Like so many great Kirby joints, this one begins with a cover. He intended this to be one of his greatest joints–probably because he’d been waiting for years to come back to the character who had served as the foundation for his work. I wish it were better though.
Kirby is the writer, artist and editor for this comeback story, and he quickly dissociates his story from all the stuff that had come before. He drops Falcon from the title page and starts creating his own side characters, eschewing Cap continuity (and greater Marvel continuity as well). (Falcon gets his title billing back in #194.)
No, Madbomb’s not a great story. It’s about a bomb that makes people go mad. It’s basically a Golden Age story–full of craziness and action, big and full of fists.
Also: Henry Kissinger.
And proving that Kirby didn’t need Stan Lee. This was written, drawn and edited all by Jack.
The art is great, even if the writing and story are just average. Plus, sentimentally, it’s a lot of fun.
“It’s basically a Golden Age story–full of craziness and action, big and full of fists.”
bullshit. maybe read something that isn’t a comic book for once. maybe take a look at the fucking world around you and realize how prescient this storyline is, how much genuine insight there is in jack kirby’s work in general.
as much of a master as he was sometimes it seems like kirby was in the wrong medium. the lack of any real appreciation for the man from the average (ignorant) comic book reader is infuriating. nothing but superficial praise and backhanded compliments at best. they’re still programmed to view comics, especially those older than them, as something completely childish and nothing more, and when it comes to kirby, that his ideas and themes are just wacky nonsense. that it couldn’t possibly hold any deeper meaning.
certain comic book fanatics that want the medium to be looked in a respectful way frequently shun anything in it that doesn’t bare any “realism”, that is too exaggerated, too cartoonish in their eyes. they’re embarrassed by the thing they supposedly love for all of the wrong reasons. they praise corporations and con artists and lust after meaningless facts over these characters while taking whatever chance they get to degrade the real artists and creators that made this shit to begin with. ingrates.
Thanks for your polite disagreement with my reading of this story. I like how you make your points without resorting to personal attacks, because it shows how your arguments can stand on their own. Blessings be upon you.