Category: New Gods

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Sensation Comics Featuring Wonder Woman volume 1


By Gail Simone & Ethan Van Scriver, Amanda Deibert & Cat Staggs, James Bischoff & David A. Williams, Ivan Cohen & Marcus To, Sean Williams & Marguerite Sauvage, Ollie Masters & Amy Mebberson, Gilbert Hernandez & John Rauch, Rob Williams & Tom Lyle, Neil Kleid & Dean Haspiel , Corinna Bechko & Gabriel Hardman & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-5344-8 (TPB/Digital edition)

Beyond all dispute or doubt, Wonder Woman is the very acme of female role models. Since her premier in 1941 she has dominated every aspect of global consciousness to become not only a paradigm of comics’ very fabric but also a brilliant and vivid visual touchstone and mythic symbol to women everywhere. In whatever era you observe, the Amazing Amazon epitomises the perfect balance between thought and competence and, over those decades, has become one of that rarefied pantheon of literary creations to achieve meta-reality.

For decades, the official story was that the Princess of Paradise Island was conceived by psychologist and polygraph pioneer William Moulton Marston as a calculated attempt to offer girls a positive and forceful role model who would sell more funnybooks to girls. Thanks to forward-thinking Editor M.C. Gaines, an introductory guest shot for the Amazon in All Star Comics #8 (cover-dated December 1941 and on sale from the third week of October), served to launch her one month later into her own series – and the cover-spot – of new anthology title Sensation Comics. We now know Wonder Woman was in fact a team if not communal effort, with Moulton Marston acting at the behest of his remarkable wife Elizabeth and their life partner Olive Byrne.

An instant hit, Wonder Woman won an eponymous supplemental title (cover-dated summer 1942) some months later. That set up enabled the Star-Spangled Sensation to weather the vicissitudes of the notoriously transient comic book marketplace and survive beyond the Golden Age of costumed heroes beside Superman, Batman and a few lucky hangers-on who inhabited the backs of their titles. She soldiered on well into the Silver Age revival under the official auspices of Kanigher, Ross Andru & Mike Esposito, but by 1968 superhero comics were in decline again and publishers sought new ways to keep audiences interested as tastes – and American society – changed.

Barring a couple of early fill-ins by Frank Godwin, the vast majority of outlandish, eccentric, thematically barbed adventures they collectively penned were limned by classical illustrator Harry G. Peter. When Marston died on cancer in 1947, his assistant Joye Hummell carried on writing stories until DC replaced her with a man – in fact a “real Man’s Man” – Robert Kanigher…

Once upon a time on a hidden island of immortal super-women, American aviator Steve Trevor of US Army Intelligence crashed to Earth. Near death, he was nursed back to health by young, impressionable Princess Diana. Fearful of her besotted child’s growing obsession with the creature from a long-forgotten and madly violent world, Diana’s mother Queen Hippolyte revealed the hidden history of the Amazons: how they were seduced and betrayed by men but rescued from bondage by the goddess Aphrodite on condition they isolated themselves forever from the mortal world, devoting their eternal lives to becoming ideal, perfect creatures.

However with the planet in crisis, goddesses Athena and Aphrodite instructed Hippolyte to send an Amazon back with the American to fight for global liberty. Although forbidden to compete, closeted, cosseted teen Diana clandestinely overcame all other candidates to become their emissary: Wonder Woman.

On arriving in the Land of the Free she purchased the identity and credentials of lovelorn Army nurse Diana Prince, which elegantly allowed the unregistered immigrant to stay close to Steve whilst enabling the heartsick care-worker to join her own fiancé in South America.

The new Diana soon gained a position with Army Intelligence as secretary to General Darnell, further ensuring she would always be able to watch over her beloved. The Princess little suspected that, although the painfully shallow Steve only had eyes for the dazzling Amazon superwoman, the General had fallen for the mousy but supremely competent Lieutenant Prince…

Back then, the entire industry depended on newsstand sales and if you weren’t popular, you died. Editor Jack Miller & Mike Sekowsky stepped up with a radical proposal (a makeover in the manner of UK TV icon Emma Peel) and made comic book history with the only female superhero to still have her own title in that marketplace. Eventually the merely mortal troubleshooter gave way to a reinvigorated Amazing Amazon who battled declining sales until DC’s groundbreaking Crisis on Infinite Earths, after which she was radically rebooted.

There were minor tweaks in her continuity to accommodate different creators’ tenures, until 2011 when DC rebooted their entire comics line again and Wonder Woman once more underwent a drastic, fan-infuriating but sales-boosting root-&-branch re-imagining. Perhaps to mitigate the fallout, DC created a number of fall-back options such as this intriguing package: the first of three to date…

Sensation Comics Featuring Wonder Woman began as an online “digital first” series before being collected (months later) as a new standard print comic reprinting three post/chapters per issue. Crafted by a fluctuating roster of artists and writers, the contents highlighted every previous era and incarnation of the character – and even a few wildly innovative alternative visions – offering a variety of thrilling, engaging and sincerely fun-filled moments to remember.

The comic book iteration was successful enough to warrant its own series of trade paperback compilations which – in the fullness of time and nature of circularity – gained their own digital avatars as eBooks too.

This first full-colour compilation collects Sensation Comics Featuring Wonder Woman #1-5 (October 2014 – February 2015), displaying a wealth of talent and cornucopia of different insights, starting with Gail Simone & Ethan Van Scriver’s ‘Gothamazon’, detailing how a mythologically militaristic Wonder Woman uncompromisingly, permanently cleans up Batman’s benighted home when the Gotham Guardians are taken out of play…

Amanda Deibert & Cat Staggs’ ‘Defender of Truth’ pits the Amazon against man-hating sorceress Circe to deliver a lesson that never gets old before ‘Brace Yourself’ from James Bischoff & David A. Williams reveals how little Princess Diana spent her formative years testing her growing abilities – and the Queen’s patience and love…

In ‘Taketh Away’ Ivan Cohen & Marcus To tackle an interesting issue by addressing the religious implications of a pagan-worshipping hero in Judaeo-Christian America whilst delivering an action-packed mystery and super duel with old enemies Cheetah and Doctor Psycho, before Sean Williams & Marguerite Sauvage explore her media profile as crime buster, role model and singer/lead guitarist with global rock sensation ‘Bullets and Bracelets’.

