BAB Book Review: Jack Kirby's Thor Artist Edition

Jack Kirby's Thor Artist Edition 
IDW Publishing, July 2016

Doug: On July 16th I returned home from my annual work at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC. While it was great to be back home after what had been 11 days away, it was also wonderful to finally lay eyes on this book. I'd ordered it many months ago, and as seems to be true with projects of this ilk I sat through a few publication delays. It arrived just a couple of days before I did, but trust me -- the wait was worth it!

For those of you who were with me a few weeks ago when I offered my thoughts on Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns Gallery Edition, I will again be using photographs of this text as opposed to scans. Similar in size to John Romita's Amazing Spider-Man Artifact Edition (and larger than the Dark Knight book), this is a cumbersome tome.

To get things rolling, how about this two-page spread to greet the reader/viewer?

To you stats geeks, here's the "tale of the tape" -- from the good folks at Comic Book Daily.com:

Jack Kirby’s The Mighty Thor Artist’s Edition
Includes Journey Into Mystery #s 111, 117-118, Thor #s 134-135, Thor Annual #2, plus a gallery of covers, splashes and pages.

• Publication Date: July 06, 2016 (solicited for May 2016)
• Publisher Series Number: 42
• ISBN: 978-1-63140-603-4
• Diamond Item Code: JAN160388 (In Stock)
• 15″ x 22″
• 160 pages
• $125 USD
• Initial Reported Sales: No data available yet
• Variants: none

Right after the frontispiece pictured above you'll find the Table of Contents, which is really nice, and I display it for those of you who might consider at some point purchasing this volume. I especially like that it shows the inkers involved in these artifacts. Toward the end of the post I'll show you some of the samples from the "gallery section", which really, really enhance the already wonderful offerings contained between these covers. Think about it -- six complete Jack Kirby Thor stories!

Once you're into the nitty gritty of the book, this is what greets the reader:

Oh, you said you wanted words? Well that splash sure had 'em! I love the way the page is marked up at the top, and it's amazing the lines that get lost in the printing process. I also enjoyed seeing the trim size of the final product (here at 6 1/4" x 9 1/4"). That brings me to something many of you are already wondering... what of Kirby's margin notes? Karen and I discussed offline how great this book should be, especially in light of the ongoing conversation of who did what creatively between Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Personally, I've always felt that Kirby was the storyteller and Stan was the wordsmith. Does that give one man more credit than the other? To me, no. The symbiosis of their collaboration, the gestalt of the work, is what matters. All the rest seems minutiae in the face of the greater work. My opinion. However, I'm sorry to report that some of those margin notes are not fully viewable in this book. I do not know if that's due to trimming at the printer five decades ago, or trimming in the photo process by IDW Publishing (I assume the former). However, there are abundant pages where Kirby's notes are complete, as in the examples below:

I included the image of Balder below (in civvies, no less) because there's some crazy white-out on his jaw/mouth. I hope my photographic reproduction shows it, as it really leapt off the page at me while looking through.

Here's another shot of the Destroyer, in a great splash from Thor Annual #2; he's a great looking character, one of my favorite Thor villains. And dig the Kirby Krackle!!

A favorite panel in the book. One can see how Kirby might have been an influence on the likes of John Buscema (which he was -- many of you know that Stan handed stacks of Kirby-drawn books to artists new to Marvel, regardless of their pedigree).

Splash pages. What would a Lee/Kirby Thor book be without the Odinsleep? And how about the Big G? Wowza!

Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch made a cameo in Thor #134. Kirby didn't handle them during the Kooky Quartet era, so it's interesting to see his take on the twins. As I said above, note Kirby's extensive margin notes on this page, lost forever to the trimming of the page at some point in the reproduction process.

The High Evolutionary and Kirby machines. That wolf ain't gonna be pretty once the High Ev. gets done with him!

Yes, you in the back of the room. You say you're in need of some more Kirby Krackle? Why... by all means...

As noted above, the end of the book contains a gallery section of awesome covers. I really got a kick out of these, with all their paste-up/white-out/stat glories! I also own the Marvel Covers Artist Edition, and the use of paste-ups was predominant on Marvel's covers. Obviously the logos, corner box art, etc. would have been stats. But you might (or might not) be surprised at how often art was glued onto the cover's bristol board.

