Jack Kirby's Dingbat Love

The King of Comics’ final complete, unpublished stories! cooperation with DC Comics, InTwoMorrows Publishing compiles a

54395

Raleigh, North Carolina

Love

Unpublished ’70s Stories by the King of Comics!

True-Life Divorce!

Dingbats of Danger Street!

Edited by

TwoMorrows Publishing

JOHN MORROW

ISBN: 978-1-60549-091-5 Hardcover Edition: $43.95 in the U.S.

Printed in China

9 781605 490915

♥

Unpublished ’70s Stories by the King of Comics!

True-Life Divorce, Soul Love, and Dingbats of Danger Street © DC Comics. Used with permission.

ISBN-13: 978-1-60549-091-5 ISBN-10: 1-60549-091-1

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love tempestuous trio of never-seen 1970s Jack Kirby projects! These are the final complete, unpublished Kirby stories in existence, presented here for the first time! Included are: Two unused Dingbats of Danger Street tales (Kirby’s final “kid gang” group, inked

by Mike Royer and D. Bruce Berry, and newly colored for this book)! True-Life Divorce, the abandoned newsstand magazine that was too hot for its time (reproduced from Jack’s pencil art—and as a bonus, we’ve commissioned Mike Royer to ink one of the stories)! And Soul Love, the unseen ’70s romance book so funky, even a jive turkey will dig the unretouched inks by Vince Colletta and Tony DeZuniga. PLUS: There’s editor John Morrow’s in-depth examination of why these projects got left back, Jerry Boyd’s analysis of Soul Love (with an artistic surprise by superstar painter Alex Ross), concept art and uninked pencils from Dingbats, plus Introductions and an Afterword by ’70s Kirby assistants Mark Evanier and Steve Sherman!

JACK KIRBY’S

b

Soul Love!

Don’t STEAL our Digital Editions!

C’mon citizen, DO THE RIGHT THING! A Mom & Pop publisher like us needs every sale just to survive! DON’T DOWNLOAD OR READ ILLEGAL COPIES ONLINE! Buy affordable, legal downloads only at

www.twomorrows.com or through our Apple and Google Apps!

& DON’T SHARE THEM WITH FRIENDS OR POST THEM ONLINE. Help us keep producing great publications like this one!

JACK KIRBY’S

♥

Love

Unpublished ’70s Stories by the King of Comics!

TwoMorrows Publishing Raleigh North Carolina

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love

Compiled, written, designed, and edited by JOHN MORROW with the invaluable input and writing talents of MARK EVANIER, STEVE SHERMAN, and JERRY BOYD and the tireless efforts of the JACK KIRBY MUSEUM (www.kirbymuseum.org) Title page drawing: JACK KIRBY and VINCE COLLETTA Soul Love #1 cover painting: ALEX ROSS after Jack Kirby “The Cheater” 2019 inking & lettering: MIKE ROYER Proofreading: JOHN MORROW and ROB SMENTEK Coloring: TOM ZIUKO and GLENN WHITMORE

Dedication

She was in no way a dingbat, but ROSALIND KIRBY was the love of Jack Kirby’s life.

She stuck with him throughout every stage of his crazy life and career, and it’s to her memory that I dedicate this collection of his unseen work.

May everyone who reads this book, have a relationship as remarkable as theirs.

Special Thanks to:

Tom Kraft, Rand Hoppe, The Jack Kirby Museum and Research Center [kirbymuseum.org], What If Kirby? [whatifkirby.com], Heritage Auctions [ha.com], DC Comics, Alexander Braun, Glen Brunswick, Stephen DeStefano, Corey Goldstein, Eric Hillenmeyer, Jay Kogan, Rochus Kahr, Koom Kankesan, Jeremy Kirby, Lisa Kirby, Paul Levine, Harry Mendryk, Jacque Nodell, Steve Robertson, Alex Ross, Jonathan Ross, Mike Royer, Scott Shaw!, Mike Thibodeaux, Glenn Whitmore, Steve Witt, & Tom Ziuko.

Trademarks, Copyrights, & Acknowledgments Jack Kirby’s Dingbat Love editorial package © 2019 TwoMorrows Publishing Soul Love #1 cover painting © 2019 Alex Ross • Introductions © 2019 Mark Evanier Afterword and photos © 2019 Steve Sherman • “Let Your Soul… Love!” ©2019 Jerry Boyd True-Life Divorce, Soul Love, and Dingbats of Danger Street © DC Comics.

Used with permission.

Title page drawing, sketchbook illustrations, collages, Death Fingers, Galaxy Green and all related characters and artwork TM & © the Estate of Jack Kirby Atlas, Big Barda, Boy Commandos, Cancelled Comic Cavalcade, Desaad, E. Leopold Maas, 1st Issue Special, Flippa Dippa, Geoffrey Miller, Girls’ Love Stories, Granny Goodness, Green Team, In the Days of the Mob, Jimmy Olsen, Kobra, Lashina, Manhunter, Mister Miracle, Newsboy Legion, Phantom Lady, Sandman, Scott Free, Serifan, Spirit World, Stompa, Vykin, Warden Frye, and all related characters are TM & © DC Comics.

Boy Explorers, Boys’ Ranch, Young Love, Young Romance and all related characters TM & © the Estates of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby.

All-Negro Comics © the respective holder. Negro Romance TM & © Fawcett Publications.

Negro Heroes TM & © Parent’s Magazine. Classics Illustrated TM & © First Classics, Inc. Welcome Back, Kotter TM & © The Komack Company Wolper Productions.

All rights and trademarks to the Soul Train brand are owned by Viacom’s BET Networks, and are used here in a fictional presentation to help set the narrative in its proper historical context. Similarly, the period images of Shirley Chisholm, Diahann Carroll, Muhammad Ali, Sidney Poitier, Freda Payne, Don Cornelius, and Roberta Flack are presented for historical and journalistic purposes, and are © the respective holders. Likewise, the faux credits listing individuals and companies that were involved with other Speak-Out Series titles at the time are there only to convey a sense of authenticity. No endorsement of the unrealized Soul Love project by any of these individuals or organizations is meant to be implied.

TwoMorrows Publishing 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, North Carolina 27614 www.twomorrows.com • email: twomorrow@aol.com First Printing • November 2019 • Printed in China Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-60549-091-5 Jack Kirby Museum Limited Hardcover Edition ISBN: 978-1-60549-096-0

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 2

Contents

A Foreword, Looking Back......................................4

by John Morrow

True-Life

Divorce An Introduction.......................................................5

by Mark Evanier The Ladies’ Man......................................................9

by John Morrow The Maid...........................................................14 The Twin...........................................................26 The Missing Model.................................................33

by John Morrow The Model.................................................................................34 The Other Woman.................................................................41

At left is Jack Kirby in 1970, just as he made the move from Marvel Comics to DC Comics, where he produced the stories in this book.

And now… Mike Royer...................................................................51 The Cheater.............................................................................52

SOUL Love

A Little Love for Soul Romance.......................................................58

by John Morrow Let Your Soul… Love!.....................................................................63

by Jerry Boyd

Soul Love #1 facsimile edition.....................................65 The Teacher.............................................................................97

ATS Dof INGB Danger Street Another Introduction............................................................... 107

by Mark Evanier Danger Street’s Back Alleys...................................................... 109

by John Morrow

Dingbats of Danger Street #2............................... 112 Dingbats of Danger Street #3............................... 137 Speaking Out: An Afterword.................................................... 174

by Steve Sherman

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 3

A Foreword, Looking Back

by John Morrow

This

Shown here are point-of-purchase posters DC Comics produced, to be displayed at newsstands for promoting the only two “SpeakOut Series” titles ever published.

As with the actual magazines, DC didn’t splurge for full-color printing.

is a story about perceived failures that never got a chance to succeed, and the cultural influences that could’ve made the difference in their fates; a tale of firstrate ideas, given second-rate execution; and of one man who produced so many landmark concepts, that these have gone mostly forgotten—until now.

When DC Comics hired Jack Kirby away from Marvel Comics in 1970 to revitalize their line-up, beyond his groundbreaking Fourth World/New Gods series, he ended up mostly presenting modern twists on genres of his past successes. He was best known for super-heroes at the time, so he revamped his 1940s characters the Guardian, Sandman, and Manhunter. He had defined the “kid gang” genre with the World War II strip Boy Commandos, so he brought back the Newsboy Legion in Jimmy Olsen. Building on previous achievements with mystery titles like Black Magic, he conjured up The Demon—and Spirit World, one of two experimental magazines that only saw a single published issue. The other was In The Days Of The Mob, which fed off his earlier crime and gangster tales.

It was a heady group of concepts, and we’re blessed to have gotten so much great work. But those last two unintentional one-shots were the only published remnants of an entire “Speak-Out Series” of new magazines, meant to appear very differently than how they saw print.

I was saddened upon learning DC commissioned Kirby to produce a second issue each of Mob and Spirit World before their abrupt cancellation, but also perplexed. Could the fact that two entire issues by the top creator in comics history remained unpublished, mean there was more to the story than this—and more stories readers never got to see?

It turns out that, since Kirby pioneered the romance comics genre, DC also had him produce two more titles—True-Life Divorce and Soul Love—and never published those. Likewise, Kirby gave them a new kid gang called the Dingbats of Danger Street, and their history also contains more intrigue than that title’s single published outing would suggest.

Now, thanks to current DC management, I finally have the opportunity to showcase this unseen work. My goal, with the help of Kirby’s then-assistants Mark Evanier and Steve Sherman and guest commentator Jerry Boyd, is to document its history, and present it as closely as possible to how it was meant to appear, before DC Comics lost faith in it in the 1970s.

Were these projects failures? I don’t think so, unless you view them out of context, and compare them to what’s now considered Kirby’s finest work. Even with the corporate limitations DC placed upon him at the time, there’s remarkable creativity here, and a strong case to be made that it should’ve seen the light of day decades ago. Kirby was an idea machine, so it’s hard to call these failures when they never got a chance to succeed.

But don’t take my word for it. Judge for yourself—unseen Kirby work awaits!

John Morrow Raleigh, North Carolina August 2019

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 4

An Introduction

by Mark Evanier

In

1970 when Jack Kirby quit Marvel Comics and joined its Distinguished Competition, it was not with the intention of doing conventional-sized, conventional-format comic books. The offer that lured him over involved doing some, but Jack was more interested in inventing comics such as no one had ever seen before. At that very moment, the industry seemed to need that... desperately.

Back then, comics were sold two ways: By subscription and on newsstands.

Subscription sales were negligible, and newsstands were heading in that direction.

Comic book shops, as we now know them, did not exist. A comic book shop then was a place that sold back issues, not current releases. The real business was in distribution to newsstands, and that business was in decline.

Newsstands were becoming smaller and fewer, and the ones that endured were more inclined to push higher-ticket publications. No matter how good a comic book is, customers have to be able to find it to buy it. There were many parts of the country where it was getting hard to do that. A few years later, Western Publishing—issuers of Gold Key comics starring Disney characters, Bugs Bunny and other superstars—would give up completely on newsstands and attempt (unsuccessfully) to market comic books via the avenues used to sell toys and coloring books.

Still later, the “Direct Market” would be invented, bypassing the remaining newsstands and selling comics directly to comic book retailers and other specialty shops that would, in turn, sell them to readers. But that “save” was not on the horizon in 1970 and Jack had put his mind—arguably the most inventive one ever in comics—toward inventing new places for comics to go.