‘Morning Coffee’ by Ollie Masters & Amy Mebberson offers a quirky, manga-inspired duel of wits and ideologies with infallible thief Catwoman after which Gilbert Hernandez & colourist John Rauch go incontrovertibly retro for a blockbusting Silver-Age celebration of maidenly might as Wonder Woman, Mary (Shazam!) Marvel and Supergirl smash robots, aliens, supervillains and each other in cathartically cataclysmic clash ‘No Chains Can Hold Her!’

An alternate Earth mash-up by Rob Williams & Tom Lyle sees the classic Justice League and Thanagarian shapeshifter Byth face the ‘Attack of the 500-Foot Wonder Woman’ whilst ‘Ghosts and Gods’ (Neil Kleid & Dean Haspiel) finds the Golden Age Amazon and trusty aide Etta Candy united with restless spirit Deadman to foil the schemes of immortal eco-terrorist Ra’s Al Ghul.

The comic cavalcade concludes on a far more sombre and sinister note as ‘Dig for Fire’ by Corinna Bechko & Gabriel Hardman discloses how Diana invades Hellworld Apokolips to rescue two Amazon sisters only to discover amidst the horror and degradation that true evil is not the sole preserve of depraved New God Darkseid…

Augmented by spectacular covers-&-variants from Van Scriver & Brian Miller, Phil Jimenez & Romula Farjardo Jr., Ivan Reis, Joe Prado & Carrie Strachan, Adam Hughes & Lawrence Reynolds, this fascinating snapshot of the sheer breadth and variety of visions Wonder Woman has inspired in her decades of existence is one to delight fans old and new alike.
© 2014, 2015 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Steel: A Celebration of 30 Years


By Louise Simonson, Jon Bogdanove, Christopher Priest, Grant Morrison, Mark Schultz, Mateo Casali, Steve Lyons, Scholly Fisch, Matt Kindt, Chris Batista, Denys Cowan, Arnie Jorgensen, Doug Mahnke, Darryl Banks, Scott Cohn, Ed Benes, Rags Morales, Brad Walker, Patrick Zircher, June Brigman & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-7795-2173-6 (HB/Digital edition)

All superhero sagas seek to forge fresh legends and mythologies for and around their protagonists and antagonists. A select few (like Thor, Wonder Woman, Hercules, Fables or Robin Hood) can shortcut the process by borrowing from already established communal story traditions. Steel always leaned into the latter: adapting and reiterating the folklore of actual historical personage John Henry: a 19th century African American Freedman known as the “steel-driving man” who worked building railroads and died proving human superiority and tenacity over technological innovation.

This epic compilation – part of a dedicated series reintroducing and exploiting the comics pedigree of DC icons – offers snapshots of a modern black Thomas Edison (or more accurately Tony Stark) who is equal parts impassioned justice seeker, dynamic defender and modern Hephaestus. Through groundbreaking appearances as part of the Superman Family, and standing on his own two jet-booted feet in the ever expanding DCU, it features material from Adventures of Superman #500, Superman: The Man of Steel #22, 100, 122, Steel (volume 1) #1, 34, JLA #17, Justice League Unlimited #35, Steel (volume 2) #1, Action Comics #4, Suicide Squad #24, and The Death of Superman 30th Anniversary Special #1, and like all these curated collections offers introductory essays preceding time-themed selections. We open with Part I: 1993-1998 – The Forging of a Hero by Steel co-creator Louise Simonson prior to her, Jon Bogdanove & Dennis Janke’s tantalising teaser ‘First Sighting’ as seen in Adventures of Superman #500. In the aftermath of catastrophe a new threat imperils the streets of Metropolis and a battered but mighty figure stirs from the rubble muttering “Doomsday”…

Steel’s story began with landmark publishing event The Death of Superman: a 3-pronged story-arc depicting the martyrdom, loss, replacement and resurrection of the World’s Greatest Superhero in a stellar saga which broke all records and proved that a jaded general public still cared about the venerable, veteran icon of Truth, Justice and the American Way. After a brutal rampage across Middle America, a mysterious marauding monster had only been stopped in the heart of Metropolis by an overwhelming and fatal effort on Superman’s part. Dying at the scene, the fallen hero’s body was subject of many legal battles before it was ostensibly laid to rest in a tomb in Metropolis’ Centennial Park. As Earth adjusted to a World Without a Superman, rumours began to circulate that, like Elvis, the Man of Tomorrow was not dead. The aforementioned ‘First Sightings’ revealed how across America four very different individuals appearing, saving lives and performing good deeds as only the departed defender could…

In Superman: The Man of Steel #22 (July 1993), Simonson, Bogdanove, Chris Batista & Rich Faber introduced construction worker Henry Johnson – who had been saved by Superman in the past – who felt compelled to carry on the hero’s mission. After witnessing first-hand street kids murdered by super weapons in the hands of “gangbangers” he built a high-tech suit of armour to facilitate his crusade as. Whilst outraged urban inventor attended disasters and began cleaning up the streets of Metropolis as ‘Steel’, he relentlessly searched for those who used deadly new “toastmasters”: a weapon Irons had designed in another life…

Tracking the munitions enabled him to save the life of a fortune-teller and brought him into savage conflict with White Rabbit – a new criminal major player in the city challenging the secret control of Lex Luthor – but his life only got more complicated the morning after, when Psychic Rosie went on TV claiming Steel was possessed by the unquiet soul of Superman…

To see how that  situation was resolved check out Reign of The Supermen collections but here – following the defeat of the Cyborg-Superman – our ironclad iconoclast underwent a partial refit in Steel (volume 1) #1, as writers Simonson & Bogdanove and artists Batista & Rich Fabee ‘Wrought Iron’ with Johnson resuming his previous identity as John Henry Irons and returning to his hometown and family in Washington D.C. ready to settle the problems he had originally fled from.

Welcomed back by niece Natasha, he and she are almost killed in another gang war and toastmaster crossfire, so John Henry begins a sustained and convoluted campaign against his former corporate employers Amertek, White Rabbit and the lying SOBs who allowed his junked superweapons program (AKA the BG60) to be sold to criminals. His first task is to upgrade and reforge his briefly retired armoured identity…

After an epic career as a reluctant superhero, John Henry and Natasha relocate to Jersey City as Christopher Priest, Denys Cowan & Tom Palmer reboot proceedings. In ‘Bang’ he reinvents himself as a maker of medical hardware and prosthetics working for a barely disguised supervillain. With all concerned leaning heavily into the perceived notion of Steel as a second-rate substitute, Priest consequently crafted one of the funniest and most thrilling superhero series of the decade and one long overdue to be featured in its own collection.

