I guess anybody who’s a Jack Kirby fan knows about Joe Simon. Simon & Kirby were a team from the late 30’s to the early 50’s, created a slew of series and characters, and had tremendous success with the genre of romance comics. But they split up after the industry collapse of the mid-50’s took their own company, Mainline, down. They worked together on a few things after that, but nothing long-term. In the late 60’s-mid 70’s, Simon, teamed with Jerry Grandenetti (a longtime assistant of Will Eisner), created several series for DC, none of which were very successful. In 1974, one of these was intended to be an entirely new version of THE SANDMAN, Apparently Simon came up with the concept, and Grandenetti designed the costume, and drew the cover. But then, someone at DC apparently decided, hey, why not re-team Simon & Kirby for a one-shot? Jack wasn’t too happy about it, as he’d been used to creating and writing his own series for decades by then. But he did it, including 2 new versions of the cover (one inked by Simon, and the published one inked by Mike Royer).
Sometime in the early 80’s (probably) I managed to get ahold of 5 out of the 6 issues of this book. But I never did find a copy of the 1st one. Lucky for me someone on the internet, Joe Bloke, scanned in and posted the entire issue at his blog, for which I’m grateful. It saved me having to pay to read the thing.
The 1st issue introuced old fisherman Ezra Paulsen and his young grandson, Jed, who live alone together on Dolphin Island, not far off the coast of Cape Kennedy. Jed has a nightmare about a man drowning, but on awakening, the two discover it’s really happening on the beach. Just before dying, the man hands them a particularly ugly green doll he calls a “Werblink” and warns them “Don’t let it fall into THEIR hands!” Ezra urges Jed to get rid of the ugly thing, especially as “boys don’t play with dolls”, but Jed, lonely, insists he’s never had a “friend” before. Already this is several ways too creepy.
Jed has a nightmare in which the “Werblink” is chasing his grandfather. The Sandman—who wears what must be the most ridiculous-looking superhero costume since the original Green Lantern—and who operates out of a technological HQ known as the “Dream Dome”—had earlier tuned into Jed’s dream and urged him to wake up to rescue the man on the beach. Now, seeing Jed falling off a cliff in his dream, he races to rescue him, even though his sidekicks—a pair of beings he refers to as “nightmares” named “Brute” (a large bald muscle-man) and “Glob” (a short, squat ball-shaped creature with spindly arms and legs) urge him not to. Ezra is attracted to the sound of Jed’s screams, and when the boy awakes, he decides to get rid of the “Werblink”. In a rage, he smashes it, but after he calms down, he buries it outside so Jed won’t see what he did to it.
I find I have a great deal of patience for a lot of things, a lot of different types of stories, ideas, styles, what have you. But something about this series is just rubbing me completely the wrong way. The concept doesn’t make any sense, the characters aren’t likeable, the costume design is downright ugly, and the tone of the writing reminds me of a REALLY BAD Saturday morning cartoon series—like something Filmation did in the late 70’s or so. I must be spoiled, having spent the last year re-reading almost nothing but Jack Kirby comics. Jack is one of the best writers the comics biz ever saw, and his ideas were always inspired, no matter how “out there” they might seem on the surface. But this is clearly, apart from the art, not his work, but that of Joe Simon. Joe seems to be deliberately aiming at a young audience, but I have a feeling if I was 5 or 6 years old, I wouldn’t like it even then.
The story gets even stranger when we cut to somewhere in southeast Asia. 2 surgeons, Drs. Masugi & Kaufman, are discussing “General Electric”, a man who led a kamikazi squadron in WW2, who somehow survived when he crashed his plane. His head, almost destroyed, was reconstructed, and over the 3 decades since, more and more electronic elements have been added to it. Electric is the designer of the “Werblinks”, miniature robots he plans to use for his own evil schemes. Electric escapes from the hospital he’s been living in for many years. The next thing, the defense installation at Cape Kennedy has been sabotaged, and Sandman leaves his HQ to enter the “real world” to try and help. Between his costume and his odd habit of sprinkling sand in people’s faces to make them sleep, the cops are naturaly suspicious. As he runs off, he comes across Jed, who’s found his broken Werblink, and says, “My poor little friend! What have they done to you?” I hate to say it this way... but this kid strikes me as downright pathetic.
Just then, a squad of armed men wearing both Nazi and WW2-era Japanese army uniforms arrive, overpower and capture both Jed and Sandman. Turns out they’re working for General Electric, who wants to destroy Washington D.C. in revenge for what happened to his country 30 years ago. One of the German soldiers finds Sandman’s “hypnosonic whistle” and for no damn reason, blows it, which frees Brute & Glob from their glass prisons. The pair come to Sandman’s rescue, unleashing a bag full of “vile things” to terrorize the now-unconscious baddies. Glob retrieves the whistle and blows it, causing Electric’s head to explode. As they bid Jed farewell, Sandman tells him, “This will soon fade away—like any other dream.”
Honestly—this entire issue strikes me as one big “WTF???” moment. It’s not like it’s lacking in imagination... it’s just that it feels as though nothing here was thought-through properly. I suppose the best way to describe this, and this may be quite fitting, is that the whole thing feels like someone had a bad dream, and wrote down what they remembered, without even trying to make sense out of any of it.
And to think—we got THIS, but not more issues of NEW GODS, or FOREVER PEOPLE, or MISTER MIRACLE, or a monthly OMAC, or even ATLAS (which was probably already done by this, but not published until later). How did DC even manage to stay in business in the 70’s, anyway??? (7-24-2012)
On the outskirts of a small French town, an Army division waits for tanks to arrive before moving in. But just entering the town are THE LOSERS, who, on seeing the place is occupied by German soldiers, believe they may have been dropped off in the wrong location for their supposed 3-day furlough. Sure enough, some Germans hiding in a building open fire, and a moment later, they find not one but both ends of the street they’re on have German tanks—heading their way! Ducking into one of the nearly-destroyed buildings that line the streets to hide, they see the Germans begin opening up onto the buildings on both sides of the street, one by one, to find and destroy the opposition.
Before long, they hear Germans on the roof, and some of them begin to come down the stairs looking for them. A firefight breaks out inside the building, which spills into lobbing grenades at the Germans outside, who open fire on their position. The only way out is up, and sure enough, another gun-battle breaks out as they climb onto the roof. With the building now on fire, they scramble over the side and manage to make their way safely to street level. They see a squad of Germans around a motorcycle, but while trying to decide their next move, mortar fire hits, taking out the Germans, the buildings, and the tanks.
Sure enough, the U.S. tanks have arrived. And that’s not all. By his twin pearl-handled revolvers, they recognize who the General commanding the tank brigade is! In his typical brash, abusive manner, he tells them, “You’re ‘losers’! I KNOW ‘em when I SEE ‘em, soldier! But you’re FINE boys. Kept some enemy off OUR backs, too.” Told to find the medics and get themselves cleaned up, they watch as the General’s jeep takes off.
I bet my Dad would have liked this. He used to watch the TV show COMBAT when I was a kid, and what little I remember of that, it was a very tough, no-nonsense, hard-hitting, sometimes BRUTAL series.
The use of sound effects is really powerful in this story, particularly on pages 4, 10, and 15, especially the latter, where they almost overwhelm the page. In my own crime comics, I’ve done similar things, and it amazes me that this aspect of this comic reminds me of my own work, even though I never saw this before. The same goes for the feature in the back showcasing authentic weapons used during the war. I’d done the same thing in the 70’s when I was in high school!
One of Jack Kirby’s well-known stories about his time in WW2 involved he and the soldiers he was with making it thru some heavy fighting, and then running into none other than General George S. Patton, who, apparently, was very accurately portrayed by George C. Scott in the film PATTON—as well as in this comic. In Jack’s real-life encounter, Patton got very angry on finding out Jack’s platoon was where they were, and alive, as his intelligence reports had them listed elsewhere, and dead. He seemed less concerned that a group of soldiers were standing in front of him alive than he did with the that fact screwing up his “intelligence”. I’d say Jack “toned it down” a bit when he did this story for the comic.
This is some very POWERFUL, hard-hitting storytelling and art. D. Bruce Berry doesn’t do a bad job on the inks, but I can’t help but wish Mike Royer had done it instead.
This is actually the very first LOSERS story I’ve ever read. War stories are not really my “thing”, although some of the violence is very similar to stuff I’ve done in my own crime comics. (7-27-2012)
[ July 27, 2012, 12:35 PM: Message edited by: profh0011 ]
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“What will MOVIES be like in THE WORLD THAT’S COMING? Story plots, transmitted electronically and fed into the human brain, will make the viewer a PARTICIPANT in the movie action.... Every viewer will be his own movie star.... Every movie will be a PERSONAL experience.... Technology will breed wonders.... BUT IT WILL ALSO PRODUCE EARTH-SHAKING PERILS!!”
Lying in a special couch and wearing a technological mask, OMAC sees himself on an alien landscape battling a huge monster. But he’s interrupted by a Peace Agent. Following a recapping of their mutual responsibilities, they hand him a document which gives him the rank of a Five-Star General! “Your orders will be obeyed ANYWHERE on this globe!” After they leave, he thinks... “I’ve got an AWESOME responsibility... that’s for sure. Like the Peace Agents, MY life must be one of dedication... They say I was once someone else... someone who was CHANGED by electronic surgery... into a sort of... GOD OF WAR!! Now... even the memories of that FORMER life... are gone...”
“In THE WORLD THAT’S COMING, even lost memories can be replaced by all the necessities for a new life... What began as “COMPUTER DATING” will flower into complete “PACKAGED LIVING”! Computers will pick IDEAL families and backgrounds for those who LACK the total human relationship... The Peace Agency will do this for OMAC....”
