I received the PDF for this graphic novel just over a month ago. I read it in a couple of days and have procrastinated reviewing it because every time I opened it to review it I couldn’t stop reading or looking at the art. Granted I’m somewhat easily distracted (look-a kitten!), but Genesis sucked me into an old school comic world I haven’t seen in a while.
Kirby: Genesis has an old school feel to it, that’s a big reason it was so entertaining to me. While the book is labeled Teen+, it’s reminiscent of the comics I used to read as a kid. There isn’t too much gore-but there is lots of action and the characters are appropriate. By appropriate, I mean that the women aren’t drawn in a slutty manner and the men are typical action heroes without being jerks or anti-heroes.
The scale and scope of Kirby: Genesis is massive. Every comic panel is packed with artwork that moves the story forward. And the artwork is gorgeous, it’s detail oriented, creative and I’m tempted to stop writing now to go look at it some more. A photo of a screen shot doesn’t do the artwork justice, for high resolution images visit the Dynamite site.
The story is about the Pioneer 10 Space Probe being sent into space carrying a message. It comes back with a response and multiple visitors including Captain Victory, Silver Star and dozens of other characters that were created by Jack Kirby.
Despite my geek roots, I’m a newcomer to independent comics. When I saw the heroes in Kirby: Genesis I chuckled a bit, what with names like Captain Victory I was expecting a cheesy, rip off comic. I quickly got past that and embraced all of the characters and you will too.
This is the trade paperback of issues 0-8 Kirby: Genesis and also features 25 pages or sketches, covers and more. Kurt Buseik and Alex Ross did the writing for the books, with Jack Herbert and Ross doing the drawings. The style of artwork is in line with MARVELS, the classic book that was released in 1994. That’s because Ross and Buseik were also the force behind MARVELS.
Kirby: Genesis is an excellent jumping off point for new comic fans or for people who want to re-discover how great a comic can be.
We received a time expired copy of Kirby: Genesis from NetGalley. All thoughts are our own.
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Alex Ross is a master and working with characters created by Jack ‘King’ Kirby can be nothing short of awesome. I love Dynamite books. I love the old Golden Age characters being “reawakened” in modern day. Let me suggest Black Terror. Good one too.
Big thanks for the tip. I’ll check out Black Terror when I stop by the store this week. If you read lots of e-books or graphic novels you should visit Netgalley.com. They work with publishers and bloggers to provide the books. You write them up, it’s win/win. It’s only in ebook form, so no physical copies, but it’s great for us.
D’oh. I meant to add that I’ve been really disappointed with most of the DC titles. For the first time in a long time I’m not reading any of them. So it’s a great time for a nice independent title to rise up.