Steel was becoming increasingly popular and was rewarded with membership in the new sensation-series – the reconstituted Justice League. Here in his April 1998 induction from JLA #17, Grant Morrison, Arnie Jorgensen, David Meikis & Marl Pennington show ‘Prometheus Unbound’ as the ambitious neophyte supervillain attacks the entire League in their moon base Watchtower. As recent recruits Huntress, Plastic Man, fallen angel Zauriel and covert information resource Oracle join the regular team invite the world’s press to their lunar base, this unwise courtesy inadvertently allows the insidious seemingly unstoppable mastermind to infiltrate and almost destroy them.

The heroes – despite initially succumbing to Prometheus’ blitz-attack – strike back, aided by unlikely surprise guest-star Catwoman and the last-minute appearance of New Gods Orion and Big Barda proffering yet more hints of the greater threat to come. Although playing a significant part in the win, Steel is not really a star here but at least proves he can play well with the big dogs…

Priest then provides fascinating insight to his take on Dr. Irons and his tenure’s overt concentration of racism and comedy in an essay segueing neatly into Part II: 2000-2011 – Forging the Future prior to adventures in a new millennium.

In Superman: The Man of Steel #100 (May 2000), Mark Schultz, Doug Mahnke & Tom Nguyen offer a ‘Creation Story’ as John Henry and Natasha set up shop in Metropolis with their (she’s a SuperGenius too and ultimately also became an mecha-outfitted superhero) “Steelworks” facility, helping Superman reconstruct his Fortress of Solitude from recovered Kryptonian and Phantom Zone raw materials. The artificers are unaware that an old enemy is sending new menace Luna and her Cybermoths to plunder their achievements…

Despite their always being the best of friends, Superman: The Man of Steel #122 (March 2002) notionally succumbs to the inevitable in Superman v Steel’ by Schultz, Darryl Banks & Kevin Conrad as Irons battles crippling anxieties after accepting a potential trojan horse weapon – the Entropy Aegis – from Darkseid and using it as the basis of new armour. With monsters trying to reclaim it and Superman begging him not to use it, frayed tempers snap…

As well as an ill-received – and unjustly derided – cinema iteration (really! – check it out with more forgiving modern eyes), Steel made the jump to television numerous times. The best was his tenure in the Cartoon Network Justice League/Justice League Unlimited animated shows and the comic books they spawned. Next up here is Mateo Casali, Scott Cohn & Al Nickerson’s all-ages romp ‘The Cycle’ (Justice League Unlimited #35, September 2007), with John Henry and Natasha in the Watchtower before leading the team against reawakened elder gods The Millennium Giants…

Having grown overlarge and unwieldy once more, DC took a draconian leap as its continuity was again pruned and repatterned. In October 2011, publishing event Flashpoint led to a “New 52”: radical yet mostly cosmetic changes that barely affected the properties reimagined. Just before that kicked off, John Henry got a stirring “hail and farewell” in Steel (volume 2, 2011) #1. ‘Reign of Doomsday, Part 1: Full Circle’ by Steve (Doctor Who) Lyons & Ed Benes opened a Superman Family mass-crossover as the marauding monster returned to crush all S-Sheild superstars, starting with John Henry before moving on to The Outsiders and others…

Concluding chapter Part III: 2012-Present – The First Black Superman opens with a treatise and career appraisal of “DC’s Iron Man” by Bogdanove, after which the techno-warrior is reimagined by Morrison, Rags Morales, Rick Bryant & Sean Parsons in Action Comics (volume 2) #4, January 2012. ‘Superman and the Men of Steel’ sees a young Man of Tomorrow starting out as a vigilante, pursued by Military Consultant Lex Luthor and losing to the latter’s Kryptonite fuelled cyborg Metallo until a technologist working on the Steel Soldier program dons the armour he’s building to save the embattled young hero…

From the same issue, ‘Hearts of Steel’ – by Scholly Fisch, Brad Walker & Jay David Ramos – concludes the 3-way war and provides insight into the valiant newcomer, before Suicide Squad #24 (volume 4, December 2013) taps into publishing event Forever Evil with ‘Excuse the Mess…’ by Matt Kindt, Patrick Zircher & Jason Keith. As Earth is infiltrated by invaders from an alternate reality, conscripts of Amanda Waller’s penal unit (Thinker, King Shark, Captain Boomerang, Deadshot and Harley Quinn) rebel when the world’s supervillain community unites to crush the heroes. Opposing the rebellion and fighting to keep a living WMD from them are an Unknown Soldier, vigilante Warrant, Power Girl and Steel…

In 2015, as the New 52 experiment staggered to a conclusion, a series of company-wide events offered speculative glimpses at what might have been. Following 2014’s Futures End came Convergence in April 2015: a series of character-derived micro-series referencing key periods in the amalgamated history of DC heroes. Crafted by Simonson, June Brigman, Roy Richardson & John Rauch, Convergence: Superman: Man of Steel #1-2 depicted ‘Divided We Fall’ & ‘United We Stand’ as assorted cities from varied publishing epochs of continuity are imprisoned under domes by Telos, slave of Brainiac and ordered to fight each other until only one survives. Referencing their 1990s iteration, Irons, Natasha and nephew Jemahl armour up beside maniacal villain The Parasite to battle the abrasive superteens of Gen 13…

We end by turning full circle as Louise Simonson, Jon Bogdanove & colourist Glenn Whitmore share undisclosed secrets from the first appearance of Steel, as finally revealed in The Death of Superman 30th Anniversary Special #1 (November 2022).‘Time’ expands on ‘First Sightings’, taking readers back to the moments Doomsday ripped through Metropolis and showing how “Henry Johnson” saved lives as he ran towards the life or death battle to aid Superman however he can…

With covers by Bogdanove & Janke, Dave Johnson, Howard Porter & John Dell, Doug Mahnke & Tom Nguyen, John Cassaday & Richard Horie, Zach Howard, Alex Garner, Morales & Brad Anderson, Steve Skroce & Jason Keith, Walter Simonson & Dave McCaig, these tales span cover-dates January 1993 to November 2022; a period where black heroes finally became acceptable comics currency – at least for most people – and this too brief collation of groundbreaking yarns only begs the question: why isn’t more of this wonderful stuff already available?
© 1993, 1994, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2007, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2022, 2023 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Crisis on Multiple Earths Book 3: Countdown to Crisis


By Gerry Conway, Roy Thomas, Kurt Busiek, George Pérez, Marv Wolfman, Dick Dillin, Don Heck, Adrian Gonzales, Chuck Patton, Keith Pollard, Rich Buckler, Alan Kupperberg, Jerry Ordway & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-7795-2176-7 (TPB/Digital edition)

