Wednesday is Comic Day!

I ordered this through a big sale at DeepDiscount.com. Thank goodness it was about half-price, because it was about half the book I expected. The book is tiny. I expected something with a footprint like one of the Absolute books (i.e. Absolute Watchmen) or the thickness of something like the Spider-man Omnibus. This book has the same footprint as a regular comic book and is only about 400 pages thick (and since it is on cheap newsprint the paper is thinner making the book thinner). Once I started reading it, though, I realized that there is more content in this book than in 800 pages of some books. Kirby was a madman producing this stuff. It's not all good, but it is definitely big content.

The stories come from several different titles and are printed in the order they were distributed to the newstands. The stories start off seeming unrelated, but they are obviously building to a commonality (which hopefully will happen in volume 2 (it's a planned 4 volume set)). These stories provide the first introductions to characters like Darkseid, Orion, Lightray, Granny Good, Oberon, and Mister Miracle. It really felt like I was reading something historically significant. I noticed things like Darkseid usually stands with his arms behind his back (a very restrained pose for a Kirby figure). And then I thought about it and realized that that is how I seem him in my mind, yet I've never read these stories. P.S. without this book, you have no chance of understanding Grant Morrison's Final Crisis One thing I was surprised to notice (and it was confirmed in the afterword) is that another artist came in and redrew the head (and maybe body) of Superman, in every panel that featured him, so that he would look more like the DC standard for Superman. At first I thought Kirby had modified his style, for Superman - but to learn that another artist came in to redraw over Kirby, shocked me. Man, that guy must have had some cajones. The Jimmy Olson stories impressed me the least. I liked getting to meet the Newsboy Legion (characters Kirby had created in the 40s and brought them back in 1970, here). I liked the sheer craziness of the stories (Jimmy Olsen leading a motorcycle band of hippies through a cosmic roadway to a secret science base where there are miniature clones of Superman, Jimmy, and the Newsboy Legion!!) Grant Morrison provides the introduction - and I must say that only in Grant Morrison's craziest stories (i.e. the Filth) does he reach Kirby craziness. I enjoyed the stories that introduced Mister Miracle and Orion, the most. I think this book has given me a greater appreciation for Jack Kirby's creativity, work ethic, and impact on the industry. There are things about Kirby's work that I've never liked (most of his faces are way too wide) - but every panel screams of energy and just knowing that his contract was for 15 pages a week! Wow! I can't imagine a DC universe without Darkseid - and to think that Darkseid was only one of a hundred ideas that Kirby introduced in this book alone! Wow! Pick it up (at half-price! $50 is too much for this book). It's crazy and you'll feel like you own a piece of history.