Lastly, this Artist Edition contained several of the very earliest Thor pages, from Journey Into Mystery #s 83 and 85. It was a nice idea, and really showed the evolution of the character not only in Kirby's mind, but also from the introductory inks of Joe Sinnott all the way through much of the pages shown in this volume, inked by Vince Colletta. Specifically in regard to Vinnie, and I'm sure many of you want to ask, is it possible to see where Vinnie erased Jack's pencils? I've only been through the book twice, and haven't actually read from it. I also didn't take any sort of care as to "proper lighting". But my first impression is that "no", you can't really see any erasure marks. I will scrutinize further, but can report that I did initially feel disappointed that I could not find any evidence of Kirby's original intentions.

Why not close with a bang? One of the best ongoing tussles in all of Marveldom...

Doug: EPILOGUE!! On July 21st IDW Publishing announced at the San Diego Comicon that 2017 will see the publication of the first volume (read that again, effendi) of the Jack Kirby's Fantastic Four Artist Edition. The book will contain Fantastic Four issues #s 82-84 and Annual #6, all inked by Joe Sinnott. You know this guy cannot wait for that. In fact, I've recently fired up the sell-off machine again, so some books and action figures are going to get converted to cash for this baby. Of course I'll let you know if and when I have it in hand.

It's Memorial Day - Here's to Beating the Nazis! Invaders 35-37

 The Invaders #35 (December 1978)
"Havoc on the Home Front!"
Roy Thomas-Don Heck/Alan Kupperberg/Rick Hoberg

The Invaders #36 (January 1979)
"Crushed by the Iron Cross"
Roy Thomas-Alan Kupperberg/Chic Stone

The Invaders #37 (February 1979)
"The Liberty Legion Busts Loose"
Don Glut-Rick Hoberg/Alan Kupperberg/Chic Stone

Doug: Nostalgia's a powerful thing isn't it? Even as an adult, I couldn't wait for the first Invaders issue not drawn by Frank Robbins and Frank Springer. Trouble is, around the time those arrived, Don Heck got the art assignment. And here's my obligatory "I am not being mean to Don Heck" statement -- love the man's Silver Age work; his Bronze Age stuff not so much. So anyway, I'm working out of the Invaders Classic series of trades on this one -- volume 4 has the same cover as issue #35 above. The Whizzer was great during his brief tenure in the Avengers, wasn't he? Why wouldn't I be drawn back to this issue? Wait -- it has the whole Liberty Legion in it as well? Sign me up! Ah, but therein lies some trouble -- as you can see, today you're getting a full-blown arc rather than a single issue. But is that your gain?

Invaders #35, with pencils presumably by Alan Kupperberg

Doug: I'll start you off with three 100-Word Reviews, and then I'll go into my usual format for thoughts on the story. Here you go:

Invaders #35 - The Invaders are called Stateside to deal with a saboteur who made a “withdrawal” from a munitions installation. Cap, Namor, and the Torch are in Times Square meeting an adoring public when the Whizzer suddenly arrives. He relates (for us) a brief history of the Liberty Legion, and why he needs the Invaders’ help. Miss America had investigated a German-American tavern when she saw a professor kidnapped by two German toughs. Trailing them, she encountered the Iron Cross and engaged him in battle. She was joined by her Legion teammates, who were soon trounced. Hence the need for the Invaders.

Invaders #36 - The kidnapped man is Professor Schneider, designer of the Iron Cross armor. The wearer of the armor is Helmut Gruler, Schneider’s childhood friend. Gruler says time and again throughout the story that he is not a Nazi, somehow distancing his intense jingoism from the darker aspects of Hitler’s Germany. Gruler needs Schneider to make “improvements” to the Iron Cross armor. Meanwhile, the Invaders (now in an Atlantean ship) follow the trail of the captured Liberty Legion. Namor is engaged by the Iron Cross in the Atlantic, and their battle rips open the U-boat in which the Legion is being held.

Invaders #37 - As water pours through the gaping hole in the U-boat, the Iron Cross grabs Professor Schneider and hightails it out of there. Aboard the vessel, the crew unsuccessfully attempts to murder the Liberty Legion. Thin Man heads out into the ocean to assist Namor in getting the sub to the surface. They accomplish the task and once everyone’s safe, a team of Namor, the Torch, Miss America, and Red Raven pursue Iron Cross. The Torch melts the inner workings of the mechanical suit, causing Gruler to fall into the ocean; Schneider tells that the blueprints were destroyed with the suit.