One of many proposals was a series of magazines that he dubbed the “Speak-Out Series.” Each would focus on a topic of interest to an older audience, mainly college age and up.

There would be a war book but it would focus on the real face of war, especially what was then going on in Vietnam. There would be one about romance... and not comic book romance.

It would be what was really going on in male/female relationships, which was changing a lot as we entered the Seventies.

As one of his two assistants at the time—Steve Sherman was the other—I typed up a list the three of us had compiled of twenty or thirty such titles.

These would be magazines, not comic books—full-color, printed on slick paper, with paid advertising from major companies that would help pay for better writing and better art. An issue would look and feel a lot like the then-current hit periodical, National Lampoon. There would be comics within,

True-Life

Divorce

A young girl reads comic books at a Pittsburgh newsstand in 1947.

Surrounding her are romance magazines of the time, including Ideal Love and True Confessions.

Photo by Charles “Teenie” Harris.

SOUL Love

True-Life DIVORCE

5

but also articles and photo features.

Jack would edit with Steve and me assisting. Maybe one story per issue would be by Kirby and the rest would be by other writers and artists we’d find—some already in comics, some established in other fields, some “new talent” yet to be discovered. Much of what they did would be autobiographical... or concocted by folks particularly qualified to “speak out” on a given topic. We had lists of best-selling authors we would contact to see about adapting their work into comic form, or maybe—if the books succeeded such that the budget would allow it—hire those authors to write specifically for the series. The names on one list included Truman Capote, Tom Wolfe, Hunter S. Thompson, Mary Stewart, and Jimmy Breslin.

DC loved the proposal... or at least, they said they loved the proposal. Saying that and gambling actual funds on it turned out to be two separate things. It would have meant a pretty big investment, so maybe we shouldn’t have been surprised that over the next six or so months, we watched the concept incrementally downgraded. The slick paper and color became pulp paper and black-and-white... then no lucrative advertising. DC was unequipped to sell major advertisers, so that lowered the overall budgets.

The target audience went from college age to the folks then buying House of Mystery and DC’s then-withering romance comics. In fact, what the distributors wanted, we were told, was a love comic and a ghost comic. The whole idea of being current and timely went away, though they were open to Jack’s suggestion that, with The Godfather being a hot novel (soon to be a major motion picture), this was a good time for a book about gangsters. They did, though, caution him to not even suggest the criminals were of any one heritage. So much for connecting with The Godfather.

What they pretty much did was to turn the package into the kind of cheaply-printed magazines that Warren Publishing was then putting out—Creepy, Eerie, and Vampirella. That wasn’t at all what Jack had in mind, but he didn’t see a way out of it. Oh, and they didn’t want other artists in the books... something about how since they were committed to pay Kirby for a certain amount of work, they wanted to use that work to fill his new magazines rather than find other things for him to do. Steve and I could help with the writing (we did, but not much) but Jack was Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 6

going to draw everything. His then-regular inker Vince Colletta was going to provide inks, and then DC’s Production Department would add in grey tones. There was brief talk of having the text and word balloons all typeset, à la MAD magazine... but then they decided to have the usual comic book letterer, John Costanza, do what he was doing on most DC Comics.

Jack hated what his idea had turned into. He had no confidence that this format would sell at all, which at least gave him something in common with the folks at the DC offices in both their creative and business divisions. As near as I could tell, no one there thought what they were going to put out would sell.

So why did no one call the whole thing off?

Beats me. I’m guessing office politics; that it would somehow look worse to spend as much money as they did on a project they decided against publishing at all, than on a project they did publish but which flopped. DC even decided not to put the DC name on the books. Instead, they were “published” by Hampshire Distributors, Ltd., a long-dormant company name that some division had once used for puzzle magazines.

The crime book became In the Days of the Mob and the ghost book became Spirit World. The book in which Jack hoped to explore male/female relationships became

At top is a proposed inside back cover ad by Kirby, to appear in all the “Speak-Out Series” titles. Above is his original cover mock-up for In The Days Of The Mob #1.

True-Life Divorce (sometimes referred to as True Divorce Cases). I have no idea if that was his suggestion or somebody else’s, but I know Jack really pressed to have other artists and writers on that one. For the art, he wanted Don Heck and John Romita—the two men he said drew the best romance comics ever—and he said, “Let’s get writers who’ve actually been divorced! There are plenty of them!”

DC said no, so True-Life Divorce was written and drawn by Jack Kirby, who may have had the most stable marriage in all of America.

He sure worked hard on it. He worked hard on everything, but this one was tougher than most. When he decided to have one story be about a black couple, he asked us—that’s Steve and me—to get him some copies of Ebony magazine to use as reference for faces and dress. It was, for demographic reasons, not a magazine easily found on the newsstands of Thousand Oaks, California where he then lived.

When the material arrived at the DC offices, it was pronounced unworthy of publication. Considering how little confidence they had there in In the Days of the Mob or Spirit World which they did publish (briefly), it’s amazing a comic could spark even less confidence.

Somehow, this one did.

Still, someone—identity unknown—found inspiration in that one story about the black couple.

Jack was told they wanted to take that tale and have him do others to fill out a love comic peopled with African-Americans. During its gestation, it was referred to variously as Soul Love or Soul Romance, and since it was never published, no decision was ever made on which title it would have.

This was definitely not Jack’s idea. He told DC this would be a perfect book to not be edited, written, and drawn by a Jewish guy in his mid-fifties. How about entrusting it to some new, young, preferably black talent?

And he suggested they start with a kid named Wayne Howard, who then was breaking into the field, sending his samples to Jack and phoning every week or so for career advice. Again, they said no, so Jack sent Steve and me out to buy him more issues of Ebony.

As the stories for Soul Whatever were delivered to DC, some were shown to a magazine distributor who was said to have expertise on the kind of mostly-black neighborhoods where DC hoped to sell most of the press run. This person—I know not his race—felt that the faces were “too realistic.” That’s what they told us he said, and they were taking his counsel seriously. The order came down to have everyone redrawn so—and this is a quote—“...all the women look like Diahann Carroll and all the men look like Sidney Poitier.” Those were two popular black stars of the day who were considered very attractive and perhaps more acceptable in some circles. If I sound confused about this,

it’s probably because I still am.

DC’s Production Department and inker Vince Colletta went to work on the pages that had already been completed. Much of what Jack had drawn was obliterated and he commented, “Boy, the people up there really think they can draw heads better than I can.” I recall the people on Jack’s pages looking very good, very human and very expressive when those pages left him. I do not think the revisions were. One story called “Diary of the Disappointed Doll” had not yet entered the inking process and it was given to artist Tony DeZuniga to ink and to “fix” a bit, as he did. It was better but still not exactly what Jack drew.

The book was supposed to have a pull-out poster of singer Roberta Flack, who was then recording for Atlantic Records, a subsidiary of the same corporation that owned DC. Sample pages of Soul Love/Romance were sent over so she’d know what kind of publication her poster would be appearing in. It is not known if Ms. Flack ever saw them or if someone in her employ made the decision, but back came the word that she didn’t want to be a pull-out poster in the thing.

By this point, In the Days of the Mob and Spirit World had been stopped after one issue apiece, even before any meaningful sales figures could have been known. Enthusiasm at DC for the Soul book was by then close to non-existent, and the response of Roberta Flack was enough to kill the whole project forever. Until decades later when the idea of resurrecting and publishing the material was first raised, I don’t believe I heard Jack or anyone on the DC payroll ever again mention the book Jack did with the black people whose faces were largely covered with white-out.

But I did mention it to him once. One day many years later, I asked him: Of all the zillions of comics he’d done, which was his least favorite? He mentioned the Sandman stories and a few other books he’d drawn under duress in the mid-Seventies. He mentioned the last year or so of work he did for Marvel in 1969 when he felt mistreated and was looking to get out of there. He mentioned having to redraw, redraw, and redraw, for reasons of alleged historical accuracy, a comic he once did for the Classics Illustrated people.

I asked him, “Not Soul Love or Soul Romances or whatever it would have been called?” He gave me a playful grimace, gestured like Captain America preparing to deck a Nazi, and laughed, “It’s taken me ’til now to block that out of my mind, and you had to remind me!”

That’s the story of these long-lost stories. I’ll be back later in this book to tell you about some other ones.

Mark Evanier Los Angeles, California July 2019

True-Life DIVORCE

7

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 8

Below is a sketch of Granny Goodness, drawn in a mid-1970s Valentine’s Day sketchbook Kirby gave to his wife Roz. At right is her first appearance in 1971’s Mister Miracle #2.

At left, Big Barda works out in Mister Miracle #5 (1971).

The Ladies’ Man

by John Morrow

The

“Women’s Lib” (short for “Liberation”) movement undoubtedly had an effect on America’s divorce rate climbing in the late 1960s and skyrocketing in the ’70s. As a wave of feminism swept the country, states began adopting “no-fault” divorce laws (granting a divorce whether or not the spouse did anything wrong), making it easier for women to leave an unhappy marriage. The 1970s saw rates at an all-time high, with well over a million US divorces per year by the end of the decade. (My own parents split up in 1976—my mother went on to have her own career, and still supports herself to this day despite getting remarried.)

Clearly, female empowerment was a hot topic in 1970—and if anyone knew how to exploit popular trends in comics, it was Jack Kirby.

Well before it reached a fever pitch with the 1973 “Battle of the Sexes” tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs (which King handily won, by the way), Kirby set to the task of empowering his own female characters at DC Comics.

It was probably inevitable that Jack, married since 1942 to a strong and vivacious woman surnamed Rosalind Goldstein, would gravitate toward creating female characters who had more than supporting roles in his stories. We’d seen the timid Sue Storm of his 1960s Fantastic Four series go from a shrinking violet in her earliest appearances, to a strong-willed fighter, able to beat the stuffing out of the Mole Man single-handedly when her family was threatened. Medusa, Crystal, Sif, even Agent 13 in Jack’s late 1960s Marvel Comics series all gradually moved from demure to dynamic personalities, through Kirby’s plotting and Stan Lee’s dialogue.

Hitting the ground running at 1970’s DC Comics, Kirby took it much further. Instead of female characters who could keep up with their male counterparts, his new ladies could blow right past them. Cases in point: Granny Goodness and Big Barda.

There’s never been a villainess like Granny in comics before or since her debut in Mister Miracle #2. An apparent octogenarian, she quickly cast aside any pretense of being a kindly old lady, and revealed a sadomasochistic outfit and baton, which she reveled in beating her “orphans” with on the planet Apokolips. Here was a wicked witch with some uncomfortable sexual undertones, if one cared to look for them.

Then there was Barda. When Mike Royer softened and slenderized her face in his first attempt at inking her (at right—compare it to the previous page), Kirby chastised him to “never change the faces.” Jack knew exactly the type of female he wanted to portray: Big, bold, beautiful—and sexy.

She wielded power and her massive strength as well as any male warrior,

True-Life DIVORCE

9

and stole the limelight whenever she appeared. Kirby initially pitched her and her Female Furies as a standalone series, with a presentation that screams “woman power” by including Lashina and Stompa, characters who could respectively whip men into submission or stomp them into the ground. When DC didn’t move forward with the idea, he added Barda & Co. to the Mister Miracle strip (Darkseid’s home planet was apparently one kinky place!), and she was an immediate hit with fans. A one-page sequence of her taking a bath (below) sent shock waves through male Kirby fans, most of whom up to that point had never considered “mainstream” artist Jack Kirby to be one who drew titillating females.

