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If memory serves, KAMANDI #29 was the second issue of the title I bought after #1. It was the SUPERMAN suit that drew me in, you see. Hitherto, I hadn't found the prospect of a semi-naked, long-haired, girlie-boy the sort of thing I'd want to read, much less part with my hard-earned cash for, but I just had to find out about that suit. Why was it unworn? What had happened to the mighty MAN Of STEEL? How did all the pieces fit together in this post-apocalyptic world of the future?
There was only one way to find out, of course, and that was to buy the mag - which I did - but, truth to tell, although I purchased a handful of other issues after that, I never became a huge fan of the book. It was KIRBY-by-the-numbers and, although an entertaining enough read, nowhere near as satisfying as Jack's MARVEL work with STAN LEE. (So why, as far as longevity goes, was it Jack's most successful mag at DC COMICS? Go figure!)
However, Kirby is Kirby, so a good many years ago, I managed to re-acquire #29, as well as the first nine comics in the series. That's why I have the set of issues whose covers you see in this very post - which I've decided to share with you all at absolutely no charge. Am I a great guy or what? (Update: I now own the Omnibus volume, so if I can open it wide enough without cracking the spine, I may show you the remaining covers one of these days.)
I think Kamandi was my first encounter with the post apocalypse genre, it was a bit jarring at that age, different from what I was used to. The world of Kamandi seemed truly alien and quite desolate. Now, of course I have more knowledge of the context, It's easy to see that it was, most likely, inspired by the success of Planet of the Apes. I've heard that levelled as a criticism more than once, the quality is a bit inconsistent but it remains one of my favourite takes on the genre. One curious give-away to the brevity with which Kirby worked is the dolphin fluke error, of course reference those days was harder to come by but it couldn't have been too difficult to track down a copy of National Geographic with a pic of one. There's an editorial in one issue about the subject too.
ReplyDeleteApparently, Carmine Infantino wanted the rights to do a Planet of the Apes comic, but when he failed to secure them ('cos Marvel had 'em) asked Jack to come up with something similar. The result was Kamandi, the name recycled from an earlier Kirby story called 'Kamandi of the Caves'.
ReplyDeleteI was going to buy the DC Omnibus editions, but was put off by 'guttering' problems in the design of the books.
What was the dolphin error Kirby made, DSE?
I think DSE might be referring to the fact that Kirby gave dolphins vertical tail fins, like a shark, rather than horizontal ones, like a dolphin should have.
ReplyDeleteAh, I see, Steve - ta much.
ReplyDeleteIndeed Steve is right, that is what I was referring to. I didn't know there was Omnibus, just checked out the prices on Amazon, good grief man, it's going for more than I could sell my Kamandi collection for.
ReplyDeleteAnd don't forget - there are TWO of them.
ReplyDeleteIt's nice to know that, even in an apocalyptic future where your shorts are in tatters, you can still find a quality belt to hold them up. :)
ReplyDeleteAnd a pair of tough, well-wearing boots that never seem to need replaced, CF. Kamandi had an odd look, to be sure. Were any of the other human characters ever dressed so scantily? Apart from the girl in #6, I mean.
ReplyDeleteI thought Kamandi was great as a kid! I had shortly before graduated from 'kids comics" to reading MWOM in the summer of 1973 (Almost 40 years ago!!! Yikes!!!) So, I was only exposed to Kirby's FF reprints from the 1960's for the first time in. But, Kamandi was Kirby's stories and art in the 1970's, not nostalgia and it was set in the future! The first issue I bought was #11, it was the first that I ever saw in a newsagent. I liked Kamandi and Omac, my only problem was they were so quick to read compared to other comics! I never saw any of the New Gods stuff!
ReplyDeleteKamandi wore more than The Hulk! Kamandi had boots as well as torn trousers! But, he was a boy, so he really needed to look like he was wearing shorts!
The girl in #6, I presume was Flower! I remember the letter's page of #11 discussing the rumours that her anatomy (or lack of anatomy) had been censored by the Comics Code.
Ah, but the Hulk's trousers were longer and bigger. So, even without shoes, overall, he still wore more material than Kamandi. (And my point is? Er, dunno. Just felt obliged to point that out.)
ReplyDeleteAh, the Hulk's trousers, if ever there was a topic for discussion among comic readers. He changes size but his dacks still fit - modesty and protecting the reader's sensibilities was the obvious reason - can't have the kids getting a gander at the big green fella's green fella!