Invaders #35, with pencils presumably by Don Heck

The Good: As alluded to above, the art. It's not spectacular -- and actually, one might consider it rather middling in comparison to other Bronze Age luminaries, especially the young guns who were breaking out in the late 1970s: Byrne, Perez, Miller, et al. I think my impression of it is just clouded by my joy at freedom from depictions of ballerinas in the throes of rigor mortis. Anyway, the pacing is really solid, all of the players look exactly as you think they should look, etc. Namor has a certain haughtiness about him as he should, Cap is focused, the Whizzer a bit frantic -- it's all here. The most interesting aspect of Invaders #35, however, is that you can plainly see the panels where Don Heck did the pencils and those where Alan Kupperberg did so. I've provided a few samples to support this. Again -- nothing wrong here... it's just noticeable.

I liked that we got a peek into the workings of the Stateside Liberty Legion, and to be perfectly honest wish we had been able to see more. I don't know if there was ever discussion of a spin-off WWII series featuring the Legion, but there should have been. Madeline Joyce seemed an able spy, and the angle that there would be an expatriate in New York who had built a weapon for Germany was a nice plotline. It is unfortunate, however, that as Miss America took the lead in the case she ended up being the one captured. "Helpless female" trope... You know, I look at the Liberty Legion the first time they are assembled in the story and there is really no reason they should not have been a successful launch on their own. The Whizzer and the Patriot do what Quicksilver and Captain America do, the Thin Man of course mimics Reed Richards, Red Raven = the Angel, Jack Frost is an early version of Iceman, and Blue Diamond would seem somewhat similar to Wonder Man. If we think of Miss America as the then-popular Ms. Marvel, then what's not to like? The Liberty Legion should have had the best of many corners of the Marvel Universe.

The flashbacks/recaps aspect of the story will serve as a segueway to my next section. While I think flashbacks are good for the month-to-month reader, let's face it -- this is no longer how we read comics. So while there was certainly merit in bringing new readers up to speed on the Liberty Legion's history, it did play out a bit long. Same thing for the origin of the Iron Cross armor. It wasn't bad -- just a bit cumbersome. I'm always torn about whether I liked the convention of one-page recaps that were en vogue when I stopped reading new comics (seemed a waste of a perfectly good splash page) or if I preferred the in-story rehashing of last month's details. I guess both have merit. 

The Bad: If Helmut Gruler had stated one more time that he was not a Nazi, I think I'd have screamed. But as a teacher of these sorts of issues, I did appreciate Roy Thomas's efforts. One aspect of the Holocaust that we strive to make clear with teachers we train at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is to use precise language. It's incorrect to make blanket statements such as "The Germans did..." or "The Nazis did..." simply because of issues of collaboration by non-Germans, and the point that Thomas makes with Gruler was true; it was certainly true that Gruler's nationalism could have existed without him being a member of the party. So while it became about as tiring as a Claremontian "I'm the best at what I do, and what I do isn't pretty.", I understood.

The Iron Cross was a somewhat formidable foe for our heroes, but really he was just a Titanium Man from an earlier era. And when you consider that Iron Man beat the Titanium Man by himself on numerous occasions, I never really felt like our heroes were threatened -- regardless of how much they got slapped around.

When the Thin Man ventured outside the damaged U-boat and attempted to repressurize it by pressing his body against the hull, I really had a difficult time suspending my disbelief. The pressure of the sea alone would have killed him. And with no breathing device? Pfah...

With such a large ensemble cast, it was tough for any of the heroes to get major face time. I thought the creators did a decent job of keeping everyone in character -- but such moments to shine were fleeting. Cap in particular seemed short-shrifted. I also felt like the Whizzer was pining just a bit too much for Miss America; given that she was arguably far more powerful than he, I'm sure she could take care of herself. She did, in fact, fight the Iron Cross to a standstill for several minutes, something Namor himself accomplished.

After giving some consideration to this story over several days, I'd suggest hopping in the wayback machine and running this tale as an annual. That would have pared it down a bit and probably made it read better. Just a thought.

