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Losers by Jack Kirby

review by KC Carlson

Part of DC Comics’ continuous efforts to reprint Jack Kirby’s finest works for the company, Jack Kirby’s The Losers collects The King’s run from DC’s traditional war comics title Our fighting Forces #151-162. Kirby at first balked at the project, which was originally published in 1974-75, complying with the cancellation of most of his fourth world titles, however he ended up creating an extremely unforgettable set of stories, largely based on his own experiences in world war II.

These were the original Losers, long before the Vertigo series based on contemporary special forces soldiers who battle the CIA after they are betrayed by the company as well as left for dead (and soon to be a major movement picture!). These Losers were a ragtag combo of a few of DC’s second-banana war characters whose features had all been canceled. Cap’n storm was a P.T. boat skipper with a wooden leg who had his own 18-issue comic book named Captain storm (1964-1967). (And no, I don’t understand the name of his other leg, nor the comic book it appeared in.) Air force Captain Johnny Cloud was a Navajo pilot who routinely appeared in All-American guy of war #82-115 (1960-1966). Gunner (Mackey) as well as Sarge (Clay) (occasionally with their dog, Pooch) were Marines who very first appeared in All-American guy of war #67 (1959) before moving to Our fighting Forces #45-94 (1959-1965).

They very first appeared together (along with fighting Devil-Dog Lt. Larry Rock) in an problem of Captain storm #13 (1966), however the very first official teamup of the Losers takes location in the Haunted storage tank story in G.I. combat #138 (1968) titled The Losers. It was explained that the four war heroes were assembled as a special Forces group, however the guy didn’t feel like heroes, as they had all lost workers under their command for which they felt responsible. Thus, they called themselves “Losers”.

The Losers series very first appeared in Our fighting Forces #123 in 1970 as well as continued in that title up until 1978’s problem #181. The Losers are most likely most famous for exactly how they died, which has been depicted in three distinctly different ways: They were originally killed by the Monitor’s shadow demons in dilemma on infinite Earths #3 (1985). later that year, in the dilemma tie-in The Losers Special, they were depicted as dying in action in a battle in 1945 while destroying a German rocket site. This seeming contradiction was later explained away; the special was stated to have shown the characters’ demise when the events of the dilemma rearranged the DC Universe. In 2004, the Losers died once again – this time in the opening pages of Darwyn Cooke’s incredible DC: The new Frontier. In this officially out-of-continuity story, their pivotal as well as remarkable death on Dinosaur Island becomes the inciting incident for the entire new Frontier story. (This was done so well that I don’t believe I’m alone in believing that this should be the “official” version, as heroes who inadvertently went to their deaths after encountering a major threat to the world as well as everybody on it.)

But what of Jack Kirby as well as the Losers? prior to Kirby’s arrival, the series was written by Robert Kanigher, whose downbeat approach (over-) emphasized their poor luck. Kanigher’s Losers title was firmly in the mold of “war is hell”, the exact same element he was bringing to his other war series of the time (most notably Sgt. Rock). The function was drawn by a number of different artists, including Ken Barr, Ross Andru as well as Mike Esposito, as well as John Severin, who all tended toward more human-level work (as opposed to all-out action artistry). Severin’s run, which he mainly inked himself, is remarkably beautiful.

So when Jack Kirby shown up to take over the series in 1974, many fans were shocked as well as upset, as Kirby’s stories were nothing however action, with his dynamic artwork to match. While not precisely pro-war – The Losers were still depicted as being battle-weary, as well as often injured – the stories as well as art were much more adventure-oriented as well as gung-ho than anything Kanigher was currently writing. however in the general history of the strip as well as its legacy, Kirby’s run trumps all. It is the only run of the series that has been reprinted as well as collected, due to Kirby’s fame, even though the characters are largely forgotten, except to hardcore DC war fans as well as to those who liked every page of Cooke’s DC: The new Frontier, where he provides them a hero’s memorial.

Our fighting Forces #153

As called out by Neil Gaiman (who credits the preliminary observation to Cooke) in his introduction to this collection, The Devastator vs. huge Max (from OFF #153) is so brimming with Kirby “Big Ideas”, eventhe noise effects ended up being supporting characters in the story. It’s almost like a Godzilla vs. King Kong battle in scope, impact, as well as creativity – except the fight is being waged by two ginormous war machines (think huge Wheel, not Rhodey), one of which has been invented as well as operated by a young science-fiction fan with the unlikely, however generally Kirby, name of Rodney Rumpkin. Gaiman sagely explains that Rumpkin really is “PFC Kirby, imagining a future where things might be different, since he was all of us.”

The Kirby stories are full of heinous German war villains as well as almost as many quirky characters as Simon & Kirby’s fighting American. Panama Fattie is a grotesque war opportunist who seems destined for a cruel death, however she is really redeemed in a fleeting human connection with Cap’n Storm, who defends her against his own teammates. Yamashita is a Bushido with a personal code that might mean life or death – or both. Mile-a-Minute Jones is an Olympic runner turned soldier who finds himself in a different race when one of his previous opponents turns out to be a German soldier. Helmut Steger is a guy so obsessed that he attempts to assault NYC’s movie theater district from a hidden submarine in the Hudson River while the Losers are on furlough back home. The story A little location in Hell! reads like a scene out of saving personal Ryan, when the Losers ended up being trapped in the wrong little French town – occupied by the Germans – as well as must fight their method back out.

Probably the very best story right here is The Partisans, which spotlights Sarge in his crazed efforts to save the injured Gunner with the assistance of a strange guy in a fur hat (of whom I cannot state more). This story is a flurry of unrelenting devastation as Kirby proves Sarge to be an indestructible soldier. He’s blown up so many times in the program of these 18 pages that his battered deal with is totally unrecognizable by the end of the story.

Jack Kirby’s The Losers is a 256-page hardcover collecting Kirby’s entire run of the strip. It’s reprinted on the newsprint-like paper (but whiter as well as somewhat thicker) that DC’s been utilizing more of lately. I normally don’t like it, however it is truly efficient here, as Kirby’s one of those unusual artists whose art just doesn’t look right on glossy stock. all of the original covers (even the non-Kirby ones) are likewise included (as full-size pages) in addition to many reproductions of Kirby’s pencils for chosen covers or sprinkle pages, courtesy of John Morrow’s Jack Kirby Collector magazine. other than Gaiman’s introduction, there are no extra text features. as well as don’t fail to remember to slip off the book’s dustjacket for some awesome hidden Kirby artwork.

Other books in the extremely suggested Jack Kirby hardcover series include Joe Simon & Jack Kirby’s Sandman as well as the just recently published Jack Kirby’s Newsboy Legion, volume 1 featuring his traditional golden Age work for DC Comics. DC has likewise published collections of Kirby’s fourth world comics (New Gods, permanently People, Mr. Miracle, as well as Jimmy Olsen), in addition to OMAC as well as The Demon volumes. There are likewise DC Archive collections of Kirby’s Challengers of the unknown as well as Kamandi: The Last boy on earth series.

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KC Carlson (along with Roger Ash as well as more of the Westfield gang) will be at this weekend’s C2E2 comic show in Chicago. Westfield will have a booth (booth number 1111), so stop by as well as state hello if you’re at the show! We’re looking ahead to seeing you!

The Our fighting Forces cover comes from the Grand Comics Database.