When Jack Kirby signed with DC Comics in late 1970, one of the ideas he had in mind was a series of magazine-size periodicals that would be aimed at a more adult audience. Among the titles were IN THE DAYS OF THE MOB (a return for Jack to his own days doing violent crime comics in the late 1940’s), SPIRIT WORLD (a look into all things supernatural), SOUL LOVE (a romance comic aimed at black readers) and TRUE DIVORCE CASES. In order to deal with more “mature” themes (and get past the Comics Code) these would be magazine format, like MAD magazine, or NATIONAL LAMPOON. Jack envisioned them as being done in color on glossy paper, with himself as editor and others doing the bulk of the writing and artwork.
However, so typical of DC’s timid, narrow-minded management, they saw Kirby as more sellable as an artist than an editor, and so scaled back his concepts before they ever had a chance. Only one issue apiece was ever published of IN THE DAYS OF THE MOB and SPIRIT WORLD, with Jack doing all the writing and art, they were done on regular newsprint, in black & white, with gray tones added. All of this made them more like the horror magazines of Jim Warren or Skywald, or Marvel’s own later B&W magazine line, than HEAVY METAL (which came about 6 years later). To make it worse, their distributor didn’t seem to know what to do with the books, despite the already-existing presence of MAD, CREEPY, etc. As a result, many who might have wanted to buy them didn’t even know they existed.
The book had a “host”, quite common in EC Comics of the 1950’s, but “WELCOME TO HELL” acted as a “framing sequence” that carried all the way through the magazine, which made it more like one of Milton Subotsky’s anthology horror films from Amicus. One could easily see this entire magazine adapted verbatim into a feature film! Oddly enough, the 3 main stories were all ones that Jack Kirby had done earlier versions of decades before. Of course, it’s quite common for Hollywood to recycle stories with remakes, but in this case, Jack was doing new and very different versions of stories he’d already done himself. (This would put him more in the class with Dan Curtis, who did 3 different versions of the “Barnabas Collins” story in DARK SHADOWS over the years.)
For quick reference...
“MA’S BOYS” was a remake of “Mother Of Crime” from REAL CLUE CRIME STORIES v.2 #4 / Jun’47
“BULLETS FOR BIG AL!” was not a remake, but featured Al Capone, as did “The Case Against Scarface” from JUSTICE TRAPS THE GUILTY #1 / Oct’47
“THE KANSAS CITY MASSACRE” was a remake of “The Strange Aftermath Of The Kansas City Massacre” from HEADLINE #26 / Sep’47.
Jack finished the entire 2nd issue, but it was never published, apart from excerpts that appeared in THE AMAZING WORLD OF DC COMICS fanzine. I’d love to see both issues put out as a single oversized book, in color, the way Jack originally intended.
While the book has never been reprinted, I found no less than 3 different blogs which have posted virtually the entire magazine online. Of the three, in my view, the BEST-quality scans posted at the BEST size for reading can be found at The Comic Reading Library. Go there, NOW!
Apparently, the first thing Jack Kirby did after the cancellation of MISTER MIRACLE was DINGBATS OF DANGER STREET, a brand-new "kid gang" strip. They were the latest in a long line, which included The Young Allies, The Newsboy Legion, Boy Commandos, Boy Explorers, Boys' Ranch, Challengers Of The Unknown (never mind they were adults), Fantastic Four (well, they often acted like kids), Avengers (ditto), X-Men (at least they were teenagers), The Howling Commandos (was there really that much difference between them and the Boy Commandos?), and, at DC again, The Forever People. All going back at least to The Dead End Kids / East Side Kids / Bowery Boys for inspiration. As one might expect with the way Kirby would get inspired and excited about a new project, he got 3 whole issues done... but instead of DINGBATS being his newest book, DC shelved it unpublished. Which no doubt "explains" the 6-month stretch where the only Kirby books DC published were new issues of KAMANDI.
This also, no doubt, "explains" why both ATLAS THE GREAT and MANHUNTER only had one issue apiece done (unless there's more that has never surfaced). ATLAS was particularly frustrating for me, as I really got a huge charge out of that story, except for the fact that it ends on a cliffhanger, obviously being intended as a 2-parter. One can only surmise that after DINGBATS got shelved the way it did, Kirby didn't want to waste time doing a 2nd (or 3rd) issue of anything else, UNLESS DC actually indicated they were actually going to put the thing out. So, the next new series to see the light of day was OMAC-- and even there, it was only done as a bi-monthly, another decision by DC that irks me no end.
So, when Carmine Infantino, desperate to find something, anything that might be a hit, hit upon the idea that "1st issues" sell better than 2nd issues, he concocted a new version of SHOWCASE named 1ST ISSUE SPECIAL. Unfortunately, the bulk of the run seems to have been not so much a launching pad for new ideas as a graveyard for already-rejected inventory ("unsold pilots", the TV networks call 'em). And so it was that ATLAS, MANHUNTER, and, finally, DINGBATS saw the light of day. 2 other issues of DINGBATS are known to exist, possibly more. But only one ever came out... (And yet, they put out 6 issues of THE SANDMAN. The mind boggles!!)
Note that on the following pieces, "Non-Fat" is clearly black, while "Good Looks" could be black, Spanish, or even Middle Eastern. Another thing DC vetoed...
The 3rd (and final) “rejected” series of Jack Kirby’s to turn up in 1ST ISSUE SPECIAL was actually the first one he started on. On the surface, it’s the latest in a long line of “kid gangs” created by Jack, but this one has more of a humorous slant than most. It has been compared by some fo the TV series WELCOME BACK KOTTER, which debuted on September 9, 1975. However, as the comic came out at least 3 months before that, it’s unlikely Jack was aware of it, unless he was following Hollywood trade news and was aware of its production. However, when one takes into account that Jack came up with his series in early 1974 (right after the abrupt cancellation of MISTER MIRACLE), one might begin to wonder if the TV series was inspired by Jack’s still-unpublished comic! (Mark Evanier, after all, has a long-standing career in Hollywood. Who knows what informatinm might have been passed around?) Despite the resemblance of “Good Looks” to John Travolta’s character “Vinnie Barbarino” (the eyes and the hair!), it seems more likely that DINGBATS may have been inspired by the highly-successful Saturday morning Filmation cartoon series, FAT ALBERT AND THE COSBY KIDS, which debuted on September 30, 1972!
Unlike the Bill Cosby cartoon, Jack Kirby’s series was meant to feature a multi-racial cast. That is, if you look at the concept drawings.
While “Bananas” remains Chinese, and “Crunch” looks vaguely Norwegian, “Non-Fat” was clearly meant to be black, while “Good Looks” looks either Middle Eastern or perhaps Spanish (Puerto Rican?) or Italian to me. In the published book, we somehow wound up with 3 white characters, and the change in “Non-Fat” (both his facial features and his skin tone) is particularly ridiculous, since anyone READING the story would quickly realize he was supposed to be a BLACK kid!
WHY would someone at DC do this? Then again, WHY would they reject something that was this much FUN? Personally, I suspect it may have been the title that turned someone off. I’m reminded of THE ADVENTURES OF BUCKAROO BANZAI, a film whose studio had no idea how to promote, and whose title left me seriously disinterested. Until I found myself in a theatre with my best friend, watching it. As soon as the film started, I suddenly understood what it was about, and it went on to become my favorite movie of 1984. Had the film had almost any other title, it might have been a huge success! I feel the same way about DINGBATS. I’d never read this until a few weeks ago, but as soon as I started, I LOVED it. It may be the single most fun comic Jack Kirby did during his entire time at DC.