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Unmissable Family Get-togethers… 9/10

As I’ve incessantly mentioned, I was a “Baby Boomer” raised on Julie Schwartz, Gardner Fox and John Broome’s gradual reintroduction of Golden Age superheroes during the halcyon, eternal summery days of the early 1960s. To me, those fascinating counterpart crusaders from Earth-Two weren’t vaguely distant memories rubber-stamped by parents or older brothers – they were cool, fascinating and enigmatically new. And for some reason the “proper” heroes of Earth-One held them in high regard and treated them with obvious deference…

The transcendent wonderment began in The Flash: pioneering trendsetter of the Silver Age Comics Revolution. Showcase Editor Julie Schwartz ushered in a new age with his landmark successes – which also included Adam Strange, Green Lantern, The Atom and (in The Brave and the Bold) Hawkman – directly leading to the invention of the Justice League. That in turn inspired the Fantastic Four and Marvel’s entire empire – changing forever the way comics were made and read…

Whereas the 1940s were about magic and macho, the Silver Age polished everything with a thick veneer of SCIENCE and a wave of implausibly rationalistic concepts which filtered into the dawning mass-consciousness of my generation. The most intriguing and ultimately rewarding was, of course, the notion of parallel worlds. After triumphantly ushering in the return of superheroes, the Scarlet Speedster – with Fox & Broome writing – set an unbelievably high standard for costumed adventure in sharp, witty tales of science and imagination, illustrated with captivating style and refined simplicity by Carmine Infantino.

The epochal epic that changed American comics forever was Fox’s ‘Flash of Two Worlds’ (Flash #123 September 1961, reprinted in many places, but not here): introducing to an emerging continuity the concept of alternate Earths and, the multiversal structure of the future DCU, as well as all successive cosmos-shaking yearly Crises sagas that grew from it.

… And again, where DC led, others followed…

Received with tumultuous acclaim, the notion was revisited in Flash #129 which teasingly reintroduced evergreen stalwarts – Wonder Woman, Hawkman, Green Lantern, The Atom, Doctor Mid-Nite and Black Canary: venerable members of the Justice Society of America. Clearly Editor Schwartz had something in mind…

The tale led to the elder team’s first meeting with the Justice League of America and start of an annual tradition. When ‘Flash of Two Worlds’ brought us the notion of Infinite Earths and alternate iterations of costumed crusaders, fans began agitating for the return of the Greats of the Golden Age. Editorial powers-that-be were hesitant, fearing too many heroes would be silly and unmanageable, or worse yet, put readers off. If they could see us now…

These innovative adventures generated an avalanche of popular and critical approval (big sales figures, too) so inevitably the trans-dimensional tests led to the ultimate team-up in the summer of 1963. Once DC’s Silver Age heroes began regularly meeting their Golden Age predecessors from “Earth-Two”, a yearly tradition commenced and every summer (ish) the JLA would team-up with the JSA to combat a trans-dimensional threat. This gloriously enthralling volume celebrating Infinite Diversity in Infinite Costumes gathers the last combinations and summer double-headers starring the JLA & JSA and includes another outreach team-up designed to set young hearts racing and pulses pounding.

Encompassing October 1979 – November 1984, Justice League of America #171-172, 183-185, 195-197, 207-209, 219-220, 231-232, All-Star Squadron #14-15 and DC Comics Presents Annual #1 cover a transitional period as DC prepared for its 50th anniversary by planning to destroy everything they had built in Crisis on Infinite Earths. The collection opens with a locked-room mystery by Gerry Conway, Dick Dillin & Frank McLaughlin as ‘The Murderer Among Us: Crisis Above Earth One!’ sees the League feting the Society in their satellite HQ and horrified to find one of their veteran guests throttled by unseen hands.

With no possible egress or exit, the greatest detectives of two worlds realise one of their heroic complement must be the cold-blooded killer and a methodical elimination of suspects leads to tense explorations and explosive repercussions in the revelatory finale ‘I Accuse…’

With the next summer’s team-up an artistic era ended as criminally underappreciated illustrator Dick Dillin passed away whilst drawing the saga. He and McLaughlin only completed Conway’s first chapter – ‘Crisis on New Genesis or, Where Have All the New Gods Gone?’ – leaving up-and-coming star George Pérez to fill some very big boots (and gloves and capes and…).

An epic confrontation between JLA, JSA and futuristic deities of Jack Kirby’s astounding Fourth World in #183-185 (October-December 1980) begins with the assembled heroes unilaterally shanghaied out of the regular universe and transported to transdimensional paradise planet New Genesis. That world is utterly deserted but for a furiously deranged warrior Orion who seems set on crushing them all. Happily, he is stopped by late-arriving Mister Miracle, Big Barda, Oberon and Metron who reveal their fellow gods have been captured and sent to hell-world Apokolips by three Earth-2 villains. The world has been in turmoil since Orion killed evil overlord Darkseid. In the interim the vanquished devil’s spirit travelled to Earth-Two and recruited The Shade, Icicle and Fiddler to resurrect him…

Details are reviewed in ‘Crisis Between Two Earths or, Apokolips Now!’ (Conway, Pérez & McLaughlin) as – freshly restored – Darkseid strives to make his still-tenuous existence permanent. In response, the heroes split up to stop him by hitting key components of his technology and support teams. En route they encounter a resistance movement of battle-scarred super-powered toddlers, the horrific reason New Genesisians were initially taken and even how Darkseid plans to invade the natural universe by cataclysmically warping Apokolips into the space currently occupied by Earth-Two…

The diabolical denouement reveals a ‘Crisis on Apokolips or, Darkseid Rising!’, as the scattered champions reunite to stop imminent catastrophe and set the worlds to rights in an explosive clash with no true resolution. Such is the nature of undying evil…

Issues #195-197 (October-December 1981, edited by Len Wein) offered action and intrigue in ‘Targets on Two Worlds’ (Conway, Pérez & John Beatty), as Earth-Two’s premiere mad scientist and serial body-snatcher The Ultra-Humanite gathers a coterie of villains from his own world and Earth-One into a new incarnation of the Secret Society of Super-Villains.