Ahh, but they had never seen True-Life Divorce.

This “anti-romance” project contains the sexiest depictions of women Kirby ever produced. From Ingrid in “The Maid” to Jessica in “The Other Woman,” he was bringing realistic 1970s women to life like never before. Only Jack’s Galaxy Green (another unused concept from this era that mainstream comics weren’t ready for) featured women so voluptuous and radiating such sex appeal.

Almost as remarkable as the Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 10

drawing in True-Life Divorce is the plotting, with only three of the five stories actually ending in a break-up: “The Maid” is a fairly straightforward tale of infidelity, as you’d expect from a book about divorce.

“The Twin” is a sort of Parent Trap for adults with mature consequences, and shows Kirby’s penchant for drawing beautiful zoftig women.

“The Model” conveys Jack’s belief that it was important to show people of all races struggling with the same relationship difficulties.

“The Other Woman” has a slow build to a twist ending, and is my favorite of these pieces.

“The Cheater” conveys ample drama and emotion in only three pages, and showcases how Kirby could create much out of little.

Of note is that, while there are male protagonists in each story, the title character is always a woman— which makes sense, as this would’ve been a magazine marketed toward female readers. But Kirby wasn’t pulling any punches here; these are all hard-hitting stories, expertly crafted by one of the masters of the comics medium, at the peak of his career and talent. His occasional

clunky dialogue can leave a scene here or there reading awkwardly, but such was his idiosyncratic mode of creation, with a writing style as individualistic as his art. Love it or hate it, neither was ever boring, and I find this entire project a great read.

The narrative device in True-Life Divorce of having an authority figure conduct the proceedings (in this case, marriage counselor Geoffrey Miller) was a recurring motif in all of the Speak-Out Series magazines. Warden Frye oversaw gangsters in Hell and narrated their crime stories within In The Days Of The Mob, while Dr. E. Leopold Maas used his knowledge of parapsychology to explain the nightmarish tales in Spirit World. (It’s still a mystery who would’ve run the show in Dracula Forever, another Speak-Out mag Kirby had envisioned, according to Mark Evanier.)

No completed cover art exists for True-Life Divorce that I’m aware of, but Kirby did create a very rough mockup of his basic idea for a photo cover. This paste-up page below was accidentally returned to Joe Simon by DC Comics, and it was recently discovered in Joe’s files. Mark Evanier commented about it online: “I’m pretty sure Jack did not intend that those particular photos be published.

This was a mock-up of something he did to show DC what he had in mind. What he really wanted then was for DC to budget him to hire models and shoot some of the stories for the proposed comic in fumetti (photo-comic) form. We actually did photograph one story for this book that way with actors.”

That story, for which no record seems to exist, was either “The Babies” or “Hollywood Divorce”, as described

by Kirby in his handwritten Table of Contents for the first issue. As in Mob and Spirit World, Evanier and Steve Sherman were tasked with coming up with text and photo features to round out the issue. “Fumetti” literally means “small puffs of smoke,” referring to the word balloons coming from comic characters’ mouths, and the tradition of fumetto dates back to 1908 in Italy. These strips would’ve given the magazines a more sophisticated feel, while the inclusion of text pieces was also needed to qualify for lower Second Class postage rates for subscriptions.

The biggest challenge in compiling a book such as this is tracking down the artwork so many years after it was produced. DC Comics had none of these stories in their archives, but after publishing my own magazine about Jack Kirby for a quarter century, I had amassed copies of most of it, in varying quality reproductions. Kirby himself purchased a photocopier around the time inker Mike Royer came on board in mid-1971, but Jack had already completed both True-Life Divorce and its spin-off Soul Love prior to that, so Kirby’s own file copies must’ve been made at DC after the pages were lettered, and mailed to him. Since the whereabouts of some of the original art for the stories reproduced here is unknown, we’re fortunate to have those decent quality photocopies of the pencil art. “The Twin” and “The Model” are reproduced here from scans of the original art pages, and you can better see the finesse of Kirby’s pencil work of this time period. Both feature the inking of Vince Colletta, barely started on “The Twin” before the Divorce book was scrapped in favor of using

“The Model” as the cornerstone for Soul Love, and the inking on it completed (more on that later). I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Rand Hoppe and Tom Kraft at the Jack Kirby Museum for their immense help in tracking down many of these originals and photocopies for this book.

As narrator, Geoffrey Miller gives us a glimpse of where Kirby would’ve taken True-Life Divorce in the “next issue” blurb at the end of “The Other Woman.” The female depictions of “The Amazon,” “The Swinger,” “The Camper,” and “The Lady in the Car” are as varied and interesting as the women in the first issue. As an artist that tended to work instinctively without always having a fully fleshed-out plan, Kirby may not’ve had specific details in mind for each character in the second issue, and would’ve relied on his prodigious imagination to come up with those plots when it was time to start penciling them. But it’s clear he was planning on including another African-American woman as one of the leads in issue #2 (I’d speculate she was “The Swinger” and evolved into the “Go-Go Girl” in Soul Love, as detailed in the next section of this book).

However you view the work now, I think True-Life Divorce had a great chance of success in 1971, if DC Comics had actually gone through with publishing it. Kirby’s track record for hits in the romance genre alone should’ve pushed them to give it a shot. But as happens all too often, when creative work is judged by committee, it can get watered-down and lose its initial purpose for even existing, as you’ll see in the next section. Till then, just enjoy this unseen Kirby work, finally getting its due in print.

True-Life

Divorce True-Life DIVORCE

11

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 12

© DC Comics. Used with permission.

True-Life DIVORCE

13

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 14

True-Life DIVORCE

15

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 16

True-Life DIVORCE

17

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 18

True-Life DIVORCE

19

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 20

True-Life DIVORCE

21

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 22

True-Life DIVORCE

23

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 24

True-Life DIVORCE

25

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 26

© DC Comics. Used with permission.

True-Life DIVORCE

27

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 28

True-Life DIVORCE

29

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 30

True-Life DIVORCE

31

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 32

The Missing Model

by John Morrow

My

only real disappointment with this book is not being able to present the following story in its complete form. Original art pages from “The Model” are scattered far and wide, with some of them currently owned

by European collectors. Despite an intense search, I’m still missing usable reproductions of three pages (22, 28, and 29), although thankfully, those missing pages don’t harm the story’s climax.

Shown above is a thumbnail image of the missing page 29, which was sold on an original art dealer’s website in 2009. While you unfortunately can’t read the dialogue, the characters’ body language conveys the drama that’s unfolding at the story’s conclusion. Its existence proves that original page is still out there somewhere, waiting to be published, and gives me faith that the other two missing pages are as well. Hopefully they’ll turn up soon, and can be included in any updated edition of this book, or in my own magazine, The Jack Kirby Collector.

This story is key to the unfolding saga of the Speak-Out Series I’m presenting here. Once DC decided to scrap True-Life Divorce, the decision was made to instead use “The Model” as the linchpin for a different romance book geared toward African-American readers. Whether that was a wise decision or not (I personally think the Divorce material is much stronger), the ensuing Soul Love (or Soul Romance) title got the green light, and Vince Colletta fully inked “The Model.”

These pages were rumored to have been stolen from DC’s offices and sold, although it’s doubtful that there would’ve been a huge demand for Kirby/Colletta romance pages, other than as a curiosity, due to them being unpublished. That’s been borne out by the length of time other pages took to sell on one dealer’s website; some languished unsold, despite fairly reasonable prices, for a year or more.

If you have originals, scans, or photocopies of those missing pages, please get in touch.

True-Life

Divorce

SOUL Love True-Life DIVORCE

33

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 34

© DC Comics. Used with permission.

True-Life DIVORCE

35

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 36

True-Life DIVORCE

37

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 38

True-Life DIVORCE

39

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 40

© DC Comics. Used with permission.

True-Life DIVORCE

41

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 42

True-Life DIVORCE

43

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 44

True-Life DIVORCE

45

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 46

True-Life DIVORCE

47

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 48

True-Life DIVORCE

49

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 50

And now... Mike Royer

by John Morrow

The

following three-page story from True-Life Divorce seems to have been done as an afterthought. It’s not lettered, and sequentially follows the “next issue” panel of the previous story. Since In The Days Of The Mob #1 (and the unpublished #2) both ended with short comedy stories, that may’ve been the original plan here, and either DC or Jack reconsidered (after all, how do you make divorce funny?).

My assumption is “The Cheater” was drawn in the interim period after the initial Divorce stories were submitted to DC, and before the idea was scrapped. These lesser quality photocopies may’ve been made on Kirby’s own copier, but again, the location of the original pencil art isn’t known. So in preparing this book, I hedged my bets in case better reproductions of this story didn’t surface (and indeed, they didn’t for the third page).

Since Mike Royer inked the entire unused second issues of In The Days Of The Mob and Spirit World (the latter stories getting published in 1973 DC horror comic books), I decided to see what Mike could do inking this short story now. I commissioned him to work from my poor quality photocopies, and recreate these pages as if he’d inked them in 1971.

The results confirm what fans have long known: Mike Royer is the most faithful inker Kirby ever worked with. He expertly captures Jack’s trademark style with his effortless brushwork, and his lettering adds a verve to the pages that suits Kirby’s storytelling perfectly. It’s also clear that Mike’s skill hasn’t skipped a beat over the years, as you’ll be hard-pressed to tell any difference between his work here, and his 1970s inking on the Dingbats of Danger Street material later in this book.

Delight in this brief look at what might have been, if True-Life Divorce had been published, with Mike Royer inking it.

Kirby’s Speak-Out Series narrators were as unique as his female protagonists; shown are Warden Frye from In The Days Of The Mob, and Leopold Maas from Spirit World, both inked

by Mike Royer.

True-Life

Divorce True-Life DIVORCE

51

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 52

© DC Comics. Used with permission.

True-Life DIVORCE

53

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 54

True-Life DIVORCE

55

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 56

True-Life DIVORCE

57

A Little Love for Soul Romance

by John Morrow

Joe

Simon and Jack Kirby pioneered the romance comics genre in 1947 with Young Romance #1 for Prize Comics. The team produced a very lucrative line of comics portraying dramatic love stories, all geared toward a predominately female post-war audience. By the 1950s, the market was glutted with imitations, but Simon & Kirby’s were still considered the high-water mark in a crowded field. The public’s love affair with this type of traditional romance comic began to wane as the sexual revolution took hold in the 1960s, but after a lull, Young Romance and its companion title Young Love resumed publication—this time at DC Comics in 1963, where they continued until 1975 and 1977 respectively.

Behind S&K’s sometimes torrid-looking covers (many using photographs) were pretty tame comic book stories; often with clever plots and melodramatic dialogue, but never anything scandalous or risqué, other than in some suggestive story titles. Instead of relying on cheesecake imagery or bombastic super-hero action, Kirby used his mastery of camera angles and staging to convey these minisoap operas in convincing fashion, with superb storytelling as always—and always featuring attractive Caucasian men and women as the lead characters.

If there was one artist who rivaled Kirby in the 1950s romance field, it was Matt Baker. Baker had entered the industry in 1944, and quickly gained a reputation for drawing sexy “good girl” art, featuring suggestive, titillating females, such as on the iconic cover of Phantom Lady #17—an image that was used in the 1950s crusade against the comics books that many thought were a cause of juvenile delinquency. But Baker also more modestly rendered some of the most beautiful and stylish females in comics, often in romance stories.

