Kamandi Archives Vol.2

Kamandi Archives Volume 2

Written, drawn and edited by Jack Kirby

Inks by Mike Royer and Bruce Berry

Karen: I just couldn't help myself. After reading and reviewing Kamandi Archives Volume 1, I eventually caved in and picked up the second volume, which covers issues 11-20 of this Jack Kirby festival of whackadoo. As much as I was disappointed in the lack of depth to the main character in the previous go-round, I can't deny that there's something very appealing to the overall product, at least on the level of sheer goofiness. Since there's really no rhyme nor reason to anything, you can just sit back and wonder what you'll see next, and going in with that kind of attitude, it's a lot of fun to watch Kirby just pull stuff out of his hat.

Karen: There are five storylines featured in these ten issues. The first involves Kamandi being captured by leopard men for Sacker's department store. Mr. Sacker is, of course, a snake -the first time we've seen one in Kamandi's world, and a ruthless businessman, perhaps worse than any of the other animal men Kirby has portrayed to this point. Kamandi discovers another captive, a 'devil' -in reality, a huge mutated insect whom he befriends and names Kliklak. He and the creature are forced to compete in a race/battle, and poor Kliklak is mortally wounded. Kamandi ends the poor animal's suffering and it causes him great emotional distress. I felt like Kirby was focusing more on developing Kamandi in these ten issues, giving us more than just a hot-headed youth but a character who we could empathize with a bit more. Kamandi's old friend, Prince Tuftan (a tiger-man) buys his freedom by making a deal with Sacker. This spins off into the next storyline, the search for the Watergate tapes.

Karen: Yup, Kirby tries to bring in the whole Watergate affair, but this seemed the least interesting of the storylines in the book. Our group heads to the ruins of Washington to find the Watergate tapes -whatever those are -but encounter a band of gorillas who have formed a cult around the entire episode in American history. They throw around terms like "break-in," "bugs," "plumber's squad," etc., but it just seems forced and not particularly clever. Tuftan and his adviser, Dr. Canus, get kidnapped and put on trial by the apes, who plan to "indict" them. Kamandi and the rest of Tuftan's tiger troops track them down, and Kamandi saves them from a sound machine -it's the Watergate tapes amplified and projected at high speed! 

Karen: This leads into what I think is the best episode in this volume -the Hospital. While in ancient Washington D.C., Kamandi starts exploring and wanders off from his tiger friends. He finds a laboratory filled with humans in cages, and is soon taken captive himself by gorillas. He's brought to the scientist in charge, Professor Hanuman, who takes a special interest in him because of his intelligence. Hanuman has been developing a drug, cortexin, which can increase intelligence in animals. But he did not devise this drug on his own -he discovered a journal from before the "Great Disaster" which was from another doctor, long ago, who also experimented on animals, to increase their intelligence. As Hanuman works in the labs underground, the gorillas battle the tigers above. It seems like the world is coming to an end. He repeatedly consults the old journal -which seems to parallel his situation, as the writer was also facing the end of his world as he worked to develop cortexin. As the story goes along, Kirby intercuts captions from the journal, showing how things played out at the time of the Great Disaster. The battle between the tigers and gorillas comes to a head, and Kamandi leads an escape of the humans, at which point Hanuman releases his cortexin into a near-by river, mimicking the actions of his predecessor from centuries before. The released humans drinks form the river and begin to show signs of reasoning. Now we have an explanation for how the creatures in Kamandi's world came to be -and a darn good story too. Hanuman is perhaps the most well-rounded character yet in the whole series.

Karen: The next sequence follows Kamandi's escape- which is rather unsuccessful, as he is captured by gorillas and hauled off to Ohio, of all places. There, he encounters gopher-men, or maybe they are mutated humans who live underground...I'm not really sure. But they don't get along with the gorillas, and that's good enough for Kamandi. They team up when the gorillas toss Kamandi down a hole unwittingly carrying explosives. That really steams the last boy on Earth and he helps the mole people (or whatever they are) fight back for two issues. It's not tremendously exciting but at one point we do get a giant worm attacking everyone, so that's pretty fun. Kamandi makes an enemy of a gorilla sergeant named Ugash, who follows him right into the next adventure, which takes place in Chicago. It seems the Windy City has time warped back to the roaring 20s, because the mob has taken over. Kamandi is  highjacked by a bunch of gangsters and taken to see their boss. But Kamandi turns the tables and grabs a gun, and shoots his way out. He feels some pangs of regret over killing the men, but makes his escape -until the men all turn up behind him, just fine! 

