Your Monster May Vary

During Jack Kirby's last work at Marvel Comics in the late 1970s, it seemed the protagonists in the line of comics he was working on were having their fair share of run-ins with monsters, perhaps more so than more readers were used to seeing crop up. Monsters were generally par for the course in the comics being cranked out in the late '50s and early '60s, when the monster du jour would menace the entire planet until it came up against a clever and resourceful human who discovered a way to either destroy or banish it (with Kirby handling the art for many of the stories, along with their covers); in the late '70s and into the '80s, however, monsters were more the exception than the rule. Yet Kirby had been given creative control of his titles this time around--and while he created a number of interesting human characters, perhaps we shouldn't have been surprised to see monsters more often crawling out of the woodwork to menace life and limb.

There also seemed to be one type and hue of monster in particular that Kirby had a preference for, with variations:

Out of all of these examples, Devil Dinosaur of course fosters less of an impression of being recycled, since a Tyrannosaurus Rex hardly strikes anyone as a knockoff. Its hue, on the other hand, seemed a bit contrived:

I'd wager that most of us who have cooked meat have yet to see its outer skin turn crimson after being exposed to flames--charred and blackened in some cases, yes, but DD here qualifies as beyond "rare." Then again, it's possible Kirby was a wizard at the grill and knew a few more tricks to cooking than yours truly.

Karkas, whose outer appearance belies a thoughtful and sensitive soul, at first takes quite a beating from the Deviant originally known as Reject, but fortunately clings to survival and is taken in as a ward by the Eternal, Thena.

My first exposure to Karkas was in Thor when writer Roy Thomas was involving the Thunder God in the affairs of the Eternals, and the character instantly became a hit with me.

In Kirby's world, even Captain America couldn't escape battling monsters, two of which could be distant cousins. First, an alien that has found its way onto a farmer's land:

And then a "man-fish," which turns out to be a creation of Arnim Zola.

Finally, in Black Panther, there's Jakarra, T'Challa's ambitious step-brother, who wants to exploit Wakanda's sacred Vibranium mound rather than mine it conservatively. Like Karkas, his story becomes more interesting due to his potential as a character; but where Karkas thrives, Jakarra descends into aggression once he begins to suffer from over-exposure to the mound.

With Jakarra's final transformation, Kirby brings little further alteration to his form other than *sigh* making his palms into flame-throwers, which is when the Panther finally appears and deals with him with a device that will neutralize him. The climax occurs in Kirby's last issue of the book.

Out of curiosity, it would be interesting to know if Kirby migrated this general type and hue of monster to his later work at DC upon his return to the company--are there any DC enthusiasts who happen to recall? :)