Unbeknownst to comics readers of the day, Matt Baker was black—the first African-American to have a successful career in the comics industry.

It’s uncertain whether Baker and Kirby knew each other—Eric NolenWeathington (co-author of Matt Baker: The Art of Glamour) doesn’t think they ever worked at the same place at the same time, and Baker wasn’t known to socialize with other artists much outside of work. At one point in the late 1950s, he was indirectly drawing stories for Marvel Comics (then still called Atlas Comics) by working in Vince Colletta’s

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 58

Matt Baker.

studio. I think it’s reasonable to assume they were at least aware of, and respected, each other’s work.

As remarkable as it was for a black man to find acceptance in comics in the 1940s, finding a comic book geared specifically for a black audience was even more amazing. Despite the many racial stereotypes perpetrated in the field during those years, there were a few comics that gave an accurate portrayal, at least in comparison.

All-Negro Comics, a one-shot published in 1947, was the first known comics magazine written and drawn entirely by African-American creators.

It was published by journalist Orrin Cromwell Evans, the first prominent black writer to work for a mainstream white US newspaper. Evans reportedly wanted to publish a second issue, but wasn’t able to purchase the newsprint he needed—a roadblock possibly erected by prejudiced distributors, or whiteowned competitors with plans to publish their own black-themed comics.

Indeed, around this time, two of those competitors briefly came to the fore with offerings. In 1947 and 1948, Parent’s Magazine produced two issues of Negro Heroes, which compiled and reprinted stories from their other older titles.

And in 1950, Fawcett Publications released three issues of Negro Romance, hoping to find a new market for its comics.

So deciding in 1971 to produce a romance book aimed at the African-American market may seem like a daring move in hindsight, but it wasn’t unprecedented. What was unprecedented was Kirby’s inclusion of black heroes in his Marvel Comics series in the 1960s.

In 1963, Gabe Jones debuted as a black member of Nick Fury’s Howling Commandos in Sgt. Fury #1.

But the one that really broke down barriers was the Black Panther, first appearing in Fantastic Four #52 (1966). With the Civil Rights Movement in full swing, it was a bold

choice, and one Kirby felt strongly about. This opened the door for Marvel to lead the way on representing blacks in their 1960s comics—although less prominently than Kirby had—with the introduction of Robbie Robertson as a supporting character in the Spider-Man strip in 1967, and the Falcon as a sidekick for Captain America in 1969. Even the stoic historical comic series Classics Illustrated ended its original run that year with a final issue on “Negro Americans: The Early Years,” but DC hadn’t made a serious move toward racial parity yet.

As Kirby shifted from Marvel to DC in 1970, he took care of that. His new strips immediately contained black characters, proving from the outset that he planned to continue his campaign of inclusion at DC. Featuring a story about a black couple in True-Life Divorce only further reinforces that fact.

As DC shelved that Divorce book in 1970, the allure of successful black-centric (and black-owned) magazines like Ebony and Jet must’ve been on the minds of DC’s executives and their distributor. High-dollar advertisers were promoting Afro-sheen, Buicks, and cigarettes to that audience, and where there are ad budgets, there’s always interest in landing them. So why not put DC’s new superstar talent, with his workload now freed up and needing more work to fulfill his contract, on the job of developing a vehicle to snag some of those ad dollars? The wisdom or lack thereof in that choice remains to be seen in the stories that follow, but Kirby gave it his best shot. The newly re-titled Soul Love project still contained strong female lead characters, even if the plotting wasn’t quite as strong as in True-Life Divorce.

Jack tried to tie his stories to modern day black life— or at least as much as he could garner from TV and magazines. The look of the characters, based on source material provided to him by Mark Evanier and Steve Sherman, seemed authentic at least. Fashions and hip apartment settings feel legit, and the nightclub in “Fears Of A Go-Go Girl” seems well portrayed—remarkable, since middle-aged Kirby was more likely to spend a night out at the movies, rather than going clubbing.

Well before the advent of modern-day websites like match.com, Jack tried tapping into the public’s fascination with computer dating in “Diary of the Disappointed Doll”. The Valentine’s Day 1966 issue of Look magazine had featured an article on a “social experiment” dreamed up by Harvard University undergrads, which used punch cards and an early computer to assess dating compatibility.

SOUL Love U 59

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 60

By 1967, Life magazine declared that computer dating was all the rage, as commercial services were jumping on the bandwagon, using a questionnaire based on a 1957 study, and eventually charging up to $150 by 1970 for a chance at love. Kirby’s breezy story about the trend is a fun romp, accented nicely with inks by Tony DeZuniga—an interesting artistic choice DC apparently made after getting distributor feedback on the other Soul Love tales Vince Colletta had already inked and altered.

There are some uncomfortable moments in these stories—upon present day reflection, “Dedicated Nurse” borders on fat-shaming, for example. If anything here seems to be tinged with stereotypes of the time, it can be written-off to Kirby’s non-black life experience.

Similarly, as a Caucasian, I may not be the best person to judge the quality of this work. I grew up attending newly integrated schools in the Deep South of 1960s and ’70s Alabama, and my daily existence was filled with people from different cultures. I made friends with kids from a variety of ethnic backgrounds, and from my youthful vantage point, I wasn’t fully aware of the backwoods racist reputation that governor George Wallace’s state deservedly earned in the 1960s.

Still, that doesn’t mean I am qualified to analyze Kirby’s Soul Love stories from a viewpoint of the Black Experience of 1971. So I enlisted Jerry Boyd, one of the most erudite Kirby commentators I’ve had the pleasure of working with on the Jack Kirby Collector magazine for over two decades. That he is black and grew up during that era made him a candidate for the job of commenting on Soul Love— but he only got the nod because of the respect I have for his fine body of work about Jack.

Before you read Jerry’s assessment which follows, I hope you’ll form your own opinion based on a fun little game of “what if...?” I decided to play in this book.

What if... DC Comics had delivered on much of what Kirby envisioned for his Speak-Out Series, with full-color printing, nice paper stock, top production values, and major advertisers for Soul Love? Would this fledgling effort have had the legs to survive on newsstands in the era of Jet and Ebony magazines? Would the truncated In The Days Of The Mob and Spirit World (or True-Life Divorce, for that matter) have fared better if the company had taken the financial risk to do them up right?

Since DC Comics of 1971 didn’t realize that vision, I decided to do it myself, and posthumously give Soul Love its best shot at success in readers’ eyes.

The first task was the cover. Kirby’s own version (at left) was loosely drawn, inked, and watercolored, leading me to think it was meant only as a guide for producing the real cover, as he had done for Mob and Spirit World. I didn’t have the budget to hire models and stage a photo shoot to properly complete Kirby’s concept, but I did attempt a couple of my own photo covers by compositing parts of various shots from early 1970s magazines. The task of finding matching poses in existing images was daunting, but I managed to come up with a couple of passable versions using black celebrities of that period, including boxer Muhammad Ali, actor Sidney Poitier, and singer Freda Payne.

Still, I wasn’t 100% certain Jack (or DC) hadn’t envisioned an illustrated cover image instead of a photo. So on a whim (and a tight deadline), I contacted

SOUL Love U 61

superstar painter and Kirby fan Alex Ross, and sent him my photo mock-up (and Jack’s hand-drawn one) to see if he’d be interested in giving it a try. Despite having to very reluctantly turn me down due to his overloaded schedule, a few days later he surprised me with the image you see at left, which Alex modestly described as a “quick tonal painting” based on the material I’d sent him. He maintained the Kirby spirit in his version, and in the stunningly finished full-color painting, I think he created the perfect blend between photorealism and comicsstyle illustration, giving us the best of both worlds.

Next, I needed full-color stories.

“The Model” was already part of the True-Life Divorce section of this book, and as you’ll see, “The Teacher” had myriad redrawings that deserved to be shown with their white-out and blue pencil corrections intact—but all the other stories had clean black-&-white inked art to work from. So I enlisted colorist Tom Ziuko to apply hues to the Colletta-inked stories, while Glenn Whitmore pitched in to color the DeZuniga-inked “Diary of the Disappointed Doll.”

Advertisements would add to its authenticity, so I created several based on real ones that appeared in Ebony magazine of the time. Early 1970s DC Comics fans will recognize my reconstruction of an ad for alleged second printings of the supposedly sold-out In The Days Of The Mob #1 and Spirit World #1. (In reality, the distribution was so poor on those issues that DC was just trying to recoup losses from unsold copies, by selling them through their comic books.) Also, Jack had dummied up a photo ad for the inside back cover of all the proposed Speak-Out mags, which I took to a completed stage using fonts that were en vogue in 1971. Finally, the “Register To Vote” ad here is based on an actual promotional piece the NAACP produced during that era.

The Equal Rights Amendment was a major political issue of the day, and since all the Speak-Out Series magazines were to contain text features, I took it upon myself to write one as if I were doing it in 1971. As an unexpected bonus, my daughter’s high school writing class essay, written in 2019, assimilated seamlessly as if it were done in 1971—which shows just how little has actually changed on that front since then. The collages I included are actually by Kirby, and while it’s unclear whether he did them specifically for Soul Love, I think they fit here pretty nicely.

So check out my idea of what Soul Love #1 could’ve been, and then let the debate begin! Quality of the stories aside, it could’ve been a hit based on its timing alone, as the Blaxploitation subgenre was emerging in early 1970s films, with the monster 1971 hit Shaft, followed by 1972’s Superfly and Blacula, Coffy in 1973, Foxy Brown in 1974, and 1975’s Dolemite.

With the right content and backing, the concept for Soul Love, at least, could’ve capitalized on a black demographic that was coming into prominence at that time.

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 62

SOUL Love

Let Your Soul... Love!

by Jerry Boyd

In

© Marvel Entertainment

Making new Newsboy Legion member Flippa Dippa a scuba diver in Jimmy Olsen may’ve been Kirby’s way of turning the stereotypical notion that “black people can’t swim” on its head.

the 2000s, I was old enough to tell younger black comics fans about “the old days” in popular culture. “When I was a boy...” (as the saying goes), black Americans might have one or two families in their apartment building complex or neighborhood who had subscriptions to TV Guide. Those sub owners would scour over it and then tell neighbors, co-workers, and friends if a Motown group would be on American Bandstand, The Ed Sullivan Show, or guest-star on a dramatic program. And we’d all watch them— proud to see our own make these important, beginning strides in television.

In 1960s Marvel comics, smaller numbers of no less appreciative black youngsters would look at Kirby’s black characters with the same kind of pride. They were “us,” even if they fought in The Big One, or lived in a super high-tech, mechanical jungle deep in the caverns below the earth, and we didn’t.

When “King” Kirby stunned the comics world in 1970 and moved to DC Comics, I went along.

I was twelve that year, and the DC house ads that promoted New Gods and The Forever People were too compelling to possibly resist. Jack’s new black characters would include a seagoing Flippa Dippa, the Black Racer (death itself!), and Vykin the Black (and yes, there were others somewhere in Supertown).

The gains of the 1950s and 1960s were felt in the master storyteller’s work. He’d given us a Black Panther, integrated the Army long before President Truman with Gabe Jones of the Howlers—and now he was going farther.

Even farther than that, though we’d have no clue until years later, was Soul Love.