The wily supergenius has divined that by removing five specific Leaguers and JSA-ers from their worlds he can achieve an alteration of the Cosmic Alignment and create a world utterly devoid of all superheroes. Selling the plan to his suspicious pawns Monocle, Psycho Pirate, Brain Wave, Rag Doll, The Mist, Cheetah, Signalman, Killer Frost and Floronic Man is relatively easy. They can see the advantages and have no idea the duplicitous savant is playing them for his own ultimate advantage…

Inked by Romeo Tanghal, the plan successfully concludes in ‘Countdown to Crisis!’ as Earth-One’s Batman, Black Canary, Wonder Woman, Firestorm and Atom are ambushed with their other-world guests Flash/Jay Garrick, Hourman, Hawkman, Superman and Johnny Thunder. Despatched to an inter-dimensional void, they learn the longed-for Realignment results in a hero-free planet as the triumphant miscreants quickly fall out. Similarly banished, Earth-One’s villains spitefully retaliate by freeing the lost heroes from a ‘Crisis in Limbo!’ (illustrated by Keith Pollard, Pérez & Tanghal) and join them in crushing the Ultra-Humanite to restore the previous status quo…

DC Comics Presents Annual #1 (September 1982) then adds another crucial component of Crisis on Infinite Earths, as Marv Wolfman, Rich Buckler & Dave Hunt reintroduce the world where good and evil are transposed. ‘Crisis on Three Earths!’ sees the Supermen of Earths One & Two again thrash their respective nemeses Lex and Alexei Luthor only to have the villains flee to another universe…

In Case You Were Wondering: soon after the Silver Age brought back an army of costumed heroes, ‘Crisis on Earth-One’ (Justice League of America #21, August 1963) and ‘Crisis on Earth-Two’ (in #22) became one of the most important stories in DC history and arguably one of the most important tales in American comics. Sequel saga ‘Crisis on Earth-Three’ & ‘The Most Dangerous Earth of All!’ (JLA#29-30) reprised the team-up thrills after the super-beings of yet another alternate Earth discovered the secret of multiversal travel.

Unfortunately, Ultraman, Owlman, Superwoman, Johnny Quick and Power Ring were super-criminals The Crime Syndicate of Amerika on a world without heroes. They see the JLA and JSA as living practise dummies to sharpen their evil skills upon…

Back at the DCCP Annual, the Luthors land on Earth-3 and begin transdimensional attacks on their archenemies: even tentatively affiliating with Ultraman whilst treacherously planning to destroy all three Earths…

This potential cosmic catastrophe prompts the brilliant and noble Alex Luthor of Earth-Three to abandon his laboratory, turn himself into his world’s very first superhero and join the hard-pressed Supermen in saving humanity three times over…

That same year later – specifically October-December 1982 – the annual scenario expanded into a sprawling multi-title extravaganza: a team-up and chronal crossover encompassing Justice League of America #207-209 and WWII set All-Star Squadron #14-15. Played out across alternate universes and divergent histories, the drama commenced in Justice League #207 as ‘Crisis Times Three!’ (Conway, Don Heck & Tanghal) sees members of the JSA diverted from a trans-dimensional exchange and rendezvous with the JLA.

They are deposited on a terrifying post-apocalyptic alternate Earth where 1962’s Cuban Missile Crisis resulted in atomic war, whilst the JLA are smashed by the unexpected arrival of their evil counterparts the Crime Syndicate of Earth-Three. As the lost JSAers explore a nuclear nightmare, the story unfolds and an old enemy is exposed. This Earth was devastated due to the intervention of malign time-meddler Per Degaton…

Having barely survived the attack of the Syndicators, a team of Justice Leaguers – Superman, Zatanna, Firestorm, Hawkman and Aquaman – jump to Earth-Two and discovers a fascistic society which has been ruled by Degaton since the 1940s. Barely escaping, they then plunge back down that timeline to January 1942 to solve the mystery and stumble upon the JSA’s wartime branch: the All-Star Squadron…

After the creation of Superman and the very concept of Superheroes, arguably the next most groundbreaking idea for comic books was to stick a bunch of individual stars into a team. Thus when anthology title All Star Comics #3 revealed its previously solo line-up interacting as a comradely group, the very nature of the genre took a huge leap in evolution.

The Justice Society of America inspired innumerable similar iterations over decades but for many of us tragically nostalgia-paralysed fans, the original and genuine pioneers have always been Simply the Best.

Possibly their greatest living fan, advocate and perpetuator is writer, editor and historian Roy Thomas who has long championed – when not actually steering – their revivals and continued crusades against crime, tyranny and injustice. When he moved from Marvel to DC in the early 1980s, Thomas created Arak, Son of Thunder and Captain Carrot, wrote Batman and Wonder Woman and inevitably revived the world’s original Super-Team. Moreover, he somehow convinced DC’s powers-that-be to put them back where they truly belonged – battling for freedom and democracy in the white-hot crucible of World War II. The All-Star Squadron was comprised of minor characters owed by DC/National and All American Comics, retroactively devised as an adjunct to the main team and indulging in “untold tales” of the War period…

The action resumes in All-Star Squadron #14, courtesy of writer Thomas and illustrators Adrian Gonzales & Jerry Ordway. In ‘The Mystery Men of October!’ they are an unknown quantity to the recently arrived Leaguers in search of Degaton. Their arrival coincides with the rogue recovering his erased memories, stealing his boss’s time machine (long story: buy the book for the full details) and heading into the time stream where he encounters and liberates the Crime Sydicators from an energy-prison the heroes had created for them…

Joining forces, the murderous monsters foray forward and across the realities. Arriving in a 1962 and stealing nuclear missiles Russia had stockpiled in Cuba, they precipitate a clash of wills between President John F. Kennedy, Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev and Fidel Castro triggering atomic Armageddon. Sadly, none of this is known to the JLA or All-Stars in 1942 who see costumed strangers and instantly attack…

That battle ends in JLA #208 after Degaton makes his ultimatum known: America and the world’s total surrender or successive detonation of dozens of atomic super explosives in many nations. Happily the heroes of two eras are ready to stifle ‘The Bomb-Blast Heard ‘Round the World’ (Conway, Heck & Sal Trapani) and deploy accordingly. They are soon joined by JSA comrades from 1982 who have escaped their dystopian dungeon dimension and headed back 40 years for the beginning of the end in A-SS #15’s all-action clash of titans ‘Masters of Worlds and Time!’ (Thomas, Gonzales & Ordway).

The senses-shattering conclusion comes in JLA #209 with Conway & Heck detailing the cautious restoration of all consensus realities in ‘Should Old Acquaintances Be Forgot…’

Thomas joined Conway scripting the penultimate pairing (JLA #219-220 October to November) with Chuck Patton, Tanghal & Pablo Marcos illustrating ‘Crisis in the Thunderbolt Dimension!’ and ‘The Doppelgänger Gambit!’

