Pair Kamandi with Kirby’s OMAC for some of the best day-glo dystopianism outside WALL-E.
And as you gaze at the horrifying omen, ask yourself the question that tormented poor Jack:
How far off or far out is the World That’s Coming?
So you got it! Cool!
I should probably look up a Kamandi collection. The setting sounds a bit like the Gamma World SF role playing game.
Whoah. My Dad used to bring home comics (for himself, but he’d gladly share - whatever got you to read) and I’d devour them. Spider Man, Batman, typical Marvel and DC stuff… but Kamandi and Savage Sword of Conan were clearly the best. I had no idea who Jack Kirby was, but the art was so strange and awesome, and of course the whole setup was mindblowing (I’d never seen Planet of the Apes). Kamandi is partly what got me into sci-fi.
I’ve got the entire run of comics, though sadly it just kind of peters out… probably falling circulation. And then there’s the weird Batman crossover.
Gonna go think real hard about getting this, thanks.
Jack Kirby’s art is awesome and awe inspiring. I was 12 in 1973 also and I loved Kamandi. Sadly, I don’t have my old comic collection, but a few years ago I bought a couple of re-issues for sentimental reasons.
OMAC, the One Man Army Corp,was great too. It was art like this along with Frank Frazetta’s art for the re-issued paperbacks of Conan and Tarzan that inspired me to become an artist. Long Live Kamandi! and Ben Boxer too!
Kirby and Frazetta - you named my two favorites!
ARGHH! Kumandi collections are either expensive hardcovers or out of print and high priced.
I wish they’d print these collections for KIDS and not for the deep pocketed collectors.
All of Kirby’s work at DC was amazing from Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen to New Gods. If you have the chance look at it all, do. It’s great that Agents of SHIELD credits Kirby and Lee as well even though Kirby’s disciple, Steranko, is the one that made SHIELD cool. I think Kirby and Steranko feed off of each other for a few years there. There’s a topic for an article there, I think.
I was also about 10 yrs old when I first discovered Kamandi. Apologies for being the odd banana in the bunch but I thought it was ugly and boring. Still do. I don’t mind Kirby’s earlier work, and really appreciate most of his characters, but I still hate the whole New Gods thing. DC’s been torturing me the last couple years.
Thanks for posting this, Mark. I discovered Kamandi in '74 when I was 13. I vote for “most important person in comic book history,” but Kirby was at least the greatest storyteller. Can’t wait to get the book.
I love Kamandi - I first heard of him as one of the minor characters in Crisis on Infinite Earths, but finally got a hardcover collection (vol 1) that had been at a library for about $5 bucks. Supposedly, Kirby intended that his grandfather, who dies in the opening pages, to be OMAC.
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