linked is actually a followup from my first look at the ...

• At October 4, 2007, Chris Simpson wrote:

  As a UK comic buyer - we've been ripped off for years now when buying US imported comics. With £1 ...

• At October 4, 2007, Apodaca wrote:

  This is just the trade-off you Canadians have to make for having healthcare.

• At October 4, 2007, Richard wrote:

  I know that, in recent times, many comic book shops in Canada have been ignoring the Canadian price on the ...

• At October 4, 2007, Malabeth wrote:

  Indeed, it can be the same here in germany. ... Or not the same, as Euros are not listed as ...

• At October 5, 2007, onetrickmonkey wrote:

  I've recently moved across Canada so I had to switch comic shops, and both of these shops just ignore the ...

• At October 5, 2007, Stephane Savoie wrote:

  Here's another point few people seem to notice:

  When the Canadian dollar does badly, the canadian price increases. ...

• At October 5, 2007, Chud wrote:

  I work in a bookstore in Toronto, and this has become a real problem for us. (Unlike comic bookstores we ...

• At October 5, 2007, Alan Brown wrote:

  Chud.

  First, thanks for chiming in.

  A couple of questions though:

  Why can't bookstores simply reprice? Why can't Chapters say "Ok, we ...

• At October 5, 2007, km wrote:

  Why can’t bookstores simply reprice? Why can’t Chapters say “Ok, we are charging US cover price as long as loonie ...

• At October 5, 2007, stealthwise wrote:

  I really didn't like Buckley's answer about Marvel's unwillingness to change the tpb CAN prices, and I hope that they ...

• At October 6, 2007, Alan Brown wrote:

  km,

  Are books really on consignment, or are they simply returnable?

  I had been looking into the bookselling business a while back, ...

• At October 16, 2008, Price of Comics in Canada : Steve and Don’s Life of Gorgeousness wrote:

  [...] looks as though this has been argued around the interent for some time, example here. addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.stevenrowe.org%2Fwordpress%2F%3Fp%3D694'; ...

Check it out here.

Meanwhile, Don has an interesting piece up here about whether the All Star line of comics has been a financial success for DC Comics.

3 Comments

• At September 19, 2007, Don MacPherson wrote:

  Thanks for the nod, CSBG people!

• At September 19, 2007, Paul wrote:

  Is there any question that All-Star is a total flub? Can we even call it a "line?" Two ...

• At September 19, 2007, Paul wrote:

  And then, of course, my next guarantee would be that I would stop writing those horrible columns.

14 Comments

• At September 4, 2007, Apodaca wrote:

  He's definitely right, but the article would have been absolutely perfect if he could get someone to photoshop the actress ...

• At September 4, 2007, Michael wrote:

  You know who I feel sorry for? That guy who used to go to high school with Michael Turner, and ...

• At September 4, 2007, Joel wrote:

  Had to do it...

  http://www.joelharrisart.com/turnergirl.jpg

• At September 4, 2007, Michael wrote:

  Her legs need to be longer, Joel. She should look like she's wearing leg-shaped stilts.

• At September 4, 2007, Apodaca wrote:

  Well done, Joel.

• At September 5, 2007, Matthew wrote:

  But Joel, she's still got feet!

• At September 5, 2007, Journalista - the news weblog of The Comics Journal » Blog Archive » Sept. 5, 2007: Hell, I’ll volunteer to kill Northstar myself wrote:

  [...] [Snark] Steve Flannigan points out the differences between the real world and Michael Turner drawings. (Link via Brian Cronin.) ...

• At September 5, 2007, DanCJ wrote:

  She needs a 3 foot long stomach to resemble a Michael Turner rendition.

  All the same though, despite the fact that ...

• At September 5, 2007, Steve Flanagan wrote:

  I've just looked at the first of the Kryptonsite photos of "Kara" taken on set, which CBR Comic Reel linked ...

• At September 5, 2007, Michael wrote:

  Dan, it's been said many times before, but I'll say it again: the bodies all the artists you mention draw ...

• At September 6, 2007, DanCJ wrote:

  Dan, it’s been said many times before, but I’ll say it again: the bodies all the artists you mention draw ...

• At September 6, 2007, Michael wrote:

  No it doesn't. People are only talking about Turner.

• At September 7, 2007, DanCJ wrote:

  I can't work out if you're missing my point wilfully or not

• At October 30, 2008, discount sale buy rolex day date watchs mockup online wrote:

  discount sale buy rolex day date watchs mockup online...

  gums!Kankakee gnats commission documentation preproduction ...

No, wait, that isn't true. To be honest, I love comics that you have to read more than once so much that it sometimes seems like I hate one-time use comics.