Kirby actually did 3 entire issues of DINGBATS before he found out that DC decided not to publish it. It’s no wonder on other projects, like ATLAS of MANHUNTER, he only did one episode apiece, despite both pretty much screaming for next installments. This is a real tragedy, and shows just how confused and directionless and lacking in confidence those in charge of DC were. DINGBATS is so much better than, say, THE SANDMAN (a disaster from beginning to end, yet it lasted 7 episodes, 6 of which actually got published before someone pulled the plug).
I’d love to see someone reprint this story, AND include the other 2 stories with it. And if they ever do, I’d love to see Mike Royer “restore” the art so Non-Fat looks black like he’s supposed to be, and is colored that way as well. The world can always do with more laughs. (10-16-2012)
I know, I usually include a (very detailed) sypnopsis. Not this time. READ the entire story at the Diversions of the Groovy Kind blog. You'll have a blast!
“ATOMIC BLACKMAIL in the world that’s coming may have NOTHING to do with bombs. Playing with atoms may create a threat unforseen until now.... THE TOTAL THREAT!! THE THREAT TO EARTH’S “LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEM”! Listen... the FIRST warning has come. It says... “WHERE HAS ALL THE WATER GONE???” And on the scene to investigate is... OMAC ONE MAN ARMY CORPS”
OMAC find himself walking on the floor of a lake from which, “Every drop of water has VANISHED from this lake... its marine life lies exposed and CRUSHED!!” He then finds a mysterious metal box which is slowly sinking into the ground under its own weight. Incredibly, he finds he can’t lift it, until he’s charged up by Brother Eye in orbit. Even then its massive weight causes him to begin sinking into the ground. From high above, Brother Eye contacts him. “I’ve been analyzing the object! I KNOW WHAT IT IS!!!”
Elsewhere, a strangely-designed flying craft drops a rectangular “bar” similar to the one OMAC had so much trouble with into another body of water. In minutes, it causes the atoms of the water to be compressed, until all of the water shrinks and is collected inside the tiny receptacle. It’s then lifted into the flying craft with the aid of a “weight neutralizer” by the villain of the piece—Dr. Scuba. “MADRAS BAY! ...jammed into a HAND-SIZED bar. THINK OF IT! By neutralizing the weight of its compressed atoms ...I CAN LIFT A MILLION TONS OF WATER! They’re MINE for the taking! Lakes... rivers... bays... man’s basic source of survival... water! Yes, the world will PAY to get it back! ...and my price will be HIGH!” His next target to convince the nations is The Atlantic Ocean.
Recovering from his ordeal, OMAC is filled in by a Peace Agent. “A Doctor SANDOR SCUBA! His case history is one of “LONE WOLF” atomic research. He’s a genius... AFFLICTED by an age-old SICKNESS. What Hitler COULDN’T do with great armies... Scuba CAN do with his devilish bars!” “He can FORCE a thirst-parched humanity to its KNEES!”
OMAC leaves in a new craft with unlimited range and no need for re-fueling, completely powered by Brother Eye. Many hours pass as Brother Eye finally gets a fix on Scuba’s possible location, a large volcanic rock in the middle of the ocean. (Oddly enough, it looks just like the hideout of the villain in Jack Kirby’s final JIMMY OLSEN story!) But as he approaches, his vehicle is shattered and twisted by some force, and he leaps out and plunges into the water below. (The sequence actually reminds me of a similar scene in the film BATMAN AND ROBIN. I strongly feel Hollywood loves ripping off Jack Kirby, but without ever acknowledging the source material.)
Scuba has been tracking OMAC’s approach and continues to do so, identifies him by the destroyed aircraft as a being from the Global Peace Agency, and tells his daughter and son-in-law that HE will deal with the intruder himself. His “indicators” also tell him, “Someone ELSE has been working with atoms. I don’t know who it is... BUT I CAN TELL YOU THIS... our visitor is like YOU TWO!! A creature of MANIPULATED, UNSABLE ATOMS.”
As Scuba continues to follow OMAC’s progress on a wall-sized screen (which is very reminiscent of “Number Two” on THE PRISONER), he aims a “sinister machine” at the image. “A little adjusting... a little refining... of power intensity... that’s ALL it should take. Then the same thing will happen to HIM... as it would to YOU TWO! A REVERSION TO ORIGINAL FORM!” OMAC crawls over the rock as Brother Eye continues to scan for signs of Scuba’s whearbouts. “Suddenly a powerful electronic shock wave surges from the rock and engulfs Omac!!! Omac’s body becomes a JAGGED sheet of internal FIREWORKS!” When it’s over, OMAC has become Buddy Blank again—with no memory of ever being OMAC, and no idea where he is! (HORRORS!!)
I recently read a fascinating, if long-winded, yet very downbeat and disturbing blog article about how the Global Peace Agency “murdered” Buddy Blank when they turned him, against his will, into OMAC. I wonder if the person who wrote that review of OMAC #1 ever read this far? Jack Kirby had already hinted in an earlier letters page that OMAC might turn back into Buddy Blank at some point. Well, now it’s happened!
Two different fan letters this time touch on the problem of people having trouble finding copies of OMAC on the newsstands, perhaps due to “fans” buying multiple copies of the first issue and not leaving any for “casual” readers.
This continues to be my favorite of all Jack’s early-70’s DC work. I really wish DC had made it a monthly. It’s criminal there’s so few issues, while Kirby continued to crank out so many other things, including a growing number of books written by other (and vastly-inferior) writers. (10-18-2012)
Registered: Aug 2003
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“There are many forms of EVIL and many forms of GOOD in the world! At some point, the difference between the two becomes LOST in a nebulous CLOUD of idologies! On THIS night, it will be difficult to PIERCE that cloud-- villain will claw at VILLAIN... crusader will clutch at crusader! On THIS night, the UNKNOWN will merge with the MACABRE! On THIS night-- THE NIGHT OF THE AVENGER!”
In Chinatown at night, someone runs carrying a message. They’re shot in the back while passing it on to a cab driver, whose cab is smashed into by another car as he’s driving away. Someone else grabs the message from him, and, “seconds later, in a place that men say DOESN’T exist”, it’s handed to The Shadow. (“SECONDS later”???) So much for the first page of the story—which is told in such choppy shorthand, you just know there’s too few pages to do whatever story this is going to be any justice.
Munitions are going missing, and the rumor is someone is putting together an “underground army”. As The Shadow briefs his top agents, their meeting is interrupted by machine-gun fire. Using his mind-control power, he causes two of the thugs to leap in terror thru a window to their deaths. A third is revealed to be “Smitty”—the right-hand of The Avenger, who seems to be in a trance.
Elsewhere, Richard Benson talks with his aide, MacMurdie. A General Milberg has informed him of missing weapons, just before they’re attacked by a woman who also seems to be in a trance—Margo Lane.
The trail leads to the Sandy Hook Lighthouse, where a crew of Asians are looking over a stockpile of torpedoes, planning to use them on the Brookyn Navy Yard. The Shadow bursts in, and confronting one of the thugs at the top of the lighthouse, the man tries to see who he’s really fighting, and is suddenly terrorized by something he calls “The Dark Eagle”—before leaping to his death in fear! Below, The Shadow tells his men to prepare for the arrival of a submarine. At that moment, The Avenger and his group, Justice Inc., arrive, and the two sets of vigilantes get into a struggle. (Gee, it’s MARVEL TEAM-UP all over again!) On finding his foe has a “face that is mallable like clay”, The Shadow realizes he’s fighting with Richard Benson, a fellow crime-fighter. He introduces himself... “I am... The SHADOW! I destroy CRIME!”
