Jack Kirby
The Abandoned An’ Forsaked – The Long and Short of Arnim Zola’s Back Story
Every week, we will be examining comic book stories and ideas that were not only abandoned, but also had the stories/plots specifically “overturned” by a later writer (as if they were a legal precedent). Click here for an archive of all the previous editions of The Abandoned An’ Forsaked. Feel free to e-mail me at bcronin@comicbookresources.com if you have any suggestions for future editions of this feature.
Today, based on a suggestion by reader Charlie E., we take a look at the differing takes on the back story of the Captain America villain, Arnim Zola.
Frantic as a cardiograph scratching out the lines, Day 175: Mister Miracle #5
Every day this year, I will be examining the first pages of random comics. This month I will be doing theme weeks, with each week devoted to comics from one decade. This week’s decade: the 1970s! Today’s page is from Mister Miracle #5 and was published by DC and is cover dated November/December 1971. This scan is from the trade paperback Jack Kirby’s Fourth World Omnibus volume 2 from 2007. Enjoy!
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Frantic as a cardiograph scratching out the lines, Day 167: Tales of Suspense #19
Every day this year, I will be examining the first pages of random comics. This month I will be doing theme weeks, with each week devoted to comics from one decade. This week’s decade: the 1960s! Today’s page is from Tales of Suspense #19, which was published by Marvel (although the indicia lists “Vista Publications”) and is cover dated July 1961. I borrowed this and several other comics over the next few weeks from Howard Harris, my comics retailer, who was nice enough to let me take them home and scan them. Enjoy!
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Frantic as a cardiograph scratching out the lines, Day 156: Science Comics #4
Every day this year, I will be examining the first pages of random comics. This month I will be doing theme weeks, with each week devoted to comics from one decade. This week’s decade(s): the 1930s/1940s! Today’s page is from Science Comics #4 (a Cosmic Carson story), which was published by Fox Feature Syndicate and is cover dated May 1940. This scan is from Supermen!, which was published by Fantagraphics in 2009. Enjoy!
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Taking no chances: Mainstream superhero comics need a kick in the butt
I spend a lot of time coming up with provocative titles for my posts, you know! How’s that one?
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Sunday Brunch: 1/30/11
The comics internet, in Dagwood sandwich form. (One bite! I dare you!)
Sunday Brunch: 9/12/10
The biggest Brunch ever? Quite possibly. All the news that’s fit to pimp!
Sunday Brunch: 8/29/10
Slapped together at the last minute, just the way you like it! The scrapple of linkblogs! It’s…
MONTY PYTHON’S FLYING QUESTION OF THE WEEK: If you could have dinner with any comics creator, living or dead, who would it be, and, more importantly, what would you order?
Sunday Brunch: 4/18/10
Looking for TV reviews? We all know you’re not, but if you were, you wouldn’t find them in this post! I haven’t seen them yet, because I am writing to you from beyond the grave before the weekend has yet commenced. They will probably show up later in a Midnight Snack. What you will find in this post, however, is the usual conglomeration of links to insightful and/or snarky articles and cool bits of art from the world of comics. I won’t steer you wrong, internet!
QUESTION OF THE WEEK: What single comic book, when unearthed by archaeologists in the far future, will best represent the comics medium as a whole, and the society/civilization from whence it came? Show your work. (My answer at the bottom of the post!)
Sunday Brunch: 3/28/10
Lo, it is Palm Sunday, the day Jesus invented the high five, and miracle of miracles, it’s an actual brunch-sized Sunday Brunch post! Links, news, musings, theory, and images below the fold.
Thursday Dessert: 3/11/10
Under the cut: Vun, two, tree, tree cool links, ah ah ah ah.
The New Gods/Archie Mash Up We All Forgot To Ask For
It’s right here! Via that guy I used to link but don’t anymore because even I found it creepy and redundant after a while. You know the one. Chris S.
(Really, if everyone here isn’t already reading www.the-isb.com, I have no idea what else I can do.)
There Was This Other Time That Captain America Was Unstuck In Time
And it made for a pretty fun story back then. I’ve been reading it in small increments for a week.* It has nothing in common with Captain America: Reborn at all other than Cap time traveling from one era to another, because it’s a ’70s Kirby story.
So this isn’t a “Ed Brubaker totally ripped off the King!” post or anything. They share a main character and a similar gimmick, but are different works and should be judged on their own merits. This also isn’t going to include scans recapping the story and pointing out how goofy awesome it is. What does this look like, the ISB?** I really just wanted to point out the one similarity between the two stories and that’s it.
Except for this. I will be greatly disappointed if Mr. Buda isn’t involved in Reborn somehow. On the other hand, I will be inappropriately delighted if it turns out he was the one who orchestrated the whole Brubaker run to teach everyone (including the Red Skull) a lesson about American history,*** which will be summed up with everyone interacting with a plucky group of kids from many different cultures. Including the Red Skull, again.
*Because, as much as I love Kirby, there’s only so much of his ’70s work of his I can read, that doesn’t have the Fourth World characters or Devil Dinosaur at least, at a time. Or so much concentrated awesome I can handle at a time. Not sure.
**That may be my most obligatory Sims link yet.
***The only reason I’m doing this foot note is to shoe horn the phrase “Cap’s Magical History Tour” in to this post. Because that’s what Bicentennial Battles is, really.****
****I should also mention that the captions after Cap watches the Atomic Bomb test probably melted Jonathan Lethem’s brain, if he ever read it. And anyone who didn’t like Kirby prose, really. You know, big fat jerks.
Was This A Thinly Veiled Shot At Jack Kirby?
In one of his Bullpen Bulletin columns, Jim Shooter was talking about how a friend told him he could have sued DC over the Legion stories he wrote as fourteen year old. He said he didn’t because it wouldn’t be right, as he agreed to the same deal as everyone else who worked for DC. As I read that, in an issue of Simonson’s Thor, I couldn’t help but wonder if this a thinly veiled response to the Kirby original art controversy. So, for those of you who were around at the time (or have read up on the story), was it? Am I off in my time line there? Was it a thinly veiled jab at another freelancer entirely? Or was it just a random, malice free musing from comics’ tallest former EIC?
B&B TV: “Last Bat on Earth!”
This week: Miracles Mistered, Kamandis commanded, and Grodds clobbered! Just another Friday for ol’ Batman. Continue Reading »
