Saturday, August 31, 2013

365 Days of DC House Ads, Day 243: Jack Kirby DC House Ad Week, Day 7: Hunger Dogs and Super-Gorillas


I'm going to wrap up Jack Kirby DC House Ad Week with some house ads for a couple of Jack's final projects over at DC, starting with the long-awaited "conclusion" (not that DC ever lets anything remain "concluded") of his epic Fourth World saga, the graphic novel The Hunger Dogs!


House ad for DC Graphic Novel #4 [The Hunger Dogs] (1985); artwork by Jack Kirby, printed in DC Sampler #3 (Late Fall 1984)



Excited as that ad might get you for the grand finale of the King's epic high-opera-in-comics-books, that's a slightly underwhelming ad. How about...


House ad for DC Graphic Novel #4 [The Hunger Dogs] (1985); artwork by Jack Kirby, printed in World's Finest Comics #316 (June 1985)

Now that's more like it! The glory, the granduer...the black-and-white. Why wasn't there a Color version of this add so we could bask in its gorgeous Kirbyness? Why, ask no more!


Color in-store advertising poster for DC Graphic Novel #4

Speaking of Jack Kirby promo posters, here's another one distributed to shops in '84, this time promoting the Mando recolored reprints of The New Gods. Sock it to me, Orion!


Color in-store advertising poster for the New Gods Mando reprint series (1984), pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Mike Royer

Finally, though it's no great work of art, DC's answer to Marvel's Secret Wars, the '84 Hasbro toy-promoting Super Powers...


House ad for Super Powers (1984 series) five-issue limited series (1984); printed in World's Finest Comics #305 (July 1984)
Ad art: pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Mike Royer

...allowed us to finally see Kirby draw the Justice League of America!




Panels from Super Powers(1984 series) #5 (November 1984); co-plot and script by Joey Cavalieri, co-plot and pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Greg Theakston, colors by Carl Gafford, letters by Ben Oda

Not to mention the JLA battling the menace of Superape!


Cover of Super Powers(1984 series) #4 (October 1984), pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Greg Theakston

So, there you go, folks! I hope you've enjoyed Jack Kirby DC House Ad Week. And what better way to wrap it up than with Super-Heroes Battling Super-Gorilla?

Vivat Kirby!

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