OMAC is introduced to Mr. And Mrs. Barker, an elderly couple who have been chose to be his new “parents”. “To serve humanity ...you must KNOW humanity.” Their lives, like his, have been empty, but no more. Another Peace Agent enters. “How’s OMAC responding, Agent 251?” “Amazingly WELL. He’s a person of compassion and WARMTH...” “The Global Peace Agency has supplied him with a HOME and the beginnings of a FAMILY life... now...” “Yes. I know. Now he must keep this world from BLOWING UP!!!!”
The GPA show OMAC a file on his next target, “KAFKA! --- the Bandit Marshall and his army of HIRED mercenaries!” “He wants it ALL ...IF he can get it... Every age has known his kind. They start small... and dream of becoming a Caesar.” Kaftka plans to invade his neighboring country. “How large a force does he have?” “Big enough and highly MOBILE. Kafka’s equipment is combat-ready ...his troops number a HUNDRED THOUSAND.” “The Peace Agency will get you to Kafka... but only YOU can stop him...”
Next thing, at a missile field, he’s launched into orbit, and soon, halfway around the world, his tiny “Capsule-Plane” (with a design rather predicting the Acrostar Jet seen in the 1983 film OCTOPUSSY) enters Kafka’s airspace, where it’s immediately targetted by ground-to-air missiles. First he ejects his rocket engine, which is destroyed by the incoming fire. Next, the plane itself is wiped out by tank fire. Seconds before, its very special ejector seat, loaded to the max with high-powered weaponry of its own, is launched. From his highly-manoeuverable “Assault Chair”, OMAC orders Kafka’s men to stand down. Predictably, they don’t, and after dodging multiple attacks, he unleashes a nitrogen spray which freezes all the tanks.
Following the battle from his personal “bunker”, Kafka orders another attack. From a huge “Mobile Airport” (a gigantic truck that looks like it stepped out of a Gerry Anderson TV series), a squad of Vertical Take Off and Landing (VTOL) jets are launched, and in a scene straight out of YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE, fail utterly to bring down their target. (Once again Kirby is years ahead of the curve. VTOL jets, as far as I know, first appeared about the time of THE NEW AVENGERS episode “Obsession”, around 1977.) Following this, OMAC’s assault chair causes a sonic shock with destroys the roadway below, trapping Kafka’s artillery.
Things get more personal when a “Multi-Shot” cannon manages to take out the Assault Chair, leaving OMAC on foot. He crashes into the weapon, destroying it, then takes out an entire squad of men with ONE punch! Grabbing a heavily-armed “Golf-Cart”, he scatters Kafka’s remaining forces, finally confronting the dictator, who’s poked his head out of his huge mobile “Bunker”. “You’re a WAR CRIMINAL, Kafka! Surrender to me... and I’ll promise you a FAIR trial...” “THIS is my answer ...FOOL!” He blasts the tiny vehicle to atoms as OMAC dives for safety. Then... “With a FANTASTIC display of superhuman strength, OMAC lifts the HUGE bunker off the road...” “The world has had ENOUGH little Hitlers! I’M TAKING YOU IN, KAFKA!”
WOW. This continues to be possibly the most mind-blowing and exciting book Kirby has come up with in years. And that’s really saying something. It’s amazing how in a measly 20 pages Jack Kirby can pack in more ideas, more plot, more wild designs, and more ACTION than any 10 other comics combined. D. Bruce Berry’s inks are better this issue than the previous one, so I have fewer complaints, though part of me still wishes Mike Royer were on the book instead. (7-9-2012)
Registered: Aug 2003
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“SUPER-HUMANS WILL BE REAL IN THE WORLD THAT’S COMING!! This one is attemptng to lift 70 TONS of death-dealing steel off the ground... he represents the incredible goals that are forecast for tomorrow’s technology. In a world of waiting atomic bombs, we will HAVE to create him...”
High in orbit, Brother Eye broadcasts power to OMAC, far below, as the One-Man Army struggles to lift a GIANT armored bunker OFF the ground. As this happens, Marshall Kafka orders a bomb released, with a 3-second fuse. “WE can survive it... CAN YOU?” “DON’T take any bets on my death!! No matter what happens, I’M TAKING YOU IN!!! Do you hear that? YOU’LL PAY FOR YOUR CRIMES!” Incredibly, OMAC succeeds in turning over the mobile bunker, just as the explosion goes off. Only the power channeled by Brother Eye saves OMAC from being crushed by boulders. As he recovers, he surveys for signs of life. “It would be a pity if my PRIME pidgeon is BEYOND the reach of justice!”
Some time later, Kafka is being arraigned “IN SUPER-COURT”. “I warn you AGAIN! If I’m not released, ALL OF YOU WILL DIE!!!” “Before all this happens, you’ll be “COMPUTER BOOKED” and held for TRIAL!” Kafka warns that his “Avenger” is on its way. “He’ll DESTROY this place!” “If he does, Kafka, YOU’LL die with US!” “I’m PREPARED to die... as long as I can TAKE you and the peace agents with me!” One of the Agents tells OMAC, “This place is NOT immune to ATTACK.” “It’s certainly TOUGH to reach... and well PROTECTED... a court of justice ON TOP of MOUNT EVEREST! It’s a concept as wild as BROTHER EYE...” The agent believes that, according to reports, Kafka’s Avenger may be something “biological”. OMAC feels it may be “BRED to DEFY all known attack”—and so, he requisitions an aircraft, and goes after it before it reaches the Court.
“THE BEAST AS A TERROR-WEAPON! It’s not a new military concept. Hannibal used elephants... the Nazis bred savage dogs... but, in the world that’s coming, with biological research geared to war, a ruthless despot produces a LIVING, BREATHING MULTI-KILLER!!”
As OMAC spies the approaching monstrosity, which looks like some sort of semi-mechanical flying octopus, he comments, “Animal, mineral, or vegetable? IT COULD BE ALL THREE!” OMAC hits it with cannon fire, sure that missiles couldn’t penetrate its skin. The creature generates sound waves which shakes his craft to pieces. While falling, Brother Eye affects his atoms so he weighs almost nothing when he hits the snow. Trying to keep its attention on him results in the monster shooting flames which tear off the top of a mountain. Only Brother Eye charging him up so he can leap great distances (in a manner rather similar to The HULK!) allows him to escape being crushed, then leap up to grab hold of his adversary. Sensing that its “eyes” are cyclotrons, and that it’s programmed to self-destruct when it reaches the Court building, he tears off one of its “horns”, hoping he’s guessed right. Sure enough, its flight path becomes erratic, and it zooms into the upper atmosphere, before exploding, “...in the bright searing burst of atomic flame!!”
Safely below, OMAC confers with a Peace Agent. “This experience has TRULY shown me the importance of keeping POWER-MAD bandits like Kafka in check...” “His kind are capable of ANYTHING... we CAN’T let them run loose! THANKS to Project Omac and Brother Eye, our PRISONER will stand trial...” “”It’s a RUGGED job to keep the peace in an age of ADVANCED technology!” “Man HASN’T changed, Omac. But the odds AGAINST his survival have RISEN considerably.” “That WON’T make our job any EASIER...”
WOW. This book continues to be one of the most exciting, thrilling, imaginative, and thought-provoking things Jack Kirby ever did. What on Earth kept DC from making this a monthly???
Reader Tom Nester puts out as plea to speculators to visit multiple newsstands and only take a few from each, so actual readers can have a chance to buy the book, without having to pay higher prices shortly after they come out. Clearly, this was a growing problem over which DC had no control. Cham Holmes, meanwhile, feels the series is “the worst you have ever made. Why don’t you bring back BOYS RANCH? But put them in space.” Uh huh. (8-17-2012)
Registered: Aug 2003
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“There was a time when man was rising OUT of barbarism. There were cities of great wealth and power... like HYSSA, the place of the winged lizard...”
In an ancient marketplace, a greatly-muscled figure known as Atlas demonstrated his strength by crushing a pair of stone blocks under his arms, while an older man yells to a crowd like a sideshow barker. But some scoff, claiming the display is some kind of trick. One named Kargin declares himself the “strongest here”, and is invited to challenge Atlas on stage. But Atlas puts him down with a single blow, after which those watching eagerly part with their money. “T’was truly WORTH seeing.” But Kargin’s friends object, claiming he was “the VICTIM of some foul treachery”. But before this challenge can be answered, Atlas and his companion run afoul of some local noble, who’s offended that they’re blocking his way. He and his servants also fall prey to Atlas’ strength, as he tells them, “I care little for POMPOUS worms who travel on the BACKS of slaves!”
His companion urges him to flee, but before they can, a squad of archers appear. Atlas holds the noble in front of him as a target, when suddenly a voice cuts the air. “WHAT KIND OF KNAVE’S WORK IS THIS?” Atlas recognizes it, and his mind flashes back to when he was but a young boy. His village was in flames, every man woman and child being captured to be sold into slavery. Seeing his father struck down, the boy ran to him, only to be grabbed by the leader of the slavers...
“Suddenly staring down at a frightened child, was THE FACE that would CHANGES its destiny... it was the face of a human lizard... a cruel replica of the crest upon its helmet... the child, Atlas, would NEVER forget it... that face would make him an eternal AVENGER!”
