One Coin Reads 22: The Kamandi Challenge, by DC

The Kamandi Challenge, by DC

2018

Yet another book I barely bought. While I've been giving DC comics a chance, I really don't like their aesthetic and philosophy overall, and it's been that way for at least 20 years. Some creators at the company are given freedom and make enjoyable work, but the overall tone of their whole publishing line has felt like what a teenager thinks being a grown up is. Grant Morrison manages to stand apart from that, but I've still been turned off of them as a publisher.

This book, the Kamandi Challenge, is a tribute to the 100th anniversary of Jack Kirby's birthday, so they had Jim Lee, a guy who has zero Jack Kirby spark in him, do the cover. It boggles the mind.

Like Kirby, but more "real"!

Why did I buy it? it was ¥6000 marked down to ¥600, so it was kind of daring me to get it. Plus it has a lot of creators I find interesting contributing, so it had to be worth at least the ¥600 it cost, right?

The cover to the first issue by Bruce Timm, a guy who gets why Kirby was exciting

I think it was. First, what the heck is this book? It was a twelve issue series with a different writer and artist (and sometimes colorist) on each issue. The final page of each ends on a cliffhanger that the next team has to solve. And it stars Kamandi, one of Kirby's 70's DC creations. It sounded like a fun project. 

Unfortunately, I have only ever read the first issue of Kamandi, so I don't have a grasp of the world to compare this to what Kirby created, but my understanding of it is that it's Kirby's spin on the Planet of the Apes, a post-apocalyptic world where humanoid animals rule. Beyond that, I don't know the nuances of the character or where the plots went. I'm assuming all the creators here do though, especially older creators like Neal Adams and Walt Simonson.

Mr. Royer's first name is Mike? I get that reference!

It was a fun book! It's a single story of sorts, but it's more like a massive comic jam, where the story is passed along from writer to writer. It's not a very coherent story, but each issue works within itself, and you can tell that the creators are having a good time with it. This comic probably didn't shatter any sales records, but it wouldn't hurt DC to publish more comics where the creators seem to be enjoying the work.

What was most notable was that all the creators involved worked hard to tell an arc in 22 pages. So the pacing is quicker than normal and some subtlety is lost, but it was refreshing to read.

Never having been kissed is a running joke in the book

The biggest surprise for me was that some of the creators in the book I had written off years ago as not to my taste delivered surprisingly good work.

I was pretty stunned at the ability of all these artists to draw animals, including the lemur doctor here from Ivan Reis

I'm not an Ivan Reis fan due to his lack of dynamic energy, and he created much more vibrant pages than I had seen before. 

Jill Thompson, drawing like Jeff Smith

Jill Thompson was an artist who I felt was talented as an illustrator much more than a comic storyteller, and she makes some beautiful pages in this. I hadn't seen new work from her in over 20 years.

Neal Adams takes the action to San Diego Comic Con

Other artists either I wasn't familiar with their work or I wasn't even familiar with their name.  I'd seen Amanda Conner covers before, but was impressed with her cartoony storytelling here. Carlos D'Anda produced some nice psychedelic pages.

Amanda Conner's story has a weird sexy plant woman

Artists I loved as a kid like Neal Adams and Walt Simonson don't fare quite as well, but I don't think their art lends itself well to modern coloring. Simonson especially seems to lose energy with computer shaded coloring. It's certainly drawn as well as ever.

Simonson gets to draw aliens and robots

Dan "I killed Superman" Jurgens does a story as well, and is probably the weakest to me. Unlike Reis or Thompson, I have had no interest in his art and this didn't change that. He's a poor man's Mark Bagley, and I think Bagley draws like a boiled potato. 

The writers are trying to outdo each other with crazy stories, from nuclear bombs to pirates to giant robots to vivisections. None of it is greatly better than each other except Tom King's story with Kevin Eastman of Ninja Turtles fame.

Carlos D'Anda is in harmony with his colorist

King's story is an intimate one, trapped in a room where animals are plucked out by a robot day after day for an unknown reason. It was really good! Unfortunately, it completely ignored the purpose of the book, to play with the cliffhanger the previous writer left. In his case, the previous cliffhanger was a giant sea serpent facing Kamandi. Tom King's story starts in a room (and no sign that it is the serpent's belly either). On top of that, he starts with a philosophy quote and ends it with a Kirby quote, which dispels the narrative disbelief. And it's a good single issue story though! 

It was so fun to see a Kevin Eastman drawn story!

I'm a teacher. Occasionally a student will hand in a good paper that completely ignores the criteria of the assignment, and it's so frustrating. That's what King does here. All the writers are given a text page to express their ideas about the project, and in Greg Pak's, he writes about doing improv, where the idea is "YES, AND". That's what everyone in the book does except King. King said, "whatever" and did what he pleased.

Steve Rude draws the Odyssey with goats

Beyond that weird bump, this book was a nice, easy read. Once an issue was done, the next issue would be a new flavor. 

For the conclusion, they make Kirby a magic god character, and it's fine. I don't know how you wrap up a headless story like this. I get why they want to do it, but I get icky seeing DC pretending to be the Kirby champion. I've got the Kirby-branded DC collections. These days, they want to make it seem like they've always supported Kirby, but it feels like marketing more than it does respect. At the same time, I'm just glad it's all in print.

Kudos to DC for letting Kirby chew on a stogie

Kirby had problems everywhere. Both Marvel and DC treated him poorly, so putting him front and center after he's died feels unauthentic for either company.

What I can say though is that a lot of these creators have a genuine love for Kirby and his work, even the editors at DC, and I can see it. For whatever issues I have with the corporate publishing of DC and the tone of their works, these people do what they do out of a love of comics. We all share the same roots.