Jimmy Olsen: Adventures by Jack Kirby - Volume 1 [Paperback]

Jack Kirby (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

In 1970 Marvel Comics mainstay Kirby rocked the comic-book industry by moving to competitor DC Comics. Among his initial DC projects was revamping a sagging title starring Superman's kid-reporter sidekick, Jimmy Olsen. The Man of Steel and his straight-arrow pal were a couple of squares amid such products of Kirby's feverish imagination as "The Hairies," a passel of high-tech hippies who travel in a gargantuan converted missile carrier called the Mountain of Judgment, and clone-making scientists who produce miniature versions of Jimmy and his friends and unleash fearsome "DNAliens." Kirby drew it all with the full-bodied flair and verve he had bestowed on such Marvel creations as the Fantastic Four and Captain America. If Kirby's Jimmy stories sometimes brave near-incoherence (as Kirby admonished in a famous cover blurb, "Don't ask! Just buy it!"), their silly brilliance shows Kirby's feverish imagination up to full advantage. Too outre for today's young comics fans, who prefer a straighter-faced Superman, these stories' primary audience now is middle-aged fans who first read them three decades ago. Gordon Flagg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: DC Comics (August 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1563899841
• ISBN-13: 978-1563899843
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 6.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #948,518 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars King Kirby Shakes Up Superman's Pal!, July 23, 2004

By 

Michael Whitlock (Philadelphia, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Jimmy Olsen: Adventures by Jack Kirby - Volume 1 (Paperback)

Being of the generation that first got into comics in the mid-to-late 70's, I can only imagine how shocking it must have been for those who grew up in the 60's to see Jack Kirby's art on covers with the DC Comics bullet. The man renowned for co-creating the Fantastic Four, the Hulk, Silver Surfer and Galactus and for giving Thor his trademark epic scale visuals was now working for the enemy?? Must've been a strange sensation. I know that one of the reasons I first picked up Kirby's "Jimmy Olsen" run was to see Superman drawn by JK while was still more-or-less in his prime. I wasn't disappointed. Nor was I disappointed by this collection, the first to offer the first 8 issues of JK's the "Jimmy Olsen" title.

These stories introduce us to a variety of fresh and innovative characters and places - some of whom are still very much in the forefront of DC storytelling today (read: Darkseid, Inter-Gang, the New Gods, Apokolips). Kirby brought with him a storytelling style that, considering the period, feels very un-DC with big bolded words in lengthy expository dialogue boxes at the beginning of every issue (with lots of exclamation points!!!!). He effortlessly moved from cosmic adventures to those of a more down-to-earth variety without missing a beat or making the reader wish he'd get back to the good stuff. The first time I read this stuff I remember being struck by the energy he brought to otherwise rather mundane characters.

Given that the good people at DC have only gifted the reading public with black and white reprints of Kirby's other Fourth World titles (boo hiss!), it's a special treat to have these collected in color. Who knows how long this'll be in print so, if you're a Kirby fan, do yourself a favor and pick this up!

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The King comes to DC, July 28, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Jimmy Olsen: Adventures by Jack Kirby - Volume 1 (Paperback)

Nice color collection of Jack "King" Kirby's run on "Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen" from the early 1970s. This first volume collects issues #133-139 and 141. Kirby introduces elements of his "Fourth World" in these stories. Fun stuff, well worth the price.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Bizarre, Energetic, Colorful, September 1, 2003

By 

miles@riverside (Indio, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jimmy Olsen: Adventures by Jack Kirby - Volume 1 (Paperback)

It seems like, after all those years of having Stan Lee hog the "Written By" byline on the Marvel books, Kirby was eager to implement these genuinely weird and original story ideas that had been festering away in his subconscious. Nano-cloning, bio-genetic engineering, the Zoomway, the Whiz Wagon, the Habitat, the Hairies, the Mountain of Judgement, psychedelic photographic montages; something clever and strange jumps up to assault the reader every few pages.

One thing I really like about this book over the other Fourth World collections -- like NEW GODS, MISTER MIRACLE, FOREVER PEOPLE -- (besides the color reprinting) is that the stories here don't carry the good-versus-evil, Apokolips/New Genesis allegory baggage. This one has faster pacing and a more light-hearted feel. A few minor flaws: the Newsboy Legion tends to be more annoying than amusing, and the "hippyspeak" used by the Habitat people was never uttered by any human beings outside the pages of JIMMY OLSEN (and maybe THE FOREVER PEOPLE).

After DC finishes the Jimmy Olsen stories with the next volume, I would really appreciate it if they could reprint the whole KAMMANDI LAST BOY ON EARTH series.