Ordering both captives brought forth, The Shadow uses his mental powers to pierce their minds, and discovers they’re being controlled by someone else, who knows of his powers. Just then their foe reveals himself—Shiwan Khan, who gained powers in the far East just as The Shadow did. A shootout erupts between Khan’s men and the combined forces of the two vigilante groups. The Shadow grabs Khan, and the pair vanish in a bright explosion of light! Benson tosses a grenade into the open hatch of Khan’s sub, blowing it sky-high. No one’s sure what happened to The Shadow, though some suspect they didn’t see whatever it was that really happened. Minutes later, he walks from the water.
“Khan—is he DEAD?” “I would be a CYNIC to say NO... but I would be a FOOL to say YES!” “KHAN’s scheme for military DOMINATION MUST be kept in check! My people will maintain that VIGILANCE!” “There is MUCH EVIL in the world! DESPITE your approach, you can be of help! You MAY continue your operation, AVENGER!” “MAY?! He MAY?! WHO do you think...” But The Shadow has vanished!
“The NERVE of that man! He’s NUTS, I tell ya! He’s plain NUTS!” “Maybe... I only HOPE that he doesn’t OVER-STEP the bounds of justice with his BRUTAL man-hunt... or else, insane or NOT... he will have to be STOPPED by JUSTICE INC.!”
While the character of The Shadow really got its start as a pulp magazine series, its greatest fame was no doubt as a radio show. I recall reruns of the radio show airing on a local station here in the early 70’s, around the same time as DC Comics was doing their version. I bought very few DC’s at the time (mostly BATMAN reprints from the 40’s & 50’s), but I do remember seeing it on racks at my drugstore. My first encounter with the book was when my best friend Jim loaned me his copy of issue #6, “NIGHT OF THE NINJA”. (He was big into the martial arts fad.) DC’s series ran a mere 12 issues, and some years later I managed to pick up the complete run, CHEAP! I even got a copy of BATMAN #253 (Nov’73), a crossover that came out the same month as THE SHADOW #1, as a promotional tie-in.
Which brings me to issue #11. One month before, JUSTICE, INC. #1 had debuted. In between that and issue #2, The Avenger and his people (most of whom had not been introduced in his own book yet) appeared in this crossover, once again as a promotional tie-in. Oddly enough, between Joe Kubert, Alden McWilliams, Michael Kaluta and E.R. Cruz, 4 different artists had drawn The Avenger before Jack Kirby took over his book with #2.
My own feeling is that THE SHADOW didn’t last because it failed to maintain a consistent creative line-up (the sort of thing DC was known for in the 50’s & 60’s, but which virtually vanished in the 70’s). While Denny O’Neil (DC’s “glory boy” in the 70’s, as their main Batman writer) edited the entire run and wrote 10 of the 12 issues, Len Wein wrote dialogue for one of his, while Michael Uslan filled in with stories for 2 others. In addition. While Michael Kaluta was the book’s main artist, doing 5 out of its first 6 issues plus covers, 3 others were by Frank Robbins, while the last 3 were by E.R. Cruz. Now, going from an artist with a style like Kaluta to someone like Cruz, or Berni Wrightson (who inked #3) might have made sense for visual consistency, but tossing Frank Robbins into that pool was madness incarnate. It would be like going from Dick Sprang to Neal Adams—or vice versa. The change was just TOO jarring to accept!
Further, trying to do complex stories in a mere 20 pages (or 18 in the case of the last 4 issues) is also foolhardy. Stories tend to be choppy, cramped, borderline-incoherent and just plain unsatisfying on every level. Plus, as seen by the samples I included above, the dialogue in this thing is just AWFUL. (And hey, after reading the story, I realized there was no scene in it where “villain clawed at villain”. Did Denny O’Neil bother to read the story he wrote?) I’ve seen people rave about how “brilliant” Will Eisner used to for telling such complex SPIRIT stories in a mere 8 or 7 pages, but that’s avoiding the fact that in his particular, peculiar format, he HAD to. With a monthly comic-book, this was no longer the case. It’s no wonder at this point, Marvel was kicking DC’s ass.
I was about 75% done cleaning up my scan of the cover when I noticed that the sky background was NOT black, but more like a 95% gray. What the heck was the point of that? I’ve seen several covers from this period where the background colors got SO dark, it obliterated background line detail. In this case, the only thing blotted out by this excessively-dark graytone, apart from the solid BLACK borders around the logo lettering, was Kaluta’s signature. (It’s no wonder there was such confusion at the GCD site over who the artist was! I could see the signature—JUST BARELY! But I doubt anyone else did.) As I’ve done before, I went in on a separate layer and CRANKED up the background color, which turned out to be a very deep red. It may not be “accurate” to the actual printed book—but it my opinion, it’s BETTER, and it’s how the thing probably should have looked if someone in DC’s production department hadn’t screwed it up in the first place.
Further, the text, “Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?”, by rights, should have been white or yellow letters over the dark background, NOT black letters in a pale yellow box. DC’s covers around this time were a nightmare of “bad design”—and in mid-1975, they got even worse! But another design snafu cropped up here. After I cranked up the background color, I kept staring at the upper-right area of the cover, wondering, WHAT THE HECK was that yellow area there for? At first, I thought some colorist had REALLY screwed up. But then it hit me... it’s the LIGHT from the LIGHTHOUSE! Why did it take so long for me to realize this? Because the top of the lighthouse, the lamp itself, was completely COVERED over by the book’s LOGO! Plus, the light itself has the Comics Code stamp on top of it. Bad, BAD design!!! And in this case, it’s all Michael Kaluta’s fault. (10-22-2012)
Registered: Aug 2003
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“In a world teetering on the bring of WAR... there are many unscrupulous men willing to take advantage of the world’s misery... None are more evil than COLONEL SODOM, once defeated by the SHADOW, now determined to RETURN --and clash with JUSTICE, INC.”
Colonel Sodom barges into the drugstore owned by Fergus MacMurdie, a Nobel Prize winner who shuns the spotlight. Knowing he’s a genius, Sodom insists MacMurdie analyze a sample of germ warfare he has, so Sodom can manufacture more. Refusing, a fight breaks out, which is interrupted by The Avenger, who says he’s been on Sodom’s trail ever since the “mercenary and murderer” escaped The Shadow’s agents (in THE SHADOW #5). Seeing as The Avenger never even heard of The Shadow until THE SHADOW #11, I figure any continuity in these books is loose at best. When Sodom threatens The Avenger with the test-tube containing his germ culture, Benson doesn’t seem to realize the danger, and MacMurdie interrupts, prompting Benson to ask, “Are you insane?” Just then Fergus’ wife steps between them, the test tube falls, shatters, and the woman instantly mutates into a horrible monster!! As she attacks Sodom, he shoots her point blank, killing her.
As Sodom escapes, MacMurdie vows revenge. Benson introduces him to his friend, Josh, and tells him, “We’re part of an ORGANIZATION, JUSTICE, INCORPORATED! Our mission is to DESTROY crime-- ALL crime! You could be a PART of us!” He accepts, and is soon at the headquarters, working in a lab to create an antidote to Sodom’s germ culture. As he does, he, Josh and Josh’s wife Rosabel compare notes on MacMurdie, and on Richard Benson. The Avenger’s dug up info on Allan Ash, another of the world’s leading chemists, who he believes will be Sodom’s next target. Perfect bait to catch the baddie, so Benson disguises himself as Ash. He, Josh and Smitty then attend a widely-publicised auto show, and sure enough, Sodom makes a play to kidnap “Ash”, not knowing his target is an imposter. A scuffle erupts, another test tube shatters, and this time, several members of the crowd are all turned into monsters. (Looks to me like The Avenger is almost causing more harm than good in this story!)
