WALTER SIMONSON'S ORION COVER GALLERY - PART ONE...

Images copyright DC COMICS

No matter how many times DC COMICS have tried to revive JACK KIRBY's NEW GODS characters, none of their attempts at following in the King's footsteps ever lasted for long.  True, there have now been far more issues of non-Kirby Fourth World mags than produced by their eminent creator, but the only ones I found even remotely interesting were JACK KIRBY'S FOURTH WORLD by JOHN BYRNE, and ORION by WALTER SIMONSON. 

It was ambitious of them to try, because, to be frank, if Jack himself couldn't keep the magazines going, the odds were stacked against anyone else doing it.  I never found either the characters or concepts of the original series particularly inspired, though there was the occasional gem amongst the 40 issues (55 if you include JIMMY OLSEN) that DC published in the '70s.

The recent 9-issue series of INFINITY MAN And The FOREVER PEOPLE was immensely underwhelming (surely a contradiction-in-terms, but you know what I mean), not helped by the fact that certain liberties were taken with the players.  DC have messed around with their continuity too many times for readers to know (or care) precisely who's who or what's what anymore, and it's well-past time DC realized that the characters work better as supporting figures than major heroes who can carry their own titles.  (Feel entirely free to disagree.)

It's likely that the nostalgic affection for Kirby comicbooks read in their youth will ensure that some writers will continue in their attempts to revive the Fourth World heroes in mags of their own in the future, but I can't help but think that it's nostalgia for a vanished age which compels them, rather than any obvious inherent merit in the characters, as a whole, themselves.

However, John Byrne and Walter Simonson have carried the torch higher, longer, and brighter than anyone else thus far, so let's take a look at the first 7 covers of the latter's 25 issue series from around 15 years ago.  Another 3 parts to follow, so don't dare miss 'em or DARKSEID will bite you on the bum!

    

LETTERS To The MOUSE WHO TURNED Into A TOAD...

Cover:  Watercolour by ERNEST H. SHEPARD.  (Private Collection)

Anyone who knows anything about The WIND In The WILLOWS will probably know that it started (like some other 'children's' classics, apparently) as a bedtime tale for the author's own offspring (in this case, Kenneth & Elspeth Grahame's only child, Alastair), and continued in a series of letters to him while holidaying separately from his parents with his governess in Littlehampton.  This was because the child, known as 'Mouse' didn't want to miss the animal adventures his father recounted to him each evening in order to get the restless infant off to sleep.

A page from one of the letters

These letters, thoughtfully preserved by the governess (Naomi Stott) and returned to the Grahames, became the basis of Kenneth's enduring classic of literature, loved by generations  of children (and adults) ever since it was first published in October 1908.  The above book reproduces all the letters, and makes fascinating reading for anyone interested in the genesis of the finest story of its kind ever to appear in print.

Photo:  Alastair - by RICHARD SPEAIGHT

If not for Alastair, the Riverbank tale might never have been written, but, alas, there was no happy ending for the boy who was the template for Mr. TOAD.  A difficult, troubled lad, he suffered from poor health throughout his life (being born blind in one eye) and committed suicide two days before his 20th birthday by lying on railway tracks while an undergraduate at Oxford University.  Out of consideration and respect for his father, Alastair's death was officially recorded as accidental, but it was a tragic end to the mouse who inspired the most famous toad in the world.  

THE STREETS OF LAREDO - JIM REEVES...

Here's a nice wee treat for fans of great singers who make it all sound so easy.  And there was no one who did that better than JIM REEVES.  Click the arrow and discover that fact for yourselves.

BABE Of The DAY - CARLA GUGINO...

Today's hottie is CARLA GUGINO,

who has two impressive features to admire...

dreamy peepers and a winning smile.  (Well

whaddya think I was gonna say?)

RECOMMENDED READING: ALTER-EGO...

Copyright TWOMORROWS PUBLISHING

Picked up these two issues of ALTER-EGO at a local comicbook store the other day, and although neither are for the month of October, there's some good reading in both of them.  Your local store probably still has some spare issues on its shelves, so pop along and pick up these excellent magazines today - before they're completely sold out.