ReplyDeleteThis has become so much the convention that it seems the norm now for any rough-living, shape changing characters, such as werewolves and assorted beasts. Maybe Hulk needs to go the stretchy lycra path as taken by She Hulk. And yeah, odd how there were so many well dressed types in Kamandi's world but not him.
Yeah, Phil - even the animals wore more clothes than Kamandi - and better, non-ripped clothes as well. Did he never get cold?
ReplyDeleteI think you forgot about Tarzan! DC were doing Tarzan at that time and all he wore was a leopard skin loin cloth!! (or leopard skin briefs, as were described in a Joe Kubert "Learn to draw Tarzan" feature). DC were also publishing Korak, Son of Tarzan too. Now, he wore an extra long loin cloth in the DC comics. Both these characters exposed more flesh than Kamandi!
ReplyDeleteAnd what about Marvel's Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner's attire?
Maybe Kirby was trying to make a statement. If you look at the series, generally the humans wore little clothes while the animals were often elaborately dressed. The humans were basically running around dressed as cavemen and women! This further exemplified the role reversal.
Nope, didn't forget them. I was referring to other human characters within the pages of Kamandi. The two guys that Kamandi kicked around with were fully dressed, so you'd think he'd have been able to pick up some clothes at some point through the book's entire run.
ReplyDeleteThose 'two guys' were mutants, actually there were three guys. The costumes the mutants wore highlighted their sci-fi elements, as functionally they contained a contact point to their cyclo hearts. I think Kirby always used symbols in the most direct and simplistic way. The animals wore costumes from different periods of human history, the mutants wore futuristic clothes, while ordinary humans, including Kamandi were in rags.
ReplyDeleteSimplistic is right, and it's obvious why he used such symbols. However, my point is that - regardless of why Kirby did it - it really was rather ridiculous to have a boy running about in nothing but a pair of ragged shorts for 40 issues. The most natural instinct in the world after eating is to clothe oneself. You'd think that by issue #3, he'd have had Kamandi get himself some protective clothing.
ReplyDeleteI discovered Kamandi with issue 2, followed that up with 3 then never saw another issue until 15! I had been a fan of the violent and bombastic Fourth World although I was only about 8/9 years old.
ReplyDeleteI suppose the more direct style of Kamandi plus the loose quest aspect of the series appealed to me. Some of the satire is a little heavy-handed maybe but the Flower story is a favourite of mine. Ditto the Exorcist issue.
I'll have to sit down and re-read my 10 issues, Dougie, 'cos I've forgotten most of what went on. And if they can sort out the guttering problems with the Omnibus editions, I might buy them as well.
ReplyDeleteOne could argue that it is more ridiculous and impractical for such hairy mammals such as apes or furry mammals such as bears or big cats wearing layers of thick clothes or even heavy armour!
ReplyDeleteThe whole premise of Kamandi is rather fragile under scrutiny, but I found it all entertaining and colourful, as a young kid. On some occasions I could not work out what kind of animal Kirby was actually meant to be drawing, but it all added to the charm. Often the stories were parodies of movies of the 70's such as The Omen or Westworld. But it was all so condensed and cartoon-like, it really was a kid's comic, maybe thats why it sold so well compared to Kirby's other projects of the 1970's. There were many pre-teens like me who were not ready for the Neal Adam's influenced realistic dramas, I was watching Scooby Doo on tv, not Kojak!
One could indeed argue that very thing - and one would be right. However, the animals in attire set-up was understandable to a degree, because the series was a stand-in for Planet of the Apes - and the apes wore clothes in that. I just think, Tarzan aside, that if one was living in the wild, one would be wearing more than just a pair of tattered shorts - for protection, if nothing else. But hey-ho - it's only a comic.
ReplyDelete(And I watched Scooby-Doo AND Kojak.)
I imagine if he did wear clothes, Kamandi would have dressed like Joe Simon's Prez or Shazam's Billy Batson! You know, the typical DC teenager of the early 1970's! Imagine him running around in bell-bottom trousers and platform shoes!
ReplyDeleteAlso, Kirby was designing some garish super-hero costumes in those days, but I did like his Omac design.
I do remember at the time I thought Kamandi looked like Kazar. Maybe Kirby liked the blonde, bare-chested California surfer look. I mean long blonde hair, pink skin and blue pants would mean no continuity problems for him, the inker or the colourist.