Let me back up. I'm David Brothers, and I blog at 4thletter with my buddy Gavin. I've got the distinct pleasure of living in San Francisco now, home to the best comic lounge in the world. My first comic was Amazing Spider-Man 316. I took a break from reading comics right around the time Onslaught and the Clone Saga hit, which also coincided quite nicely with my discovery of girls. I didn't come back until 2002, when I picked up a Daredevil Visionaries: Frank Miller volume. I was an English major in school, which will explain everything or nothing about this essay, depending on your point of view. Brian asked me to do this back in May, I believe, I procrastinated and avoided it for months, since I really wanted to do CBSG justice.

My three favorite writers, in no particular order, are David Mack, Brian Azzarello, and Grant Morrison. These three writers couldn't be more different. Mack writes cerebral comics, Azz writes comics that are dipped and coated in grime and crime, and Morrison excels in madcap action and new ideas. One thing that they've all got in common, though, is that each of their comics are even more rewarding on a reread. You can pick up things you missed on the first go-round, or even come up with an entirely new, and equally valid, reading.

Look at Kabuki. On one level, it's about a female ninja assassin rebelling against her corporate/government masters and killing kind of a lot of people. That's perfectly fair, as that is pretty much what the book is about. Kabuki, the central character, is a female ninja assassin who rebels against her masters and kills a lot of people.

On the other level, Kabuki is a book about a woman who finds out that her identity was so wrapped up in her occupation that, after leaving it, she found herself completely unable to function. It's about building up a new and better Kabuki, one who understands and can grow into her new identity. She has been struggling to find that place where she belongs throughout the series. She has to reconcile her past, present, and future to get there.

The entire series, from Circle of Blood to The Alchemy, is an interesting look at what makes a personality. Just because you have the name does not mean that you are that name, if that makes sense. Kabuki is faced with her evil twin, of sorts, midway through the series. This woman has studied Kabuki, and even attempts to act like her. Her walk, cadence, and style are all reminiscent of Kabuki-- but she isn't Kabuki.

100 Bullets is similarly layered. It's a series where every little fact connects like a jigsaw puzzle. Characters that you see in the background of certain scenes come back into play later on in the series. The allegiances of various characters twist and turn as time goes on.

Azz and Risso's series can be confusing, but that's half the fun of it. Spotting where the pieces fit is as vital a part of the series as reading it. It's a water cooler book, of sorts. It's the kind that begs to be dissected and kibbitzed over. What's Graves's big plan? How does Dizzy fit in? Is there any chance of a happy ending? In order: revenge, failsafe/murder, and no.

Azz's dialogue is a reflection of the series. Characters don't speak in Claremontisms, where every single line of dialogue is like a statement of intent. Instead, characters talk more like they do in real life, only much more clever. They're guarded and reserved, and their words are often opaque. Reading 100 Bullets is sometimes kind of like translating an ancient holy text. Almost every word has a double meaning, and sometimes those double meanings have another meaning on top of it. If you don't have the 100 Bullets Decoder Ring (limited supply), you've got to put some real thought into the series.

(Click on the images to enlarge them)

Grant Morrison should need no introduction, especially on this site. I'm a card-carrying member of Morrison's Whorrisons, of course, so you can guess where I stand on him. I think he's brilliant. The work of his I keep coming back to the most, save for Flex Mentallo, is New X-Men.

I grew up on X-Men. Toddy Mac's Amazing Spidey was my first, but Jim Lee's X-Men captured my heart and mind. It was cool. And then, Grant Morrison came along ten years later and made it cool again. There were some great plot twists, clever stories, and it was all wrapped up with a neat bow in the end. Take a closer look, though, and you find commentary lurking below the office. Wolverine says something important in Assault on Weapon Plus.

Nah. See, I just found out WHO I am and WHAT I am... and... well, let's just say some of us were BORN to kill and RAISED to kill and that's the only damn thing we're any GOOD for.

Everything else is just LIES we tell ourselves.

You're asking me about the purpose of LIFE, you **** genocide machine? It's like this..."

Sure, Logan is talking about his own life. He's been bred to kill and that's all he knows, despite the pretensions and airs he puts on. He'll never be anything more.

Remove it from the comic page for a minute and check it out on a macro level. It's a direct commentary on the X-Men, and probably even superhero comics in general. Morrison's New X-Men pushed the franchise in new directions and built on the potential that Claremont laid down and then kind of left hanging. New X-Men was just that-- new. But, it wasn't going to stick. The X-Men began as a group of mutants fighting to protect a world that fears and hates them and that's how they're going to stay. Having the mutants become a genuine subculture kind of gets a little too far away from that. The X-books were designed to be soap opera and that's all they'll ever be. Everything else is just a lie that the X-books tell themselves, get it?