Here an attack on Earth-One by a coterie of villains from both worlds begins with the magical Thunderbolt of retired JSA stalwart Johnny Thunder inexplicably ambushing the Justice League’s biggest guns. With the heroes in comas, The Wizard, Fiddler, Felix Faust, The Icicle, Chronos and Dr. Alchemy plunder the planet as the remaining costumed champions uncover a shocking secret about Earth-Two émigré Black Canary and clash with a long-forgotten foe who can also control the electrical genie who exposes an awful secret and the hidden history of the JSA… before the good guys and – late addition Sargon the Sorcerer – lower the boom again…

The end of the tradition came one year later as Kurt Busiek, Alan Kupperberg & Buckler debuted a quarrelsome clan whose ‘Family Crisis!’ had cosmic repercussions. Spanning #231 & 232 it begins when Dr. Joshua Champion inadvertently opens the doors of reality and allows a marauding force to enter and endanger all existence. Altered by the exchange, Champion’s children enlist the aid of the JLA and JSA to resist and repel the ghastly Commander on all ‘Battlegrounds!’ imaginable…

Guest-starring Supergirl, the nuanced saga saw realities topple and reborn, as an appearance of The Monitor and his future Harbinger presaged bigger surprises in store…

With previous collection art, covers by Dillin, Dick Giordano, Jim Starlin, Bob Smith, Pérez, Mike DeCarlo, Buckler, Joe Kubert and Patton, plus full biographies of creators, this is a nostalgic delight for all who love superheroes and villains, crave carefully constructed modern mythologies and adore indulgently fantastic adventure, great causes and momentous victories: captivating Costumed Dramas no lover of Fights ‘n’ Tights fun could possibly resist.
© 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 2023 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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The Jack Kirby Omnibus volume 2 – starring The Super Powers


By Jack Kirby, with Mike Royer, D. Bruce Berry, Wally Wood, Pablo Marcos, Adrian Gonzalez, Greg Theakston, Alex Toth, Vince Colletta, Joe Simon, Denny O’Neil, Martin Pasko, Steve Sherman, Michael Fleisher, Joey Cavalieri, Paul & Alan Kupperberg, Bob Rozakis & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-3833-9 (HB)

Famed for larger-than-life characters and gigantic, cosmic imaginings, Jack Kirby was an astute, imaginative, spiritual man who lived through poverty, gangsterism, the Depression, Post-War optimism, Cold War paranoia, political cynicism and the birth and death of peace-seeking counter-cultures. He was open-minded and utterly wedded to the making of comics stories on every imaginable subject. He always believed that sequential narrative was worthy of being published as real books beside mankind’s other literary art forms.

History has proved him right, and showed us just how ahead of the times he always was.

There’s a magnificent abundance of Kirby commemorative collections around these days (though still not all of it, so I remain a partially disgruntled dedicated fan). This particular magnificent hardback compendium re-presents most of the miscellaneous oddments of the “King’s DC Canon”; or at least those the company still retains rights for. The licenses on stuff like his run on pulp adaptation Justice Inc. (and indeed Marvel’s 2001: A Space Odyssey comic) will not be forthcoming any time soon…

Some of the material here is also available in 2019’s absolutely monster DC Universe Bronze Age Omnibus by Jack Kirby, but since it isn’t available digitally either (yet), you’d best have strong wrists and a sturdy desk at hand for that one.

Happily, this less massive tome from 2013 is less of a strain physically or financially. It opens with pages of hyper-kinetic Kirby pencil pages and a moving ‘Introduction by John Morrow’ before hurtling straight into moody mystery with a range of twice told tales.

On returning from WWII, Kirby reconnected with long-term creative partner Joe Simon. National Comics/DC was no longer a welcoming place for the reunited dream team supreme and by 1947 they had formed their own studio. Subsequently enjoying a long and productive relationship with Harvey Comics (Stuntman, Boy’s Ranch, Captain 3-D, Lancelot Strong, The Shield, The Fly, Three Rocketeers and more) the duo generated a stunning variety of genre features for Crestwood/Pines supplied by their “Essankay”/ “Mainline” studio shop.

Triumphs included Justice Traps the Guilty, Fighting American, Bullseye, Police Trap, Foxhole, Headline Comics and especially Young Romance amongst many more: a veritable mountain of mature, challenging strip material in a variety of popular genres.

One was mystery and horror, and amongst the dynamic duo’s Prize Comics concoctions was noir-informed, psychologically-underpinned supernatural anthology Black Magic – and latterly, short-lived yet fascinating companion title Strange World of Your Dreams.

These comics anthologies eschewed traditional gory, heavy-handed morality plays and simplistic cautionary tales for deeper, stranger fare, and – until the EC comics line hit their peak – were far and away the best mystery titles on the market.

When the King quit Marvel for DC in 1970, his new bosses accepted suggestions for a supernatural-themed mature-reading magazine. Spirit World was a superb but poorly received and largely undistributed monochrome magazine. Issue #1 – and only – appeared in the summer of 1971, but editorial cowardice and backsliding scuppered the project before it could get going.

Material from a second, unpublished issue eventually appeared in colour comic books Weird Mystery Tales and Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion, but with his ideas misunderstood, ignored or side-lined by the company, Kirby reverted to more traditional fare. Never truly defeated though, he cannily blended his belief in the marketability of the supernatural with flamboyant superheroics to create another unique and lasting mainstay for the DC universe. The Demon only ran a couple of years but was a concept later talents would make a pivotal figure of the company’s continuity.

Jack’s collaborations with fellow industry pioneer Joe Simon always produced dynamite concepts, unforgettable characters, astounding stories and huge sales, no matter what genre avenues they pursued, blazing trails for so many others to follow and always reshaping the very nature of American comics with their innovations and sheer quality.

As with all their endeavours, Simon & Kirby offered stories shaped by their own sensibilities. Identifying a “mature market” gap in the line of magazines they autonomously packaged for publishers Crestwood and Prize, they realised the sales potential of high-quality spooky material. Thus superb, eerily seminal Black Magic debuted with an October/November 1950 cover-date; supplemented in 1952 by boldly obscure psychological drama anthology The Strange World of Your Dreams. This title was inspired by studio-mate Mort Meskin’s vivid and punishing night terrors: dealing with fantastic situations and – too frequently for comfort – unable or unwilling to provide pat conclusions or happy endings. There was no cosmic justice or calming explanations available to avid readers. Sometimes The Unknown just blew up in your face and you survived – or didn’t. No one escaped whole or unchanged…

Thus, this colossal compendium of cult cartoon capers commences with DC’s revival of Black Magic as a cheap, modified and toned down reprint title.