To his own shock, the boy struck at his captor, with a strength beyond his years. He ran into the tall grass, only to be grabbed by someone else who was hiding there. After the slavers departed, the boy, who seems to have the strength of a full-grown man, returned to the village. Finding his father dead, he searched the remains of their home until he found a glowing crystal. Although the boy wants nothing to do with his savior, the man bows down and speaks. “Forgive this POOR traveler, boy.... little did I realize who your PEOPLE were. Your people came from the CRYSTAL MOUNTAIN... I know this now for TRUTH! ...and it is said that the LEADER of your people bears a piece of that mountain... and must pass it on... when he DIES.” “I am leader... NOW!!” “...RIGHTLY so, boy. I am CHAGRA, your humble witness and loyal subject.... Where you lead... I shall follow.”
Sure enough, Chagra travels with Atlas as he grows to manhood, journeying near and far, having adventures, saving people from wild beasts, from evil cults, winning victories in savage arenas, each act adding to his fame and legend. Then, one day, Chagra strikes a bargain with his younger friend. “I can lead YOU to YOUR goal... if you... lead ME to the CRYSTAL MOUNTAIN!” Atlas agrees, providing they first go to the Lizard Kingdom. En route, they pass thru a land full of illusions of fire and a an underground cavern haunted by huge beasts thought to be long dead. At last they reach their destination, and the story comes full circle. Sure enough, the ruler who confronts Atlas is Hyssa—the man who destroyed his entire village, sold all his people into slavery, and was responsible for his father’s death. “Have we not met before? SPEAK! WHO ARE YOU!!?” “YOUR CONQUEROR!”
Following the cancellation of MISTER MIRACLE and THE DEMON, Jack Kirby spent some months creating several new series for DC. But for unknown reasons, several of them were rejected outright. Apparently, the first thing he did in this period was DINGBATS OF DANGER STREET. 3 whole episodes are known to exist, and 2 more are rumored to as well. It seems clear Jack was under the impression the series would be published just as FOREVER PEOPLE, NEW GODS, MISTER MIRACLE, THE DEMON and KAMANDI were... otherwise, why would he get so far ahead? In the long run, only the 1st episode appeared in 1st ISSUE SPECIAL, perhaps a year after it was done. I have no doubt that, following this debacle, Kirby decided not to do more than one episode of anything unless it was given a definite go-ahead.
This, I believe, is why we only have one episode of ATLAS (although, online, I just read a rumor that a 2nd episode may have been done, but never published). Like most Jack Kirby comics from this period, which I picked up as back-issues sometime in the 80’s, I probably plowed thru this so fast, amidst a mountain of other comics, it didn’t make much of an impression on me the first time around. Now, some 2-1/2 decades later, I was totally blown away by this. This is classic Kirby material, here! As THE DEMON was Jack’s “answer” to the late-60’s/early-70’s horror boom, and KAMANDI was Jack’s “answer” to PLANET OF THE APES, and dystopian sci-fi futures in general, so ATLAS follows in the tradition of the Italian “sword and sandals” movies that were so prominent and popular in the 1960’s, and the “barbarian” and “sword and sorcery” series that began to flood the market in the 70’s, beginning with Marvel Comics’ version of CONAN THE BARBARIAN.
And yet, so typically of Kirby’s work, I find myself loving this, even thought it took me ages to get interested in CONAN at all (and that interest waned as soon as Roy Thomas stopped doing it). What’s really striking to me, on re-reading this, is how similar the origin of Atlas is to the origin of CONAN, as seen in the John Milius film with Arnold Schwarzenegger. Robert E. Howard never gave CONAN an origin, beyond that he was raised in the far north, and on reaching a certain age, headed south to seek adventure. What more was needed? It always bugged me that the Milius film insisted on following the Hollywood obsession with films “having” to have an origin story, and in that case, the origin being so horrifically downbeat and pointless. CONAN’s entire village is burned to the ground. Both his parents are killed. He’s taken into slavery, chained to a wheel for ten years to build muscles, then sold to a gladiator arena, where, eventually, he wins his freedom, before finding the man who slaughtered his people. A man who just happens to be the head of a SNAKE-worshipping cult. Gee, didn’t I just read this in a Jack Kirby comic????? It sure as hell wasn’t anything REH ever wrote!!
It seems pretty clear to me that that movie, which I NEVER liked, swiped the “origin” sequence from Kirby, but got it wrong, making changes to turn it dark and ugly. I like Jack’s version better. Atlas, as a boy, is about to be taken away to a life of slavery, when he’s rescued by someone who becomes his life-long companion. And THEN he meets up with the guy who destroyed his village. DAMN. This was NO place to end the story!!! I don’t know if Jack ever did a 2nd episode of this or not, but either way, DC should be ashamed of themselves for not publishing it. We got so many issues of THE DEMON, and OUR FIGHTING FORCES, and KAMANDI, but THIS we only ever got one episode of??? WTF!!!!!
Reading this now, I was also reminded of Jack’s work on Ruby-Spears’ THUNDARR THE BARBARIAN. Which makes me really wish we’d gotten to see Jack do a THUNDARR comic-book. That TV show only ran 21 episodes (over 2 years), and I once read about the circumstances behind its cancellation. All I remember was that it was a very twisted affair, just the sort of thing that makes me shake my head in dismay and disgust at ABC and TV networks in general.
Ironically, in this issue is a full-page ad for Joe Kubert’s TOR. “Barbarians” were “in” at the time. Too bad Jack’s wasn’t allowed to go the distance. I’d sure rather read more of ATLAS than ever read another CONAN comic.
Since re-reading the comic, I found Jack’s presentation page online. This is fascinating, as it mentions things not even mentioned in the published comic...
“ATLAS lives at a time when man is rising from barbarism... Earth is crawling with strange peoples and living mysteries which have survived the ages... There are savage empires with sprawling cities... and hidden tribes like the Skull-Worshippers who live underground. Acting like driver ants, they swarm out to kill!”
“CHAGRA THE SEEKER! What he seeks is immortality and power... He seeks the Crystal Mountain!! That’s why he rescues the baby Atlas who’s farmer folks have been killed by raiders... He molds Atlas into a giant of almost invincible strength... He poses as a kindly old counsellor, but uses Atlas to gain his own ends.. They travel together—into all sorts of weird adventures relying on the strength of Atlas..”
Wow. Apart from the Skull-Worshippers, I somehow read the entire published story without getting a feel that Chagra may have had some sinister purpose for saving Atlas’ life and staying with him all those years. I know there was an over-abundance of “barbarian” comics in the 70’s, but I can’t help but feel it’s a shame we never got to see more of this one.
Perhaps the most mind-boggling thing I ran across in the last few weeks was that writer James Robinson decided to bring Jack’s Atlas back into current SUPERMAN comics, and make him a villain. That sort of creative blasphemy just makes me glad I’m not buying any current DC Comics these days. (8-26-2012)
Registered: Aug 2003
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Two robed figures arriving by submarine kidnap Jed away from his grandfather on Dolphin Island, and take him to a secret base. “In total silence they berth the sea-vessel in a secret inlet in the bowels of the cliff and lead Jed through a series of labyrinthine passageways culminating in a weird subterranean chamber illuminated by the glare of blinding flourescent lights.” (I suppose this line was important, as what it describes was not shown in the artwork.) They take him before “Dr. Spider”, who looks like a far-less-human version of “Davros” from DOCTOR WHO. His bottom half is a round trolley on wheels, his top half is a horrible parody of humanity. Fat, naked, hairy, no arms, wild orange hair, big goggles, and eight mechanical arms.
They tell him, “We have brought the boy, DR. SPIDER! His reading is even HIGHER than we ANTICIPATED!” “Yes! The ANGST-METER places him at the TWLETH LEVEL!” “That’s probably because he was ORPHANED at an EARLY AGE! Quickly now! Install him in the DREAM ROOM!” In a scene rather similar to the one in MISTER MIRACLE #8 (“The Battle Of The Id”), Jed is drugged unconscious and then strapped into a machine which taps into his brain. Then, images from his nightmares are projected onto Spider’s large “Somnambo-Screen”. When one of his henchmen asks about it, Spider explains by trapping him inside a glass enclosure, and demonstrating how his equipment can bring Jed’s nightmares to life, by having one of them eat him alive!
In his Dream Dome, The Sandman wonders why kids all over the world are sleeping, yet their nightmare levels have been drastically reduced. He enters the Dream Stream, travels to the Fantasy Forest, and, after being attacked by several mobile plants, locates the Nightmare Wizard, an old, wretched-looking man who insists the Dream Stream is his domain, not The Sandman’s. Under duress, the Wizard tells Sandman about Dr. Spider, who’s removing nightmare demons from the Dream Stream so that he can use them to conquer the world. Quickly returning to his Dream Dome, Sandman exits again in the real world, where he finds an army division fighting to save a city from an attack by giant monsters!
Blowing his Hypnosonic Whistle makes the monsters vanish, but the next moment, Sandman is “zapped” and captured by one of Spider’s henchmen. Strapping him into the machine, Spider declares, “With the dream power of THE SANDMAN at my disposal, I will be INVINCIBLE! The entire world will be my PLAYTHING!” And so, saving the day is up to Brute & Glob, when Brute reveals he’s secretly made himself a spare whistle, which Sandman doesn’t know about. “Sometimes I like to get OUT of here even when that SPOIL-SPORT Sandman doesn’t WANT me to!” They free Sandman while he’s still asleep, so he won’t find out about the spare whistle.
Awake, Sandman uses his whistle to put the henchmen to sleep, but it won’t work on Spider, who sics the nightmare monsters on Sandman, who knows that if he uses the whistle to destroy them, that Jed will die. Struggling, he manages to use his sand-cartridges on them instead. He then destroys the machnery, frees Jed and send him home, then goes after Spider, who’s escaping by submarine—until something goes wrong, and it blows up all by itself. Back in the Dream Dome, Sandman tells brute & Glob he really could have used their help, but in all the excitement, he forgot to whistle for them.