There's a ton of commentary to be found in New X-Men, but none of it is more blatant in the treatment of Magneto. He creates a new persona, Xorn, who everyone likes. He's a true hero and a healer. By the end of the series, Magneto returns and pulls off his big supervillain plot.

What's the response he gets?

Deafening silence.

He takes over Manhattan, he pulls an old plan out of the drawer, and gets ready to wreck things. The people respond with apathy. Who cares, didn't Magneto die? How do we know that this is him? Why should we care? Even the heroes that come against Magneto get into it. I could quote it all day, chapter and verse, but here are two that I think are the most relevant.

Fantomex drops in, firing bullets at Magneto. "Missed," Magneto says. "Is everything you say a cliche?" asks Fantomex.

Xavier puts the nail in the coffin.

Magneto had become a legend in death, an inspiration for change. Now look at you-- just another foolish and self-important old man, with outdated thoughts in his head. You have nothing this new generation of mutants wants... except for your face on a t-shirt."

They have ideas of their own now. Perhaps it's time we put away the old dreams, the old manifestos... and just listened for a while. Your way will never work, Erik. This can't go on. I think you've had enough. I think we've all had enough."

Now, tell me that isn't commentary on the X-Men at the same time it's Xavier dissing Magneto!

This is why I love comics that dare to be more than continuity porn for 22 pages. They turn out to be entire meals, rather than brief tastes. You can read them over and over, find new things, and talk them over with friends.

I was an English major in school, but I think I had the most fun with it in high school. We were constantly discussing and interpreting poems (I'm a big fan of Frost) and novels (such as The Stranger/Outsider). We asked questions about the text, strove for a deeper understanding, and had a lot of fun with it.

Being able to apply this to comics is wonderful. Comics are literature, just like any other book. Correction-- they can be literature. Corporate comics tend to be very surface level, lowest common denominator types of comics. Corporate comics have to sell, and that's what sells. There's nothing wrong with that at all, but sometimes you have to have more than that.

I love comics that feel like they're worth my money. If I'm reading a comic in five minutes and never picking it up again... well, that's not worth it. I'd much rather be able to read and chew over a comic than just take it in once and leave it be, never to think about it again, or until the next issue hits. I'm still talking about Batman #666 with friends. The latest issue of Detective Comics or Countdown?

Not even close.

Comics that use metaphors, layers, and interesting concepts to successfully extend their lifespan? Those comics are good. Comics should be good, right?

4thletter

13 Comments

• At August 6, 2007, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  Huh?!?

  Could speak a little more plainer than that?

  (Just kidding ;-) )

  Interesting essay there.

  What would you have to ...

• At August 6, 2007, stealthwise wrote:

  Batman #666? Are you serious? I picked that one up (admittedly, without reading the issues before it, as ...

• At August 6, 2007, Apodaca wrote:

  I love what you have to say, David. Disposable entertainment has its joys, but I can't imagine I would ever ...

• At August 6, 2007, Bill Reed wrote:

  Fantastic piece. I can't believe so many readers are obsessed with the tights and the continuity that "story" doesn't even ...

• At August 6, 2007, Nitz the Bloody wrote:

  I agree that comics can be literature, but if you're going to make that argument, then Grant Morrison's X-Men is ...

• At August 6, 2007, Bill Reed wrote:

  Oh God, not this argument again, Nitz.

  I miss the days when you were a fanatical Morrison apologist. :)

• At August 6, 2007, Prankster wrote:

  I'd like to hear more about this "Mack" guy. I'm not familiar with him.

  Also, you repeat the Xavier pange ...

• At August 6, 2007, MarkAndrew wrote:

  So, um... You don't think 100 Bullets (Which was, once, my absolute favorite color comic) got kind of bad ...

• At August 6, 2007, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  I don't know. 100 Bullets is supposedly slated to end at (or around) # 100.

  Either Azzarello is starting to ...

• At August 7, 2007, Greg Manuel wrote:

  This is a very interesting take on things...because I had originally dismissed Grant Morrison's "New X-Men" as a bit of ...

• At August 7, 2007, BizarroBeachHead wrote:

  Morrison's X-Men wasn't deep or intellectual because he ruined all the work Claremont had done to Magneto. Sometimes a ...

• At August 8, 2007, Greg Manuel wrote:

  I guess that would explain why Claremont came right back and said that Magneto never left Genosha, hm?

• At August 11, 2007, isaac wrote:

  I had never read anything by Azzarello but had heard what a great writer he was.

  So I was greatly supportive ...