“The Model” began it all—a tale of a black couple set for True-Life Divorce, a title DC wasn’t big on. According to Mark Evanier, Kirby wanted Don Heck and John Romita to draw stories for it. This idea would’ve been perfect; in ’70, Marvel had those two great talents working on Our Love Story and My Love. Added to that pair was John Buscema and Gene Colan, in stories largely written by Stan Lee. Jim Steranko drew a tale for 1973’s Our Love Story #5—a comic, in its entirety, that hit absolute perfection. These veterans of the romance genre might’ve made True-Life Divorce a hit.

But it was not to be. Buscema, Romita, Heck, Colan, etc. would keep the small Marvel romance line going, and new, younger writers and artists would come along to add to that special brand of Marvel excitement.

Jack soldiered on by himself. His first black romance story, which involved a lovely model, a struggling husband, and the agency chief, needed a co-writer—a black co-writer.

The Forever People’s Vykin “the Black” often seemed to have that unnecessary qualifier placed after his name, as if he were being singled out as the only one with his skin tone.

At least the Black Racer (watermarked above) had a purpose for the moniker, as he symbolized death itself (on skis!). (left) From Marvel Comics’ Our Love Story #5 (1973) is a tale scripted

by Stan Lee, and illustrated by Gene Colan and John Romita.

Would Soul Love have fared better with this creative team working on it?

SOUL Love U 63

that way...)

What is wonderful about the Soul Love magazine is that the King gave it a try. Black people were getting some of their first steps as film directors, actors, actresses, clothing designers, and more in TV and film in the early 1970s. Some of their efforts were wonderful and inspiring, some not-so-great—but they gave it a try. Jack Kirby was one of the biggest names in the comics industry. He could’ve played it safe and gone for a different kind of Fantastic Four or X-Men, or even done another old, mythical god to counter Marvel. He took a chance on a new direction.

It’s funny to me that DC at that time was fine with Al Plastino or Murphy Anderson redrawing Kirby’s faces for Jimmy Olsen and Superman, but didn’t want a black artist or two to help out on Jack’s faces for black characters.

It wasn’t really necessary for them to be altered (they’re fine). Since black faces cover a spectrum Post-Soul Love, DC was known to alter the race of characters and re-use old stories, such as (Harry Belafonte doesn’t look like Sidney Poitier this example from 1967’s Young Romance #151 and 1972’s Girls’ Love Stories #170. who doesn’t look like Robert Hooks, and DiaJacque Nodell’s wonderful Sequential Crush blog examines more romance comics like these: hann Carroll doesn’t look like Aretha Franklin https://www.sequentialcrush.com/blog who doesn’t look like Eartha Kitt, and I could go on and on), the “faces” issue should’ve been a minor Christine’s husband, Raymond, is described as this concern. Soul Love was a stepping stone, a starting point, type of man by the narrator: “They reach for their goal like and should’ve been judged as such and given a try. If it had tigers on the hunt—hungering for more than human valreached the newsstands, believe me, black readers would’ve ues.” At this remove, and being way past twelve years old, given their input and the matter would’ve been resolved.

I can say that’s too complicated a line. Other romance writWho knows? Some of them might’ve said, “We love it! ers kept their yarns fairly simple. Yes, Jack may be applaudAre black writers in on this?” That would’ve helped, also. ed for his captions and dialogue in some circles (his stilted Still, Jack, as usual, had the right instincts. Romita, confabs in DC’s Fourth World /New Gods series worked Heck—heck yes! And Wayne Howard, learning from the just fine for me), but in “The Model” and the stories for great Wallace Wood, may have been a big aid, as well.

Soul Love, he really needed a co-writer.

All of the Soul Love stories end somewhat happily.

Later on, Rudy (the agency chief) tells Christine (a young There’s nothing ridiculously blissful, as DC, Marvel, and mother trying to keep her family together) on their ride to Charlton were doing in their love comics, and the black drop her off at her place, “The wonder-chick dreams for her girls involved don’t break out in tears of happiness. The sitwonder-child! Here’s hoping that you and Cindy make it to uations are real and the title might’ve gotten off to a good the wind and the trees, Chris!” It doesn’t really work. start. After all, no one could tell a tale better than the King, “Fears of A Go-Go Girl!” followed “The Model.” In and the art works in all respects. this 10-pager, The King gives snappy patter a shot (as he But Jack needed that co-writer. Happily married since does with all the stories), but terms like “zero-cat” and lines his war days, he wasn’t part of the changing scene of datlike “Who can blame a wild, wild maniac?” don’t cut it. ing, and certainly (I say this most respectfully) out of the Jack’s affinity for names better suited on the New Gods’ loop when it came to what young black planets New Genesis and Apokolips makes people were saying on their dates. Love the scene in “Diary of the Disappointed is love, passion is passion, and Kirby got Doll.” Abby Parker and her friend Myra those elements correct. A co-writer, Heck, have been listening to their favorite deejay Romita, even Steranko, Colan, and Bus“Shim-Sham Shaver.” He’s running a cema (and yes, Stan Lee) might’ve stirred computer dating contest on his radio show up better concoctions. and poor Abby gets stuck with a dud. His As a preteen fumbling his conversaname says it all: Leroy Grubb. tions with young girls, I could appreciate In “The Teacher,” Marny tries to fight how some guys could get it right with the off Larry, saying things like, “Oh! You— ladies. Jack got the comic right, overall, you coarse, boorish egotistical nut!” To and I’m glad we can read Soul Love today. which he replies, “Sugar, if you stop playAnd I know black comics fans will be ing bongo drums on my ears and wiggling appreciative of the King’s efforts on it. shaky-shaky, you might enjoy this!” (Only black folks on New Genesis would talk Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 64

HAMPSHIRE DIST. LTD.

SPEAK-OUT SERIES The first & best of its kind!

SOUL Love People of sensitivity, humanity and deep passions struggle with life—and the sweet perils of

NO.1

AUGUST 1971

1

$ .00 IND.

The

d

Rea

MODEL

Her problem wasn’t as glamorous as her work!

The

TEACHER When school was out... she went to the wrong man!

Dedicated

NURSE

The patient would die, but not before he saved her!

GO-GO Girl

Is the man she loves the one she hates?

& more!

Gripping man-woman relationships!

!

EE R F Giant

ROBERTA FLACK Pull-out Poster!

RETAILERS: SEE PAGE 48 FOR SPECIAL DISPLAY ALLOWANCE PLAN

NEW 3 PIECE VEST SUIT SENSATION!

SOUL Love Editor, Writer, and Artist: Jack Kirby Inkers: Vince Colletta and Tony DeZuniga Letterer: John Costanza Colorists: Tom Ziuko and Glenn Whitmore Cover Painter: Alex Ross Art Director: John Morrow Editorial Director: Carmine Infantino Production Manager: Sol Harrison Assistant Editors: Mark Evanier and Steve Sherman Circulation Director: Ed Lolacher Staff Illustrators: Wayne Howard and Billy Graham Interns: Jerry Boyd, David “Hambone” Hamilton, Carl Taylor, Larry Houston, Kevin Andre Shaw, Darrell “Big D” McNeil

CONTENTS Fears of a GO-GO GIRL can come true...............................1 Is the man she loves, the one she hates?

For men who want the newest, the smartest, the most handsome styling — THIS is the SUIT for YOU! Belted double breasted vest has large “U” neck to show off the good-looking shirt front. Matching slacks have western pockets; 2 back pockets; 20" flared bottoms. Vest has long sidev ents for free swinging comfort. Full bodied fabric of

85% cotton, 15% acetate. A588 Blue with black check. A589 Gold with black check. A590 Brown with b lack check. Shirt and vest sizes: S,M,L,XL. Slacks

waist sized: 27 to 40. For finished slacks bottoms, add $2 per pair and give inseam measure. Three piece suit $39.95 ppd., or $4 deposit on C.O.D.

Diary of the DISAPPOINTED DOLL.................................12 Can a computer pick your perfect match?

EQUAL RIGHTS Aren’t Wrong.........................................18 A look at the Equal Rights Amendment’s past and future.

Dedicated NURSE.............................................................20 The patient might die—but not before he saved her.

Old FIRES........................................................................29 For one couple, old and new emotions flare white hot.

The MODEL.....................................................................33 Her problem wasn’t as glamorous as her work...

The TEACHER.................................................................44 When school was out, she went to the wrong man!

NEXT ISSUE:

More gripping man/woman relationships, and coverage of the latest in black culture, from fashion and food to music and arts—plus next issue’s double pull-out poster of TV’s Julia Diahann Carroll, and Academy Award winner Sidney Poitier.

Diahann Carroll

Sidney Poitier

Don Cornelius

Coming soon to a TV station near you is Soul Train, the brainchild of Chicago radio announcer Don Cornelius. This televised “dance club” first aired last year on Chicago television station WCIU-TV, and became an immediate hit with black viewers. Now, he is taking his concept into national syndication, with a new hour-long segment every weekday afternoon.

Soul Train will feature a variety of top R&B, soul, and funk musical acts, and the best dancers anywhere.

Cornelius says it’s more than a “black American Bandstand,” as his goal is for the show to reflect positively on Afro-American culture. You can bet that Cornelius will soon feature an appearance

by Roberta Flack, the rising star who is featured on this issue’s free “Collector’s Item” pull-out poster.

Roberta Flack

Look for Soul Love #2 on newsstands in July, or subscribe to avoid a sure sell-out!

A walking suit, SURE to make them look you over!

The BIG feature is the SLEEVES . . . full flowing with bold black and white checks, ending in 5 1/ 2" barrel cuffs. Made of a fine blend of 70% rayon and 30% acetate, the suit has matching slacks with 2 1/ 2" bolero waistband; 2 button extension closing; slanted western pockets; 20" flared bottoms. A559 Black with Black and White Checked Sleeves. Shirt sizes: S, M, L, XL. Slacks waist sizes: 27 to 36. For finished slacks bottoms, add $2 per pair and give inseam measure. Complete suit $36.95 ppd., or $4 deposit on C.O.D. — you pay postage. Satisfaction guaranteed.

See our collection of dramatically styled apparel and imported footwear.

Sold by mail only.

WRITE FOR FREE CATALOG 31 Mane St. Brockton, Mass. 02403

SOUL LOVE, No. 1, August 1971 issue. Published monthly by HAMPSHIRE DISTRIBUTORS LTD., 2nd and Dickey Sts., Sparta, Ill. 62286. Address all editorial and advertising correspondence to: Soul Love, 909 Third Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10022. For advertising rates, address Richard A. Feldon & Co., 41 E. 42nd St., New York, N.Y. 10017. Copyright © Hampshire Distributors, Ltd., 1971. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. The stories, characters and incidents mentioned in this magazine are entirely fictional. No actual persons, living or dead, are intended or should be inferred.

Subscriptions: 1 year (12 issues) $10. 2 years (24 issues) $18. Canada and Pan-American countries $12 a year. Other foreign countries $14 a year. Single copies $1. Payable in U.S. currency only, sent to Soul Love, 909 Third Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10022.

“This periodical may not be sold except by authorized dealers and is sold subject to the conditions that it shall not be sold or distributed with any part of its cover or markings removed, nor in a mutilated condition, nor affixed to, nor as part of any advertising, literary or pictorial matter whatsoever.”

The first episode of Soul Train airs October 2. Check your local listings for channel and time in your area.

(If the poster is missing from this issue, please contact the Publisher for a free replacement.)

© DC Comics. Used with permission.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

“ There’s nothing better than getting KOOPed together.”