Sales of THE SANDMAN one-shot were surprisingly good (at a point where almost everything was selling badly), so someone at DC decided to continue it. I wonder what editor Joe Orlando was smoking when he put this series together. Joe Simon & Jack Kirby were replaced by Michael Fleischer (Jonah Hex, The Spectre) & Ernie Chua (CONAN THE BARBARIAN), with Mike Royer apparently retained to try and maintain "the Kirby look". This must be one of the most patently ABSURD ideas I've ever seen espoused on an editorial page-- considering Kirby & Chua's styles have NOTHING whatsoever in common, and Royer's strongest skill was to reproduce with absolute accuracy the work of whoever's pencils he was inking!!. Jack did come back for the covers. Try as I might, this version of THE SANDMAN remains one of the worst and most unreadable things I've ever seen from the mid-70's... and that's really saying something! It’s like some sick, twisted version of a Saturday morning cartoon show from the 1970’s. (8-31-2012)
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“In the world that’s coming—the most evil racket ever created!! NEW bodies for OLD!!” The covers shows OMAC flying on his own power (what, is he Superman now?) toward a row of people stepping thru a complex technological machine. They go in old and shrivelled up, they step out young and beautiful. But the cover is misleading. It’s not some kind of “rejuvenation” machine the story is about...
“THE MOST HORRIBLE MENACE IN HUMAN HISTORY .....hatched by the vicious criminals of THE WORLD THAT’S COMING!!! To watch it grow is indescribable.... to let it spread is unthinkable..... to stop it cold.... will take.... OMAC THE ONE MAN ARMY CORPS”
In the HQ of the Global Peace Agency, OMAC is being shown a film of a computer brain transplant. “Stolen by the mob known as the CRIME CABAL, a surgical computer which performs brain transplants has spawned a NIGHTMARISH racket. A brave PEACE AGENT, having stumbled onto the facts, has returnbed with the first evidence of this evil project.” People are being kidnapped so that aging gangsters, paying a fortune, can take over their bodies. “This project MUST fail... there’s NO gauging the consequences if it’s permitted to spread.” ““The promise of IMMORTAILITY”... if we DON’T control it now... men will commit ANY crime to get it!” The undercover agent who risked his life to get the film assures OMAC that the Cabal’s “regional manager”, Fancy Freddy Sparga, is still lining up customers. But time is running out before their victims begin losing their lives.
Across the street, members of the Cabal aim a “missile-rifle” and fire it at the man they suspected might have been a cop. In the ruins following the blast, OMAC rescues the agent, trapped under debris. “You STILL alive?” “In THIS business, it gets HARDER all the time.” “That was a MISSILE-HIT! It means that Fancy Freddy meant to make CERTAIN you died.” “It means that I BLEW my cover. The Crime Cabal KNOWS I was an infiltrator.” “There’s STILL a lot of things they DON’T know. To begin with... their hit was a MISS!” “UGH...! DON’T bet on that, Omac. This thing is crushing me flat. Will you PLEASE get this weight off my back?” “Oh... OH! Sure...” “THANKS... my chances of survival have GREATLY improved.” I love the dialogue here. It makes both characters really come alive. Especially in OMAC’s case, where he realizes he’s so focused he hasn’t noticed his associate’s predicament. Tense drama, side-by-side with character humor. I love it!
Brother Eye creates 2 artificial “bodies” and then “solarizes” the room, to make it look like the hit was a success. OMAC then heads for a local arcade, where he finds Buck Blue, and arrests him “on suspicion of being a body snatcher”. He clobbers some of Buck’s friends who try to stop him, then hauls him to “the scene of the crime” in a “Magnetic Flyer” with “computer drive”. (“Push a button and it flies where it’s set to go.”) As he flies to a huge suburban residence, the Global Peace Agents prepare to follow in a troop carrier that looks like a larger-sized versio of the original “Fantasti-Car”. “Spawned by the energy crisis, MAGNETIC TRAVEL has replaced combustive fuel. New emissionless vehicles glide on WAVES of polarized force...” “Remember, men... in the course of ANY action... we are NEVER to harm a human being.”
Fighting past the guards, OMAC and Buck eavesdrop on Freddy showing “The Godmother” a 3D projection of her potential new body—which just happens to be Buck’s girlfriend! “Toad! You know my position in the Crime Cabal! I can have you HIT! I can have that body for NOTHING!” “Sure... if you can find out WHERE it’s at! ...if you can find the “TERMINAL”!” “Okay, creep! HERE’s your money...” “TWO MILLION DOLLARS! It’s a real buy!” Just then OMAC and Buck bust up the party. Buck is angry at Freddy for snatching his girl... until... “Would HALF A MILLION shut your gut? I can spare it... Think it over.” “FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS!”
OMAC is really pissed. “You’ve CHANGED your attitude, Buck... You’re NOT angry anymore. How about your girl? HOW ABOUT THAT GIRL!!?” “But... f-five hundred grand...! ...that’s MONEY, man!!” “You’re a WORSE case than I ever imagined! Now, sit down and LISTEN!” “OWW! You’ve got no right to...!” “TRUE, Buck! Your rights are PRECIOUS... They’re your ASSURANCE of a fair deal! But how about that girl? The others held in the terminal? Soon they’ll be DEAD! Their bodies TAKEN OVER by vultures like The Godmother!” “DON’T lecture me! It’s a JUNGLE out there! It’s everyone for himself!!” Sounds like the mantra of Yuppie Scum, to me.
OMAC assures Buck he has no choice but to lead him to “The Terminal”. The GPA arrives to haul Freddy & The Godmother away. Buck is terrified. “Y-you don’t know what it’s like! N-not even an ARMY of Peace Agents could crack it!” “It WON’T take an army... just you and me, Buck. WE’LL crack the “terminal”... or DIE in the attempt!”
WOW. Another fabulous episode of my favorite early-70’s Kirby book. Although OMAC has been described as “Captain America in the future”, more than perhaps any other installment, this one reminds me of a futuristic sci-fi version of THE UNTOUCHABLES. I recently watched my entire collection of that show, and was stunned by some of the genuine MONSTERS inhabiting its stories. People—and I use that word loosely—gangsters, racketeers who were so horrifically cold-blooded, ruthless and murderous in their pursuit of wealth and power, that they let nothing stop them. The scene where The Godmother threatens Freddy reminds me of many such scenes on that show, as criminals eagerly double-crossed each other while putting the screws on everybody else.
The horror of the brain-transplant angle reminds me of the film FRANKENSTEIN MUST BE DESTROYED, where the scientist whose work could somehow help The Baron (Peter Cushing) awoke to find himself a victim of his own research, and vowed revenge on the man he once considered collaborating with. The body-stealing plot was also reused by Bill Mantlo & Michael Golden in MICRONAUTS (much of which was a blatent tribute to Jack Kirby’s Fourth World concepts). Also, it turned up in the DOCTOR WHO story “Mindwarp”, the 2nd segment of “The Trial Of A Time Lord”. Of course, mind-swapping was a recurring sci-fi theme in various series over the years, but usually it didn’t involve actual brain transplants.
The “Missile Rifle” reminds me of the FIM-43 Redeye (referred to as a “Stinger”) in the film LICENSE TO KILL. The two million dollar price tag also reminds me of that film, as does the way the gangster so casually offers a huge bribe to someone. The GPA Communications Center reminds me of the one SHIELD used in STRANGE TALES #137 (Oct’65) only more futuristic. The Godmother’s residence brings to mind a similar house I saw in an episode of THE OUTER LIMITS, only much larger and spectacular. Jack Kirby never fails to amaze me. Writer, artist, storyteller, interior designer, architect, social commentator... was there nothing he couldn’t do better than anyone else in the biz?
As an aside... I ran across a rather long-long winded blog reviewing OMAC #1 which focused almost entirely on the immorality of the GPA and Professor Forrest and the manner in which they “murdered” Buddy Blank in order to create OMAC. Somehow, that sort of thing never really crossed my mind, not even on a 2nd or 3rd reading. On the letters page of OMAC #5, “Derwin Mak” poses the folowing question: “Does Omac ever change back to Buddy Blank? He could be one of the heroes with no secret identity.” The answer given is, “Buddy Blank is now Omac permanently. (Of course, that doesn’t mean there might not be a villain out there who finds a way to alter that.)” Knowing what I do about the remaining few issues, I find this a very interesting statement. (heh heh heh) (9-2-2012)
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“When The Losers take a furlough, it’s goodbye Broadway—hello DEATH!” “Against the “brown-out” of New York’s skyline, war comes to America---“ A Nazi submarine fires a torpedo at a cargo “liberty” ship and destroys it. But above, army planes circle. It was a trap! Coast Guard depth charges force the sub to the surface, where its crew abandons ship before it sinks. The “Special Missions Group” are there, accompanied by a hard-nosed man from Intelligence, but are unable to spot one “Helmut Steger”. Their hopes to enjoy a furlough are dashed as they’re reminded their orders are “subject to THIS DEPARTMENT’S AUTHORITY!!”