Leaving the scene before the cops arrive, the group manages to grab one of Sodom’s men, who spills that he’s hiding at Tiro’s Gun Shop on Madison Ave. Sodom sends two thugs to grab Ash, but they run into Josh instead. The well-spoken Smitty asks him how such a highly-educated man can “pretend to be stupid”. Josh replies, “I’ve had plenty of PRACTICE! My people have been practicing for TWO HUNDRED YEARS!” Now that sounds like Denny O’Neil’s writing. Leave it to him to include heavy-handed moralizing of this sort, even in a story set in the 1930’s where it comes across as totally anachronistic.
Soon, Benson & MacMurdie have spotted Sodom outside the Gun Shop, in the only visually spectacular Jack Kirby cityscape panel in the entire book. A quartet of thugs tries to ambush them, but Benson’s ready with his miniature gun “Mike”, “creasing their skulls”, as he puts it, because he prefers to avoid killing whenever possible. If only they could have avoided those supposedly “cute” nicknames for his weapons, I find them somehow very annoying.
Sodom also tries to ambush the good guys, but MacMurdie, enraged over the death of his wife, charges, and catches a bullet in his arm. Benson hurls his throwing knife, pinning Sodom’s arm momentarily to a wall. Sodom hurls his last test tube, which has no effect on the heroes, as MacMurdie had succeeded in finding an antidote to prevent it having any effect on them. Yanking Benson’s knife loose and charging, Sodom’s less lucky, as he runs right thru the fumes, turns into a monster himself, goes insane, and dives thru an open window to his death. It’s very odd how the fight supposedly took place on the 2nd floor, yet the view of him falling makes it looks like the window was several floors higher than that.
With this issue, Denny O’Neil elected to start writing original stories rather than trying to continue adapting novels into 18 pages. The change definitely helps, though the ending on this is so abrupt, it feels like there’s a a page missing, and all the small panels continue to show that trying to do complete stories with a cast this size in only 18 pages is still not working. On the plus side, I definitely feel Jack Kirby & Mike Royer are doing terrific work here, far better than what I’m seeing on OUR FIGHTING FORCES, KUNG FU FIGHTER or THE SANDMAN. After 4 other artists on The Avenger between his own book and his guest-shot in THE SHADOW #11 (Joe Kubert, Alden McWilliams, Michael Kaluta and E.R. Cruz—if you count the covers), Jack Kirby’s work totally blew away all previous versions of the characters. His Smitty is a HUGE improvement over the one by McWilliams and Cruz. They made him seem overweight and rubbery, almost like “Flouder” from the movie ANIMAL HOUSE. Kirby’s Smitty is big, and looks strong enough to be someone you wouldn’t want to mess with.
As I said before, JUSTICE, INC. is so obviously a 2nd-ran series, I think Kirby’s art and visual storytelling (cramped as it was) was a much-needed shot-in-the-arm to try and bring some life, some pep, some zing, some excitement to this concept. On that score, I’m reminded of Jack’s late-50’s run on GREEN ARROW, where he described his ambition to “make something workable out of this thing”. I still wish Kirby had done DOC SAVAGE instead. I can’t shake the feeling he’d have been an even better fit on that, and probably would have put to shame every other artist’s version seen at Marvel in the 70’s. I wonder how this might have been if Jack had done the writing himself? (10-24-2012)
The best cover image I could find for this was from Heritage Auction, but the entire thing had somehow gone very "green", and it took some careful adjustments to get the colors to look reasonable decent. On top of that, the thin paper caused ink from the other side to show thru, making most of the pale blue background look "dirty". It took a lot of "copy and paste" to fix that. Ditto the dark blue in the logo area, which had a lot of white specks from color drop-outs. Oh well, MUCH better now!
Registered: Aug 2003
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Jed and his grandfather are out on the old man’s fishing boat. Grandpa explains to Jed how he follows flocks of birds who feed on small fish to know where the bigger fish are also to be found. But moments after making a big catch, their boat is wrecked by what can only be described as a sea serpent! (Oddly enough, as there is no narration on the splash page, and that page depicts what appears to have happened in between pages 1 & 3, I suspect someone may have reversed the pages for publication.) Seeing his friend in trouble, Sandman enters the real world and tries to save the pair. Jed makes it safely to shore, and Sandman eventually manages to scare the monster off, but too late. By the time Sandman gets the old man to the beach, he’s dead.
Oddly enough, there is no explanation for the existence of the sea monster, or why it happened to attack their boat, or what happened to it after it swam away. Are we to assume there are things like that just swimming around the DC universe, and nobody takes much notice of them?
Later, as Jed reminisces about his grandfather, Sandman gives him one of his “special” whistles, saying if he ever needs his help, to blow it. He then departs. Days later, he’s surprised by a visit from his Aunt Clarice and Uncle Barnaby, who have never taken the time to visit the island before. From the first, Clarince seems like a nasty, mean-spirited person, as she keeps referring to the boy’s grandfather as “frittering his life away” and calling him a “good for nothing old man”. Hardly the sort of person one would want to spend time with, and yet on hearing the terrible news, insists the boy can’t continue living alone on Dolphin Island. She tells him about their farm, and their two children about his age and invites him to come live with them.
It quickly turns into a nightmarish living hell on Earth. The two kids, Susan and Bruce, turn out to be surly, insulting teenagers who put down Jed at every turn. The family eats their fill of good food while Jed is forced to eat nothing but oatmeal. Jed’s forced to do more than his “share” of farm chores while Bruce claims he’s hurt his ankle, and Susan is excused for being a “mere girl”. And then Bruce obsesses on Jed’s whistle. “Hey, JED! What’cha wearin’ around your NECK? Can I SEE it?” “I-it’s nothing, Bruce! Just an old—“ “”Why, it looks like a WHISTLE! A NEAT one! I WANT it!” “Leave it alone, Bruce!” “You’re SELFISH! It’s not FAIR for you to have shiny whistle like THAT one while I haven’t got ANY!” “Now LOOKS, Bruce! You let GO!” “If you’re not going to let me HAVE it, I’m going to TAKE it!” “Wha--?” “There! Now I’VE got the whistle and I’m not going to give it back, EVER!” What is this guy—some kind of inbred mental retard? When Jed defends himself from an attack by knocking Bruce over, Aunt Clarice accuses him of “senseless violence”. She sets him the task of chopping an enormous pile of wood, with the threat of no dinner that night if he doesn’t finish.
Somehow, it was one thing to see this kind of mental and physical abuse on children in Granny Goodness’ “orphanage”. Here, in a more “real world” setting, it seems somehow even more repellant and unpleasant. While Jack Kirby tended to populate his stories with characters of all stripes, somehow, when it comes to Michael Fleisher, he just writes nasty, unlikable characters for the sake of it.
Jed’s only reprise comes when he falls asleep, and The Sandman arrives, asking for his help on a mission—to asnother planet! “Within moments the tiny island kingdom of the peace-loving winged people is embroiled in mortal combat with the forces of the viscious frog men---“ They take the battle to the frog men’s undersea kingdom, and eventually triumph. You know, if the whole book was like this, I wouldn’t have minded. But then Jed wakes up—and as far as we can tell—just like the MGM film version of THE WIZARD OF OZ—it was all a dream! His Aunt Clarice accuses him of falling asleep on the job, until she sees the entire massive wood pile has been chopped up and neatly stacked, a virtually impossible job. “How on Earth did you EVER manage to CUT ia all?” Her question exposes the fact that she intended it to be imposible. Unseen by both of them, Brute puts back the axe he borrowed, and he and Glob laugh together.