Karen: Something's not right but Kamandi's not waiting around to figure it out. He hightails it out of there, but right into Ugash, who had tracked him there. The gorillas and the gangsters start shooting it out, and that's when both Kamandi and Ugash realize that their foes are not human beings at all, but robots! Holy Westworld. Ape and human become temporary allies. They are hauled off to jail . While Ugash rages, Kamandi begins to put together the picture. He makes his escape as Ugash stupidly attacks everyone in the court room. Kamandi figures that Ugash isn't his pal, he owes him nothing...but then he sees that the robots are going to electrocute the ape. He can't let that happen. He fires a pistol out the window to get the attention of Ugash's troops. It works. The apes flood the building and Kamandi is once again free. He makes his way down a set of stairs and finds a control room. He had assumed he would find someone in charge -a human being like himself. Instead, all he sees is a massive computer. He's filled with despair, and cries out. The computer answers him.It calmly asks him to follow a lighted path -which leads to a gift shop! Yes, just like Disney, at the end of the ride you are deposited into a store to spend all your money.  Kamandi is dismayed when he realizes he was never in Chicago, but just an amusement park. Man didn't survive after all -just his machines did. For the last page of this issue (and the Archive volume) Kirby draws a full page long shot of Kamandi standing, head in hands, on ruins over a lake far below, with the Chicago-Land Museum sign above. "I'm alone...alone once more," the youth says. This is one of the most effective scenes in the whole series thus far. It's hard to really ever feel Kamandi is alone, since he's surrounded by so many colorful characters, but that idea that he's desperate for human companionship is one that certainly can be appreciated.

Karen: Another interesting feature included in this volume is a page of text which was apparently part of issue 17. In it, Kirby explains why he chose to have some animals evolved and not others. His feeling is that hoofed animals and birds would have to undergo too many changes to achieve bipedal  existence. Although he admits he was just having some fun with Mr. Sacker...No map this issue, sadly. I would have liked to have seen some more details from Kamandi's world.

Karen: One of the things that strikes me about this second go-round is that for all of Kamandi's pining for other humans, when he does find them, he is contemptuous of them! During the Sacker story, he runs across a girl who is Flower's sister -identical twin, in fact. Yet, even though she throws herself all over him, he will have nothing to do with her. His disgust with his animal-like brethren is seen again in the hospital story. He may free them, but he doesn't want anything to do with them, much preferring the company of Tuftan and Dr. Canus. It's a predicament for him -his own kind are far below him in intelligence, and have little to offer him in companionship. Yet, he will never fit in with the animal-men. I'm curious if this will go anywhere in later issues -so yes, I may have to buy Kamandi Omnibus 2 (I don't think there is an Archive 3). 

Karen: Kirby's style still takes some getting used to. Ben Boxer and his pals are with Kamandi on the first couple of pages of issue 11, then they all get separated, and we don't see them again for the next nine issues! I can't tell if they're suppose to be supporting characters or what. The same with Tuftan and Canus -they pop up here and there but there's no consistency. I suppose you have to think of it as a "road" book -Kamandi is constantly on the move, so everything is fluid. People go in and out of his life and the book. In that sense, I do enjoy the different locations and creatures Kirby comes up with. Kliklak was fun, the Westworld-derivative mobsters less so.

Karen: But despite that, Kirby was still producing tremendous, dramatic visuals at times, and that's really what this book is all about. The huge racetrack where Kamandi and Kliklak fight for their lives, the underground world of the gopher men, the gigantic computer running Chicago-Land -it's all pure Kirby extravaganza at its finest.

Karen: This has probably become my favorite of Kirby's DC work. Although I enjoy the visuals of his New Gods work, it never really connected with me in any way. Kamandi  has an element of sheer fun that can't be denied. It's hit or miss, to be sure, but so far I am enjoying the ride enough to keep going. 

Kamandi Archives Volume 1

Kamandi Archives, Volume 1 (Oct. 2005, DC Comics)
Written, Drawn, and Edited by Jack Kirby
Inked and Lettered by Mike Royer

Karen: This hardback archive edition collects the first ten issues of Jack Kirby's post-apocalyptic series that began in 1972. I had read two random Kamandi comics in the past but otherwise had little contact with the character, beyond his rare appearances in other books. I got the general concept -the last boy on Earth (well, not actually true), a world now ruled by intelligent, mutated animals. But I'd never really read the series and I was curious about it. Knowing it was at least slightly influenced by Planet of the Apes, one of my favorite film series, also encouraged me to look into it. Finally I saw this archive edition at a reasonable price and grabbed it. Instead of going over each issue I'll discuss my general impression of the series.

