Written by Kurt Busiek
Illustrated by Jack Herbert and Alex RossThe stakes are already high in a battle royale pitting Silver Star, Captain Victory and the Glory Knights versus Darius Drumm, the Lightning Lady and Roag over the Proto-Seed — and when Sigurd Dragonsbane and the Mythics join in, the results will shake he heavens themselves. Meanwhile, Kirby’s only hope for survival on the Phantom Continent lies in the Primals, whose secrets are rooted deep in the history of mankind itself.
Last week, I was pretty hard on Dynamite Entertainment’s new Tarzan comic, Lord of the Jungle. Not to kick a dead horse, but it had nothing I was looking for, namely men fighting gorillas, ancient civilizations hidden at center of the Earth, vicious dinosaurs, and deadly secrets that threaten humankind! Well, this week, I owe Lord of the Jungle an apology. I now know the reason why all that stuff was missing is because it’s all in Kirby Genesis # 5, out this week, by Kurt Busiek, Jack Herbert and Alex Ross — a comic for which I have nothing but the highest of praises.
Find out what we liked about it after the jump.
You guys all know about Jack Kirby, so I’m not going to even explain who he is or why he’s arguably the most important figure in the history of comics. But, what you might not know is just how prolific he was outside of his most well known work at Marvel and DC, or just how many characters and ideas he published, plotted, pitched, painted, and predicted before he passed away 1994. Kirby Genesis is, of course, the comic that took a ton of those characters and concepts, put them in the hands of superstar creators Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross, and gave life to an all new universe that’s both pleasantly familiar and unpredictably unique.
So far, we’ve watched as a world very much like our own was transformed by a series of seemingly unrelated events, or coincidental happenings — the appearance of two giant, alien figures in the sky, the discovery of a group of underground soldiers, a young woman possessed by the spirit of a warrior maiden, just to name a few. But a couple issues back, it became clear that all of these things were occurrences on a cosmic scale, and in Genesis # 5, everything comes to a head during a massive slugfest in the frozen north. If it sounds like there’s a lot going on, it’s because there is. But trust me, it’s all very exciting stuff, and I was truly surprised at how nicely things came together in this issue.
Of course, with Busiek at the wheel, I shouldn’t have been worried. The guy’s an absolute master at spinning this kind of story, and borrowing a trick from own Astro City and the iconic Marvels, he ground everything through the eyes of an everyman, in this case, the aptly named Kirby.
Artistically, Kirby Genesis shares a lot with Busiek’s previous projects. Alex Ross’ contributions to the aforementioned Marvels and Astro City is well-known, and his inspiring visuals and almost scholarly appreciation of Kirby’s signature style gives Genesis an pseudo-authenticity that a lot of other Kirby-inspired projects lack. But while Ross is the draw, it’s his collaborator Jack Herbert who does most of the heavy lifting. Similar to how Ross worked on Marvel’s Earth X, Herbert pencils the issues, working from either his own layouts or Ross’, before Ross comes in a few times throughout to really drive home an important scene or moment with his painting. It makes for a really cool looking book.
More than any other title I’m reading now, Kirby Genesis revels in being a comic book. It’s a wild ride inspired by the biggest imagination in comics, and the best part is that it’s really just getting started. It’s exactly the kind of a book we need more of… really, if for no other reason than to remind Marvel and DC what it looks like celebrate the genius of Jack Kirby in every panel and on every page.
Final Verdict: 9 — Kirby says “Don’t Ask, Just Buy It!”
