Kamandi Omnibus by Jack Kirby

Jack Kirby's Kamandi Omnibus by Jack Kirby
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Jack Kirby's Kamandi Omnibus collects issues 1-40 of Kamandi, The Last Boy on Earth!

Jack Kirby is the King of Comics yet somehow Kamandi managed to elude me until now. In this mammoth tome, Kirby penciled forty issues and did the cover art for 35 of them. He also wrote all but the last four issues. Mike Royer did the inks on the first 16 issues and D. Bruce Berry handled in the inking on the rest.

The story on Kamandi is much more accessible than the Fourth World material Kirby did at DC prior to it. Kamandi leaves the safety of the bunker in which he was raised and explores a post-apocalyptic landscape. Born out of DC's desire to cash in on Planet of the Apes despite not getting the license, the King crafted Kamandi in short order and took the Last Boy on Earth on a variety of adventures before pulling up stakes and heading back to Marvel.

Over the course of forty issues, Kamandi encounters tiger men, ape men, leopard men, talking dolphins, flying sharks, giant crabs, and all sorts of other crazy creatures. It's basically a post-apocalyptic adventure strip with little to no philosophy or cosmic overtones, much more accessible to the audience DC was aiming at at the time. There were homages to King Kong and Planet of the Apes and a robot amusement part that pre-dated Westworld by a year or so.

Kirby catches heat over his writing at times but this was good stuff. Sure, the dialog was a little rough but the King can craft an adventure story. Kamandi, along with friends Ben Boxer, Doctor Canis, and others, goes from one adventure to the next, foiling the bad guys and escaping with his skin intact. Kamandi #16, the origin of the Kamandi's world, is right up there with This Man, This Monster from Fantastic Four #51 for me as one of the all time greats.

The art is classic Kirby. Hell, it might be Kirby at his best. The story is packed with stunning visuals, from devastated landscapes to Kirby machines to hundreds of humanoid animals to colossal monsters to Kamandi and friends. I've not yet read the Devil Dinosaur or Machine Man issues Kirby did upon returning to Marvel but I can't see them being as great as this.

I've said this about other books but Jack Kirby's Kamandi may have been the Kirbiest of them all. Five out of five stars.


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