Marvel Treasury Captain America's Bicentennial Battles

Story and Art by Jack Kirby
Inks by Herb Trimpe, John Romita, and Barry Smith


I really can't claim to know anything about Jack Kirby as a man, but I have to question what he did with what limited recreational time he must have had, but much of what I've read of the work he did in the 70s leads me to assume he might have hung out with Timothy Leary or William S. Burroughs. I mean, it's 1976. The U.S. is celebrating its' bicentennial birthday so why not have Marvel's most recognized patriot travel through time and visit America through some of it's most important moments as they are happening? Ok, sure, I'll buy this plot.


Captain America shows up at the domicile of one Mister Buda, who appears to be some sort of mystic. Against his will, Captain America is transported to Hitler's hideout where he relives a moment from his life where he and Bucky fight both Hitler and the Red Skull. Before he can wrap his head around seeing Bucky again, Captain is transported back to present day. He tries to leave Mister Buda's place and with a parting handshake, Buda imbues Cap with a "psychic talisman" which proceeds to take him on a journey through time.

Cap mixes it up with some gangsters in the 30's, meet Benjamin Franklin, intercedes on the behalf of Geronimo with the U.S Cavalry and oh so much more! 83 pages(with pin-ups!)chock full of Kirby zaniness. It really is a pretty neat, though oddly executed idea. And with 3 superstar artists handling inking duties, you'd think the strongest area would be the art. Well it is and it isn't. You'd think with him starting his career aping the man, Barry Smith would be a natural inking choice for Kirby, but by this point he is well on his way to developing his own style and it is very apparent here. The opening pages are pure Smith and it is a bit strange, but the melding of the 2 styles sort of works, though the results look little like Kirby. I believe Trimpe is the next one up and his inks really seem to bring Kirby's artwork down. Some of the faces look odd and the whole thing has a bit of a rushed look to it. I think the big winner out these guys is John Romita. He manages to keep Kirby's work intact while giving it a nice polished look.

If this is any sort of prelude to Kirby's run on the Captain America ongoing, I am in for a treat. Though, I can only hope for a musical dance number featuring Cap in that series! I think this predates the ads I saw in some of the 80s Marvel books for a Cap Broadway Musical by almost 10 years. Truly, Jack Kirby was ahead of his time.

"Listen to them, Manhunter. My heads never lie . . . Even if they speak with recording tape.

1st Issue Special #5

Written, Drawn and Edited by Jack Kirby

Inked and Lettered by D. Bruce Berry


Ok, so it's been quite a while since I last posted and I strongly felt the urge to get SOMETHING posted in the month of June so here it is.

The first appearance of Manhunter takes place over 3 chapters. The first chapter unfolds with Manhunter tracking his quarry to "The Cave of the Talking Heads"(though it should be noted David Byrne was nowhere to be found so maybe this takes place after he left the band). The place still lives up to its' name though, with bizarre, otherworldly heads mounted on the wall hurling taunts to our hero. In triple quick time(actually, page 2-3 as it's a strangely illustrated double splash page), Manhunter finds his man: a purple helmet/green robe-clad individual calling the shots from what can only be called a pope mobile. Manhunter takes down the energy spewing head with a blast from his own electric baton.
Chapter 2 finds Manhunter in trouble as the vaguely alien looking adversary drops the "electric head" on Manhunter. Death seems certain, but a lucky blind shot from Manhunter breaks through the villain's pope mobile. Buying him some time as he struggles with the contraption on his head, Manhunter manages to get the helmet off in the nick of time as the alien pope figure it revealed to be human and he comes at Manhunter with an axe! Manhunter thrusts the electric helmet into harm's way and the mad genius/alien/religious figure perishes by his own invention. The irony of it all! After the battle, it is time for introspection as the Manhunter strips off his chrome face only to reveal an old man hiding underneath. "Meanwhile, in a quiet suburb of a small college town . . ."(it actually says this in the caption on the following page), a frustrated, young public defender named Mark Shaw vents to his uncle how he is of no use to anyone as he can't help the people he is appointed to represent as they are victims and pawns of the powerful. Hearing this, his uncle reveals a secret door to an amazing artifact collection the uncle has beein quietly hoarding from his time as an archeologist. His uncle is the proud owner of a full Manhunter suit kept under glass. He tells his nephew a bit about the "Shan" sect and how they basically fight crime. This all leads to a medallion that will allow his nephew to contact the Shan and obviously become the next manhunter. Which brings us to chapter 3 . . .
We return to the elderly manhunter having an audience with his master. Here, we learn he is the last warrior of his race and he wishes to retire, but there is no one to take his place. His master assures him there is and leads him over to a gigantic lion totem that is apparently the other end of the medallion held by Mark Shaw. A brief exchange occurs and Shaw is granted the powers of the Shan. And none too soon, either! Right at this time, Mark learns the client he was currently representing was slain by the mob and it's at this precise moment, too that the mob shows up to tie up all their loose ends by icing Shaw as well. Clearly, they were ill prepared for the fisticuffs that would commence with the newly invigorated Manhunter! Shaw looks to destroy half his home in the ensuing melee, but he gets a name he's been looking for and is soon hot on the trail of his quarry! We cut to a scene in which we see this shall be Shaw's first test and if he succeeds, he shall receive his baton, thus releasing the old Manhunter from his servitude. The final panel reveals Shaw's target, and he looks more like a frog than a person. Talk about a cliff-hanger.
I know this character has turned up in various series, but I'm pretty sure Kirby never returned to him. I knew nothing about the character going into this, but this debut tale pretty much tells me everything I need to know. There's a fine mix of Kirby's bizarre and entertaining ideas on display here. Kirby's art was pretty consistent throughout and I thought Berry's inks on this issue worked better than on the Atlas story. It's definitely worth checking out.