And so they find themselves staking out a movie theatre. Captain Storm explains he had a run-in with Steger when his PT boat put in at Portugal. On supplied info, they spot an old man who drops a newspaper which is picked up by someone else. Sure enough, the 2nd man is Steger, who turns at the sound of his name. Storm gives chase as Steger opens fire on a crowded street! This reminded me of my favorite scene in the 1981 film NIGHTHAWKS, when Sylvester Stallone spotted Rutler Hauer in a crowded disco, and at least one person wound up dead when the baddie turned and started shooting. The intelligence men manage to grab Steger before anyone’s hurt. “You see, Storm? This is a POOR time to FINISH our fight---“ “The authorities interfered the FIRST time, too! Maybe AFTER the war---“
Inside Steger’s hatband is a slip of paper which means the job isn’t over yet, to the utter frustration of our heroes. “This says that you STAY! We need your experience for ONE more little job---“ “What is it--? --WINNING THE WAR?” It seems a 2nd Nazi sub is off Long Island, this one armed with a Henshel HS 293 Glider Bomber. Our heroes arrive and board the sub. A shoot-out erupts. A smoke bomb is dropped down an open hatch. A group of sailors attack Storm and try to get his gun. More shooting. Someone launches the missile. Gunner takes control of the deck cannon, and destroys the missile before it picks up speed. With the job done, Gunner suggests, “SAY! Broadway is STILL on one piece! Now that this caper’s behind us--- why don’t we---“ “Ahhhhhh--- SHADDAPP!!” (I guess they’re too tired to go out to have “fun”.)
The finale, with an enemy sub off the American coast, reminded me a bit of the climax of the film “1941”, except, played straight, and the with sub being captured instead of escaping. Legend has it Steven Spielberg’s film was inspired by an actual event. I wonder if the same was true for Jack Kirby’s story here?
Mike Royer takes over the inks with this issue, and while Berry wasn’t bad, Royer is definitely an improvement. It seems to me Jack’s pencils vary at times depending on the subject matter, or the mood of certain scenes. Berry’s “ultra-clean / technical” lines may be a good fit for science-fiction, but seemed totally at odds with a gritty, violent WW2 book.
The 4 regulars on this series never seem to have too much in the way of personality, which is a common criticism of Jack’s work. Then again, in this case, he wasn’t the one who created these characters. It’s funny, but just looking at them, Captain Storm, Captain Johnny Cloud, Sarge and Gunner remind me of WW2-era versions of Colonel Nick Fury, Wyatt Wingfoot, Ben Grimm, and Jimmy Olsen!
Just thought I’d mention... I haven’t seen it, and hadn’t heard a single word about it online until I ran across it doing a Google search, but it seems there’s actually a movie—THE LOSERS (2010), based on the Vertigo version of the comic-book series. And just from reading some descriptions, although it’s set in the present day with different characters, it sounds like the tone of the film would be something like a lot of Jack Kirby’s stories. Might be worth checking out. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0480255/ (9-15-2012)
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I suppose someone at DC figured "Gorilla covers sell!" “Somewhere amidst the craggy mountains of Eastern Europe, local peasants descend on the castle stronghold of a tyrant who has long held them in a grip of icy fear...” “Burn the CASTLE! Kill the COUNT!” “Destroy his fearsome zombie GORILLAS!” “Put an end to the gruesome EXPERIMENTS that offend both GOD and MEN!” Did I read that right? A torch-wielding mob straight out of a 1930’s Universal horror movie attacks, while “The Count”—we never hear any other name for this guy—tells his underlings—a pair of gorillas whose skulls are outfitted with artificial brains encased in glass, JUST like “General Electric” from issue THE SANDMAN #1, “Hold them off as long as you CAN!” We never see them doing so—instead, the mob reaches The Count just after he’s drunk poison, “the COWARD’s way out!”
As if starting out the story in the stryle of SILVER SURFER #7 wasn’t whacked-out enough, it gets even stranger when 2 men wearing robes claiming to be The Count’s relatives claim the body, but turn out to be his gorillas in disguise. Putting the body in a “thermo-cylinder” to prevent deterioration, they ship The Count (and themselves) to a farmhouse in America housing the laboratory of a “Prof. Rundhaven”, who removes The Count’s brain and places it in a glass jar, from which The Count can communicate. Yep, it’s straight out of “THE BRAIN OF MORBIUS” on DOCTOR WHO.
“Only YOU could have... transplanted my BRAIN... into this TANK! Only YOU could have given me a VOICE... and provided me with OTHER, even more IMPRESSIVE powers! With them... I shall RULE the UNIVERSE!” To prevent Rundhaven from telling anyone what he’s done, The Count (or his brain, at any rate) kills him with a massive jolt of electricity. One might wonder, if The Count was not really dead (or was he?), WHY have his brain removed from his body, and put into a tank, if the next thing he / it wants is to “LEAVE my tank prison”??
To tie this already insane story in with The Sandman, the next thing we see is The Brain invading the dreams of young Susie, the daughter of Dr. Ralph Ervin, a scientist who’s working on his own offbeat experiments. As he says to his wife, “I think I’ll turn in myself, as soon as I finish looking over these latest notes of mine on PSYCHO-KINETIC brain-wave ABSTRACTIONS! Very exciting stuff!” “Oh, it sounds just FASCINATING, dear!” On WHAT planet??? Sandman, detecting someone trying to invade a nightmare, confronts The Brain as it tries to get Susie to steal her father’s notes, and saves her life before she wakes up. Later, The Brain sends his gorillas in person to finish the job. Next, he sends them to steal equipment from a warehouse. They’re spotted by a guard, who calls the cops, who follow to the lab, and can’t believe what they find there. (I’m reading this, and can’t believe it either.) Hearing their lives threatened, the cops’ reaction is, “Oh no you DON’T, Tarzan! Destroyin’ COPS in this town is strictly against the law! Feed ‘em some HOT LEAD, Clancy!” They shoot and kill the gorillas, only to be killed themselves in the same fashion that Rundhaven was.
The brain HOVERS free of the tank. “My FAITHFUL ape servants... DEAD! But they have fulfilled their BASIC purpose... to FREE me from my tank prison so that I may begin to GROW in size and accumulate UNLIMITED power!” Next thing, the now-giant brain hovers over a city’s power plant. Police plan to destroy it with an electrical charge (how is never explained—but at this point, why should anything in this story make any sense?). Sandman tries to interfere, saying it’ll only make The Brain more powerful, but nobody believes the “clown” and “hippie” who looks like he belongs in a “comic book”. They arrest him and throw him in jail. Sure enough, The Brain sucks up the power, sending the city into darkness. For the first time, Sandman deliberately uses his whistle to free Brute and Glob, so they can set him free, which they do so using a bag of “vile things” to cause the prison guard nightmares. Sending them back to HQ, Sandman confronts The Brain, and this time, the whistle causes it to EXPLODE-— “into nothingness with the fury of a hundred H-Bombs...” SAY WHAT?????
“There was no other way! Had he LIVED, he would have plunged all HUMANITY into abject SLAVERY!” (OH, so The Brain was a Republican, hmm?) I think it’s safe to say that Michael Fleisher has really strange, bizarre, downright perverted ideas about what kind of stories should be aimed at kids (this book’s apparent intended audience). I guess Ernie Chua & Mike Royer are doing relatively decent work illustrating the story—it’s just that what they’re bringing to life visually makes no sense on any level I can think of. How on Earth did Fleisher make it in the business as long as he did? At least the kid in this story was someone other than Jed for a change. I find it rather ironic that in recent months, the stories I’ve been re-reading have been by one of the best writers to ever work in comics—Jack Kirby—and one of the worst—Michael Fleisher. The contrast in style and quality is downright shocking. (9-16-2012)
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“MONSTERS in the subway! And a train that rides to DOOM!! FLESH and BLOOD MONSTERS in the world that’s coming! An evil phenomenon that arises in the shadows cast by the mysterious and powerful Crime Cabal!! ...but this menace that lurks and pounces ISN’T nearly as frightening as the objective sought by... OMAC ONE MAN ARMY CORPS”
“Buck Blue, a DEFECTOR from the Crime Cabal, has AGREED to help OMAC and the law.” Below the streets of Electric City... “OMAC and his guide are ATTACKED ... the old subway tunnels, abandoned for newer types of transit, now SWARM with terror...” “Since time began, man has battled monsters charged with guarding treasures and wonders beyond telling.... but the miracle at the end of this trail must be put out of action! The most vicious racket ever created must be stopped cold...! It feeds on human beings kept in... THE BODY BANK!”
Following a brief fight, Buck explains the monsters used to be humans, before radiation and hormone treatments, which they take or the Cabal won’t pay them. From space above, Brother Eye sends twin energy beams to recharge OMAC. “It’s like taking your VITAMINS, Buck... all of them... in one BIG barrel!” At an abandoned statio called a “mugger’s stop”, OMAC saves a young blonde woman from being the latest kidnap victim. Freed, she races into the arms of Peace Agents, who will mop up when OMAC is done, as they’re not allowed to fight themselves. The “Gang Train”, signalled by “pocket phone”, arrives, and it’s a fiercesome-looking thing. Buck wants to stay behind, but OMAC insists he continue. “Whatever happens... happens to BOTH of us!”
“DEATH RIDE” (Part 2) lives up to its name. Because the train car was programmed to accept 3 passengers (2 kidnappers & a victim) and there’s only 2, it tries to kill them with poison gas! OMAC finds the cannister, rips it out, and knocks a hole in the side of the car to let the gas out. Breaking into the lead car, a Cabal member comes on a videoscreen. OMAC tells him, “I’ll be seeing you SOON, mister.” “No, you won’t! I’m DESTRUCTING these cars... ONE by ONE!” Sure enough, the last car blows up. Then, each one in sequence... except the lead car, which inexplicably remains intact! Then, in a scene straight out of the Clint Eastwood film THE GAUNTLET (which would not come out for another 2 years yet), a squad of armed killers all open fire on the moving vehicle at once, determined to kill whoever is inside it. A laser rifle is then fired to finish the job. Despite this, a strange metallic object ejects itself from the car, landing on the platform. OMAC busts out of the “molecular coccon” (spun by Brother Eye) and clobbers the entire hit squad!!
