Fourth World, Part 18

(Continued from Part 17)

In case anyone's wondering what Gerry Conway's SECRET SOCIETY OF SUPER-VILLAINS is doing here, the 2nd issue introduced Darkseid as the financial backer of the villain group.  Although he was only part of the ongoing proceedings until issue #5, another character who debuted in Kirby's Fourth World books was son introduced to take his place for the rest of the series.

Although Phillipino artist Ernie Chua (later Ernie Chan) was the most
prolific cover artists on these books at the time, other contributors include
Dick Giordano, Joe Kubert, Rich Buckler & Mike Nassser.

SECRET SOCIETY OF SUPER-VILLAINS 2  /
art by Dick Giordano & Klaus Janson   (August 1976)
SECRET SOCIETY OF SUPER-VILLAINS 2  /
art by Dick Giordano & Klaus Janson /
Fantasy version by Henry Kujawa 
KAMANDI, THE LAST BOY ON EARTH 45  /
art by ERNIE CHAN   (September 1976)

KOBRA 4  /
art by JOE KUBERT   (September 1976)

KAMANDI, THE LAST BOY ON EARTH 46  /
art by ERNIE CHAN   (October 1976)

SECRET SOCIETY OF SUPER-VILLAINS 3  /
art by ERNIE CHAN   (October 1976)

DC's disastrous cover format with the wide banner finally came to and end with the Nov'76 issues. As it turned out, it was the beginning of a major company-wide upgrade, which also involved a new publisher hired for the job from outside the industry-- Jeanette Kahn.

KAMANDI, THE LAST BOY ON EARTH 47  /
art by Rich Buckler & Frank Giacoia   (November 1976)

KOBRA 5  /
art by Rich Buckler & Frank McLaughlin   (December 1976)

SECRET SOCIETY OF SUPER-VILLAINS 4  /
art by ERNIE CHAN   (December 1976)

KAMANDI, THE LAST BOY ON EARTH 48  /
art by ERNIE CHAN   (January 1977)

KOBRA 6  /
art by Mike Nasser & Joe Rubinstein   (February 1977)

(Continued in Part 19)

For in-depth reviews and a fascinating discussion of these issues,
go to the CAPTAIN COMICS message board...

See Erik Larsen's KAMANDI article at Comic Book Resources
Read He Who Wanders' SSoSV thread at Legion World

Artwork (C) DC Comics Inc. /

Raw scans of KAMANDI #45-46 from Comic Book Swap site
Raw Scans of KOBRA #4-6 and
     KAMANDI #47 from Heritage Auctions

Restorations by Henry R. Kujawa