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Any fans of the old 1970's Kamandi comic from DC?

Liberty's Edge

I had one or two copies.


Jib wrote:
Any fans of the old 1970's Kamandi comic from DC?

Loved that series...I fondly remember scouring yard sales for issues (back when people actually sold comics at yard sales :) ).


Larry Latourneau wrote:
I fondly remember scouring yard sales for issues (back when people actually sold comics at yard sales :) ).

People still do. Just a couple of years ago, I was at a yard sale and noticed a stack of 30+-year-old issues of "Claw: The Unconquered."

(I guess you meant people used to sell MORE comics at yard sales in some former time?)


Aaron Bitman wrote:
Larry Latourneau wrote:
I fondly remember scouring yard sales for issues (back when people actually sold comics at yard sales :) ).

People still do. Just a couple of years ago, I was at a yard sale and noticed a stack of 30+-year-old issues of "Claw: The Unconquered."

(I guess you meant people used to sell MORE comics at yard sales in some former time?)

Yeah...I find them hard to find anymore...and most of the time when I do, they are way overpriced.

Not to sound old and crotchety, but comics just don't seem to do it for the younger set (very big generalization, I know). I have quite a few boxes of comics, hardly any in great condition. I buy/bought to read them (most over and over), not to store them away. Each year I take a couple boxes out for our annual street sale (so about around 600 comics I would guess) and sell them for 25 cents or 5 for a dollar. I am lucky if I sell $10 worth. Most kids walk on by and the majority of 'adults' seem to be collectors hoping for the rare mint comic find. I know my wife would hate it, but if I managed to come across comics that cheap, I would be walking away with a lot more for my collection ;)

I actually loaded up a couple bags full of comics and gave them to some kids who were very interested in the comics, but their parents would only let them spend $5 between them.


Larry Latourneau wrote:
Yeah...I find them hard to find anymore...and most of the time when I do, they are way overpriced.

Gee. Have you tried flea markets? About 10 years ago, before I got married, I used to have some free time, and I could spend long amounts of time at flea markets flipping through stacks of comics owned by people who were just getting rid of them and charged a fair price. Of course, flea markets also have real collectors, who charge real money. Are you saying the former kind of seller doesn't show up these days?

Jib wrote:
Any fans of the old 1970's Kamandi comic from DC?

<clears throat> Sorry, Jib. I didn't mean to threadjack. I'm afraid my only memory of Kamandi was a brief appearance in Crisis on Infinite Earths. But I was sometimes curious about Kamandi, at times when I got tired of all the superhero comics and the small selection of any other kind.

Jib, I assume your intent was to reminisce about the series. Why don't you do so? Larry, you can too. I'm curious to hear what it was like. Heck, I first clicked the link to this topic for just that reason.

Sovereign Court

The only reason I am even aware of the series is that Wizard magazine once did a Twisted Mego Theater making fun of it.

The Exchange RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16

Jib wrote:
Any fans of the old 1970's Kamandi comic from DC?

I bought a couple of copies, but I couldn't actually be called a "fan".

Kirby was a visionary artist and came up with terrific concepts. But his page-by-page plotting was ... always over the top. In some settings, like the Silver Surfer, this works. In others, like the Black Panther or Captain America, or ... Jimmy Olsen ... it really doesn't.

Kamandi seems to be always trying to be grandiose, always melodramatic. Which seemed out of place with the idea of a couple of friends, nostalgic for a past they never really knew, shuffling through a destroyed landscape, looking for sanctuary.


I liked that the theme was similar to Planet of the Apes (which was my fave as a kid). Kamandi would often fight strange foes like humanoid bats, ride giant grasshoppers, and battle against humanoid gorillas who used WW2 styled weaponry (Kirby served in WW2).

They just release a collection of Kamandi that I consider picking up as I was only able to secure a few random issues (bought most of my comics at the local grocery store).

While I would not say the comic was perfect it had some cool thematic stuff. Later when I discovered "Gamma World" I had a grasp of the setting.


Jib, I hope you're checking out the Kamandi serial that Dave Gibbons and Ryan Sook are doing in Wednesday Comics. It's one of the standout pieces in the series. Gibbons is playing it very much as a post-apocalypce Prince Valiant, and Sook's pages are gorgeous. They're making some of the best use of the full-page format of any of the strips in the book.

Not every strip works as well as it might, but it's a great experiment overall. Of course, I'm a sucker for anthologies.


I did not know this! Tell me more please...

I am going to try and pick up the old Kirby anthologies at my local game and hobby store this weekend.

Scarab Sages

The Wednesday comics are wonderful--Kamandi is done in the Hal Foster/Prince Valiant style. As far as I know, the Kirby stuff has only been reprinted in the DC Archives hardback editions (2 vols-the 1st 16 issues).


Not familiar with Wednesday Comics...

Is this online?

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