In a scene rather similar to one in the DOCTOR WHO story “Mindwarp”, an old man awaits an operation to put his brain into a young body, not caring that it’s an unwilling doner who has been kidnapped and will be murdered in the process. The narrator describes it thus: “”MEDI-MIND”.... the stolen computer that performs medical miracles with the ease of a pin-ball machine....” “This means BILLIONS in bread for the Crime Cabal! And this thing is so SIMPLE, a KID could run it!” But OMAC arrives just in time to stop the operation. On seeing the would-be patient, he says, “There’s a familiar old face... Tough Tully Morgan... a LEADER n the Crime Cabal! You’ll live out your life in your OWN body... and in JAIL! As for “Medi-Mind”, the miracle computer... ALL mankind must claim it now... to destroy it... or find a way to use it WISELY!”
Buck Blue considers making a break for it, but the entire squad of Peace Agents arrives to mop up at that instant. “These young people are SAFE now.” “You “law and order” types are BIG heroes... but what does all this do for ME?” “This may be an answer, Buck. She’ll wake up soon... to sunlight and freedom... because YOU helped us, Buck.” “Yeah... I also did it to save my OWN skin. What will she think of THAT?” “I DON’T know... but SHE will... and YOU will.”
The ideas in this series just keep flying fast and furious; the storytelling and characterization is first-rate. And the art is some of the best-looking yet! D. Bruce Berry is KICKING ASS by here! On the letters page, Randy Jang asks, “Why doesn’t JACK ink much of his artwork?” The answer, in Jack’s words: “After a story is finished (written and pencilled), I’ve already got the next one in mind, and I’ve just got to see how it turns out. Inking would just slow me down.” Ken Meyer Jr. urges Kirby & DC not to “discard” OMAC as so many other series. The response talks about how comics are published in purely economic terms, and a big problem for publishers at the time this was being done was a steady loss of outlets, as more and more fans complain of having difficulty finding the comics to buy them. This was reaching epicdemic proportions in the late 70’s, and led to the formation of “The Direct Market” as an alternative. It was never really a fix, but it certainly did expand the life of the industry... while it continues to shrink smaller and smaller. (9-17-2012)
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“In the far and distant corners of the Earth, there are fearsome criminals who hide in vain from justice... and a NAME which has HAUNTED their kind through the ages... THIS IS HIS STORY!! This is the origin of... MANHUNTER”
In a place called “The Cave of the Talking Heads”, a man in a red costume with a pale blue mask enters in search of someone named “Chopper”. First he’s greeted by a literal talking head, decapitated and hanging by its hair on a wall. Chopper himself, who looks like some big-headed alien, stands behind protective glass. Manhunter tells him, “There are TEN dead people are crying out for JUSTICE... they want their KILLER brought to trial! You know I always get my man!” It’s interesting he should phrase it that way, as his mostly-red costume reminds one of a futuristic Canadian mounty’s uniform.
“Like its spider counterpart, each homicidal minds spins endless death traps to claim its victims. It is the eternal RISK of the adversary who dares to enter the deadly web. Above the Manhunter, death descends!! CHOPPER’S DEADLY INVENTION... THE ELECTRIC HEAD!” Like some monstrous, oversized warrior’s battle-helmet, the device fits over Manhunter, covering his entire head and shoulders. “Fry, Manhunter! Not even YOUR protective suit can withstand that VOLTAGE!” I can’t shake the feeling that this device was something they would have dreamed up on Apokalips—like the “shock boots” seen in MISTER MIRACLE #9.
As he struggles, Manhunter manages to fire his “Baton” weapon, looking for all the world like a miniature version of Big Barda’s “Mega-Rod”, its chemical bullets penetrating the glass shield and striking their target. Removing his huge, oversized head-mask (a non-lethal counterpart of the deadly Electric Head), Chopper, fighting against the onrush of paralysis, picks up an axe to directly attack his hunter. Manhunter just barely manages to get the Electric Head off, as his equally-shaken foe raises the axe to strike. But Manhunter lifts Chopper’s own techno-weapon to block the axe, and the impact sends enough electricity to kill Chopper instead. It’s fascinating, looking over such a brief, seemingly simple fight scene, how many parallels were going on between the two combatants.
I’d like to admit at this point that I don’t actually have a copy of this comic. But thanks to the wonder of the internet and various other comics fans, I was able to find 11 of the story’s 18 pages! So I’ve got a pretty good gist of what’s going on, even though I’m still missing some chunks of it. The easiest way to fill in what’s missing is to quote ONE paragraph from the “Manhunter” page at Wikipedia:
“Mark Shaw was a public defender, unhappy about how easily criminals manipulated the system and got off without punishment. Shaw's uncle Desmond introduced him to an ancient sect of crime fighters called the Manhunters. Shaw contacted the Grand Master, the sect's leader, through a magical lion medallion. Shortly, he assumed the Manhunter name and costume from a previous Manhunter.”
Amazing that that doesn’t even touch what I already described above, isn’t it?
In Jack Kirby’s story, Mark Shaw’s uncle tells him, “Nobody knows when the “Shan” was organized, but it’s a VERY old sect. The ORIGINAL members were warriors who fought the BARBARIC injustices of the warlords.” He goes on, “The “Shan” are INCORRUPTIBLE, and take vows of lifelong dedication. When a Manhunter tracks an elusive quarry, he NEVER fails to bring him in.”
Eleswhere, in a large temple decorated with lion iconography, we learn that Manhunter is the LAST of his kind, as he speaks with his “Grand Master”. The scene, in a way, reminds one of various scenes in Universal’s MUMMY movies of the early-1940’s, as a new High Priest takes over from the old, dying one. (Except, in this case, it’s good guys involved, not baddies.) “Fate has always been our friend. A NEW warrior will arise. He will CALL in this time of need.”
And sure enough, Mark uses the Lion medallion in his uncle’s collection, and before long, wears the Manhunter uniform—just in time for his uncle’s house to be attacked by thugs hured by the gangster Mark Shaw has been fighting as a lawyer! Before it’s over, he’s taken out the entire group of thugs, and vows to track down their boss. “I’m going after Al Beefer, The HOG, and his organization!” “Be CAREFUL, Mark. It’s a mighty big target. GOOD LUCK!”
As one can see from the Wikipedia Manhunter page, there have been many different characters from DC Comics using that name. To start off, there was “Paul Kirk, Manhunter” (who didn’t actually use the name “Manhunter” in the stories), an “independant investigator” (gee, is that anything like Denny Colt’s “criminologist” title?) who appeared in ADVENTURE COMICS #58-72 (Jan’41-Mar’42) and was the work of Ed Moore.
The 2nd version was introduced by Joe Simon & Jack Kirby and ran from ADVENTURE COMICS #73-92. Rick Nelson was a big game hunter who donned a colorful costume to track criminals. Although it was clearly intended to be a different character, a few episodes in, the editor changed his name to Paul Kirk! (I wonder, did Roy Thomas ever explain this as being some kind of alias—one way or the other?)
Decades later, Archie Goodwin & Walt Simonson created a 3rd version for DETECTIVE COMICS #437-443 (Oct’73-Oct’74). Although not originally intended to be the same character, at some point in the storyline it was revealed that the new Manhunter was actually Paul Kirk, who’d been killed in the 40’s, yet somehow preserved in suspended animation ands brought back to life by a group known as “The Council”, who wanted to use him as an ASSASSIN. He rebelled against this and eventually brought down The Council, with the help of Batman, but died in the process.
Considering Jack Kirby’s NEW version of the character wore a costume closer to the 40’s version than the Goodwin-Simonson one did, it would seem Kirby may have intended the new series as a continuation, expansion and explanation of his earlier one. Yet, we never learn the name of the aging Manhunter from the beginning of his story. Perhaps he intended it to be Paul Kirk, UNAWARE of the Goodwin-Simonson storyline? In any case, Kirby’s “Shan” can easily be seen as a altrusitic, heroic counterpart to Goodwin’s “Council”. Whereas Goodwin & Simonson took the character down a dark path (to a degree), it’s clear Kirby expanded on the idea, only put the “Shan” FIRMLY on the side of right and justice. One may presume that, had further installments been produced, we might have learned that the old Manhunter either was Paul Kirk, or perhaps a son, nephew, or other protoge, and that Rick Nelson / Mark Shaw’s taking up the identity of “Manhunter” was in some way directly tied in with the ages-old “Shan” legacy.
But alas—IT WAS NOT TO BE!!! Only a year-and-a-half later, in JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #140-141 (Mar’Apr’77), in a pair of double-length episodes, Steve Englehart, Dick Dillin & Frank McLaughlin did a sequel, “NO MAN ESCAPES THE MANHUNTERS” / “NO WORLD ESCAPES THE MANHUNTERS”. Perhaps it was a reflection of the 70’s in general, or perhaps it was some kind of anti-Kirby backlash, but in Englehart’s story, we learn that The Manhunters were actually a group of androids, created “billions of years ago” by the Guardians of the Universe, before they ever created their Green Lantern Corps, to be a police force for the universe. However, they became corrupt, power-mad, and rebelled against The Guardians. They were defeated, and those remaining went into hiding. For BILLIONS of years. Yeah. RIGHT. You know, in the 70’s, Steve Englehart was my favorite comic-book writer (who did not also do artwork). And he was THE reason I started buying DCs in the late 70’s, when I followed him from Marvel to DC. And I have to admit. I LOVED this story when I first read it (at the age of 17). I haven’t read it since, and I really should make up for that one day. But looking back on it, and writing what I just did above... the whole things just sounds so “WRONG”!!!!!