This was just one extremely unpleasant, thoroughly pointless comic-book story. I know Michael Fleisher has some fans out there, but I wonder if any of them ever read these books? Or if they even have any decent taste, for that matter? All I know is, just about every Fleisher comic I’ve ever read has been nasty and mean-spirited, with virtually no positve elements to balance it out. This includes his famous (or is that “infamous”?) run of THE SPECTRE, done with artist Jim Aparo, which consisted of issue after issue of villains getting hacked to pieces in various gruesome ways.
The art from Jack Kirby & Mike Royer is very nice, considering the story content. How on Earth Jack Kirby found himself teamed up with Fleisher, in this situation, is beyond me. How on Earth DC continued to publish this book (well, for awhile, anyway) while MISTER MIRACLE was cancelled, DINGBATS was relegated to a single apearance in 1ST ISSUE SPECIAL, and OMAC remained a bi-monthly, is also baffling beyond belief.
Incidentally, the Frog Men, though they played only a tiny part of the story (and it would appear did not really exist except in Jed’s dream) remind me a bit of the Toad Men from THE INCREDIBLE HULK #2.
“A YOUNG MAN CRIES FOR HELP! He has awakened and found himself in a nightmare situation--- his plea is picked up b a great orbiting satellite high above the Earth--- it is the most advanced machine ever built by man--- it knows his problem and can help--- this and MORE can happen in--- THE WORLD THAT’S COMING”
“It is the age of atom manipulation--- and this is one of the many functions of the satellite “BROTHER EYE”. It moves within one of its mechanical divisions and emerges with a molecular “STRUCTURE PRINT” of OMAC, THE ONE-MAN ARMY CORPS.”
“STAND BY! This “structure print” will CHANGE you--- and give you NEW memory and strength!” Below, OMAC has been reverted by Dr. Skuba back to Buddy Blank, with no memories of his entire time as OMAC. He stands atop a rocky crag in the middle of the ocean. Suddenly, Buddy’s atoms are manipulated further, and he sinks straight down into the rock itself. From above, the electronic beam sent by Brother Eye arrives too late. Sensing this, the satellite prepares to make new calculations.
Below, Buddy solidifies, a “guest” of Dr. Skuba, his daughter and her husband Apollo. The pair take Buddy on a guided tour of their base, hidden inside the rock. “Poppa is the SMARTEST man in the world! That’s why he wants to RUN it--- all by himself---“ “B-but that’s IMPOSSIBLE--- NO man has ever done it---“ “Poppa can do ANYTHING he wants to—“ Meanwhile, Brother Eye has made visual contact—but Skuba has noticed. “WHO ARE YOU? I KNOW you’re monitoring us, my indicators tell me so! ANSWER ME! Identify yourself and tell me how you PENETRATED my atomic hideout!” Brother Eye answers... “YOU’RE A TRAITOR TO THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY, SKUBA! YOU’VE USED YOUR SKILLS TO BLACKMAIL MANKIND AND BRING IT TO ITS KNEES--- BUT ALL THAT IS AT AN END NOW!” “You DARE to speak this way to ME--!?” “SURRENDER TO THE GLOBAL PEACE AGENCY--- OR MY WORDS SHALL SOON BE FOLLOWED BY ACTION! You have ten minutes to decide---“ Skuba’s computer soon reveal that his enemy is a machine...
Buddy is shown a collection of monsters, which Apollo says used to be human. Skuba’s daughter reveals that she and her husband also had “atomic manipulation” used on them, which angers Apollo. “Your father’s a twisted old FIEND!” “Is that so? Well, after what he did for you and me, I’d HARDLY call that gratitude!” “It’s a high price to pay for marrying a “FEATHER-BRAIN” like you--- at least these men had the COURAGE to turn you down—“ Clearly, more is going on here than is obvious.
Skuba interrupts, with a gun. “I-I’ve done nothing to harm you-- ! ---NOTHING!” “I DON’T fear what you are, Buddy Blank--- but what you can BECOME is ANOTHER matter! You can be made into a POWERFUL instrument for what I detest most! --the law and order of LESSER men! Your allies will NEVER get the chance to CHANGE you into a power!” But before Skuba can fire, an invisible beam destroyes his pistol. Buddy runs for it! As Apollo gives chase, Brother Eye sends out his “FINAL untimatum”. “SURRENDER, Skuba!” “I’ll see you in HADES first, ---machine!” “Then I MUST get you ANY way I can! My weaponry is now primed to PENETRATE your atomic shield! Prepare for the END, Skuba!”
Brother Eye uses a magnetic wave to hurl heavy metal cannisters at Skuba, barely missing killing him! “Doctor Skuba is beset by danger from every direction---!” “My equipment has been turned AGAINST me! They’ve become weapons of DEATH!” Whoa. Brother Eye isn’t messing around here. But Skuba’s computers trace the source of the beam, and he knows his enemy is orbiting in space. Using his equipment, Skuba strikes back. Beams sent into space attract meteors and space debris... “The huge satellite is subjected to a MURDEROUS bombardment! Swarms of space rock gather and fly in a CONTINUOUS rain! Brother Eye has becme a GIGANTIC magnet which is ATTRACTING its own destruction! The satellite is soon COVERED by crushing rock! It is BLIND and fighting to survive--- Suddenly, a beam of SOLAR intensity roars out from Earth--- it HEATS the stones which cover Brother Eye--- what was space rock becomes a molten, seething, FIREY mass--- It finally cools--- Brother Eye is now HELPLESS and SILENT, in a prison of slag---“
HOLY S***!!! What a cliffhanger!!!!!
What an wild, intense, exciting comic-book. We got to see more of the inner workings and design of Brother Eye than ever before. And with OMAC out of the picture for the entire issue (the nerve!), that wondrous hunk of machinery took on more personality than in any previous episode. As the story expanded, and we got to see more hints of what Dr. Skuba is about, the battle of wits—and technology—raged more and more. It’s interesting that while the Global Peace Agents go to great lengths never to take a human life, Brother Eye apparently has no such scruples, especially if the stakes are high enough. I think Jack really succeeded in making a “character” out of Brother Eye this time, a fitting, and far more dynamic and exciting successor to “HAL 9000” from 2001, or “S.I.D.” from UFO.
The sequence with the boulders being attracted to and covering Brother Eye remind me of a similar scene in the 1st season of STAR BLAZERS (which would have aired in Japan a year before this, but been totally unknown un America—or was it?), and also, of another scene in the Tom Baker DOCTOR WHO story, “UNDERWORLD”. In this case, though, you’re really left wondering, HOW will Brother Eye get out of his / its predicament?
What’s that? You say I’m forgetting something? Oh yeah... Jack Kirby left DC before finishing what was OBVIOUSLY a 3-part story. You’d think somebody at DC would have realized what was going on and switched assignments around, so Jack could have done one more issue of OMAC, instead of some of the other books he was doing at the time. I doubt anyone would have missed an episode of THE SANDMAN, for example. Anyway, with the knowledge that Jack was leaving, and that OMAC was not selling that great (WHAT did they expect from a BI-monthly???), someone decided to replace the LAST panel of the story. What we wound up was the following... “But below, the effort has caused an overload in Dr. Skuba’s equipment... the island EXPLODES in a gigantic fireball...” “WHAROOM” “...and his very success brings destruction to the evil Skuba!” “Is this—THE END?” REALLY. Are we supposed to believe that Brother Eye is permanently out of action—and that Buddy Blank was KILLED along with the baddies? All without us learning more of what else was going on down on that island? What a load.
To add insult to injury, the final issue has one really UGLY Joe Kubert cover, which, as someone online said, just does not fit the look or style of this book.
