Welcoming The King (King Kirby 083)

When Jack Kirby made the leap from Marvel to DC at the beginning of the 70s, there was no fan network, no internet, no information sources for the average reader. A great deal of people didn't know who Jack was, or really understand the big significance of his arrival at DC. There were announcements of his coming that really told nothing to anyone who didn't already know who The King was, and generally left a lot of readers confused. But once he arrived, a number of text pieces popped up throughout the books introducing Jack, and introducing his concepts.
Two of the best introductions were also good contrasts to each other - one was written by Jack himself, the other a recollection of first meeting Kirby by rising star Marv Wolfman.
Let's look at that one first -

Jack's written introduction to himself came with an introductory note when it appeared in Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen:

 

Last i knew, 20 years later, Lisa was still "the kid from left field".

text pieces from Mister Miracle #1 and Jimmy Olsen #133 (1971)

Boy, Oh, Boy! (King Kirby 082)

As you may well know, Jack Kirby and his long-time partner Joe Simon, popularized the Kid Gang genre in comics. The 1970s revival of the Newsboy Legion and reprints of Boy Commandos brought an awareness of them to a new generation of readers. There were other titles, like Boy's Ranch giving the genre a western slant, but around here we like things Odd. So Boy Explorers was the one i liked best.
Boy Explorers were featured in text pages in the first couple issues of Stuntman before appearing in their own title. But that lasted only two issues before Terry And The Pirates took over (picking up the numbering at 3). Boy Explorers stuck around for another two issues there.
Here we find them a little earlier, hiding out over in Joe Palooka's book-

Okay. I know. Dream sequences aren't really all that odd since they're excused from normality by virtue of being a dream. But with the Boy Explorers, you never knew. They're regular adventures were odd enough - after all, they'd already been to The Edge Of The World in their second issue!
Let's jump over to Terry & The Pirates, the second half of the two-parter that ran in 3&4. Here they've found an Isle Where Women Rule -

Not the sort of adventure one might expect for the Boy Commandos. On the other hand, they get to be rescued by superheroes, so i guess it evens out...

Boy Explorers by Jack Kirby & Joe Simon from Joe Palooka #5 (1946) and Terry & The Pirates #4 (1947)

Right On Target (King Kirby 081)

Over the years, Jack Kirby worked on a lot of westerns, as he did most every other genre. His best known work in the genre is probably his Kid Colt, Outlaw covers for Marvel in the early 60s, and Boy's Ranch, produced with long-time partner Joe Simon.
For me, the greatest western work from The King was, again, partnered with Joe Simon for their Mainline publishing company, and later Charlton - Bulls Eye. For primary evidence, allow me to submit the fabulously designed covers for the 7 issue run. #5 is probably one of my all time favorite designs for any cover.

Simon & Kirby were rocking the west with this series. If those covers aren't enough to convince you, let's go to issue #3 (as we so often do) and take a look at the lead tale. Let me say right up front, this should be a genre, not just something we get on very rare occasions, like here and Valley Of Gwangi.
But, moving right along...

Bulls-Eye - the cowboy equivalent of a superhero, from fashion sense to story encounters. Only seven issues, and Jack didn't draw as much as i'd like - sometimes just the splash for a story - but i just dug him. And Kirby seemed to have fun with him, as in this sketch:

Now, here - go have some fun and color that groove-tastic cover from #5 yourself:

BullsEye by Simon & Kirby (1954-1955)

It Came From Command D! (King Kirby 080)

When Jack Kirby made the jump over to DC, i eagerly read everything he put out. But my favorite of the bunch was easily the kid from Command D - Kamandi: The Last Boy On Earth.
The King's wild take on then (and now again) popular Planet Of The Apes movies was its own world, separate from any constraints of sharing an active reality with other titles. This allowed Kirby to let his imagination run free and the joy of that freedom seemed to show in the work.
And none of that messing around for the big reveal that we've been on Earth all along at the end. Jack wants you to know right up front, on the cover -

But don't misunderstand - when i say it let his imagination run free, that doesn't mean he just scribbled down whatever came to mind. Kirby created worlds & mythologies whole cloth, and he knew far more of his worlds than he could share in the books. He once said that he had already lived his stories, and he knew where they were going long before we got there.
Kamandi was a fine example of this. In the very first issued, he mapped out where the book would go for the next 30 issues - literally!

The original map is the center image. Those little boxes are some of the splash panels over the next 28 issues to show story locations. Don't worry - they're all right below, in timeline sequence, so you can enjoy the Kirby goodness:

In issue #29, however, it seemed we had hit world's end...

No need to worry, though. Shortly thereafter, Jack just expanded the map:

I have not read any of what's been done with Kirby's creations in recent years. I wonder if the Kamandi Challenge takes us into any of these map areas? There's some for which i'd purely love to see what Jack had planned. I enjoyed participating in round robin challenges back in APA days, so i'll probably check that one out soon.

all page art by Jack Kirby & Mike Royer or D. Bruce Berry from Kamandi #s 1-32 (1972-1975)