I think he should have worn some kind of jump-suit like Kirby's Jimmy Olsen - coloured blue as opposed to Jimmy's green. Or maybe something faintly resembling Tommy Tommorow's costume - who was supposed to be an alternate version of Kamandi. (Although, admittedly, this wasn't decided until after Kirby had left the book.)
ReplyDeleteJust re-read Kamandi #1. In chapter 3, Kamandi is about to be presented by the leopards to the Great Caesar, so they dress him up in some new romanesque clothes. But, oddly they put this new tunic type outfit over his torn blue shorts and he is still wearing his blue boots!
ReplyDeleteHe wears the same colourful costume at the start of #2, but soon discards it to the familiar blue shorts/boots underneath.
Kamandi was a raw, dynamic and petulant character, often exploding into action. A jumpsuit would obscure his musculature.
I must admit I never heard of Johnny Tomorrow, but in my opinion any costume would emphasise his short stature, make him look more boyish, since most characters stood at least head and shoulders above him.
Well, he WAS a BOY, so any costume that emphasised his boyish short stature would've served him well. And it's fair to assume that he started out with a full complement of clothes, so it's only natural that he would want to replace them.
ReplyDeleteDid Kamandi wear more clothes in the bunker where he was raised? Kamandi's dress sense must have been influenced by his granddad, who is briefly shown in #1 wearing only red torn shorts and green boots!
ReplyDeleteDunno - haven't re-read them yet. However, I reckon we've worn the subject pretty thin. It was only an idle thought I had, not something I'm obsessing on.
ReplyDeleteYes, it was getting as thin as the material on Kamandi's shorts!
ReplyDeleteI look at your blog regularly, but, this has been one of the few times that I actually read at the time, one of the comic titles that you feature, so I got carried away.
I was born 1968, so I only started reading stuff in the early 1970's.
The material on his shorts can't have been that thin - they lasted for 40 issues-plus. Must've been denim.
ReplyDeleteCan you invent a name for yourself so that I can differentiate between all those who use the 'anonymous' function? It makes things easier. Ta.
"Girlyboy" - LoL! Nice one, sir!
ReplyDeleteI realise I'm WELL LATE to the party, but just want to say how much I still enjoy many of the 'Kamandi' stories (the Super-suit one which attracted your attention is a particular fave, and deals with the process of mythologising in quite a sophisticated and yes, even poignant, way).
Sure, the series had some real klunkers (the awful "Tiny" King Kong 'homage' being one of the very worst, and DON'T get me started about that supremely irritating 'Pyra' alien from issue's 30 - 34), but there are many stories that I think still stand as some of Kirby's best work ('Tracking Site' in #s 9 & 10, the 'Sacker's Company' story arc from #s 11 to 14, 'The Gopher People' in #s 17 & 18, and my favourite single-issue Kamandi story, 'The Hotel' in #36).
So, for me, it's NOT such a "mystery" as to why Kamandi was Kirby's best-selling DC title of his 1970s tenure. Sure, it blatantly rode on the coat-tails of 'Planet of the Apes' (& you're correct that apparently it WASN'T Kirby's idea to rip off the Apes flix), and sure, it had NO basis in any kind of remotely possible evolutionary scenario (idiot fanboys hilariously argued in the letters pages over how come horses were still 'beasts of burden', whereas practically EVERY other beastie, aside from insects, had acquired an intelligence to rival homo sapiens. Some DC editor even gamely tried to resolve the issue, instead of simply saying: "It's Kirby! Don't Ask - Just Buy It!" LoL), but I still find Kamandi to be a FAR more enjoyable read than his largely incoherent '4th World Saga', no matter how much I enjoy aspects of those other books (which I realise is an opinion which is good grounds for me having my 'Kirby Is GOD' Klub Kard revoked, but I care not one jot!).
Anyway, that's just MY opinion, well-founded though it may be (say whut?!?) ;-)
Cheers!
Oh, P.S: I believe Kamandi's shorts were made from a ragged offcut from Superman's tights, hence their incredible longevity. Ahem!
ReplyDeleteI've ordered the two Kamandi Omnibus volumes, which will more or less complete my set of Kirby's DC work. I believe I've got replacements for all the single Kirby mags I originally bought at the time, so I don't mind having ones I didn't bother with (when they were first published) in collected editions.
ReplyDeleteAh, that explains the shorts.
Update: I ordered them, but was later informed that the first one was unavailable, so didn't bother. I'll have to get the over-sized, complete Omnibus edition at some stage.
ReplyDelete