Kamandi, the Last Boy on Earth #16
Published and © by DC, April 1974
Title: Untitled
Synopsis: Kamandi is trapped with other “lab animals” as a gorilla scientist finds similarities between present day and the Great Disaster.
Writer: Jack Kirby
Penciler: Kirby
Inker: Mike Royer with D. Bruce Berry
Review: Jack “King” Kirby was in fine form for much of his Kamandi run, and this issue is a fine example of that work. His stories tend to utilize simple literary devices, here employing a parallel narrative to highlight history repeating itself. Kirby’s concepts on Kamandi rarely feel new but are made vibrant by his pacing. The King’s art from this era is likewise energetic, growing increasingly stylized but not yet lost to abstraction. Action scenes crackle with kinetic power while the use of iconic splash pages to mark chapter shifts imbue Kirby’s simple scripts with an epic feel.
Grade: B+
Second opinion: “Mood is an important factor, as this mystery, with Kirby only dropping the first hints as to what the Great Disaster was in #16. … Recommended.” – The Slings & Arrows Comic Guide (second edition), 2003
Cool factor: The clean line work and spot blacks of Mike Royer and D. Bruce Berry are a huge improvement over Vince Colletta’s wooden inks on Kriby’s “Fourth World” books.
Collector’s note: According to MyComicShop.com, there is a Mark Jewelers variant of this issue.
Character quotable: “It implies that gorillas were kept in cages – just like our experimental animals – i-it’s a mind-boggling, demeaning concept.” – Professor Hanuman, gorilla scientist
Editor’s note: This review was written August 3, 2024.