Karen: My overall impression is one of many ideas but little structure. As usual Kirby excels at coming up with new creations. He populates his new world with all sorts of animal-men, each with their own characteristics: the gorilla men are crude and brutal (not to mention ugly in a manner not unlike the Toho films' King Kong); the tiger men are aggressive conquerors; the lion-men are valiant conservationists who try to preserve mankind; and so on. In a twisted parallel to Beneath the Planet of the Apes, the only intelligent humans surviving on Earth don't worship atomic bombs -they are atomic bombs! These mutant humans  possess some sort of atomic power that allows them to change form into metallic supermen. They come from a place called 'Tracking Site' which for an unexplained reason resembles a miniature version of Earth floating somewhere above South America, and was apparently run by scientists and engineers from NASA before the Great Disaster struck. This Great Disaster is never spelled out, and actually as a mystery could serve to drive the story, but at least in these early issues, is relatively untouched. That's the maddening thing about it all: there's so much here that tantalizes, but never seems to really go anywhere.

Karen: I will say that the art is solid, with Kirby still producing some very strong work. I got the feeling he was enjoying himself creatively on these first ten issues. There are some wonderful epic vistas and imaginative character designs.Some of it definitely feels derivative though. Besides Planet of the Apes, Kirby also borrows from King Kong with a story involving a giant man ape ('Tiny') who becomes fond of Kamandi. Actually, Kirby recycles some of his own concepts if you think about it -the animal men have a lot in common with the New Men of the High Evolutionary from Thor back at Marvel, for example.

Karen: Kamandi himself is a cipher. He leaves his underground bunker (Command D -get it?) where he lived with his grandfather, to explore the world above, a world he had only known through stories and microfilm records. When he returns to his home he finds his grandfather killed by invading wolf-men. He decides to continue his explorations, but there never seems to be any rhyme or reason to his travels. He never expresses a personality beyond being something of a hot-head. There's no emotional life to the character. I'm not saying every comic character has to be a Peter Parker and cry in his beer every issue, but there has to be some sort of inner life, something going on that drives the protagonist and makes the reader take an interest in them. There's just nothing there with Kamandi. He's a blank slate. He seems to exist only as a vehicle to move from one place to another, from one idea to the next, so that different concepts can get shown off. He has no stake in anything.

Karen: At one point, he encounters an attractive girl, Flower, who can actually speak, even if only in rudimentary style. This should be huge, seeing as how humans  (other than the handful of mutated ones, who are all men) are all dumb animals. I expected Kamandi to be excited, to wonder where she came from, how she learned to talk, to  perhaps be attracted to her (especially considering she is topless), and so on. But none of this happened. In fact, he seemed to look upon her as a burden! Later, Flower is killed, and then Kamandi mourns her passing, but it rings hollow. His supporting cast is minimal and shifting -Ben Boxer, the radioactive mutant descendant of astronauts, bounces in and out of the book, along with his two buddies. Kamandi seems on the verge of developing a friendship with Tuftan, the teen son of tiger leader Caesar, but this is not advanced, at least not in these first ten issues. There are other characters that also seem ripe for development. But early on, Kamandi is such a wanderer, it's difficult to create any sort of supporting cast for the title.

It wouldn't be right to leave out this Kirby collage from issue 9

Karen: Despite all of this, I do find Kamandi oddly compelling. I'm even considering buying the second Archives edition. Part of it is just this desire to see if anything really evolves out of  this beginning. There's so much potential for story-telling. But without a central character to care about, it's just so much fluff. Kamandi (the book) is like a fast food snack when it could be a great four-course meal. It's kind of fun but ultimately it doesn't satisfy. I'm hoping that later in the series it turns around and gains some substance.

