We come to the final MISTER MIRACLE issue. A careful reading of MM #18 suggests that it was a complete surprise when the book was cancelled, as second half of the issue, the plot, the art, and the dialogue all go completely haywire. It would seem that whatever hopes Jack Kirby had for still doing a proper conclusion to his Fourth World epic were dashed at that point.
Ironically, the 1st "Fourth World" crossover since Jack left JIMMY OLSEN came out 2 months later, when Batman met Mister Miracle for the first of several times. THE BRAVE & THE BOLD #112, however, failed to reflect the shocking changes in MM #18, and so it was specifically described as taking place before it.
Meanwhile, KAMANDI cranks on and on. I suppose Carmine Infantino was pleased that his suggestion, "Give me something like PLANET OF THE APES", worked out so well... but I don't think he deserves to be claiming that HE "created" it.
KAMANDI, THE LAST BOY ON EARTH 13 /
art by Jack Kirby & Mike Royer (January 1974)
art by Jack Kirby & Mike Royer (February 1974)
KAMANDI, THE LAST BOY ON EARTH 15 /art by Jack Kirby & Mike Royer (March 1974)
art by Jack Kirby & Mike Royer (April 1974)
The May'74 cover dates were when both Marvel and DC took another stab at "bigger" comics. Marvel started their "GIANT SIZE" comics, with a new 35-page story backed with a 20-page reprint, while DC's "SUPER SPECTACULAR" comics had a new 20-page story backed by 3 20-page reprints. Personally, I've never cared for mixing new and reprints in a single package, and while old comics were harder to come by back then (thus making any reprints at all seem more attractive), looking back, I'd have preferred if someone had come up with the idea of MASTERWORKS and ARCHIVES a decade or two sooner.
Doesn't the design of this cover make it look more like a product catalog than an adventure book?
THE BRAVE & THE BOLD 112 / art by JIM APARO (etc.) (May 1974)
THE BRAVE & THE BOLD 112 / art by JIM APARO (FANTASY version!)
KAMANDI, THE LAST BOY ON EARTH 17 /art by Jack Kirby & D. Bruce Berry (May 1974)
art by Jack Kirby & D. Bruce Berry (June 1974)
art by Jack Kirby & D. Bruce Berry (July 1974)
art by CARMINE INFANTINO (July 1974)
art by Jack Kirby & D. Bruce Berry (August 1974)
(Continued in Part 11)
For in-depth reviews and a fascinating discussion of these issues,
go to the CAPTAIN COMICS message board...
Artwork (C) DC Comics Inc.
Raw scans of THE BRAVE & THE BOLD #112,
KAMANDI #13-14 & 16-20
and AMAZING WORLD OF DC COMICS #1 from Heritage Auctions
Raw scan of KAMANDI #15 from ComicVine
Restorations by Henry R. Kujawa
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