Customer Reviews

The Losers

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Opening the pages of this book was like opening a childhood memory box. My memories drifting back to a family summer vacation, a 1300 mile round trip through the American Southwest. Past billboards of "the THING", "GENUINE INDIAN TRADING POST" and "the WORLDS DEEPEST MANMADE WELL" I huddled in the back of a Ford LTD with a treasure trove of Jack Kirby comics.
Some of the images in these stories never left me. The story A SMALL PLACE IN HELL is so vividly illustrated I've never forgotten it. The stories may be simple but the art is a joy at every page. This is Jack Kirby at his finest- raw action at a breathtaking pace.
Like a time traveler I've been brought back to the joy and pleasure I felt as a child turning the pages of these masterworks of action. FUN- this is what comics were meant to be!

Jack Kirby's Losers stories were sadly neglected when they first appeared in 1974. Interest was focused on superheroes and fantasy by most fans and that was a mistake. DC has finally collected Kirby's stories in a format that does them justice. This is one of those works that deserve to be reevaluated. Jack Kirby brought many of his personal experiences as a soldier during WWII, an event that informed him all his life. The images he draws are powerful, violent and effective. His writing here, which is problematic most of the time, works well, short and terse. Some of his prose borders on the poetic. This is Kirby's most personal and best solo work in my eyes, and considering his output, that's saying a lot.

Nick C.

This is a fun book, but as much as I love all things by Jack Kirby, I can't give it 5-stars. It's "lesser 70s Kirby": some great stories, but some unremarkable characters. Some great inking by Mike Royer, but also some oddly flat inking by D. Bruce Barry.

From a comics history point of view, it's certainly interesting to compare these Kirby war comics to the Sgt Fury comics he had helped create at Marvel 10-12 years earlier. From what I recall, he really didn't like the unrealistic Sgt Fury stories and didn't enjoy working on that comic book.

But for sheer Jack Kirby 1970s "all-ages comics fun" I would first direct readers towards his 70s runs on Captain America and Black Panther; Devil Dinosaur; The Eternals; and OMAC. If you read all those and want more, then dive into the sprawling, crazy, loopy "Fourth World" saga (collected in 4 volumes). Then if you still need more.... by all means, get The Losers too.

The production values of this DC hardcover collection are stellar. DC's omnibus collections are more *aesthetically* satisfying that Marvel's, because they use thinner, newsprint-style paper which soaks up the colors wonderfully -- as opposed to the Marvel books which print on glossy white paper and the color sort of "sits" garishly on the page.

The Losers by Kirby came out in 1975, and a lot of people did not like the switch at the time. Reviewed on its own merit though this series under Jack's writing and art was pure Kirby at its best. Jack, when allowed to write took things to a level that may only be seen as operatic. The stories are big, the actions bold, the world appears to be a chessboard manipulated by the heroes and villains as they see fit. Even without the powers and costumes that same sense of the dynamic is still there, for better or worse quiet scenes (with a few exceptions) were not Kirby's stock and trade.

He had just finished the Demon, so I consider this his fourth DC period, his first was the golden age, his second was the 1960's (Challengers of the Unknown); his third was the early 1970's (his Fourth World Saga); is fourth period was his run on the Losers, Kamandi, Sandman. His fifth period was the mid-1980s Superpowers and Hunger Dogs (but that period makes me sad).

The stories are big, the dialogue that odd Kirby was of speaking and was sparse at that. D. Bruce Berry did the honor of inking him; I always loved his Kamandi work with Jack also.

The production values of the book are great, I love the non-shiny paper stock (unlike the DC Archives) which lets you read without a glare and recalls the comic book experience. I will be honest, when I picked up a stack of comics the war ones were always at the bottom. But reprinted here in one fell swoop I have gained a new appreciation for this undiscovered Kirby gem.

In 1974, Jack Kirby took over the writing and drawing of The Losers feature in the Our Fighting Forces comic book (under protest). Kirby did a good job of telling exciting stories, although as Neil Gaiman points in the introduction, The Losers as he wrote them don't really have distinct personalities. This isn't Kirby at his best, but even lesser Kirby is well worth reading.

Kirby. WWII. What more is there to stay. Great stuff, especially the Royer-inked stories.

Sorry, but this disappointed me. I was given this as a gift and was excited to have the Losers back in my hands again until I realized it was Jack Kirby. The Losers was one of my favorite comics and I stopped buying it once Kirby took over. Compared to artists like Sam Glanzman, Russ Heath, John Severin and Joe Kubert who did the artwork in earlier issues, Kirby's version of the characters to me were lifeless and stonelike. I didn't like the stories as well either.

My favorite pre-kirby issue was one where the Losers were defending a fort in the desert with dead French Foreign Legionaires propped up on the walls to make it appear like a larger force. What held me most captive? The drawing! It was spectacular and I have read that single issue more times than any other comic I have ever owned. It's time DC releases a "Showcase presents the Losers"... Nothing personal Jack (and Jack Kirby fans); I just prefer the earlier style.