America’s #1 Menthol Cigarettes made just for the two of us.

Warning: The Surgeon General Has Determined That Cigarette Smoking Is Dangerous to Your Health.

11

12

© DC Comics. Used with permission.

13

14

15

16

We deeply regret that due to the fact that our new magazines, Kirby’s IN THE DAYS OF THE MOB and SPIRIT WORLD sold out so quickly, so many thousands of you, our loyal readers, could not get a copy.

We have therefore gone back to press with a special run that we are making available for those of you who missed out on these first issues.

NOW - From The Far-Out World of Jack Kirby

COLLECTORS MAGAZINES, BOX 1390 F.D.R. POST OFFICE STATION NEW YORK, N.Y., 10022

DON’T WAIT! SEND TODAY!

I would like copies of: ❑ In The Days Of The Mob ❑ Spirit World I am enclosing 75¢ (which includes postages & handling) for each issue.

WITH EACH COPY YOU GET

FREE BONUS INSERT

GIANT POSTER

TOTAL NAME AGE ADDRESS CITY

17

STATE

ZIP

Equal Rights Aren’t Wrong The proposed Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to the United States Constitution is designed to guarantee equal legal rights for all American citizens, regardless of their sex. First introduced in Congress in 1923, it would end the differences between men and women in terms of divorce, property, employment, and other legal matters. That early spirit of female independence was exemplified by jazz legend Bessie Smith’s song that year, “Sam Jones Blues”, which tells the story of an unfaithful husband who leaves his wife for a year, then returns to find she’s taken her maiden name, changed the locks on their former home, and is asserting her freedom: “You ain’t talkin’ to Bessie Jones Missus Jones/You speaking to Miss Wilson now.”

The ERA was originally written by Suffragist leader Alice Paul. The “Suffragettes” were a radical women’s organization in the early 1900s who fought for “women’s suffrage”—the right of women to vote in elections. Suffragettes confronted politicians, and in return were attacked and sexually assaulted during battles with authorities. They resorted to chaining themselves to railings, breaking windows, and setting fire to empty buildings, in an attempt to bring awareness to their cause. When they were arrested, many went on hunger strikes, and the government responded by force-feeding them. But their sacrifices eventually bore fruit.

The Representation of the People Act of 1918 guaranteed the right to vote to women over the age of 30 who met specific conditions. A decade later, all women at least 21 years old were given the same voting rights as men when the Representation of the People Act of 1928 was passed.

Alice Paul’s first version of the Equal Rights Amendment stated: “Men and women shall have equal rights throughout the United States and every place subject to its jurisdiction.” It was revised in 1943 to proclaim, “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.” By the early 1940s, both the Republican and Democratic parties “The movement is a sort of mosaic.

Each of us puts in one little stone, and included support for it then you get a great mosaic at the end.” in their platforms. But the labor movement — Alice Paul (second from right) fought against it in its own battle for workplace protection laws, and social conservatives felt equal rights for women would threaten their hold on power, so the ERA today remains unratified.

In 1968, Shirley Chisholm became the first black woman elected to Congress. Since then, she has been a strong supporter of both women’s and civil rights. On August 10, 1970, she delivered a rousing speech on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives, where she urged Congress to support the ERA: “Mr. Speaker, House Joint Resolution 264, before us today, which provides for equality under the law for both men and women, represents one of the most clear-cut opportunities we are likely to have to declare our faith in the principles that shaped our Constitution. It provides a legal basis for attack on the most subtle, most pervasive, and most institutionalized form of prejudice that exists. Discrimination against women, solely on the basis of their sex, is so widespread that is seems to many persons normal, natural and right.

“Legal expression of prejudice on the grounds of religious or political Shirley Chisholm belief has become a minor problem in our society. Prejudice on the basis of race is, at least, under systematic attack. There is reason for optimism that it will start to die with the present, older generation. It is time we act to assure full equality of opportunity to those citizens who, although in a majority, suffer the restrictions that are commonly imposed on minorities—to women.

“The amendment is necessary to clarify countless ambiguities and inconsistencies in our legal system…Women are excluded from some State colleges and universities. In some States, restrictions are placed on a married woman who engages in an independent business. Women may not be chosen for some juries. Women even receive heavier criminal penalties than men who commit the same crime.

“Sex prejudice cuts both ways. Men are oppressed by the requirements of the Selective Service Act, by enforced legal guardianship of minors, and by alimony laws. Each sex, I believe, should be liable when necessary to serve and defend this country. Each has a responsibility for the support of children… Working conditions and hours that are harmful to women are harmful to men; wages that are unfair for women are unfair for men.

“This is what it comes down to: artificial distinctions between persons must be wiped out of the law. Legal discrimination between the sexes is, in almost every instance, founded on outmoded views of society and the pre-scientific beliefs about psychology and physiology. It is time to sweep away these relics of the past and set further generations free of them.”

Representative Chisholm is rumored to be considering her own run for President, which would be the ultimate test of just how equal women and men can be in this country.

18

“That’s not ladylike; cross your ankles when you sit, have perfect posture when you stand; never curse or raise your voice; you must have makeup on to be respected, but not too much otherwise you look like a prostitute; always dress feminine; skirts are a must; but of course don’t wear pink, that’s too basic; don’t dress too revealing, you mustn’t distract the boys from their learning, however they reserve every right to interrupt your education on account of your clothes; but don’t dress too modest, you don’t want to be seen as a prude; suppress your tears and always smile, you look prettier that way; always carry a purse, never use pockets; wear heels no matter how bad your feet hurt.”

But what if I want to be comfortable?

Why is his education more important than mine?

“Take catcalling as a compliment; if he’s mean to you, he must like you; no doesn’t really mean no; boys will be boys, they mature slower, you need to make allowances.”

Why are boys not told girls mature more quickly, look to them as an example? Why are boys given a pass?

“Never walk alone at night; never leave your drink unattended; never pull over for the police on a dark road.”

Why must I always be so cautious?

“Always have a boyfriend, you are nothing without one; of course, you must get married; but never make more money than your husband; have children; learn to cook; your only job should be at home cooking, cleaning, and caring for children.”

But what if I want to have my own career?

“In that case, you must go into a feminine career such as teaching or nursing, and never engineering or medical fields; and God forbid you think that you should earn the same wage as a man doing the same job.”

But what if I like math and science? Why don’t I deserve the same pay?

“Don’t expect to be directly represented in government; remember, women are too emotionally driven to participate in politics.”

Why am I not represented? What if I want to be President?

“It is not the way of the world; know your place.”

Why should I let anyone else decide my place?

Excerpts from “Prouse” by Lily Morrow Edited by A.P. Lang

Collage art by Jack Kirby

19

20

© DC Comics. Used with permission.

21

22

23

24

25

26

© DC Comics. Used with permission.

27

28

and BEYOND!

You'll see them both in the SPEAK-OUT SERIES FREE “COLLECTOR’S ITEM” IN EVERY COPY! GET THEM NOW AT YOUR NEWSDEALER!

SERIES

True-Life Divorce • Soul Love • The Real Face of War

In The Days of the Mob • Spirit World • Dracula Forever

The two faces of the 20th Century...

EVERYONE IS EQUAL AT THE BALLOT BOX REGISTER TO VOTE

© DC Comics. Used with permission.

SOUL Love U 97

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 98

SOUL Love U 99

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 100

SOUL Love U 101

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 102

SOUL Love U 103

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 104

SOUL Love U 105

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 106

Another Introduction

by Mark Evanier

In

Joe Simon (left) and Kirby in a DC Comics publicity photo taken during their 1940s Boy Commandos days.

This image ran in a newspaper article of that era, while a similar photo appeared in Kirby’s 1971 self-published Kirby Unleashed portfolio.

late 1973, DC Comics canceled The Demon, a monthly title that Jack was editing, writing, and drawing. His contract called for him to write, draw, and edit a minimum of 15 pages per week for the firm, so he needed to come up with another comic per month to replace it. At the same time, Jack’s old partner, Joe Simon, had come to work for DC as an editor. He too was being asked to come up with new books.

Several folks in the office—editor-artist Joe Kubert was the most vocal—had suggested that Simon and Kirby team up again to launch a new “kid gang” comic in the vein of their Golden Age hits “The Newsboy Legion” and The Boy Commandos. Neither Joe nor Jack were at that point interested in collaborating again, so each man invented his own.

Joe’s was called The Green Team (his son Jim named it) and it was about youthful zillionaires who used their wealth to fight crime and help others. Jack’s new kid team was The Dingbats of Danger Street, who were anything but rich, but who also fought crime and helped others.

With no consultation or contact, Joe and Jack each produced first issues. DC Publisher Carmine Infantino liked both, but what he liked more was another pilot issue Jack produced after he finished the first Dingbats story. This was OMAC, a Kirbyesque view of the future. OMAC #1 was scheduled for immediate release and Jack went to work on subsequent issues. The decision was made to produce more issues of Dingbats and Green Team but to not schedule either book’s release just yet. (Also, Jack was persuaded to take over as editor and artist of a project Joe Simon was developing—a new hero with the name Sandman, written by Joe and originally drawn by Jerry Grandenetti. But that’s another long chunk of history and I only have so many words for this intro.)

Around this time, there was a mounting crisis at DC: Sales were down, Marvel was flooding the market with new product, and DC feared being crowded off the newsstands. Infantino huddled with the firm’s distribution folks and others, leading to the decision to go “head-to-head” (as he called it) and to seriously up the number of titles DC was putting out.

All of the firm’s editors, Kirby and Simon included, were charged with finding or conceiving new titles and then producing first issues as pilots. Each new first issue was then evaluated in the office and a decision was made about its future, if any. Those deemed most promising would be launched as new books. Those regarded as unworthy would be discarded, though some of them wound up seeing print years later in two lowcirculation volumes of a black-&-white in-house publication called Cancelled Comic Cavalcade, produced to secure the stories’ copyright.

Some of those that fell between the two categories would be slotted as issues of a monthly book called 1st Issue Special. These were generally proposals that DC management felt were not strong enough to be launched as new comics but... well, maybe in 1st Issue Special, they’d draw enough

S ING B AT Dof Danger Street DINGBATS of Danger Street

107

interest to warrant a reconsideration of that decision.

Also, of course, printing that material there would bring in some bucks to make up for what had been spent producing those pilots.

For this program, Kirby prepared first issues of three new comics— Atlas, Manhunter and Kobra, which he did in that order.

The folks in the office liked none of them. The first two were relegated to 1st Issue Special and there were no subsequent issues. Kobra, on which Jack collaborated with my pal Steve Sherman, remained on the shelf for a while until DC decided to have others significantly rewrite and redraw what Jack and Steve had produced. They used the revamped version to launch what turned out to be a very short-lived new book. (A Joe Simon submission named Freaks also wound up in 1st Issue Special retitled The Outsiders.)

By this point, Simon had completed two more issues of The Green Team and Kirby had squeezed in two more of Dingbats between his other assignments.

At one point, both were poised to be launched as new titles but someone got chilled feet.

Instead, the first issue of The Green Team was published in 1st Issue Special #2 (following Jack’s Atlas in #1) and the first Dingbats ran in 1st Issue Special #6.

DC Management waited for readers to write in clamoring to see more of either Joe’s kid gang or Jack’s, or for sales figures to suggest there was some sort of demand. Neither indicator materialized so plans were abandoned for regular books of either group. The two leftover Green Team stories were published a few years later in Canceled Comic Cavalcade #1.