The Ugly: The unevenness of the art could be jarring at times. I'd mentioned the panels that sometimes moved between Don Heck and Alan Kupperberg as lead penciler; I think the same thing happened in Invaders #37 between Kupperberg and Rick Hoberg. Additionally, the inks are incredibly sketchy at times in that issue. Sketchy like Vinnie Colletta hopped up on too much espresso. It wasn't bad art, per se; it just made me feel like I'd suddenly landed in a different book.

Invaders #37 - what's up with the scratchy inks in this portion of the book?

Time well spent? I won't say "no", because as I said at the top there was a definite sense of nostalgia and even love for these characters I followed in my youth. But fine literature? Uh, not so much. So let's just call it a nice diversion of four-color fun and leave it at that.

Arc of Triumph? Thor 232-234

Karen: Here's one of my favorite stories from Thor's 1970s run. Loki gains control of Asgard and invades Earth! He neutralizes all the super-heroes except Thor (of course). Thor teams up with the US military to stop him, and eventually Firelord shows up to help Thor. It all ends with a great confrontation between the two brothers. Gerry Conway wrote it, John Buscema drew it, and three different inkers -Dick Giordano, Chic Stone, and Joe Sinnott - well, inked it. Anyone else get a kick out of this story?

Tales of Asgard: Journey Into Mystery 102 and 103

 

Tales of Asgard -- Journey Into Mystery #102 (from the Tales of Asgard tpb)
"Death Comes to Thor!"
Stan Lee-Jack Kirby/Paul Reinman

Doug:  Welcome to November, where our Mondays will feature a series of short stories from the back end of Journey Into Mystery.  Today we're going to check in on the Godling of Thunder -- that's right.  Today we'll review tales from Thor's youth.  Both stories are from 1964.

Karen: One thing I do wish the TPB would do is list somewhere which issues of Journey into Mystery these stories are from. You've done some work to figure it out but a line of text at the bottom of the first page would've been appreciated.

Doug:  I couldn't agree more.  I had to look through each issue of Journey Into Mystery via the Comic Book Database in order to match-up the titles of these little vignettes with their appropriate home issue.  It wasn't too tedious, but definitely unnecessary had editorial merely added a Table of Contents!

Doug:  As we begin our first story, Thor has sought out the three Fates.  He wants to find out if he will ever possess the hammer of Odin.  But the Fates are mysterious -- they answer the question before he asks it!  And they give him a condition:  he will possess the hammer, yes... if he meets Death first.  So the over-confident godling rides off to find his fortune.  Back in Odin's palace, Thor again approaches the hammer, but can raise it only slightly off the ground.  Suddenly Balder staggers into the chamber, nearly dead.  He reports that storm giants ambushed him, and captured his sister -- the fair Lady Sif!  As you might imagine, Thor ain't pleased!

Karen: You have to love the expression on Thor's face as he tries to lift Mjolnir -it's pretty funny! I notice that we never see Balder face-on, but what we do see appears different from how we know him to look (ex. clean-shaven). Now two web sources state that Balder first appeared in JIM #85, but I wonder if it was just a throwaway appearance and whether Balder as we know him had been established yet?

Doug:  As guards enter the room, Thor swears to Balder that he will rescue Sif.  And wouldn't you know it -- as his Asgardian adrenaline begins to pump, that hammer comes right off the floor!  But, was it his strength, or something more?  Remember -- "Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor."  Let's find out just how worthy.  Claiming his steed, Thor rides right into the heart of the storm giant lands.  Two uglies come out to meet the Son of Odin, with one warning his comrade to beware.  By now Thor's got himself worked into a lather and strikes Mjolnir against the ground, splitting it!

Karen: That's a successful use of modern coloring there, with the blurring effect and the bright orange color, to really get across the power of Thor's blow as he breaks open the ground.

Doug:  The two guards fall into the chasm, and Thor rides off.  He recognizes his surroundings as the palace of King Rugga, and leaves a trail of bodies as he finally reaches the king's throne room.  Demanding that Rugga set fair Sif free, Thor instead is greeted with an almost apologetic cry from his adversary.  Rugga explains, basically, that he made a deal with the devil.  The Goddess of Death, Hela, had promised Rugga that she would make him immortal if he delivered Sif.  So he did.  Thor, now blind with rage, grabs Rugga and demands to know where he might find Hela.  Thinking the godling crazy, Rugga tells him -- and advises Thor to leave it alone.