The second #1 launched with an October/November 1973 cover-date, offering crudely re-mastered versions of some astounding classics. Benefitting from far better reproduction technology here is ‘Maniac!’ (originating in Black Magic #32 September/October 1973): an artistic tour de force and a tale much “homaged” by others in later years, detailing how and why a loving brother stops villagers taking his simple-minded sibling away. This is followed by ‘The Head of the Family!’ (BM #30 May/June 1954, by Kirby & Bruno Premiani) exposing the appalling secret shame of a most inbred clan…

DC’s premier outing ended with a disturbing tale first seen in Black Magic #29 (March-April 1954). Specifically cited in 1954’s anti-comic book Senate Hearings, ‘The Greatest Horror of them All!’ told a tragic tale of a freak hiding amongst lesser freaks…

Cover-dated December 1973/January 1974, DC’s second shot opened with ‘Fool’s Paradise!’ (BM #26, September/October 1953) as a petty thug stumbles into a Mephistophelean deal and reveals how ‘The Cat People’ (#27 November/December 1953) mesmerised and forever marked an unwary tourist in rural Spain before ‘Birth After Death’ (#20 January 1953) retold the true tale of how Sir Walter Scott’s mother survived premature burial, and ‘Those Who Are About to Die!’ (#23 April 1953) sketched out how a painter could predict imminent doom…

‘Nasty Little Man!’ (#18 November 1952) fronted DC’s third foray and gets my vote for creepiest horror art job of all time. Here three hobos discover to their everlasting regret why you shouldn’t pick on short old men with Irish accents. ‘The Angel of Death!’ (#15 August 1952) then details an horrific medical mystery far darker than mere mystic menace…

In the 1950s, as their efforts grew in popularity, S & K were stretched thin. Utilising a staff of assistants and crafting fewer stories themselves meant they could keep all their deadlines.

The ‘Cover art for Black Magic #4, June/July 1974’ swiftly segues into ‘Last Second of Life!’(Black Magic volume 1 #1, October-November 1950 and their only narrative contribution to that particular DC issue) wherein a rich man, obsessed over what the dying see at their final breath, soon regrets the unsavoury lengths he went to in finding out…

There were two in the next issue. ‘Strange Old Bird!’(courtesy of Black Magic #25 June/July 1953) is a gently eerie thriller of a little old lady who gets the gift of renewed life from her tatty and extremely flammable feathered old friend and ‘Up There!’ from the landmark 13th issue (June 1952) – the saga of a beguiling siren stalking the upper stratosphere and scaring the bejabbers out of a cool test pilot…

DC issue #6 reprises ‘The Girl Who Walked on Water!’ (BM #11 April 1952), exposing the immense but fragile power of self-belief whilst the ‘Cover art for Black Magic #7, December 1974/January 1975’ (originally #17 October 1952) provides a chilling report on satanic vestment ‘The Cloak!’ (BM #2 December 1950/January 1951) and ‘Freak!’ (also from #17) shares a country doctor’s deepest shame…

DC’s #8 revisited The Strange World of Your Dreams, beginning with “typical insecurity nightmare” ‘The Girl in the Grave!’ (#2, September/October 1952). The Meskin-inspired anthology of oneiric apparitions eschewed cheap shocks, mindless gore and goofy pun-inspired twist-ending yarns in favour of dark, oppressive suspense, soaked in psychological unease and tension over teasing…

Following up with ‘Send Us Your Dreams’ from the same source (requesting readers’ ideas for spokes-parapsychologist Richard Temple to analyse), DC’s vintage fear-fest concludes with # 9 (April/May 1975) and ‘The Woman in the Tower!’ as originally seen in SWoYD #3, (November/December 1952) detailing the symbolism of oppressive illness…

When his Fourth World Saga stalled, Kirby continued creating new material with Kamandi – his only long-running DC success – and explored WWII in The Losers whilst creating the radical, scarily prophetic, utterly magnificent Omac: One Man Army Corps, but still could not achieve the all-important sales the company demanded. Eventually he was lured back to Marvel and new challenges like Black Panther, Captain America, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Devil Dinosaur, Machine Man and especially The Eternals.

Before that though, he unleashed new concepts and even filled in on established titles. As previously moaned about, however, his 3-issue run on Justice Inc. – adapting 1930s’ licensed pulp star The Avenger – is not included here, but at least his frankly astounding all-action dalliance with martial arts heroics is…

Inked by D. Bruce Berry and debuting in all-new try-out title 1st Issue Special #1 (April 1975), ‘Atlas the Great!’ harked back to the dawn of human civilisation and followed the blockbusting trail of mankind’s first super-powered champion in a blazing Sword & Sorcery yarn.

1st Issue Special #5 (August 1975, Berry) highlighted the passing of a torch as a devout evil-crusher working for an ancient justice-cult retired and tipped his nephew – Public Defender Mark Shaw – to become the latest super-powered ‘Manhunter’, after which a rare but welcome digression into comedy manifested as ‘The Dingbats of Danger Street (1st Issue Special #6, September 1975). With Mike Royer inking, Kirby unleashed a bizarre and hilarious revival of his Kid Gang genre, starring four multi-racial street urchins united for survival and to battle surreal super threats…

Kirby – and Berry – limned the third issue of troubled martial arts series Richard Dragon, Kung Fu Fighter (August/September 1975). Scripted by Denny O’Neil, the savage shocker pits the lone warrior against an army of assassins in ‘Claws of the Dragon!’…

‘Fangs of the Kobra!’ comes from Kobra #1, released with a February/March 1976 cover-date. The tale is strange in both execution and delivery, with Kirby’s original updating of Dumas’ tale The Corsican Brothers reworked by Martin Pasko, Steve Sherman and artists Pablo Marcos & Berry.

It introduces brothers separated at birth. Jason Burr grew up a normal American kid whilst his twin – stolen by an Indian death cult – was reared as Kobra, the most dangerous man alive. Sadly for the super-criminal, young adult Jason is recruited by the authorities because of a psychic connection to the snake lord: a link allowing them to track each other and also feel and experience any harm or hurt the other experiences…

When Simon & Kirby came to National/DC in 1942 one of their earliest projects was revitalising the moribund Sandman strip in Adventure Comics. Their unique blend of atmosphere and dynamism made it one of the most memorable, moody and action-packed series of the period (as you can see by reading their companion volume The Sandman by Simon & Kirby).