Think about it. How could a group of power-mad robots spend “BILLIONS OF YEARS” either in hiding, or, pretending to be a force of “justice” in the universe (or even on Earth), and how could they do this while they were also supposed to BE in hiding? What sort of mindset would it take to accept a story idea like that, anyway?
The whole thing just makes a complete farce of what Jack Kirby wrote in this one comic. In some ways, it’s more of a slap-in-the-face to Jack than Jack’s BLACK PANTHER was to Don McGregor’s version of that character.
To add injury to insult, several years later, Steve Englehart (AGAIN!) brought back The Manhunters for DC’s 3rd consecutive yearly “company-wide crossover”, MILLENNIUM, which tied in with virtually every single book they published over the course of 8 weeks. The way Steve structured the crossover, for the whole thing to make sense, you actually were supposed to read EVERY SINGLE tie-in, in a specified sequence. By the time that horrific mess was over, I was totally sick to death of The Manhunters, which had SEEMED like a cool idea back in 1977. And I never, ever, EVER wanted to read their slogan, “No one escapes The Manhunters!”—again.
Steve’s 2-part JLA story was actually adapted (rather faithfully) as a 2-parter on WB’s JUSTICE LEAGUE cartoon series in the 90’s (with John Stewart filling in for Hal Jordan, who was “dead” in the comics at the time). The strange thing, considering just how many comics were a sequel to this ONE story Jack Kirby did, is that this issue has (to my knowledge) NEVER been reprinted.
Maybe it’s just as well. Kirby’s MANHUNTER, while it was no doubt more ambitious and potentially more exciting than the previous versions, didn’t seem AS inspired as several other projects he did in the early 70’s. As I noted with the use of technology similar to that seen in issues of MISTER MIRACLE, it’s possible MANHUNTER was a watered-down variation on common Kirby themes, as he struggled to find something LESS ambitious that the small-minded powers-that-be at DC might have found more “acceptable”. (9-18-2012)
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“He’s known as The AVENGER-- deadly leader of—JUSTICE INC. In the roaring heart of the crucible, STEEL is made! In the raging flame of PERSONAL TRAGEDY, men are sometimes forged into something more than HUMAN! Thus is was with DICK BENSON... a man transformed into a figure of ICE and STEEL.... more PITILESS than either!”
Somewhere outside New York City, Dick Benson, his wife Alice and their young daughter Alicia quickly board a plane against protests. “Hey! You people can’t come aboard!” “If this kite is heading for MONTREAL, we’ve GOT to—my wife’s mother is DESPERATELY ill! She NEEDS us TONIGHT!” As they board, the man who objected reaches for a gun. “Should I...?” “Too many WITNESSES! We’ll handle it in the AIR!” After introducing themselves to Arthur Hickock, who recognizes Benson as a “famous EXPLORER and ADVENTURER”, Benson goes back to use the wash room. On his return, Hickock, his wife and daughter are all gone—and the other passengers claim they were never on the plane! A fight breaks out, and Benson is knocked unconscious. He awakens three weeks later in a hospital, his facial muscles almost paralyzed, and his hair and skin turned white. Told he may revert to normal in a month or two, in insists on leaving immediately, once again, against protests. “Doctor, I’m GRATEFUL to you, but if you value your LIFE... stay... out... of... my... WAY!”
Returning to his penthouse, Benson arms himself with his special gun (“Mike”) and throwing knife (“Ike”) then heads for the airfield, where he finds the plane his family vanished on. He fends off an attack by a large man who, it turns out, is a fugitive who mistook him for a policeman. Algernon Heathcoate Smith, alias “Smitty”, is a Doctor of Physics who’s been framed of a crime he didn’t commit, and found himself doing unskilled manual labor while on the lam. They decide to team up, after discovering a trap door in the floor of the plane, and, being attacked by two thugs out to silence them. Using makeup, and the discovery that his facial muscles can be rearranged manually, Benson sneaks aboard the next flight of the plane, when he overhears the thugs planning to “dump” him—which is what they did to his family!
The only other passenger, elderly Mrs. Van Dunce, is forced at gunpoint to don a parachute, then shoved thru the trapdoor. Benson, disguised as an elderly hunchback, is also shoved thru—without one. Or so they think, his “hump” actually a hudden chute. On the island below have been assembled the owners of the Acme Motor Company, who are being forced at gunpoint to sign papers handing over ownership of the firm to the murdereous gangsters. Benson attacks, with the help of Smitty, who’s discovered the island is owned by Hickock—the only “missing” passenger not among the group of kidnap victims. Benson nearly strangles him before Smitty stops him. The two decide to seek out and enlist others whose lives have been destroyed by violent crime, to create a force of JUSTICE.
Richard Benson, THE AVENGER, was a pulp magazine hero created by Paul Ernst for Street And Smith in 1939, the same publishers who gave us THE SHADOW and DOC SAVAGE. According to several different articles I've found online, it's felt the series began "too late", at a point where pulp heroes were beginning to lose their charm and popularity, partly due to the newer comic-book costumed heroes. It seems to me that THE AVENGER was to pulp heroes what STARMAN was to super-heroes in the early 1940’s. One more character, cynically created “by committee”, without any characteristics that made him stand out from the pack.
More than 30 years later, in the wake of Marvel's DOC SAVAGE and DC's THE SHADOW, DC decided, once more "late in the game" to adapt THE AVENGER to comics. Renamed JUSTICE INC. so as to avoid confusion with Marvel's superhero team THE AVENGERS, the series, as before, failed to catch on. Perhaps the same sort of cynicism was at the root of it.
Denny O’Neil had started out writing dialogue at Marvel, and his own stories at Charlton, before being brought over to DC with Dick Giordano by Carmine Infantino, who was eager to raid Charlton for their best talent. Indeed, I’ve read that despite Giordano being the editor and a key part of the deal, Infantino actually disliked Giordano and held his work in contempt. Making his mark on BATMAN and GREEN LANTERN-GREEN ARROW, two “dark” reinventions of classic characters, O’Neil virtually became DC’s version of Roy Thomas, the “go-to” writer for new projects. This included THE SHADOW, their revival of the pulp character, no doubt intended as DC’s answer to Marvel’s DOC SAVAGE revival. While Thomas’ specialty seemed to be a fascination with literary characters, World War Two and historical trivia in general, O’Neil’s “thing” seemed to be darkness and “dark” stories for their own sake.
Alden McWilliams’ specialty apparently was science-fiction, as he worked on the TWIN EARTHS newspaper strip in the 1950’s, various sci-fi stories in Warren’s CREEPY magazine, a 2-year run on the SPACE CONQUERORS! strip in BOY’S LIFE magazine, and, much later, the 1979 BUCK ROGERS movie adaptation. I suspect he may forever be dismissed as a 2nd-rate Al Williamson, both because of his name and similar art style, but I like his work. He was actually one of the reasons I spent a couple months cleaning up the entire run of SPACE CONQUERORS! for my blog (before I found out that the artist who did the strips I’d read when I was younger was actually Gray Morrow!).
Somehow, while “nice”, this issue just strikes me as uninspired. Perhaps McWilliams is out of his field here, doing a 1939 pulp adventure story (and not the most inspired story to begin with). The art, which actually reminds me a lot of the work of Tom Palmer or Frank Springer, just doesn’t have much “zing” to it. Such a shame, to be this disappointed after I was looking forwrd to it, once I heard McWilliams had done it. And, perhaps I’m spoiled after the last 16 months of reading stories written by Jack Kirby, but O’Neil’s narration and dialogue in this just seem to banal and dull by comparison. Even the story title rubs me the wrong way. Perhaps that’s because it’s so similar to one I came up with myself when I was in my early teens, when I was probably trying to sound “dramatic”, but what came out was, instead, “pretentious”. The original title of the pulp story was simply “JUSTICE INC.” What was wrong with that???
And, for that matter, WHY describe the set-up of “JUSTICE INC.” on the 1st page of the story, before readers have even had a chance to read the story that leads to its formation? Further, it bugs me how the text on the splash page overlap the artwork, when there is so much blank space on the page it could have fit easily. We’re talking BAD DESIGN here. But then, “bad design” was the standard for 1970’s comic-books.
Frankly, the cover by Joe Kubert—another DC mainstay—is nothing to brag about either. I tend to wonder, WHY not have the artist who illustrated the story also do the cover? It always seems like “false advertising” to me.
Even Alan Asherman’s editorial is boring beyond belief, consisting entirely of describing elements of the series we’ve either already seen in this issue’s story, or those they haven’t gotten around to introducing yet. What a major come-down, after Jack Kirby’s various thoughtful, philosophical discourses.
Denny O'Neil wrote all 4 issues, the first 2 being adaptations of novels (one can see the patent absurdity of trying to adapt an entire novel in only 18 comic-book pages), the other 2 being original stories. There is so much in this story that is left totally unexplained. The year it takes place is in never even mentioned! And while I’m sure they were supposed to be intereting and exciting, both Benson and Smitty just seem dull, or worse—annoying.