The letters page has the following: “Unfortunately, this issue wraps up the saga of the world that’s coming. Jack will be moving on to other companies and other projects, and OMAC will be going on the shelf.” Also... “Just before Jack decided to leave we began to plan a revival of the NEW GODS, and those plans will still be going ahead. Watch for NEW GODS #12 at your local newsstand sometime this winter.” This makes me wonder... was Jack part of those plans? Of course, once he left, DC went on without him. A massive shame, considering how unusual and “personal” the entire overall story was.
As for OMAC... I’ll jump ahead here to say that he WAS revived, as it happens, in the very last issue if KAMANDI. DC had huge plans for what they called “The DC Explosion”, which involved adding new back-up features to most of their books, upping the page count and cover price in the process. I guess it was fitting that OMAC be revived as a back-up in KAMANDI. Editor Jack C. Harris had already spent a number of issues of KAMANDI trying to tie in the future worlds of both series (despite the high probability that they were always intended to stand entirely on their own). The man involved was Jim Starlin, who’d made his mark at Marvel turing CAPTAIN MAR-VELL into a “Fourth World” swipe, and WARLOCK, which continued the adventures of another character originally created by Kirby, along with a villain who many have compared to Marvel’s version of Darkseid.
Insanely, Starlin elected to pick up EXACTLY where OMAC #8 left off, then steer the series in an entirely new and different direction. While impressive, in retrospect it was just “wrong” on so many levels that these days I tend to wish it had never happened. And to make things worse, after only one episode came out, business reversals caused “The DC Implosion”, as around half their line was cancelled overnight. Starlin had done 4 episodes before he got the news. The other 3 finally saw the light of day 2 years later, as a back-up in Mike Grell’s WARLORD series. Following those, newcomers Dan Mishin, Gary Cohn & Greg LaRocque (along with our old buddy Vince Colletta) attempted to continue. Again, in retrospect, I realized they were trying to steer the series—by force—BACK to Jack’s original intention. But between being totally at odds with the Starlin episodes they followed, and the new guys just not quite being up to it in the talent department, the series was doomed. OMAC later turned up in a Superman crossover by Len Wein & George Perez, before John Byrne put his trademark stamp on a 4-issue prestige format mini-series, which, depanding on your tastes, was either fabulous, or the final nail in the coffin. I have to shake my head at someone who keeps thinking they know how to handle various series better than the people who orignally created them.
In recent years, the concept of OMAC has, in one form or another, been kept alive (no doubt for Trademark purposes), but each use of the name and idea seems a further bastardization than the one before it. With ONE exception, which I’ll be getting to soon, when I cover Dek Baker & Davis Morris’ 2002 FANZINE. (10-27-2012)
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Commercial airliners have been crashing. Richard Benson, with Josh & Fergus MacMurdie, are following one in their own plane, when they see a squad of sea gulls attack the plane in front of them. Incredibly, it explodes, and then the remaining birds attack their own plane with the same result. After bailing out, they swim toward the wreckage of the first plane, hoping to help survivors. A speedboat arrives, but the men onboard machine-gun those in the water! The trio manage to climb onboard and over-power the killers. One of them reveals they were paid to shoot the surivors and make off with any loot they could find. Josh & MacMurdie search for clues.
Later, at the HQ of Justice, Inc., in his lab, MacMurdie discovers the explosive used was tintabulum, a brand-new compound made by Olympia Laboratories, and not even on the market yet. Benson & Smitty pay a visit to Jason Lynn, the company’s owner, who admits he’s sold small qualtities of the material for test purposes. Before he can say more, birds attack his office, killing him in an explosion. But Benson finds in the company records that the customer was Trans-Am Airlines, the very company whose planes have been destroyed. Disguising himself as Lynn, Benson next pays a visit on Rufus Comb, Trans’Am’s chairman. He tries to bluff Comb with a blackmail demand, but Comb gets the drop on him, having expected his visit since Lynn’s secretary was on his payroll!
Benson & Smitty find themselves prisoners onboard Comb’s private blimp, where he reveals that his company was in dire financial trouble, and the insurance money from the destroyed planes is going to set him up on Easy Street. As he leaves to escape via biplane (with no concern that his own men will be killed along with Benson & Smitty), the pair gets loose and a fight breaks out. Benson grabs hold of the biplane just as it tears out of the airborne hangar, and he & Comb struggle for control of the aircraft. Smitty dives out of the blimp as it explodes from the latest bird attack, and Benson pilots the biplane under him to stop his fall. But in doing so, Comb is hurled out and falls to his death. Not even an epilogue marks his death.
It strikes me that Denny O’Neil, realizing the extreme limitations of only 18 pages to tell a story, combined with Jack Kirby’s hyper-exciting artwork, demanded that he SIMPLIFY the stories he was telling. He succeeded admirably in this issue. For the first time, Jack Kirby had room enough to do bigger panels and show off what he could do with action. Had the series continued, we might have seen some terrific stuff. Instead, when Kirby departed, DC cancelled the book. I still feel it was sabotaged from the beginning by trying to cram too much story into too few pages, and artwork that was both cramped and pedestrian. By the time Jack Kirby came onboard (the 2nd issue but already The Avenger’s 3rd DC appearance), he was already the 5th artist to draw the character, and the damage had probably already been done. How do you start a new series WITHOUT bothering to get a creative team committted to doing it long-term? DC did this a LOT around this time... as did Marvel.
Comparing this issue to some of Kirby’s other work done at the same time, I have to say, this was some of the BEST-looking Kirby-Royer art I’ve seen since the “Fourth World” books were cancelled. The two were really kicking ass, and I have to figure Jack was inspired to be doing a book set in the 1930’s without any long-underwear types around. And as I’ve mentioned before, his Smitty is much more impressive (and tolerable) than the version done by McWilliams or Cruz. I have to admit, this time out, even Joe Kubert’s cover wasn’t bad, one of his better efforts from around this time, where he’d taken over doing more than 75% of Kirby’s covers.
It’s too bad this didn’t last longer. Around this time, Marvel was regularly in the habit of doing long, continued storylines, while DC seemed to focus almost exclusively on short, complete-in-one-issue stories. It would have been nice to see a JUSTICE, INC. story given 2 or 3 issues to “breathe”.
If memory serves, the next time The Avenger and JUSTICE, INC. surfaced in comics was in the late 80’s, in a 2-issue prestige format mini-series done by Andy Helfer & Kyle Baker, fresh from their wild (if somewhat disastrous) run on THE SHADOW. I loved their work on THE SHADOW, but their JUSTICE, INC. left me cold—especially the bizarre, “vague” paint style Baker used, where you could hardly see what you were looking at in any of the panels. (10-29-2012)
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Jed has a nightmare about drowning, which The Sandman picks up in his Dream Dome. (Doesn’t this guy have anything better to do than monitor the SAME kid every night?) His monitors show it’s coming from an “unauthorized source”, and he enters the fantasy world of Jed’s nightmare, only to find an android in place of the real Jed—one which explodes, leaving him floating unconscious in water.
The villain of the piece turns out to be Dr. Spider, who’s operating out of a large submarine disguised to look like a sea monster (which anyone who saw the cover already knew). His men capture Sandman, then replace him with an android duplicate, who’s sent to lure Brute & Glob to the same fate. But Brute figures out something’s not kosher and stays behind. Spider explains to Glob that his “Dimenso-Craft” is capable of moving between reality and the dream dimension. With the Sandman’s hypno-sonic whistle in his hands, he plans to contact the President with an ultimatum...