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 108

The two orphaned Dingbats stories have been circulated in bootleg copies but their first formal publication is in this book.

Personally, I like them. But then I liked just about everything Jack did for DC whether it was published then or not. After all, we’re talking here about Jack Kirby, the man whose rejects were more interesting than what most creators got accepted.

These may not be the best comics he ever did—oh, let’s be honest; they aren’t—but I’m glad someone finally got them into print. Thanks, John!

Mark Evanier Los Angeles, California July 2019

At top is Simon & Kirby’s revamped Sandman, and Kirby and Steve Sherman’s Kobra. Above is DC’s spiral-bound and xeroxed in-house publication Cancelled Comic Cavalcade #1 (containing two unused Joe Simon Green Team stories), and Jerry Grandenetti’s pencil art for the splash page for 1st Issue Special #2, featuring the Green Team’s debut.

Dange r Street's Back Alleys In

by John Morrow

the early 1970s, it seemed like “everybody was kung fu fighting,” as the song by Carl Douglas went. So it’s not that surprising to learn Jack Kirby’s final kid gang, Dingbats of Danger Street, had its foundation in the era’s martial arts craze, best exemplified by the 1973 action film Enter The Dragon starring Bruce Lee, and David Carradine’s television show Kung Fu. Kirby himself was a street fighter (note his bandaged hand in the 1939 photo at left), having grown up in New York’s Lower East Side ghetto in the 1920s, surrounded by rival ethnicities on adjacent blocks. Each street had its own gang of kids who’d battle the others, throwing rocks and punches on a near daily basis. Naturally, that experience made its way into his comics in a long string of “kid gang” strips, another inspiration for which was the early Our Gang comedies (starring “The Little Rascals”) of the 1920s-1940s.

From the Young Allies at Timely (Marvel) Comics in 1941, to 1942 DC Comics creations The Newsboy Legion and the Boy Commandos (the latter becoming one of the top-selling comics of the WWII era), Kirby and partner Joe Simon quickly set a pattern for these groups of orphans. Even through 1946’s Boy Explorers and 1950’s Boys’ Ranch, there would generally be a tough street fighter (Scrapper, Brooklyn, Gashouse, Angel), a smart kid (Big Words, Gadget), the handsome guy (Tommy, André, Smiley, Dandy), and the comic relief (Gabby, Zero, Wabash)—with an adult mentor (Jim Harper, Rip Carter, Commodore Sinbad, Clay Duncan, and later Jimmy Olsen) to keep them on the straight-and-narrow.

After Boys’ Ranch ended in 1951, Kirby abandoned the conventional kid gang concept, instead developing what might be considered more mature versions. The adult Challengers of the Unknown and Fantastic Four loosely follow the structure, and the X-Men are basically a super-powered teenage kid gang. But traditional

(above) The Boy Commandos debut (1942). (below) The kid cowboys of Boys’ Ranch, the adventuresome Boy Explorers, and the Newsboy Legion in Jimmy Olsen.

DINGBATS of Danger Street

109

kid gangs were all but forgotten till Kirby resurrected the Newsboy Legion in the pages of Jimmy Olsen in 1970, for a series of rowdy, rollicking adventures with Superman’s pal.

Then in late 1973, DC needed a new strip for Kirby to work on, and he submitted a concept called “Death Fingers,” inspired by the then-popular martial arts fervor.

His presentation included an “updated Newsboy Legion” to serve as comic relief from the deadly serious kung fu protagonist.

By the time DC was ready to move forward with the idea, the martial arts mania was fading—but apparently humor was going strong with DC’s new comic Plop!, and perennial top-seller Mad magazine (which in 1973 almost made it to television when ABC commissioned an unaired pilot for a Mad animated series). Death Fingers went by the wayside, and Kirby got the go-ahead to develop his

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 110

unnamed comic relief kid gang, of which he drew three complete issues. (Despite rumors of a fourth and fifth issue, no evidence has ever surfaced that they were produced, and there’s no obvious place on Kirby’s DC production list where they would’ve been assigned.) Any kung fu research Jack conducted didn’t go completely to waste, however; he drew one 1975 issue of Richard Dragon, Kung Fu Fighter for DC Comics to fulfill his contract.

Kirby used Death Fingers’ villains “Jack In The Box” in Dingbats #1, and “Snake Meat” in #2. To date, “The Dropper,” “Ice Queen,” and “The Statesman” haven’t appeared in any other Kirby comics, but perhaps he had one of them planned for the Bananas origin story “Kill On Sight” that would’ve been in #4, and the presumed Non-Fat origin in #5.

1st Issue Special #6 (containing the story from Dingbats #1) finally went on sale June 24, 1975, but the second and third Dingbats issues languished in DC’s files. Sometime between November 1977 (when the company “wrote off” the art for tax purposes) and Summer 1978 (when Cancelled Comic Cavalcade was published), the art for those two unpublished stories vanished from DC’s offices (which is why they weren’t in CCC along with Joe Simon’s two unpublished Green Team issues). An Italian collector confirmed to me that, at the 1984 comics festival in Lucca, Italy, he purchased a Dingbats #3 page from an American dealer, who had the full issue for sale there.

This coincides with my own findings that the original art for most of Dingbats #2 and #3 is currently owned by European collectors.

It’s tempting to view Dingbats as a source of inspiration for the television show Welcome Back, Kotter, which featured characters that appear to be live-action doppelgängers for Dingbats’ cast. But that show first aired on September 9, 1975, which would be too tight of a turnaround for a sitcom to be produced after seeing 1st Issue Special #6 barely two months prior.

That TV series was based on comedian Gabe Kaplan’s stand-up routine about his experiences in a remedial class in high school, and his “Sweat Hogs” were based on real-life classmates.

Kaplan’s 1974 comedy album Holes And Mellow Rolls features a stand-up segment that clearly describes those characters, and he appeared five times on Johnny Carson’s The Tonight Show from 1973-1974—so if Kirby caught his act, Kaplan may’ve influenced the creation of Dingbats, rather than the other way around.

(A few other related tidbits: Though Mark Evanier served as a Story Editor on Kaplan’s hit comedy beginning in September 1976—a year after its debut—he wasn’t involved in its creation. Lawrence-Hilton Jacobs, who played Freddie “Boom Boom” Washington on Welcome Back, Kotter, was a fan of Kirby’s work. DC Comics published ten issues of a Kotter comic book starting in 1976, for which Evanier scripted a story. And in case you’re wondering, Jack wrote the line “Wuz happenin’ baby??” atop the splash for Dingbats #2, long before the hit TV show What’s Happening!! hit the airwaves in August 1976. It’s curious how both have double punctuation marks, though...)

Once again, Tom and Rand at the Jack Kirby Museum were most helpful in tracking down these unpublished pages. There’s no record of covers being produced for #2 or #3 (again, there’s no open spot on Jack’s production list where they might’ve fallen). I ended up with inferior quality copies of a couple of the pages, so Tom Ziuko worked diligently to meticulously restore them, and then colored the whole batch in a 1970s-appropriate style.

DC had oddly chosen to color Non-Fat with a Caucasian skin tone in 1st Issue Special #6, but we’re staying true to Kirby’s vision for this book’s presentation.

You’ll notice issue #3 (“Birdly Mudd”) has a different look than #2 (“Snake Meat”).

Between the two issues, longtime Kirby inker Mike Royer decided he needed a break from the arduous task of keeping pace with Kirby’s speedy page output, and D. Bruce Berry was brought in to ink Jack’s Dingbats work, as well as other DC strips like Kamandi. While Berry had his own distinctive style, it wasn’t as fluid and faithful as Royer’s, so I’m including reproductions of the photocopies Jack made of his pencil art for comparison’s sake.

Personally, I’m a big fan of this oddball strip (as I am of all of Kirby’s kid gangs), and find these two unpublished issues (especially #2, with its superb Royer inking) to be exceptional. Their serious tone makes it clear Kirby was heading in a much more mature direction than issue #1 conveyed, while even better fleshing out each character’s personality. Only mentor Terry Mullins comes across as two-dimensional, and Kirby would undoubtedly have eventually given him an engrossing backstory.

I fervently hope that the rumors are true, and a #4 and #5 do exist. There’s a warm spot in my heart for these plucky kids, and I long to finally see Kirby’s version of how Bananas and Non-Fat ended up on Danger Street.

S AT DofINGB Danger Street DINGBATS of Danger Street

111

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 112

© DC Comics. Used with permission.

DINGBATS of Danger Street

113

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 114

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 115

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 116

At left is the original art for the cover and first page of 1st Issue Special #6, the Dingbats’ debut.

At right is Kirby’s original two-page spread for Dingbats #1.

Due to a change in page counts before publication, DC Comics had to alter it to fit on a single page (below) in 1st Issue Special #6.

DINGBATS of Danger Street

117

DINGBATS of Danger Street

118

DINGBATS of Danger Street

119

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 120

DINGBATS of Danger Street

121

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 122

DINGBATS of Danger Street

123

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 124

DINGBATS of Danger Street

125

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 126

DINGBATS of Danger Street

127

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 128

DINGBATS of Danger Street

129

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 130

DINGBATS of Danger Street

131

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 132

DINGBATS of Danger Street

133

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 134

DINGBATS of Danger Street

135

“Jack Kirby created much of the language of superhero comics. He took vaudeville and made it opera. He took a static medium and gave it motion.” ⁠—Neil Gaiman

JACK KIRBY

NEW GODS

SUPER POWERS

BY JACK KIRBY

DC UNIVERSE THE BRONZE AGE OMNIBUS

BY JACK KIRBY

Get more DC graphic novels wherever comics and books are sold!

SUPERMAN’S PAL JIMMY OLSEN

BY JACK KIRBY

DINGBATS of Danger Street

137

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 138

© DC Comics. Used with permission.

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 139

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 140

DINGBATS of Danger Street

141

DINGBATS of Danger Street

142

DINGBATS of Danger Street

143

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 144

DINGBATS of Danger Street

145

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 146

DINGBATS of Danger Street

147

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 148

DINGBATS of Danger Street

149

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 150

DINGBATS of Danger Street

151

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 152

DINGBATS of Danger Street

153

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 154

DINGBATS of Danger Street

155

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 156

DINGBATS of Danger Street

157

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 158

DINGBATS of Danger Street

159

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 160

DINGBATS of Danger Street

161

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 162

DINGBATS of Danger Street

163

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 164

DINGBATS of Danger Street

165

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 166

DINGBATS of Danger Street

167

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 168

DINGBATS of Danger Street

169

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 170

DINGBATS of Danger Street

171

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 172

DINGBATS of Danger Street

173

Speaking Out: An Afterword

by Steve Sherman

When

John Morrow asked me to write something about my time working with Jack Kirby in the Seventies, I freaked out. We’re talking about things that happened almost half a century ago! I’ve never had a good memory for dates and details; Mark Evanier is much better at that. I can remember incidents and roughly what happened, though. Over the years a lot of things have dimmed, but here’s a short rundown of what I recall.

Now, the idea for the Speak-Out Series magazines came from the head of Independent News, the distributor of all DC comics. That’s because DC and Independent were both owned by the same conglomerate.