The band was brought back together for The Sandman #1 (cover-dated Winter 1974): a one-shot project which kept the name but created a whole new mythology. Scripted by Simon and inked by Royer, ‘General Electric’ revealed how the realm of dreams was policed by a scarlet-&-gold super-crusader dedicated to preventing nightmares escaping into the physical world. With unwilling assistants Glob and Brute, the Sandman also battled real world villains exploiting the unconscious Great Unknown. The heady mix was completed by frail orphan Jed, whose active sleeping imagination seemed to draw trouble to him.

The proposed one-off was a minor hit at a tenuous time in comics publishing, and DC kept it going, even though the originators were not interested. Kirby & Royer did produce the ‘Cover art Sandman #2, April/May 1975’ and ‘Cover art Sandman #3, June/July 1975’ before the King returned to the series with #4.

‘Panic in the Dream Stream’ – August/September 1975 – was scripted by Michael Fleisher, and revealed how a sleepless alien race attempted to conquer Earth through Jed’s fervent dreams: a traumatic channel that also allowed them to invade Sandman’s Dream Realm. The next issue (October/November 1975) heralded an ‘Invasion of the Frog Men!’ into an idyllic parallel dimension whilst the next reunited a classic art team. Wally Wood inked Jack for Fleisher’s ‘The Plot to Destroy Washington D.C.!’. Here mind-bending cyborg Doctor Spider subverted and enslaved Glob and Brute in his eccentric ambition to take over America…

Although Sandman #6 (December 1975/January 1976) was the last published issue, another tale was already completed. It finally appeared in reprint digest Best of DC #22 (March 1982). ‘The Seal Men’s War on Santa Claus’ with Fleisher scripting and Royer handling the brushwork was a sinister seasonal romp with Jed’s wicked foster-family abusing him in classic Scrooge style before the Weaver of Dreams summons him to help save Christmas from bellicose well-armed aquatic mammals…

During the 1980s costumed heroes stopped being an exclusively print cash cow. Many toy companies licensed Fights ‘n’ Tights titans and reaped the benefits of ready-made comic book spin-offs. DC’s most recognizable characters morphed into a top-selling action figure line and were inevitably hived off into a brisk and breezy, fight-frenzied miniseries.

Super Powers launched in July 1984 as a 5-issue miniseries with Kirby covers and his signature characters prominently represented. Jack also plotted the stellar saga with scripter Joey Cavalieri providing dialogue, and Adrian Gonzales & Pablo Marcos illustrating a heady cosmic quest comprising numerous inconclusive battles between agents of Good and Evil.

In ‘Power Beyond Price!’, ultimate nemesis Darkseid despatches four Emissaries of Doom to destroy Earth’s superheroes. Sponsoring Lex Luthor, The Penguin, Brainiac and The Joker the monsters jointly target Superman, Batman & Robin, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Aquaman and Hawkman…

The combat escalates in #2’s ‘Clash Against Chaos’ with the Man of Steel and Scarlet Speedster tackling Luthor, whilst Aquaman and Green Lantern pummel the Penguin as Dark Knight and Winged Wonder confront a cosmically-enhanced Harlequin of Hate…

With Alan Kupperberg inking, an inconclusive outcome leads to a regrouping of evil and an attack by Brainiac on Paradise Island. With the ‘Amazons at War’ the Justice League rally until Superman is devolved into a brutal beast who attacks his former allies. All-out battle ensues in ‘Earth’s Last Stand’, before Kirby stepped up to write and illustrate the fateful finale: cosmos-shaking conclusion ‘Spaceship Earth – We’re All on It!’  (November 1984, with Greg Theakston suppling inks)…

A bombastic Super Powers Promotional Poster leads into a nostalgic reunion as DC Comics Presents #84 (August 1985) reunited Jack with his first “Fantastic Four”. ‘Give Me Power… Give Me Your World!’ – written by Bob Rozakis, Kirby & Theakston (with additional art by the legendary Alex Toth) – pits Superman and the Challengers of The Unknown against mind-bending Kryptonian villain Zo-Mar, after which the ‘Cover art for Super DC Giant S-25, July/ August 1971’ (inked by Vince Colletta) segues into the Super Powers miniseries, spanning September 1985 to February 1986.

Scripted by Paul Kupperberg the Kirby/Theakston saga ‘Seeds of Doom!’ recounts how deadly Darkseid despatches techno-organic bombs to destroy Earth, requiring practically every DC hero to unite to end the threat.

With squads of Super Powers travelling to England, Rome, New York, Easter Island and Arizona the danger is magnified ‘When Past and Present Meet!’ as the seeds warp time and send Aquaman and the Martian Manhunter back to days of King Arthur…

Issue #3 (November 1985) finds Red Tornado, Hawkman and Green Arrow plunged back 75 million years in ‘Time Upon Time Upon Time!’ even as Doctor Fate, Green Lantern and Wonder Woman are trapped in 1087 AD, battling stony-faced giant aliens on Easter Island.

Superman and Firestorm discover ‘There’s No Place Like Rome!’as they battle Darkseid’s agent Steppenwolf in the first century whilst Batman, Robin and Flash visit a future where Earth is the new Apokolips for #5’s ‘Once Upon Tomorrow’, before Earth’s scattered champions converge on Luna to spectacularly squash the schemes-within-schemes of ‘Darkseid of the Moon!’ …

Rounding out the astounding cavalcade of wonders is a selection of Kirby-crafted Profiles pages from Who’s Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe 1985-1987: specifically, Ben Boxer, the Boy Commandos, Challengers of the Unknown, Crazy Quilt, Etrigan the Demon, Kamandi, The Newsboy Legion, Sandman (the Dream Stream version from 1974), Sandy, the Golden Boy and Witchboy Klarion.

Kirby was and remains unique and uncompromising. His words and pictures comprise an unparalleled, hearts-and-minds grabbing delight no comics lover can possibly resist. If you’re not a fan or simply not prepared to see for yourself what all the fuss has been about then no words of mine will change your mind.

That doesn’t alter the fact that his life’s work from 1937 to his death in 1994 shaped the entire American comics scene – and indeed the entire comics planet – affecting the lives of billions of readers and thousands of creators in all areas of artistic endeavour for generations and is still winning new fans and apostles every day, from the young and naive to the most cerebral of intellectuals. His work is instantly accessible, irresistibly visceral, deceptively deep and simultaneously mythic and human.

He is the King and will never be supplanted.
© 1971, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 2013 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.