Category Archives: dc
#Kirby100 Celebrations Are Now In Your Dreams With “The Sandman Special #1” On The Wednesday Run
Thank goodness August has thirty-one days in it.
It allows us to have the longest possible (monthly) time period to celebrate all things Jack Kirby during #Kirby100, the month that would have seen the King’s 100th birthday.
Over the last few weeks, DC Comics has been blowing up the balloons, hanging the streamers, and lighting the candles with a number of Kirby-related one-shot specials. Each has highlighted a different Kirby creation. And this column has done its best to highlight them here for you:
Mister Miracle #1 – which you need to read now, if you haven’t already!
The New Gods Special #1 – hopefully you didn’t miss it!
The Kamandi Challenge #1 – the fun 12-issue series which has been around since January!
You can find more of Jack Kirby and the summer-themed #Kirby100 celebrations by Biff Bam Pop! writers here. But today brings us to another, somewhat obscure, Kirby creation…one that has influenced DC Comics in a number of important ways over the last thirty years.
Today sees the release of The Sandman Special #1!
#Kirby100 Continues With The Escape-Tastic “Mister Miracle #1” On The Wednesday Run
The summer of #Kirby100 celebrations continues!
This month, the “King”, Jack Kirby, would have been 100 years old. His world-renowned comic book creations (Avengers, X-Men, Fantastic Four, Fourth World characters, etc.), however, are ever young. They remain in print, re-reprint, reimagined and returned to the Kirby greatness that originally saw their inspiration.
Throughout the summer, the writers of Biff Bam Pop! have been celebrating #Kirby100 with a series of articles which you can find right here.
Throughout the month of August, DC Comics has been celebrating Jack Kirby with various comic book one-shots and series, aimed at drawing attention to the multitude of DC heroes and villains that the “King” had created. One also gets the sense that the publisher is setting them up for a renewed pop-culture push, putting them front and center in the DC Universe.
Today sees the release of the first issue of the highly anticipated Mister Miracle!
#Kirby100 Goes All In With “The New Gods Special #1″ On The Wednesday Run
You might have heard by now – this month marks what would have been the 100th birthday of “The King” Jack Kirby.
August 28th to be precise.
We here at Biff Bam Pop! are big fans of the “The King”. How could we not be?
If you’re a fan of comic books and all those movies they’ve produced over the last few decades based on them, then you’re a fan of Jack Kirby, whether you know it or not. The man created pretty much all of your favourite heroes – especially if you’re a Marvel Comics fan.
Captain America, Fantastic Four, X-Men and the Hulk are just a small smattering of Kirby’s imaginative pop culture creations during the middle part of the last century.
But for a time, he worked at rival publisher, DC Comics, as well – and created an entire world of heroes and villains and long-lasting characters that some say could have rivaled the ones he created at Marvel in popularity, if not for decades of poor marketing and company indifference.
DC Comics is celebrating #Kirby100 all month long with a series of special publications – the first of which drops today in the form of The New Gods Special #1.
Let’s get on it!
#Kirby100: BBP! Celebrates The King Jack Kirby All Summer Long
Jack Kirby.
His artistry was, and remains, so innovative and influential in the comic book zeitgeist that the industry named awards after him. Heck, they even named a visual image after him: the affectionately known, “Kirby Krackle.”
How pervasive is writer and artist Jack Kirby in pop culture?
You can scan the litany of comic book characters that the man created or co-created and you’d be certain to find dozens that are your favourites. From the globally renowned Captain America, Avengers, Fantastic Four and X-Men series of characters, to the populace’s burgeoning awareness of Darkseid and Black Panther, to the more niche creations of Kamandi, Etrigan the Demon and Destroyer Duck. With Kirby, the list of great characters goes on and on and on.
Without him, pop culture and comic books wouldn’t be at all what we know it to be today.
This August marks the 100th birthday of Jack Kirby and we here at Biff Bam Pop! mean to celebrate that auspicious centennial with a plethora of written accolades all summer long!
This is your cordial invitation to our #Kirby100 party!
Wonder Woman rules the box office world
DC finally got their movies right, as the first blockbuster film to star and be helmed by women did great business at the box office. Here’s what went down:
With the type of reviews and excitement usually reserved for Marvel movies, Wonder Woman had a stellar debut weekend at the box office, landing in first place with $100.5 million. This is the biggest debut for a female led blockbuster, with Gal Gadot starring and Patty Jenkins directing the origin of Diana of Themyscira. I just got back from the film and, while I found it a little long (like most super hero film movies are), I thought Gadot was absolutely astounding in the role. She had very little screen time in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, so it was definitely wonderful to see her shine on screen. Though she had no difficulties carrying the film, she certainly was surrounded by great actors like David Thewlis and Robin Wright. Forget Batman or Superman – the real leader of the upcoming big screen Justice League team should be Wonder Woman.