Return of the King: Machine Man 1

Machine Man #1 (April 1978)
"Machine Man"
Jack Kirby-Kirby/Mike Royer

Doug:  Welcome back to the end of our Jack Kirby retrospective.  In case you're happening by for the first time (welcome! if you are), we've spent the past three Mondays looking in on the King's return to Marvel and his first issues in control of Captain America, the Eternals, and Devil Dinosaur and Moon Boy.  Aside from 2001: A Space Odyssey, the other "major" character/title Kirby created is today's fare:  Machine Man.  Thus far Karen and I (and most of our commenters) have been in agreement that Cap's adventures would have been best served with a writer other than Kirby, but the Eternals and Devil Dinosaur seemed to land more in Jack's mid-'70's wheelhouse.  Let's see what's between the covers today.

Doug: Kirby wastes no time in plunging us into the action.  The first four pages are dedicated to the rescue of a wayward hiker -- or, to our education concerning Machine Man's powers.  We find that he has an arm that extends, with pegs that protrude as a ladder, he is fearless, he can fly, his arm retracts in such a fashion that it appears as if nothing could have happened in the first place, and he can walk down the face of a mountain with his magnetized boots.  We're in the dark about his origins, but he intimates that his personality isn't the greatest.  Oh, he's not rude -- but certainly seems to be a man of mystery!

Karen: I just chalked up Machine Man's behavior to Kirby's writing - once again we have some really awkward phrasings. And Machine Man's  use of words like "chum," "fella," and "gang" seem out of place. But then, I don't really know what this character is about yet. I'll also admit that my exposure to Machine Man has been fairly limited, so at this stage, I'm not sure what to make of him. Just a side comment: notice one of the female hikers has those funny hairbands like Crystal of the Inhumans? 

Doug:  I'm thinking Jack wasn't always one to be up on contemporary fashion.  Our next scene is in a "top-secret division of governmental research" -- whatever that means.  And Jack pulls no stops in giving us a man in the ugliest suit in comicdom, in conversation with a scientist sporting the ugliest eyeglasses in all of comicdom.  Sheesh -- Kirby could have at least consulted a clothing catalog or something for a reference.  Anyway, the scientist is Dr. Broadhurst and he's been in charge of the X-Model program.  The project was funded to create robot with sentient minds; each ended up going mad and had to be destroyed.  Broadhurst had succeeded to the point that the machines actually believed themselves to be men.  In effect, they died from not knowing if they were man or machine.  I thought this was a shaky premise, given the Vision had been floating around the Marvel Universe for around 10 years by this time -- he was surely conflicted about his humanity, but for the most part seemed rather well-adjusted.  Anyway, the final X-Model was the 51st version, and in a twist of fate he'd been "adopted" by a psychologist and raised as a son.  He'd even been given a name -- Aaron Stack.  But the government agent informs Broadhurst that X-51 is active and needs to be brought down.  And Broadhurst is no longer in charge of the X-Model project.

Karen: I don't know about you, but those two pages felt extremely disjointed to me. It didn't seem like Broadhurst or the bureaucrat were actually listening to each other. It was just strange. So we're to believe that they went through 50 of these robots running wild and causing "what amounted to a small war!"? That was the impression I got. What was the ultimate point of the project, anyway? Just confusing. Maybe it would be revealed in future issues. That pin-striped suit does take the award for most hideous outfit in a comic though.

Doug:  We head back to the woods and we find X-51 (as we now know him) walking toward a road where he hopes he'll be able to hitchhike to the nearest town.  Suddenly he finds a driver stymied by a large tree across the pavement.  Machine Man approaches the guy and gives him a bit of a start once our new friend lays eyes on our hero.  X-51 ends up lifting the tree almost effortlessly and depositing it off the side of the road.  As payment, the driver,Peter Spalding, offers to give him a lift.  I'd have to say that, whether intentional or not, Kirby writes X-51 as if he were a robot trying to be human.  Now I'd say that's great -- it should be what he's going for -- if I hadn't seen Jack write Captain America and Henry Kissinger as if they were robots trying to be human!  But I'll add that this Machine Man has a rather abrasive, socially-awkward personality.  Anyway, the two men hop into what looks like a VW van and get cruising.  Jack's a little inconsistent with the art on the next page, though, as the van seems to morph into one of those tiny smart cars.  While driving, X-51 is asked to make some small talk.  He does, and proclaims himself a "Johnny Average" just wanting to live the American dream.  Spalding presses him on that, and on his fantastic abilities, which ticks off his now quite-defensive passenger.  In the course of the conversation Spalding reveals that he is a psychiatrist -- further upsetting the robot.  Machine Man exits the vehicle right in the middle of a traffic jam.

