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| Jack Kirby |
New Gods v1 #3, 1971 - The Black Racer, whose touch means instant death, premieres in this series. While in hot pursuit, he's suddenly transported to Earth via the Boom Tube. Even with the photographic background, Jack Kirby's cover struggles with the layout design. The story artwork fares better, especially the scenes featuring the new character. Three dynamic splash pages also make a significant contribution, but the one capturing the Black Racer's moment of arrival (page 10) is the most compelling. His figure fills the entire page, extending the perspective toward all four corners. This story was later reprinted in New Gods v2 #2. This is 3 of 11 New Gods issues by Kirby. /// key 1st appearance, 1st cover Black Racer / Kirby gallery- - - - - - - - - -
Kirby cover pencils (Vince Colletta inks) = **
"Death is the Black Racer" Kirby story pencils (Vince Colletta inks) 22 pages = ***
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New Gods #3 - Jack Kirby art & cover + 1st Black Racer
Reviewed by Ted F
on
6:00 PM
Rating:
Reviewed by Ted F
on
6:00 PM
Rating:
5 comments:
I was excited when these comics came out. I was so glad Kirby came to DC. However, I truly wished, then and now, that there were different inkers on the series. Joe Sinnot and Syd Shores at Marvel brought Kirby to great heights. But the inkers at DC, Royer and Colletta, did nothing for me. Did Adams or Murphy (outside of fixing Superman's face on the covers) ever work with Kirby at DC? Not that Adams would have been a great fit but it would be interesting to see.
I actually thought Royer was Kirby's best inker at DC, and I'll make the case in some upcoming posts. Not familiar with the body of Murphy Anderson's work, so I can comment on him. Aside from some Jimmy Olsen covers, the only other Kirby/Adams collaboration that comes to mind is the cover of Destroyer Duck #1.
Colletta is much maligned for committing the unforgivable sin of erasing details in Kirby's pencils. A week or so ago we favorably discussed a Colletta romance cover here. I encourage anyone interested in seeing Colletta get a fair shake to check out this link: http://eddiecampbell.blogspot.com/2007/05/vincent-colletta-my-favourite-1960s.html . Make sure you check out comments by his granddaughter towards the bottom. Colletta's inks on the New Gods continues the stylistic look established in Thor.
Vince Colletta was buried in the muck and mire of the Kirby fans ire when it was discovered that he erased the occasional gnome or simplified a few buildings. It was actually the Eddie Campbell article from 2007 that began the rehabilitation of Vinnie's reputation. Since than, many professionals have voiced their admiration for Colletta's talent and work ethic. In my opinion, Vince had the most talent of any inker. His versatility (see the Thor books (lush illustrations) vs. the New Gods books (bold graphic art) was unmatched.
Colletta's inks on various books speak for themselves, ranging from awful to acceptable. I disagree that's he's the most talented inker, but I do appreciate his Atlas romance books in the 50s.
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