It’s A Wonderful #WonderWomanDay – Let’s All Celebrate!
You’ve already heard that the new Wonder Woman film has been released this weekend – and it’s making for some pretty glowing reviews!
We’re hearing that it’s full of action, adventure, tears and joy – and that there are <a-hem> pardon the pun – wonderful performances throughout the film!
Yesterday, Biff Bam Pop! Editor-In-Chief, Andy Burns, predicated a $105 million bankroll for the film in its first weekend of release. That’s a hefty and, frankly, outstanding sum of coin for this film and a number that can only be deemed a victory for the DC Cinematic Universe. There’s a lot riding on the Wonder Woman film both creatively and monetarily.
But Wonder Woman is more than just a single film. The character is a 75-year old pop culture icon of strength, love, hope, and will – not to mention an number of other positive and engaging adjectives!
Did you know that today, June 3, is #WonderWomanDay?!
Perfect timing, really…and there are a number of things you, or someone you love, can do to participate in the worldwide celebrations!
Celebrate An Early #WonderWomanDay w. “Wonder Woman Annual #1” On The Wednesday Run
Even if you had your head under a rock, you’d know that there’s a highly anticipated (and finally!) Wonder Woman film being released this weekend!
Early reviews have been positive to absolutely glowing – and that sense of affirmation is just the vaccination that the DC Extended Universe film franchise has desperately needed! With the tent pole Justice League film dropping later this year and the cinematic debut of Aquaman now firmly in production, the Wonder Woman film had a massive pop culture encumbrance to bear on its shoulders.
Indeed, perhaps unfairly, the future of Warner Brother’s comic book universe of films was in absolute jeopardy due to previously dark and critically lackluster movies.
Thankfully, that sentiment is not the same in the comic book world – the wellspring of these globally recognized pop culture icons.
This Saturday, June 3, is appropriately, #WonderWomanDay. Fans around the world will be celebrating the feminist icon with comic book readings, cosplay, theater-goings and much, much more.
But you can get an early start on the festivities today with the release of Wonder Woman Annual #1 – a fantastic introduction to the character for readers of any age!
It’s A Lower Class Bug Out With ‘Bug!: The Adventures Of A Forager #1’ On The Wednesday Run
Hierarchical social categories and comic books.
Status, ruling class, and sub species.
And “King” Jack Kirby.
The theme of social status was the starting point of Kirby’s New Gods comic book title when he strode across the publishing divide, walking away from Marvel Comics and turning his talents and ideas to rival DC Comics.
And boy did he bring ideas and characters that still reverberate nearly five decades later: Darkseid, the Anti-Life Equation, New Genesis, Apokolips, gods, monsters, destiny… and politics.
Not to mention the visionary publishing invention of interlocking titles that constitute one, finite story.
Still, social status was only one of the themes of Jack Kirby’s “Fourth World” series of those interlocking comic book titles that included New Gods, Mister Miracle, The Forever People and Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olson.
That story of social status continues, with a new generation of great creators in this week’s release of Bug!: The Adventures Of A Forager #1!
Your Childhood Cartoons Meets Comics In “Green Lantern/Space Ghost Annual #1” & Others On The Wednesday Run
Never the two shall meet.
But it’s a little kid’s dream, isn’t it?
Those after school or Saturday morning cartoons – the ones that we ALL loved so much, made even more real, given a heightened sense of heroic justification, when intermingled with the heroes of the comic books we read!
I mean, we’d regularly have crossover adventures between cartoon and comic book heroes, universes, genres and pop culture mediums with the toys that we’d buy at the local store.
We were ahead of our time.
Green Lantern. Space Ghost. Suicide Squad. Banana Splits. Booster Gold. The Flintstones. Adam Strange. Jonny Quest.
Cartoons and comic books – never the two shall meet?
Not today – today we get ALL the meetings!
Tour The DC Universe With The ‘Cosmic Odyssey: The Deluxe Edition’ On The Wednesday Run
Space.
The cosmos.
The uncharted ether of imagination.
That’s what brings us to today.
Over the last month and a half, we’ve begun unofficially celebrating the year of comic book legend Jack Kirby’s birth here at Biff Bam Pop! The “King” as he’s affectionately called, would be 100 years young this year…and make no mistake, his many pop culture creations live long and strong.
You know many of them: Captain America, The Fantastic Four, Hulk, Silver Surfer, X-Men, etc., etc., etc.
Without Kirby, you could argue there would be no superhero comics, no Marvel Cinematic Universe, no Wednesday Run!
But beyond those characters listed, did you know about Kirby’s early 1970’s Fourth World creations: his “Cosmic Odyssey”? It was a series of interconnected titles that would tell one complete story, a publishing revelation, far ahead of its time!
Well, look no further than today release of the Kirby-inspired, late twentieth century release of, Cosmic Odyssey: The Deluxe Edition – and discover the King’s imagination run rampant across the universe!