Karen: The conversation between Spalding and Machine Man is just flat-out weird. I understand what Kirby is going for here, but again, it just comes out badly. "Johnny Average" and the reference to the Constitution were bizarre. And Machine Man does seem oddly aggressive - no surprise I guess, when his 50 predecessors all went nuts! Also, the morphing VW van bothered me as well. 

Doug:  X-51 bends down to his boots and flips a few switches -- and instantly a skateboard forms on his feet.  He sidewalk surfs through traffic, occasionally using his anti-grav abilities to get through some tight spots.  But, in doing so, he is spied by some policemen who decide to give chase.  This is unwanted attention, and Machine Man hits the supersonic speed button and vanishes.  However, we next look in on Dr. Broadhurst, apparently now in the custody of the United States Army.  He's at the "quarters" (what, like in his bunk?) of Colonel Kragg, a fellow who looks and sounds like the a mash-up of Nick Fury and "Thunderbolt" Ross.  Broadhurst begs Kragg not to destroy X-51, but we find that Kragg is a man bent on revenge -- vengeance for men lost trying to contain the previous X-Models, and for his own left eye.  As Kragg and his men leave, using a homing device built in to X-51, Broadhurst prays to God for forgiveness for creating X-51... Aaron Stack.

Karen: "Colonel Kragg"?? Really? And yup, I thought of ol' Nick Fury too. Broadhurst's silent prayer was another oddity. Asking forgiveness for creating X-51, yet previously he stated his pride and almost admiration for him. I just don't know...

Doug:  X-51 has emerged near a well-to-do subdivision in an unknown town.  He muses that perhaps he will find people who will tolerate and not fear him.  As he begins to traverse the expanse between the woods and the nicely manicured lawns, he is startled by a military helicopter.  Attacked with sonic rifles, Machine Man does all he can to evade them and seek refuge.  Disabled by the first round of blasts, X-51 resorts to his finger weapons.  It appears that he has a smorgasbord within his digits akin to anything the Mandarin would come up with.  Using fire to keep his enemies at bay, the soldiers do break through and Machine Man is dropped.  In one last effort to remain free, he fires on a man's rifle, exploding it in his hands.  As the remaining troops encirlce their target, they note that he's disappeared!  In one of Kirby's strangest images, we see X-51 rumbling out of the brush, tank treads having emerged from his triceps!  Attempting to pick himself up, he sees a roadside sign -- Central City, 2 mi.  Thinking back to earlier in his day, he recalls that this is the home of Peter Spalding; perhaps the only man who can now help him!

Karen: Not even Iron Man had arm treads! That was certainly one of Kirby's 'wildest ideas'. Machine Man is  not the first Marvel hero to be chased by the military, but his method of escape is definitely the most unique. The finger weapons also reminded me of the Mandarin - it seems like there are a number of things in this story that remind me of other stories or characters.

Doug:  Well, I have to say that somewhere between the Eternals and Devil Dinosaur Kirby peaked.  This story is just clunky.  The dialog is awful, and although he attempts to build up the suspense of X-51 on a sort of "The Fugitive" journey, I'm not sure the character is likeable enough at first blush to make me care about him any further.  I'll admit -- I've not read any of the later issues, nor have I read the mini-series that came later from Barry Windsor-Smith.  So I'm left with this as my first and only impression.  If I had my druthers, I don't think I'd seek out any more of these stories.  I'll leave it to our commenters to convince me otherwise.

Karen: I'm with you, partner. I didn't enjoy this one and I'm not compelled to read more. But I was thinking while I read it, what might it have been like if perhaps Steve Gerber had scripted it (for example). The basic premise of the sentient android seeking an identity is not bad, but too much of the story is hampered with terrible dialog and cliched characters. So for me, Kirby batted 2 for 4 - I enjoyed Eternals and Devil Dinosaur (surprisingly), loathed Captain America, and didn't care for Machine Man. At some point I want to get ahold of his Black Panther - although I fear it will lower his batting average even more in my eyes!