1st Issue Special #1 Jack Kirby's Atlas

While scouring the internet for 70's Jack Kirby stuff, I came across this short-lived series from DC. Jack Kirby made several contributions to the run, including its' inaugural issue. Atlas tells the slight tale of an extremely strong young man named, yes, Atlas and his follower, Chagra. It opens with them in a town marketplace as Atlas gives a demonstration of his power by crushing two huge stones in his hands. Chagra beckons to anyone in the crowd to challenge Atlas in combat. The town's strongest is offered up only to be felled with a single blow from Atlas. The townspeople believe the fight was rigged and begin to surround Atlas and Chagra only to be interrupted by a nobleman trying to pass through. Atlas dispatches the nobleman quickly only to be set upon by the king's soldiers. Atlas grabs a human shield and before the archers can attack Atlas, a voice is heard from off panel which triggers an extended flashback sequence from Atlas.

We are taken back to when Atlas was a child and his village was attacked by slavers. Atlas hid and watched helplessly as the men killed his father and took his mother away. Atlas is captured by the slaver's leader, Hyssa, but surprises him by dealing a blow powerful enough to incapacitate the slaver. Atlas manages to escape only to be captured again by a stranger hiding in the nearby field.

The stranger turns out to be Chagra and Atlas once again gets to show his strength and breaks away from Chagra. He goes into his family's hut and comes back out with a glowing crystal. Chagra recognizes the crystal as belonging to a group of people from the Crystal Mountain. The leader carries a fragment from the mountain and when the leader dies, he must pass the crystal on to his successor. Atlas is now in possession of the fragment and Chagra decides to become his subject.

The story goes through a couple more encounters giving Atlas a bit more character and further establishing his and Chagra's relationship before returning to the present of the story finding the voice that triggered this elaborate flashback belongs to King Hyssa! Hyssa remembers Atlas from his slaver days(those things kind of have a way of coming back to haunt you, don't you think?). It looks as all Hell is about to break loose, but that is where the story ends. There is a bit from the editorial urging readers to write in if they want to see more of Atlas, but, sadly it seems, this was not to be. There is also an article called, "The Story Behind the Story" and goes into the myths and legends of Gods and Jack Kirby and it kind of gives you an idea of what he was going for with this story. I definitely see some elements better mined earlier in New Gods. Kirby's art here is good, with inks by D. Bruce Berry. His lines don't seem to be as bold as Mike Royers and has quite a bit of fine linework. It's not what I'm accustomed to seeing his Kirby's 70's stuff, but is still strong. All in all, for a relatively obscure book, I find it be worth checking out. I was able to pick his other issues from this series as well and I'm looking forward to reading them soon.