BRONZE AGE MINUTE: Kamandi, the Last Boy on Earth #17

DC; May 1975
Cover by Jack Kirby

Untitled
Synopsis: Captured by sentient apes, Kamandi is forced to deliver bombs to an underground culture of mutant, digger dwarfs.

Writer: Jack Kirby
Penciler: Kirby
Inker: D. Bruce Berry

Review: Kamandi continues to be one of Jack Kirby’s most underrated works. Every issue is an exercise in controlled creative madness, combining Lynchian oddness with a Gilliamesque brand of post-apocalyptic glee. Humans are reduced to animal slaves. Evolved tigers battle evolved apes for supremacy, while threats ranging from underground creatures to mutant plants complicate life for everyone. The King’s art continues to pulse with power, especially on two-page spreads like the one that kicks off this issue.

Grade: B+

Cool factor: C’mon, check out that synopsis: “An underground culture of mutant, digger dwarfs.”

Notable: This issue includes an essay by Kirby, “Subject: Animals that Stand Errect … ,” that explains how he chooses which animals hold power in the post-apocalyptic world of Kamandi.

Character quotable: “I’ll teach you apes to call me an animal! This is how a man fights!” – Kamandi, last man on Earth
Creator quotable: “In developing my animal characters, I find myself relating to them with astonishing ease. Once they have acquired human qualities and names, they become real people, friends and enemies, some to be scorned and others to be respected.” – Jack Kirby, from this issue’s “Subject: Animals that Stand Errect …” essay

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