Return of the King: Devil Dinosaur 1

Devil Dinosaur #1 (April 1978)
"Devil Dinosaur and Moon Boy!"
Written, edited, and drawn by: Jack Kirby
Inker/letterer: Mike Royer

Karen: Here we are with numero tres of our Kirby comics cavalcade. And as much as Kirby's Captain America rankled me, his Devil Dinosaur gave me a chuckle. It's remarkably silly stuff, but goofy fun, at least if one is in the right mood for it.  I completely by-passed this book as a teenager, so this was my first time reading it, as a part of the Marvel Firsts collection. I got the impression reading this that Kirby was really enjoying himself on the book. It seems to me after Kirby left Marvel, he moved away from the super-hero genre and was drawn to science fiction concepts. Both the New Gods and the Eternals allowed him to explore ideas that were in vogue at the time (such as the 'ancient astronauts' idea that was popularized by Erich von Daniken). Kamandi let him run wild with a post-apocalyptic world (supposedly inspired by Planet of the Apes). Kirby also crafted Marvel's adaptation of the film 2001: A Space Odyssey, which clearly was in synch with his own ideas.So this tale of a prehistoric proto-human and his companion dinosaur seemed right up his alley.

Doug:  Like you I recall seeing this title on the stands and spinner racks back in the late '70's; also like you I took a pass.  I am positive that I never even opened an issue to peek inside.  As I've said in the past, I really had a bad attitude toward Jack Kirby in my pre-teen years.  But you know what?  I'm glad I've matured and broadened my tastes, because as you stated, this is sort of a fun issue.  There's not really a lot of commitment of brain power necessary to enjoy this -- no hidden agendas, major plot twists, etc.  It's straightforward all-ages fun.  You're right -- Jack must have been enjoying himself.

Karen: I think my closest comparison would be watching a 50s or 60s dinosaur movie, like Gorgo or even early Godzilla, or One Million Years BC (minus the 'talents' of Raquel Welch, of course).

Doug:  Karen mentions the Marvel Firsts trade.  The editors at times included letters pages when said pages contained essays from the creators.  I noticed that such a page follows the Devil Dinosaur story, written by Jack Kirby and inviting readers to tag along.  Did you happen to notice that any correspondence about the book was to go to Kirby at home in California?  So he did, indeed, have complete control over this book.  

Karen: That page was so striking I decided to drop it in at the end of our post. You're right, Kirby certainly wanted control over it all. Although I have read that at least on some of the titles -- Cap, maybe -- the letters pages were handled by Marvel. Our story opens with a splash page of a huge red dinosaur, probably a Tyrannosaurus Rex  rushing toward the reader. Sitting on his shoulders is a hairy human-like creature encouraging him forward. In a double-page spread, we see the red dinosaur, "Devil," rush forward at the urging of "Moon Boy," the ape man, to attack a triceratops. This spread is like looking at one of those dinosaur books you had as a kid: just about every dinosaur you can think of is pictured here -triceratops, ankylosaurus, stegosaurus, pterodactyl, etc. I apologize for the quality of the scan -the middle has come out blurred no matter how many times I try to flatten it out and scan it, but I still wanted to get it in here. Moon Boy says that Devil  must beat "Thunder-horn" to prove his superiority. The two gigantic dinosaurs clash and shake the entire valley. Ultimately, Devil winds up knocking Thunder-horn over the edge of a canyon where he disappears far below. The enormous red beast bellows his victory and Moon Boy swings around in the trees in celebration, happy knowing that his 'brother' has won again, ensuring food and safety for another day.

Doug:  The first three pages of the story were indeed bombastic!  I thought it was interesting in this battle scene that Kirby seemed to foreshadow later paleontological research that shows some dinosaurs formerly thought to be short-legged actually may have had longer limbs and would have been able to rear up on their hind quarters.  However, I think Jack grossly overestimates the usefulness of the "arms" of a tyrannosaurus rex...  When I read these pages, I thought of the old Little Orphan Annie exclamation "Leapin' Lizards!"

Doug:  You know, I'd have thought when I started to read this that the film Quest for Fire might have been an influence on Kirby.  But, in running a quick search I found that it didn't hit theaters until 1981.

Karen: As the two buddies stroll off into the moonlit night (in a nice little panel by Kirby), Moon Boy looks at the sky and recalls how the two met. It seems that Moon Boy, a member of the Small Folk, has always been unusually inquisitive. One night he wandered away from his camp to go look at the fire mountain. He watched it spew balls of molten fire as he cautiously moved closer. Suddenly, he came upon a group of brutish ape men, the Killer Folk. He hid and watched them. They had killed a large female devil beast (aka tyrannosaurus), and were now killing her young. I thought it was interesting that as Moon Boy watches them, he thinks, "It is told that all living creatures are food for the bellies of this folk!" I wondered if that might not be a hint that the Killer Folk were cannibals too?