Karen: So just who or what is Rugga? He doesn't look to be a giant. Hmmm....

Doug:  Thor finds and confronts Hela, and offers his own life as an offering in exchange for the life of Sif.  Hela is so taken aback by Thor's offer that she allows him to leave her dark realm -- and take the young Sif with him.  "...if he be worthy..." indeed!  This, then, is the tale of how Thor came to possess Mjolnir as his own.

Karen: I believe this is the goddess of death's first appearance. Her headdress is already quite complicated but the rest of her costume hasn't quite caught up yet. She's much more easily won over here than she would be later on. 

Doug:  I liked this story -- sort of simple, but that's what you get in a 5-pager.  I thought Jack Kirby did a good job of really getting us to believe that Thor was a youngster not yet fully into adulthood.  Sif looks even younger, which I suppose she was.  If Thor and Balder were contemporaries, then Sif must have been a younger sister.  She's nonetheless Kirby-beautiful.  Speaking of the art, though, I found myself missing Vinnie Colletta's familiar inks.  Feathery, yes, but Colletta's line is an integral part of Silver Age Thor mags!

Karen: Although I hate to say it, when it comes to Thor, I agree with you, Colletta did make a good combo with Kirby.

Tales of Asgard -- Journey Into Mystery #103 (from the Tales of Asgard tpb)
"Thor's Mission to Mirmir!"
Stan Lee-Jack Kirby/Chic Stone

Doug:  Our second story is also from the era before Thor had become an adult.  Odin has sent Thor on a mission which he must not fail.  It begins in the Asgardian mountains, in the homeland of the dwarfs.  These strong little people forge all of Asgard's weapons, and Thor has come specially to see Sindri, the king.  Sindri commissioned the construction of a tiny Norse ship -- but one that will grow to be large enough to transport Thor and his mates to any place in the universe!  Using it for the first time, Thor sails through space to the Dark Sea which surrounds the land of Mirmir.

Karen: I really love that Kirby and Lee took elements from the Norse myths and built stories around them. I recall reading about the amazing ship Skipbladnir from library books on Norse mythology when I was a wee child. It's fun seeing those things depicted in comics form.

Doug:  Mirmir looks like a craggy, desolate version of Skull Island.  As Thor comes ashore, he's met by Skord the flying dragon.  With typical braggadocio, the young Thunder God whirls his hammer in the beast's face.  But as the dragon surely prepared to be hit, Thor instead struck the ground, projecting a large boulder up and into the lizard's mouth.  Moving along his way, Thor next encountered a giant anthropomorphic warthog named Gullin.  Armed with his own hammer, the boar attacked the Odinson with a fury fraught from his incredible mallet.  But alas, enchanted Mjolnir was superior, and Gullin was forced to allow Thor to pass.

Karen: Only Kirby could draw a giant boar in armor and make me believe it...

Doug:  At last Thor reaches the palace of Mirmir, where the king sits awaiting.  There is no animosity here, no aggression.  Instead, it is as if Mirmir has been expecting the Son of Odin.  Thor produces a large twig, allegedly plucked from the Tree of Life.  Mirmir takes the switch and dips it into an enchanted fountain.  Swirling it gently, some of the mystical water runs over the edge of the bowl and drips down through time and space to light on Midgard.  Falling onto an alder and an ash, the water transforms the two trees into human beings -- Aske and Embla, the first humans, made in the image of the Asgardian gods!

Karen: The second part of our tale though varies a lot from the myths as I recall them! "Mirmir" sounds like "Mimir," the well/being where Odin would sacrifice an eye for knowledge. And the creation of mankind (Aske and Embla) was different in the books I read, with Odin and his  brothers breathing life into tree trunks. But hey, creative license and all. It looks good in any case.

Doug:  Stan remarks at the end of the story that this plot was freely lifted from the Norse myths.  It's a nifty little story, and an interesting take on the Creation story.  I have enjoyed these Tales of Asgard thus far -- there really is a fair share of action and characterization packed into the five-page parameter.  I'm still missing Vinnie, though.  Maybe next week?

 

Doug:  In case you missed the news yesterday evening, longtime DC artist Nick Cardy passed away Sunday at the age of 93.  Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends.  Thanks for some very fond memories, Nick!