Kirby in 2005 mid-year update

Been a pretty big year for Kirby work being published, especially from Marvel (you'd almost think Marvel didn't have to pay for it. Oh, wait...). Time for a quick half-way through the year overview. As usual, links over on the sidebar for the announcement page and links for buying them on-line.

DC's falling behind on the Kirby train, but they do have a KAMANDI ARCHIVES later this year. Pure Imagination should have another volume of THE COMPLETE JACK KIRBY later this year, too.

TwoMorrows has only had one issue of THE JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR so far, but it was a good one, with lots of 1970s DC artwork, a great article about the Newsboy Legion and a compete S&K crime story. Another should be on the way soon, circa the San Diego Con, and another in the fall. They've also been promising a big announcement at San Diego, which might mean more stuff coming out, or something else.

Fantagraphics has a 1950s Harvey short story, "The Fourth Dimension is a Many Splattered Thing", reprinted from the original artwork, in Craig Yoe's first anthology of modern art themes in comics, MODERN ARF.

AMERICA’S GREATEST COMICS #11 from AC Comics has two 1950s short stories, one inked by Steve Ditko, AC should have some more 1950s reprinted in some upcoming releases.

Marvel's been quite a bit heavier than it has been in years, and in several different formats.

Two long-awaited books in the ESSENTIAL line of thick black&white books, FF v4 and THOR v2. Great reproduction throughout on the FF book, the THOR one is more hit and miss, sometimes very good, but every now and then it's obvious that they're using printed comics or stats prepared for prior reprints as the source. Still some great
material in each book.

1970s material written and drawn by Kirby shows up in two colour tradepaperbacks, one reprinting the early issues of his BLACK PANTHER run and a second volume of his CAPTAIN AMERICA work, this one including the original tabloid.

The MASTERWORKS hardcover line has already had four volumes this year with some Kirby artwork. One has just a few covers (IRON MAN v2) but the others have a lot of Kirby, with FF v8, Golden Age CAPTAIN AMERICA v1 and Silver Age CAPTAIN AMERICA v2.

In addition, in a new format they've printed FANTASTIC FOUR OMNIBUS v1, collecting the first 30 issues of FF in one book, with extra material.

Another new format is the MARVEL MILESTONES line of $4 largely random reprint comics. Kirby's been in four of them:

DR. DOOM, SUB-MARINER AND THE RED SKULL
IRON MAN, ANT-MAN & CAPTAIN AMERICA
VENOM & HERCULES
WOLVERINE & TUK THE CAVE BOY

Obviously not drawing any of the Venom or Wolverine stories, or the Sub-Mariner one for that matter, but at least one of all the rest.

In a similar format, except including a new short story and more thematically coherent, GIANT-SIZE X-MEN #3 has a pair of Kirby stories as examples of early X-Men crossovers (oddly in the wrong order).

A few anthology types with some Kirby content. In order of quantity:
BEST OF THE FANTASTIC FOUR 2005
Five issues, including the otherwise not-in-print #100, about a third of the book

MARVEL VISIONARIES - STAN LEE 2005
Three stories, including the first ever reprint of THOR #179, Kirby's last issue

MARVEL WEDDINGS 2005
One story, the oft-reprinted (and never well, including here) FF ANNUAL #3

AVENGERS - KANG - TIME AND TIME AGAIN 2005
One story, the otherwise not-in-print THOR #140

And trivially, the Kirby/Ditko cover of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #1 is
reprinted in these two books:
SPIDER-MAN - FANTASTIC FOUR CLASSIC 2005
MARVEL VISIONARIES - STEVE DITKO 2005