Meanwhile, Jed continues to be worked like a slave by his relatives. They plan to visit a carnival, but tell Jed “Someone has to stay BEHIND and mind the FARM! Maybe NEXT year when the carnival comes BACK again!”, before laying out an endless list of chores for him to do, all by himself. Bruce offers to led Jed go in his place, providing his gives him his whistle. (What IS it with this brain-dead idiot’s obsession with Jed’s freaking whistle???) Later that night, Bruce gets what’s coming to him, when he steals Jed’s whistle, then blows it—and suddenly, Brute appears, with a sack full of “vile things” that scare the living hell out of the creep!! (Good for him.) Brute then wakes up Jed, and recruits his help.
Dr. Spider is infuriated when, on the news, the report of his ultimatum to Gerald Ford is treated like a joke! (Nobody believes in something as silly as “The Sandman” or his “whistle”. WHO WOULD?) “I’ll show them what it means to TRIFLE with a true MASTER of EVIL!” Spider plans to use the whistle to destroy Washington, D.C.! Sandman breaks free of his glass prison and tackles the baddies, but is overcome, tied up and tossed into the ocean, where a hungry shark approaches....
Brute & Jeb arrive, and Brute tackles with the fake Sandman, before Spider captures both of them. The real Sandman, however, has gotten loose, fought off the shark, and made his way back, crashing in and freeing Brute, Jed & Glob. Spider sics a robot on Sandman, but the power of his whistle melts it to slag! Spidey then escapes in a missile. Despite Glob’s urgings to destroy it, Sandman declines. “It’s always WRONG to take a human LIFE, even when it’s an EVIL lifge like DOCTOR SPIDER’s!” “Dope!”, replies Brute. (No kidding.) At the farm, everyone scoffs at Bruce’s story about the monster that terrorized him the night before... except for Jed, who for once has something to smile about.
Another ridiculous story in an entire series of ridiculous stories. This one, I must admit, was a bit more tolerable than most, no doubt due to the presence of Wally Wood! 5 years earlier, when Jack Kirby arrived at DC, Wood actually requested to be assigned to ink one of Jack’s new books. Just think—the team that did CHALLENGERS OF THE UNKNOWN and SKY MASTERS OF THE SPACE FORCE could have been reunited to do NEW GODS, or, more likely I would have thought, FOREVER PEOPLE. (Why have Wood on a book without a pretty woman in it, like Beautiful Dreamer?) But Carmine Infantino TURNED HIM DOWN, saying he had “commitments” to Vince Colletta. (GRRRRR.) Finally, 5 years later—and on one of the LAST books Jack did for DC before going back to Marvel—we finally got to see Kirby inked by Wood again. Although Wood has often been described (or accused) of being “over-powering”, I never saw that as a problem on his 2 previous Kirby projects (or with anyone else for that matter). I still recall thinking that when he was teamed with Don Heck, there seemed more Heck in the art than Wood. But this time, it looks more like 25% Kirby, 75% Wood. It makes me wonder if Jack didn’t just do very rough layouts, knowing Wood could pick up the slack? As much as I love Kirby’s work, I think in this case Wood was actually a BETTER fit for this series. Somehow, all the main characters just look better than ever before—including Sandman in that ridiculous costume he wears, or, for that matter, Brute or Glob. (Nothing can help Dr. Spider... but whatever.)
There was one more Kirby issue of SANDMAN finished at this point... but when Jack left, someone decided to pull the plug, even though the next book was already done. It would not see the light of day until a full 6 YEARS later, in the digest collection, THE BEST OF DC #22, “Christmas With The Super-Heroes”, released for Christmas, 1981!
This version of THE SANDMAN would, incredibly, return, in Roy Thomas’ run of WONDER WOMAN, at which point Roy attempted to “explain” the entire character and series in a more “logical” and less “fantasy” fashion. (More or less.) (10-31-2012)
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And now, we come to the LAST of Jack Kirby's new series to see the light of day at DC. KING KOBRA was no doubt intended as an update on DR. FU MANCHU, the evil Asian scientist-criminal mastermind, who was forever being chased by his Scotland Yard nemesis, Sir Dennis Nayland Smith, and which was proving so successful for Marvel's MASTER OF KUNG FU series. Like MOKF, Kirby's version would take place in the modern day, and in an interesting twist, the book's hero and villain would be twin brothers! (Perhaps this was meant as a variation of MOKF's villain & hero being father & son?)
However, before it was published, the concept was seriously tampered with. It was decided to make the hero a college-age character, completely innocent of the existence of his evil twin, before the start of the story. This meant the villain was also in his early-20's, rather than both having decades of experience and emnity between them. As the first episode was completely finished before this crucial decision was made, artist Pablo Marcos was brought in to REDRAW all the figures of both characters, while writer Martin Pasko completely re-wrote every word of Jack Kirby's dialogue & narration from scratch. (Comparing the two, as I suffer thru Pasko's version, the phrase "awkward and stilted" comes to mind. I mean, it's just BAD.)
This might have made some sense had Marcos stuck around, or done the cover, but instead, Ernie Chan did the book's first 3 covers, and the interiors went thru a DIFFERENT penciller every issue until Mike Nasser arrived in issue #6. One wonders WHY this book was even put on the schedule at all under such conditions? The book did not achieve any stability at all until the Paul Levitz took over as editor from Gerry Conway. Finally, the book's name was shortened to simply KOBRA... despite there already being a Swiss anthology comic of the SAME name that started only a year before.
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KOBRA #1 Postscript: I forgot to mention... in a strange case of history repeating itself, one of Jack Kirby's last books before leaving DC centered around a plot involving twin brothers, one good, one evil. In both cases, before the story was published, it was BUTCHERED almost beyond recognition, with altered plot AND artwork, and, had a TERRIBLE cover slapped on it. (5 years earlier, it was the story he did for FANTASTIC FOUR #102, which was instead published in greatly altered form in FF #108.) Isn't that bizarre?
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When Jack Kirby left DC to return to Marvel for a 3rd run there, the last story he started in OMAC, a 3-parter, was left unfinished. This was a case of history repeating itself, as 6 years earlier, Jack had begun new stories in both FANTASTIC FOUR #102 and THOR #179. Unlike those 2 books, OMAC, a bi-monthly, had not been selling that well, and someone at DC decided to pull the plug. Considering all the books Jack was working on near the end, it burns me that nobody thought to make sure he did OMAC #9, instead of some of those other, arguably far lesser items.
On the last page of OMAC #8, Dr. Scuba’s machines had caused Brother Eye to be buried under a barage of meteors, which were then fused together into a solid mass, cutting off all communication between the Global Peace Agency and their orbitting satellite. Clearly intended as a cliffhanger, this was derailed when someone replaced the final panel with an explosion, and text indicating that Scuba’s entire base and all within it were destroyed in a massive feedback explosion. Was this the end of OMAC? It would be several years before anyone found out.
In mid-1978, almost 3 years after the last issue of OMAC, the series was revived as a back-up feature in KAMANDI #59 (Oct’79). The editor in charge was Al Milgrom. Writer-artist Jim Starlin, who had gained such notorety on MASTER OF KUNG FU, CAPTAIN MAR-VELL and WARLOCK, proceeded to take on another Kirby character. With inker Joe Rubinstein (who first teamed with Starlin on AVENGERS ANNUAL #2 and MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE ANNUAL #2), he picked up exactly where OMAC #8 left off... or, I should say, where the published version left off. The opening pages showed us that Dr. Scuba’s lab and all within it had been destroyed, except for Buddy Blank, who had been transformed back to OMAC by Brother Eye at the very last second. We also learned that Brother Eye had sustained irreparable harm, and would only be able to serve as counsellor and guide from now on. OMAC’s strength, while still super-human, now had limits.
