4W Fantasy Covers

Blame Nick Simon for first inspiring me to do "alternate" or "fantasy" versions of some early-70's Marvel covers, which could be cleaned-up or feature different artwork than the real things (or both). When I got back on my "Jack Kirby Re-Reading Project", picking up where I left off at the point where Jack switched from Marvel to DC in 1970, I just knew some of these would be ripe for doing "Fantasy" versions.  In particular, the JIMMY OLSENs.

The SUPERMAN logo is a thing of beauty-- that's why it's lasted so long-- but not when it was plastered on JO.  So, out it went.  Also, the JO logo itself may have been fine, in 1951. With so much emphasis on "KIRBY IS HERE!", and it being "THE NEW" Jimmy, it sure seems this would have been the time to re-design the logo... NOT, right after Jack left the book.  Also, for Jack's entire run, Jimmy was seen sans bow tie. But he still had it in the corner pic, where he & Superman just STAND there, Supes' arm on Jimmy's shoulder. To me, that pic screams, "Look! This is a really BORING comic! Please buy us ANYWAY!"  Well... not anymore!  Finally, "GUN HIM DOWN!" made sense on the rejected version, where Yango was actually holding a gun.  Here, "RUN HIM DOWN!" seems more appropriate.

JIMMY OLSEN 133 / fantasy version

JIMMY OLSEN 134 / fantasy version

JIMMY OLSEN 135 / fantasy version

JIMMY OLSEN 136 / fantasy version

JIMMY OLSEN 137 / fantasy version

JIMMY OLSEN 138 / fantasy version

JIMMY OLSEN 141 / fantasy version

JIMMY OLSEN 144 / fantasy version

JIMMY OLSEN 145 / fantasy version

JIMMY OLSEN 148 / fantasy version

And now, for something different... 

here's the COLOR GUIDE for FOREVER PEOPLE 9

Courtesy of Heritage Auction, quickie clean-up by yours truly.

Another oddball item... I wanted to clean up some of the text, and get the Comics Code stamp off the lighthouse light.  I couldn't see what it was at first!
THE SHADOW 11  /  Fantasy Cover

More as I go!
Once again, for in-depth reviews, go to the CAPTAIN COMICS message board...

Artwork (C) DC Comics Inc.
Restorations by Henry R. Kujawa

Fourth World, Part 3

(Continued from Part 2)

NEW GODS 4  /  art by Jack Kirby & Vince Colletta   (September 1971)

IN THE DAYS OF THE MOB #1  /
art by Jack Kirby & Frank Giacoia   (Fall 1971)

Read Bob Heer's article at the Jack Kirby Comics blog
Read Tom Field's article at the TwoMorrows website
Read Harry Mendry's article at the Simon & Kirby blog

Read "Welcome To Hell!" at the Crime & Punishment blog
Read "Ma's Boys!" at the Crime & Punishment blog
Read "Bullets For Big Al!" at the Crime & Punishment blog
  -- or --
Read the entire issue IN THE DAYS OF THE MOB #1
   at the The Comic Reading Library blog!

Jack Kirby finished the entire 2nd issue but DC had already decided to pull the plug before the 1st one even hit the newsstands.  Part of it turned up in THE AMAZING WORLD OF DC COMICS fanzine. The rest has never seen the light of day (except perhaps online), and none of these have ever been reprinted
(as of this typing).

Read "Murder, Inc!" at the Grantbridge Street & Other Misadventures blog


SPIRIT WORLD 1  /
art by Jack Kirby (layout) & NEAL ADAMS   (Fall 1971)

Read Christopher Allen's article at the Trouble With Comics blog
Read Jon B. Cooke's article at the TwoMorrows site

Read "House Of Horror" at the Por Por Books blog
Read "Children Of The Flaming Wheel" at the  
     Diversions Of The Groovy Kind blog
Read "Amazing Predictions" at the Gone And Forgotten blog

Just as with IN THE DAYS OF THE MOB, Jack Kirby finished a 2nd issue of SPIRIT WORLD, but DC pulled the plug before it was ever published.  Instead, the 4 stories appeared in 4 different color comics:  WEIRD MYSTERY TALES #1, 2 & 3, and FORBIDDEN TALES OF DARK MANSION #6.


JIMMY OLSEN 142  / 
art by Jack Kirby, Mike Royer, Neal Adams   (October 1971)

MISTER MIRACLE 4  /  art by Jack Kirby & Vince Colletta   (October 1971)

LOIS LANE 115  /  art by DICK GIORDANO   (October 1971)

JIMMY OLSEN 143  /  art by Jack Kirby & Mike Royer   (November 1971)

FOREVER PEOPLE 5  /  art by Jack Kirby & Mike Royer   (November 1971)

NEW GODS 5  /  art by Jack Kirby & Mike Royer   (November 1971)

LOIS LANE 116  /  art by Werner Roth & Vince Colletta   (November 1971)

JIMMY OLSEN 144  /  art by Jack Kirby & Neal Adams   (December 1971)

MISTER MIRACLE 5  /  art by Jack Kirby & Mike Royer   (December 1971)

The unpublished SPIRIT WORLD #2 (which would have been Winter '71) featured 4 stories, all of which turned up, one apiece, in four different color comics.  Here's a page from the 4th story, "THE PSYCHIC BLOODHBOUND", in which Mike Royer did pencils & inks over Kirby layouts!  I just noticed (11-12-12) the set-up here is rather similar to Stephen King's "THE DEAD ZONE", in that the hero gets psychic images and impressions from TOUCHING people or things. Could Stephen King have been inspired by Kirby, or could both have been inspired by some earlier source?

Yet one more thing where Kirby was years ahead of something that became popular by someone else. If ever there was a guy who SHOULD have been working in Hollywood his whole life...!

JIMMY OLSEN 145  /  art by Jack Kirby & Murphy Anderson   (January 1972)

(Continued in Part 4)

Once again, for in-depth reviews, go to the CAPTAIN COMICS message board.

Artwork (C) DC Comics Inc. /

Raw scans of IN THE DAYS OF THE MOB #1, SPIRIT WORLD #1
and interior art from SPIRIT WORLD #2
from Heritage Auctions.

Restorations by Henry R. Kujawa