Jack was trying to do something that was more adult, which is what the distributor wanted. Jack talked it over with DC publisher Carmine Infantino, and they settled on five magazines—In the Days of the Mob, Spirit World, a divorce magazine, a romance magazine, and a magazine aimed at African-American readers. Independent News research had shown that there was an audience that was being underserved in the inner cities. Jack envisioned a magazine in color with good art and story that sold for one dollar. Unfortunately, the management of DC Comics decided that they couldn’t (or wouldn’t) do both comics, and magazines that looked like comics and weren’t for kids—especially since they were promoting Jack Kirby in the comics. So instead, what Jack got was black-&-white magazines (one was printed in blue ink) that sold for fifty cents—and the entire line cancelled before the second issues of Mob and Spirit World were published. The Divorce magazine never made it because there was a fear that Catholics might cause a fuss. The last thing DC wanted was a fuss.

Mark and I had done a fumetti for Spirit World, and we did one for the Divorce magazine. It was a girl and a guy in bed having an argument. I got one of my sister’s friends and her boyfriend to do it. I suspect it didn’t make it into the book you’re reading. I haven’t seen it since we shot it.

Included here, though, are two photos from the proposed cover of In The Days of The Mob #2. We shot it in the vacant lot next to Jack’s house in Thousand Oaks, California. Jack pulled a bunch of “East Coast” clothes out of the garage. We dressed up my 14-year-old brother Gary, and

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 174

At left is the original house ad that DC Comics ran in its comics, announcing the Speak-Out Series magazines. On the next page is Kirby’s layout for the cover of In The Days Of The Mob #2, which went unpublished until 2012-2013 when DC finally released hardcover collections of Mob and Spirit World (below). For the Mob collection, John Morrow tracked down the unpublished pages.

Jack’s middle daughter Barbara, as hoods. The guy pointing the pistol is Jack—and the poor guy in the blindfold is Mark Evanier.

Not much to say about Dingbats of Danger Street. I didn’t see him do it, or if I did, it’s not in the memory bank—but it was originally part of the 1st Issue Specials that Carmine Infantino came up with. Sales were sporadic on continuing titles at that time (okay, they might have been miserable). Carmine figured that first issues of any comic would have high sales numbers. The task of producing some “one-hit-wonders” fell to Jack. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t Jack’s idea, because he was not happy with the concept of coming up with one issue and then dropping it. It didn’t seem to him to be worthwhile. “If you are going to do something like that,” he said, “you need to hit the stands with four or five new titles at once.” Instead, there were a variety of titles that came out one-by-one: Atlas, then Manhunter, then Dingbats, and finally Kobra, just as Jack was heading out the door to return to Marvel Comics.

Where the name Dingbats came from, I can only make a guess. For most families in America in the ’70s, TV’s All in the Family was a must-see.

It came on while Jack was working, so Roz was probably watching it. Jack would pop in and take a break. I know that he did not like the character of Archie Bunker. He liked actor Carroll O’Connor just fine, but Archie he didn’t find funny. I suppose it might have to do with Jack running in to a lot of guys like Archie in New York. On the show, Archie sometimes referred to his wife Edith as “dingbat.”

It was an old New York term. (Non-Fat, the skinny black Dingbat, is physically like actor Jimmie Walker’s character on Good Times, which was a spin-off of Maude, which was in turn a spin-off of All in the Family. Everything links back to Kirby somehow.)

Even though these were supposed to be oneshots, Jack had three issues of all the books in some form— some of it in his head, some as notes on concept drawings.

You never knew what would hit—and apparently none did.

But by then Jack had gone back to Marvel, and showed that he could still hit it out of the park with The Eternals.

And 2001. And Machine Man. You get the point!

Working with Jack was a lot of fun, but could also be heart-breaking. He had a lot of different magazine ideas; some of them have been posted in the Jack Kirby Collector. I felt bad for Jack. He was trying to make comics more accessible and on equal footing with mainstream magazines. He’d been there before when comics were 64 pages and magazine-size. It was impressive. Mid-’70s comics were smaller in size and the number of pages. If the conglomerate had any sense, they would have listened to Jack. They could’ve had something. Not long after Mob and Spirit World were cancelled, there were a couple of films that echoed Jack’s lead.

One film was The Godfather and the other was The Exorcist.

Today that conglomerate is owned by an even bigger conglomerate—the Phone Company. So who’s to say that one of these days, Dingbats or Atlas or any of the other titles won’t turn up on your phone, your computer, or at the cineplex? Jack was always one step ahead.

Steve Sherman Playa del Rey, California July 2019 Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love b 175

All characters TM & © their respective owners.

BOOKS FROM TWOMORROWS PUBLISHING

ER EISN RD AWAINEE! M NO

MONSTER MASH

GROOVY

MARK VOGER’s time-trip back to 1957-1972, to explore the CREEPY, KOOKY MONSTER CRAZE, when monsters stomped into America’s mainstream!

A psychedelic look at when Flower Power bloomed in Pop Culture. Revisits ‘60s era’s ROCK FESTIVALS, TV, MOVIES, ART, COMICS & CARTOONS!

(192-page FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER) $39.95 (Digital Edition) $11.95 ISBN: 978-1-60549-064-9

(192-page FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER) $39.95 (Digital Edition) $13.95 ISBN: 978-1-60549-080-9

KIRBY & LEE: STUF’ SAID

EXPANDED SECOND EDITION—16 EXTRA PAGES! Looks back at the creators of the Marvel Universe’s own words, in chronological order, from fanzine, magazine, radio, and television interviews, to paint a picture of JACK KIRBY and STAN LEE’s complicated relationship! Includes recollections from STEVE DITKO, ROY THOMAS, WALLACE WOOD, JOHN ROMITA SR., and other Marvel Bullpenners!

(176-page FULL-COLOR trade paperback) $26.95 (Digital Edition) $12.95

ED AND EXP COND SE ION! IT ED

ISBN: 978-1-60549-094-6

THE MLJ COMPANION

MIKE GRELL

LIFE IS DRAWING WITHOUT AN ERASER Career-spanning tribute to a comics art legend!

(160-page FULL-COLOR TPB) $27.95 ISBN: 978-1-60549-088-5 (176-page LTD. ED. HARDCOVER) $37.95 ISBN: 978-1-60549-087-8 (Digital Edition) $12.95

AMERICAN COMIC BOOK CHRONICLES: 1940s-1990s NEW! 1940-1944 now shipping! 1945-1949 coming in 2020!

OR -COL FULLDCOVER HAR RIES SE nting me f docu ecade o d y! each s histor comic

Digs up the best of FROM THE TOMB (the UK’s preeminent horror comics history magazine): Atomic comics lost to the Cold War, censored British horror comics, the early art of RICHARD CORBEN, Good Girls of a bygone age, TOM SUTTON, DON HECK, LOU MORALES, AL EADEH, BRUCE JONES’ ALIEN WORLDS, HP LOVECRAFT in HEAVY METAL, and more!

LOU SCHEIMER CREATING THE FILMATION GENERATION

Biography of the co-founder of Filmation Studios, which for over 25 years brought the Archies, Shazam, Isis, He-Man, and others to TV and film!

AND THESE MAGAZINES ABOUT COMICS & POP CULTURE:

COMIC BOOK IMPLOSION

ER EISN RD AWAINEE! NOM

IT CREPT FROM THE TOMB

(288-page paperback with COLOR) $29.95 (Digital Edition) $14.95 ISBN: 978-1-60549-044-1

(288-page FULL-COLOR trade paperback) $34.95 (Digital Edition) $14.95 ISBN: 978-1-60549-067-0

(136-page trade paperback with COLOR) $21.95 (Digital Edition) $10.95 ISBN: 978-1-60549-085-4

(272-page FULL-COLOR trade paperback) $36.95 (Digital Edition) $13.95 ISBN: 978-1-60549-073-1

(192-page trade paperback) $29.95 (Digital Edition) $10.95 ISBN: 978-1-60549-081-6

Documents the complete history of ARCHIE COMICS’ super-heroes known as the “Mighty Crusaders”, with in-depth examinations of each era of the characters’ history: The GOLDEN AGE (beginning with the Shield, the first patriotic super-hero), the SILVER AGE (spotlighting the campy Mighty Comics issues, and The Fly and Jaguar), the BRONZE AGE (the Red Circle line, and the !mpact imprint published by DC Comics), up to the MODERN AGE, with its Dark Circle imprint!

In 1978, DC Comics implemented its “DC Explosion” with many creative new titles, but just weeks after its launch, they pulled the plug, leaving stacks of completed comic book stories unpublished. This book marks the 40th Anniversary of “The DC Implosion”, one of the most notorious events in comics, with an exhaustive oral history from the creators involved (JENETTE KAHN, PAUL LEVITZ, LEN WEIN, MIKE GOLD, and others), plus detailed analysis of how it changed the landscape of comics forever!

HERO-A-GO-GO!

MICHAEL EURY looks at comics’ CAMP AGE, when spies liked their wars cold and their women warm, and TV’s Batman shook a mean cape!

FOCUSING ON GOLDEN & SILVER AGE COMICS

COMICS OF THE 1970s, ’80s and TODAY!

THE ULTIMATE RESOURCE FOR LEGO ENTHUSIASTS

THE PROFESSIONAL “HOW-TO” MAGAZINE ON COMICS, CARTOONING & ANIMATION

TM

C o l l e c t o r

THE NEW VOICE OF THE COMICS MEDIUM

CELEBRATING THE LIFE & CAREER OF THE “KING” OF COMICS

THE CRAZY COOL CULTURE WE GREW UP WITH

TwoMorrows.

The Future of Pop History.

Phone: 919-449-0344 E-mail: store@twomorrows.com Web: www.twomorrows.com

TwoMorrows Publishing • 10407 Bedfordtown Drive • Raleigh, NC 27614 USA

The King of Comics’ final complete, unpublished stories! cooperation with DC Comics, InTwoMorrows Publishing compiles a

54395

Raleigh, North Carolina

Love

Unpublished ’70s Stories by the King of Comics!

True-Life Divorce!

Dingbats of Danger Street!

Edited by

TwoMorrows Publishing

JOHN MORROW

ISBN: 978-1-60549-091-5 Hardcover Edition: $43.95 in the U.S.

Printed in China

9 781605 490915

♥

Unpublished ’70s Stories by the King of Comics!

True-Life Divorce, Soul Love, and Dingbats of Danger Street © DC Comics. Used with permission.

ISBN-13: 978-1-60549-091-5 ISBN-10: 1-60549-091-1

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love

Jack Kirby’s DINGBAT Love tempestuous trio of never-seen 1970s Jack Kirby projects! These are the final complete, unpublished Kirby stories in existence, presented here for the first time! Included are: Two unused Dingbats of Danger Street tales (Kirby’s final “kid gang” group, inked

by Mike Royer and D. Bruce Berry, and newly colored for this book)! True-Life Divorce, the abandoned newsstand magazine that was too hot for its time (reproduced from Jack’s pencil art—and as a bonus, we’ve commissioned Mike Royer to ink one of the stories)! And Soul Love, the unseen ’70s romance book so funky, even a jive turkey will dig the unretouched inks by Vince Colletta and Tony DeZuniga. PLUS: There’s editor John Morrow’s in-depth examination of why these projects got left back, Jerry Boyd’s analysis of Soul Love (with an artistic surprise by superstar painter Alex Ross), concept art and uninked pencils from Dingbats, plus Introductions and an Afterword by ’70s Kirby assistants Mark Evanier and Steve Sherman!

JACK KIRBY’S

b

Soul Love!