Doug: I guess, by the way Kirby wrote that, it wouldn't be out of the question.  Those were savage times.  But -- they were times certainly not devoid of more modern concerns, such as male pattern baldness!  I cracked up when I saw that guy!

Karen: A group of the Killer Folk surround the last surviving young devil dinosaur. They decide that rather than clubbing him to death, they will burn him, as thanks to the mountain god. But suddenly, there is an explosion and a burst of fire from the ground. The savages flee, believing that the 'Night Spirits' have turned the mountain against them. Moon Boy runs out to the little dinosaur and sees that he is hurt; in fact, the fires have turned his green hide a bright red. Moon Boy tells the injured creature he will help him when suddenly he is attacked from behind by a 'leaper' - a man-sized, long- necked dinosaur who lunges at Moon Boy. The injured Devil manages to clamp down on the leaper's neck and hurl him across the plain. Moon Boy pledges to take the weakened Devil to the forest where he will help him to heal. The two companions find water and food and Devil soon heals and grows strong. The odd twosome become fast friends.But when they return to Moon Boy's village, his people run in fright from Devil. So Devil becomes Moon Boy's only friend, and vice versa. Devil has become the top dog in the forest and the two are pretty much at the top of the food chain. Again, a nice illustration here by Kirby.

Doug:  "Odd" would have been the understatement of 1978.  Has there ever been an odder couple?  OK, maybe Julia Roberts and Lyle Lovett.  Did I miss it somewhere why the fire turned Devil's hide red?  For a carnivore, he was pretty accepting of young Moon Boy, and conversely.  Ol' Moonie could have been lunch once Devil healed up.

Karen: I am assuming his skin was burned red, but yes, you'd think the poor bugger would be in so much pain that he'd die, or at the very least, be incapable of moving. But I guess Devil is a tough cookie. But yeah, why not eat the hairy kid? It'd be a much shorter series, I suppose. But the Killer Folk have not been idle. They are busy fighting amongst themselves for leadership of their murderous little group. They want to find a leader who can take down Devil. Once he's out of the way, they can control the valley. The old leader of the tribe is beaten by a challenger, Seven Scars, who claims he has a plan to trap Devil. He stirs the tribesmen up and they head out to build their trap. First up: set fire to the forest! These guys don't seem like the sharpest knives in the drawer.

Doug:  Mindless brutes would be a good description.  Did you notice that there are no females in the story at all?  Given the looks of the men-types, I'd hate to see the dames that contributed half of that DNA...  whoo-boy!  Question -- what exactly would be the goal in controlling the valley?  I'd think these fools already had enough to eat, and although territorial, they didn't seem to lack for space.  I'm thinking that by having Devil around, the situation in the valley was at least controlled.  Careful what you ask for...

Karen: Pure vengeance? Hate? Who knows. Again, not the brightest guys...Moon Boy awakens to the smell of smoke. He realizes the forest is on fire and gets Devil. The two of them see the woods ablaze and Moon Boy quickly figures out that it is not a natural disaster. Hundreds of dinosaurs go running from the flames as Devil instinctively heads for the mountain home of the Killer Folk. As they climb up the winding mountain path, Seven Scars and his ape men wait, with a pit filled with sharpened stakes ready to greet Devil and Moon Boy.

Doug:  I thought Moon Boy showed a pretty evolved mind to go through a litany of potential causes of the fires.  Kirby did a nice job of leaving us with a cliff-hanger ending.   

Karen: So what would happen next? I guess we'd have to get issue number two, or the Devil Dinosaur Omnibus (yes, Virginia, there is such a thing) to find out. Granted, this wasn't anything Earth-shattering, but it was a fun little story that I didn't mind reading.

Doug:  I don't know that I feel as strongly about seeking out future issues as I did with last week's look at the Eternals, but I suppose if someone stuck issue #2 under my nose I wouldn't be upset.

Karen: Kind of funny isn't it? I know I'm thinking about digging out some of my Eternals, and yeah, if I could find Devil Dinosaur on the cheap, well....

Doug:  Dare I say, too, that our look at Jack's return is getting stronger reviews by the week? 

Karen: I am very curious to see how our final subject, Machine Man, will fare next week! Can he keep things going?

This Comic's a Mutt -- a Mixture of All Kinds of Stuff!