This proved to be McWilliams’ only issue in the short run. I wonder why? He seemed to be doing the odd comic-book job here and there around this time (even inking John Byrne on IRON FIST—can you believe that?). Perhaps it was just “filler” work for him. Thing would definitely improve next time. (9-21-2012)
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After the 1st issue, in a wild move, Jack Kirby & Mike Royer were brought in to do the art of the remaining issues. So far I’ve only seen the cover and 2 interior pages, but these totally blow away the tepid efforts of the 1st issue. Denny O’Neil presumably worked full-script on these (the standard method for DC writers at the time), and adapted the 3rd AVENGER novel from November 1, 1939, once more in a measly 18 pages. The switch in art to Kirby & Royer was just what this series needed, as they managed to take what was, quite frankly, a 2nd-rate (3rd-rate?) pulp series and inject it with high-octane visual EXCITMENT. Opinions I've read vary drastically, but it's my feel that Kirby & Royer did some terrific work here, capturing the feel of the 1940's better than most, and, I'd say, they did better work, and were a BETTER FIT, than any of the artists I've ever see do DOC SAVAGE in the comics! A shame they were doing the wrong book!!!
Perhaps they were already too little too late, though, as that 1st issue may have turned off enough people to doom the project from the word go.
Incidentally, with all the elements from various Jack Kirby comics that apparently found their way (along with everything else) into the STAR WARS movies, it’s funny that the title of this comic’s story should be among them (never mind that it actually was from a 1939 pulp novel, the comic version no doubt came out while George Lucas was putting together his movie—and I have definitely heard that “Skywalker” was NOT the original name of his film’s hero).
In addition to some minor “filling in” on the bottom & right edges, and fixing some white gaps in the colors, the biggest challenge of cleaning up this cover image was that the paper was obviously SO THIN the printing from the other side was showing right thru. I had to find a smooth patch and replace the entire pale blue sky background. This now looks MUCH better than the actual comic did when it was new! (9-22-2012)
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A truck full of G.I.s on the wrong road get slaughtered by a Nazi paratrooper squad, except for one black soldier, who runs like the wind to escape. But a Nazi races after him. “Both runners break into STRIDE and cover distance with AMAZING swiftness--- Neither man slows his pace--- neither man loses stamina--- it’s an almost dream-like replay of a marathon run in some phantom stadium--- It seems NO LONGER part of the war--- The runners are caught up in the sound of their own footfalls, racing, NOT to kill—but to WIN!!”
The “spell” is broken when the German fires his gun. The G.I. stops, and can’t believe his eyes. Both men—Henry Jones, and Bruno Borman—competed against each other in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. The situation is beyond bizarre, as the two have an almost friendly reunion—but not without a dispute. “Chust like in the OLD days, eh, Henry! Like ven ve run in Berlin, at der Olympics---“ “...like when I beat you in the mile run?” “NOBODY beats Bruno Borman—I am der BEST--- You are a good runner--- for a BLACK man, Henry! But I win der race---“ “Not that day, Bruno--- NOT THAT DAY---“ “Dere vas BIG fight--- lost of noise--- der crowd on der track, ven ve cross der line--- BUT I VIN, SEE?” Typical Nazi arrogance, blinding himself in the face of historical facts. I’m actually reminded of the sort of attitude and behavior I ran into back in public school, especially in gym class. It wasn’t enough for one team to win—they had to BEAT the other guys, and belittle them afterwards. Probably one of countless reasons I never liked “competition”.
Surprisingly, despite a “no prisoners” order, Bruno says, “COME, HENRY--- ve go back--- I see dat you STAY ALIVE--- COME---!” Which is the exact moment he feels a rifle barrel at the back of his neck. The Losers have overheard the conversation, and Henry is now part of THEIR mission. Both they and the Nazi paratroopers are in the area to get their hands on General Kessel—one group to rescue him, the other to capture him and take him back to the Allies. Held at gunpoint, Kessel displays more Nazi arrogance. “What a PITY—you could STAYED for tea--- now you’ll go out--- and get yourselves SHOT!” “—“US”, General! It must be evident that YOU’LL be sharing the SAME hazards—I trust that your troopers give this proper consideration---“
As it happens, Borman had the map, which is why the Nazis take longer to find Kessel’s villa. Jones locks the guards in the basement, and the squad leave with their prisoner, but Kessel escape using a hidden razor blade to cut himself free. Racing on foot, he outflanks our heroes to reach the approaching Nazis. Seeing him, Jones sets out on foot after him. Another race is run, once more for life or death for many others. Jones makes a leap for Borman, but misses, and falls to the ground, just as Borman reaches the squad. They see the G.I.s in the distance, and armed to the teeth, run toward them... straight into a mine field, where they’re blown to bits. Jones is shocked. When he ran earlier, he followed a white line on the ground, as if it were a lane marker at a stadium. In truth, it marked the edge of the mine field. Incredibly, he & Borman ran right past it without realizing it was there. Borman & his fellow Nazi soldiers weren’t so lucky coming back.
Just then, more Nazis arrive—but so does the U.S. aircover. The Germans are slaughtered, the plane lands, and picks up The Losers, Jones and Kessel... “Sputtering plane engines break into a roar, moments later--- The dead men IGNORE it--- They’ve absorbed with ETERNITY--- on a ravaged field--- Bruno Borman has crossed the FINAL finish line--- The question of “winning” is still in doubt--- It can only be answered by LIVING men--- Henry Jones is STILL alive. He and The Losers are in that plane, en route to further trials--- new experiences that will TEST their courage and spirit--- But there is a SPECIAL sadness in losing a competitor whose passing ERASES a need so necessary to the athelete--- the need for CHALLENGE!”
Wow. Who the F*** ever said Jack Kirby couldn’t write?
Henry Jones is based, of course, on real-life athelete Jessie Owens, who did compete in the 1936 Olympics held in Berlin, where he made a fool of Adolph Hitler and his “Aryan superiority” in front of the entire world. A pity that couldn’t have been the final word on the subject.
The art by Kirby & Royer is positively BRUTAL this issue, on every page, rough, crude, savage, as if it were not only depicting wartime events, but drawn DURING them by someone there at the time. Except for the cover, which looks like Mike Royer inked a rough sketch instead of finished pencils. It’s interesting (if no doubt baffling to some) how Kirby’s art style could be so flexible, to change that much from story to story, depending on the content. This is GREAT stuff. And I don’t even like war stories, generally. Gee, isn’t that what someone said about SGT. FURY? (9-25-2012)
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From the GCD: “Aliens led by General Quark try to infiltrate the dreams of Earthlings via the Dream Stream in order to kill them in their sleep.”
That description could save me a lot of time. Inter-dimensional aliens who somehow have no knowledge or concept of what sleep or dreams are learn of Earth, and decide if they can enter the nightmares of sleeping people, they should be able to invade Earth and conquer it easily. Meanwhile, as things have been “quiet”, Sandman happily sees off Brute and Glob who leave to attend a family reunion. I find it strange how they’re described as having joined Sandman to become full-time helpmates, when they’re constantly imprisoned in his Dream Dome. But then, there’s a lot about this series that makes very little sense, if you think about it... at all.
The alien fleet inrterrupts the family picnic and imprisons all the “nightmares” under an energy dome, then proceeds to capture the “Nightmare Wizard”. Next, out of all the people on Earth, the aliens decide to invade the dreams of Jed, who we haven’t seen since issue #2. Sandman, monitoring his dreams, suddenly realizes it’s not strange birds he sees but an invasion fleet, and causes Jed to wake up just before the boy is murdered by a fission bomb. I have to wonder—is there some special relationship between Sandman and Jed that none of these stories ever got around to revealing? Apart from Jed being involved in the plots of the first 2 issues and this one, WHAT is it about him that seems to make him special, that things like this should keep happening to him, specifically?
Sandman goes to free the Nightmare Wizard, but is clobbered and finds himself a prisoner as well. “So you’re the famous SANDMAN, are you? Our scholars encountered MENTION of your name while studying EARTH, but we assumed you were only a FAIRY TALE!” As the General leaves, he says, “You might try counting SHEEP! I understand it’s really quite RESTFUL!” “Very funny!” With the help of the Nightmare Wizard, Sandman is able to use his Hypnosonic Whistle to awaken Jed, and bring him into the Dream Stream. Once there, he encounters a bizarre landscape that would do Steve Ditko proud. (In a way, it also sort of reminds me of some of the locations seen in the Gray Morrow SPIDER-MAN cartoons.)
Jed finds Sandman in the cave he’s been imprisoned in, frees him, then uses his yo-yo to knock out the General, who returned a moment before. Sandman then uses his whistle to crack open the energy field imprisoning his “Nightmare” helpers,.and a violent free-for-all erupts, as Brute, Glob and many others take down the alien invaders. Brute in particular displays an affable, likeable personality during the fight, coming across like a pro wrestler who enjoys having an adoring public, and even gets to shout “It’s CLOBBERIN’ time!” (Gee, where have we heard that before?) After, Jed is returned home, where his Grandfather sees him sleeping peacefully.
With this issue, Jack Kirby returned to do the art for the series. By a very wide margin, I’d say this episode was the single most imaginative and visually stunning in the entire 70’s SANDMAN run. The question I have to ask myself is, did Jack Kirby simply take a Michael Fleisher script and go totally wild with it, or did he add or embellish it beyond the plainly obvious spectacular visuals? Either way, this continues to be one totally INSANE series, somewhere between a horror-fantasy and a 1970’s Saturday morning kiddie show. The letters page this time out consists entirely of an autobiographic piece written by Fleisher. I’m also still wondering who really designed the Sandman’s outrageous costume. I suspect it was Jerry Grandenetti, since he was slated to draw the initial episode that was conceived and written by Joe Simon. I can’t help but feel that if Jack Kirby had created this series concept & design from scratch, it would have been a lot better, and a lot more sensible. Then again, I also can’t help but wish he’d spent his time doing something else—like more issues of OMAC. (9-26-2012)
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