The next thing we learned was the the Global Peace Agency had been wiped out as part of a first-strike by the forces of a corporation intent on conquering the planet at all costs. It also turned out that under those featureless masks, the GPA members were actually aliens from another planet. OMAC was captured by the corporate army, and in an amazing scene, convinces the head of the company to put HIM in charge of their army, in order to bring the corporate war to an end as quickly as possible. The next episode was a veritable bloodbath, with Starlin’s patented sense of extreme exaggeration showing OMAC at the end resting on top of a literal MOUNTAIN of dead bodies.
I admit, this impressed me at the time... but then, I was a big fan of Starlin, and I’d never seen OMAC before.
As it happens, one month into the much-touted “DC Explosion”, the company suffered a turnaround, and wound up cancelling half their books in one go, including KAMANDI, which had managed to last longer than any of Kirby’s new books. As a result, Starlin & Rubinstein dropped off OMAC after only 4 episodes (described above). The remaining 3 eventiually turned up when DC began to expand again 2 years later, as a back-up in WARLORD #37 (Sep’80). When the Starlin episodes ran out, the series continued with writers Dan Mishkin & Gary Cohn, and artists Greg LaRocque & Vince Colletta. They did 6 installments before the series was cancelled. At the time, I was not too impressed. Not long after, I got ahold of all 8 issues of OMAC by Jack Kirby, and was so totally blown away by it, it became my favorite of all of Kirby’s early-70’s DC work. I also realized that Jim Starlin’s new direction, while impressive, was actually completely wrong-headed and character-destructive, its sense of ultra-violence at odds with the more balanced approach Kirby handled his creation with. By comparion, I suddenly realized that Mishkin & Cohn had attemped to drag the series, by force, back toward the feel Kirby had given it. They just didn’t have the skills to pull it off successfully. Also, it was probably too much of a radical shift in tone from the Starlin episodes—even though Starlin had already done the same thing.
After that, OMAC made a guest-appearance in DC COMICS PRESENTS #61 (Sep’83) by Len Wein, George Perez & Pablo Marcos. 8 years later, John Byrne did a 4-issue prestige format mini-series (in B&W) which began as a “Twilight Zone”-style “What the hell is going on here?” scenario, which turned into a time-travel story, proceeded to reveal heretofore unknown facts about “The World That’s Coming”... and then meandered to an ending that I found completely confusing and impenetrable, even though I’d just read the whole thing. (And still struck me that way when I read it again.) Byrne got into the habit in the 90’s of having the attitude that he was the “only” writer who knew the “right” way to handle certain characters—and in his mind, that included those characters’ original creators. That, combined with a writing style that was increasingly composed of nothing but gimmicky and confusing storytelling, caused me to slowly lose interest in his work.
Since then, EVERY use of the “OMAC” concept from DC has been further afield from what Kirby did, each one more and more of a bastardization of what started out as a really brilliant series. With ONE notable exception...
(to be continued)
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In 2002, 2 fans in the UK, Dek Baker & David Morris, decided to do their own mini-comic fanzine, OMAC #9. I read about this in an issue of THE JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR, and sent away for a copy. What a blast! Their 22-page story picks up exactly where Kirby’s story originally ended (before the last-minute editorial tampering), ignores every single “OMAC” appearance that followed, and finishes Jack’s intended 3-parter.
The inside-front cover kicks things off with “Previously in OMAC...” An interesting thing brought up here concerns how Buddy first became OMAC. “Unfortunately, when Buddy’s life was endangered, they had to transform him into Omac, without any preparation. Buddy’s personality was completely buried by the shock. Before he could address this, Professor Forest was assassinated at the orders of the villainous billionaire, Mr. Big. The Global Peace Agency attempted to take care of Omac’s social needs as best they could, but did not dare tinker with his psychology.” One particularly negative review of OMAC #1 I found online focused almost entirely on the way Buddy had been “murdered” by the GPA in order to create OMAC, and that Buddy was “gone forever”. This flew in the face of the last 2 issues of the book. But this introduction followed up on the idea, mentioned in one of the letter columns, that Buddy might not always be OMAC, but more, that his mental state might be something that could still be addressed. It also expanded on the circumstances in OMAC #1 where Buddy was transformed rather abruptly, in order to save his life.
“IN THE WORLD THAT’S COMING, mankind will face many new threats... threats like ECO-TERRORISM! A maverick genius is BLACKMAILING the planet by holding its WATER HOSTAGE! The Global Peace Agency must try to stop him... but first, can they FIND their GREATEST AGENT?”
In a scene mirroring some from NICK FURY, AGENT OF SHIELD in STRANGE TALES, we see the GPA communications center, located high in the Himalayas, a hub of activity as the crew of technicians try to re-establish a link with the disabled Brother Eye. After Scuba contacts them directly with his ultimatum, one of them orders a space shuttle prepared. Scuba, in his hidden base, subjects Buddy to painful cellular analysis, which renders him unconscious. In that state, Buddy has visions of all the enemies he’s faced as OMAC—as then sees Brother Eye as well. He remembers everything that happened since his transformation. When he awakens, Scuba quickly realizes what’s happened, and orders him locked up.
Meanwhile, in orbit, the GPA member sets explosive charges to free Brother Eye from the rocky cocoon, sacrificing his life in the process. Below, Buddy find himself surrounded by monsters who were once men, all victims of Scuba’s atomic manipulation experiments. In a near-replay of the 1st issue, Brother Eye sends the “structure print” to change Buddy, just in time to save his life again. “Welcome back, OMAC. I regret the damage I have sustained may limit the degree to which I can aid you.” “I think I can live with that.” This rather mirrors the situation from Jim Starlin’s 1st episode, except that with the GPA still intact, I’m assuming they could send another space shuttle crew up to make more extensive repairs, once this situation was taken care of.
The climax has OMAC facing down Scuba, who’s used cells taken from Buddy to effect his own transformation into a being of “vast physical power”. As they fight, Scuba reveals that his previous experimental subjects were unstable, and all of them, including his own daughter, will die within the next few hours! Just then, Brother Eye tells OMAC to clear the area. “Shouldn’t I ARREST Scuba?” “Ideally, but our priority is recovering the world’s water and others are taking action NOW!” While OMAC makes his escape via Scuba’s aircraft, his daughter and son-in-law, knowing their fate, unleash the waters of Madras Bay-- “millions of tons of water”—the sudden force of which completely destroys Scuba’s base and all within it.
“Apollo and Seaweed are revenged!” “Too bad about those two. They didn’t seem EVIL, just greedy and WEAK.” “But it was that SELFISHNESS that blinded them to the DANGERS of helping SCUBA!” “I suppose we’ll be needed until ALL see an alternative to MEAN DESPAIR.” The final shot is of Scuba’s airship flying off toward the horizon, a virtual replay of the last page of Jack’s final issue of JIMMY OLSEN.
WOW. It's NOT by Kirby... but while the art is crude, it captures the look and feel of Kirby the way early Barry Smith did. Still, it's the writing that really pushes it over. You'd almost SWEAR Kirby did it himself.
I understand Baker & Morris only ran off so many copies of this, but I wish they'd do more. More, I wish DC would cut a deal with them and include it in any future reprints of Kirby's run. IT'S THAT GOOD.
That 2 "fans" should do a BETTER job capturing the look and spirit of Jack Kirby & his concept than anybody (and I mean anybody!!!) at DC has ever, ever done since, is bizarre. To me, it is the ONLY "legitimate" continuation of the character ever done.
Since the fanzine mini-comic is out of print, HERE it is in its entirety. ENJOY! (11-16-2012)
Hyperpath: Email this page to someone!
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