Ka-Zar #3 (May 1974)
"Night of the Man-God!"
Mike Friedrich-Don Heck/Mike Royer

Doug: Lord of the Hidden Jungle time, kiddie-winkies. Today's fare is a look at that Golden Age pulp and comic book rip-off of Edgar Rice Burroughs' most famous creation, Bronze Age-style. Ka-Zar first appeared in the pulp magazines, then was brought to the four-color world as a property of Timely Comics, Marvel's predescessor. He first appeared in the Marvel Universe in X-Men #10 (March 1965).

Doug: The story tips off with Ka-Zar and Zabu walking through the jungle, Zabu bandaged at the shoulder from last issue's battle. As they walk along, they are attacked by a giant snake. Seeing Zabu as weak, the snake begins to exert its coils. It's the man with the knife, however, who leaps to his friend's defense. With the confidence and savagery that is required to survive in the prehistoric jungles beneath the Antarctic Circle, Ka-Zar frees Zabu. And as I said above, it's a very Tarzan-like Ka-Zar who hoists the dead reptile above his head, yelling out (only not in the language of the great apes!).

Doug: The next several pages are backstory and origin for this issue's super-baddie. In a previous ish, Ka-Zar and "his temporary ally, Shanna the She-Devil" (yeah, just wait...) had defeated Maa-gor, the last of the Man-Apes. Again, he is a Burroughs-like creation, reminiscent of the "50 frightful men" who inhabited Opar and protected the High Priestess, La. Maa-gor is smarting from the beatdown, and in his feeble brain seeks revenge on Ka-Zar. Reaching the forbidden mists of the Savage Land, Maa-gor stops. No one of his people ever survived the mists, yet Maa-gor stumbles in anyway. What happens appears to be akin to the Terrigen Mists of the Inhumans, as Maa-gor gets a heckuva lot smarter and better-looking. The narrator informs us that it is these mists which keep Zabu young and make Ka-Zar strong. I'm not really up on this lore, so I'll take his word for it!

Doug: So Maa-gor is now the Man-God, and he ain't happy. He mentally transforms his fur loincloth into a quite ugly zoot suit and then (don't ask me why) summons the consciousness of the South American mercenary El Tigre (see X-Men #25 -- what the heck??). Telling him they will share the wealth of the Savage Land, the Man-God then transports the two of them right into Ka-Zar's lair. Game on! Ka-Zar makes short work of El Tigre, and then he and the Man-God tussle a bit. Zabu gets in on the action, but ultimately Man-God comes out on top. Of course -- otherwise our story would only have been nine pages long! So as Chapter One ends, we the reader are treated to a centerfold map of the Savage Land, with art by Mike Royer. It's not exactly the most detailed map one might wish to see, but it's a nice add-in to the story.

Doug: Avengers fans will like the appearance of one Bobbi Morse, agent of SHIELD, who revives Ka-Zar. You see, Bobbi was tailing El Tigre when our Latino friend had his out-of-body experience, and then shortly thereafter hightailed it out of dodge on a plane. Using a tracer bug (uh huh), Bobbi trailed our do-badder to the Savage Land and saw the skirmish with the Man-God (Friedrich, c'mon...). So after the butt-kicking was laid down and the bad guys cleared out, Bobbi whipped out some smelling salts (I carry them everywhere I go. You?) and brought Lord Plunder back to the land of the awake.

Doug: We cut to Man-God and El Tigre, who are gloating over a device "left behind by an alien race". Basically it's a drill, and when Man-God turns it on, what pops out of the Earth but oil? El Tigre's pretty fired up, but then Ka-Zar arrives, and it's another melee. In the end, Ka-Zar is attacked by Zabu, now controlled by El Tigre. The tide of battle is turned, however, when Bobbi attacks. This throws off everyone's attention and timing, and although El Tigre gives her a whack upside the noggin, the distraction has allowed Ka-Zar time to empathically reconnect with Zabu. And they aren't happy! To be continued...

Doug: This was an OK story. Not great, maybe not even good. But it wasn't terrible, and in spite of Friedrich's somewhat sophomoric script (which required a fair deal of not only the suspension of disbelief, but also suspension of common sense) it was 15 minutes of Bronze Age entertainment. Don Heck's art was stiff as usual, but not totally distracting as it could be in this era. There are some scenes where he really put out in terms of detail and background illustration (now there's something you don't see much of in many modern comics), and I appreciated the effort. So I guess the story wasn't gripping enough to make me seek out Ka-Zar #4, but I'm not sad or upset that I read it. If nothing else, it was a nice little Tarzan story...