Thursday, July 28, 2022

Beware The Agents of Kiber, The Cruel!

 

Having spent some time recently on Kiber Island, a now-nonexistent locale off the coast of Kenya which became the focal point for a dispute between the Sub-Mariner and the Black Panther involving smugglers from their respective kingdoms, we now look back a bit to learn of its former occupants, as well as its sinister purpose--all coming from the mind and pencils of Jack Kirby, who in the fall of 1978 was unfortunately preparing to leave Marvel Comics once more and who was in the process of wrapping up his work on several titles, one of which was Black Panther. With the series published bimonthly for the entirety of its run, this three-part story would see Kirby depart the book prior to its final installment--probably one of the many times a two-month window between issues proved to be a godsend for writers and artists who had to pick up where others left off.

Kirby's story slows the pace a bit from a prior tale which saw Wakanda in crisis from an ambitious member of T'Challa's ruling family having mutated from overexposure to raw vibranium. In dealing with the situation, T'Challa's own exposure has resulted in him developing a sense of clairvoyance as well as telepathy; yet while he recovers, a new situation rears its head with the mysterious kidnapping of Khanata, another of the ruling family whose talent for Grand Prix racing brings him to the natural barrier of the Wakandan border, which no normal intruder should be able to breach.


The harsh encounter serves as Wakanda's, and our, first exposure to the agents of





As we've seen, Khanata has received a painful introduction to Frederick Kiber himself--a man who, like his strong-arm minions, defies any attempts of attack, or resistance.


But what is Kiber's goal here? Like most men who enforce their will, his prime goal is to acquire power--the purpose of which remains a mystery, until Khanata discovers the many potential victims alongside him who have had their lives upended and have been herded like cattle to fulfill Kiber's merciless desire for his continued existence, and, ultimately, control of the world.



Meanwhile, as we've glimpsed, T'Challa's investigation of Khanata's disappearance has led him to an inescapable conclusion--and thanks in part to Khanata's warning to Kiber of the Black Panther's retribution, Kiber sends his agents to retrieve this man in order to acquire his life force. In the meantime, Khanata and his fellow captives find there's no reprieve from death as captives of Kiber.




Upon T'Challa's arrival, Kiber once again demonstrates that, for his captives, there is no means of resisting his will. Unlike Khanata, however, T'Challa has deduced the secret of Kiber's "power," similar yet apart from the abilities of his agents--and when the Panther breaks away, his hunt for the real Kiber is on.




Cut to two months later, however, when Kirby has left the building--and writer Ed Hannigan, penciler Jerry Bingham, and inker Gene Day reveal what the Panther has discovered in a chamber which contains the last vestiges of a man whose experiments in matter transmission have led to a horrible state of existence.


Elsewhere in the complex, the breakout that Khanata (along with his fellow captives) has staged for the Panther's benefit is finally and brutally curtailed by Kiber's agents, with Khanata being the sole prisoner to avoid being recaptured. In doing so, he's able to prevent T'Challa from being telepathically deceived by their mutual enemy.



From that point, the Panther's activities within the complex become furtive and, in the end, productive, as he uses his various skills to whittle down Kiber's forces until he and Kiber face each other alone once more. We also see Bingham's depiction of Kiber Island, which is in stark contrast to that depicted in the Panther/Sub-Mariner tale that Hannigan returns us to a year and a half hence. (Though we could assume our smugglers could have conducted their business on an adjoining island.)


As we've sadly learned, all of Kiber's remaining captives have met their deaths as victims of his converter. Yet when the final confrontation comes, Kiber is denied his ghoulish prize--and T'Challa makes a choice as to his foe's final fate.


It's fair to note that the Panther's earlier allusion to the Vision--as well as the Avengers--would likely never have seen print had Kirby been able to complete this story, as he only rarely made such references to the bulk of Marvel's other heroes in the other titles he'd created and managed during this time. At any rate, his creation would continue to find readership when Black Panther resurfaced in a notable second act beginning in late 1998, followed by another in 2005, and so on--culminating in the character's popular cinematic appearances which, like the nuclear explosion which decimated Kiber Island, brought the nation of Wakanda to the attention of the entire world.


7 comments:

  1. I have to say, based only on these sample pages, that I quite prefer this Bingham/Day art to Kirby's! I know, blasphemy, but this opinion meshes with the anecdotes I've read on why Kirby did not draw Spider-Man in the early days. Kirby's style is all mythic muscle and phenomenal cosmic power. He don't do lithe and sneaky acrobats all that good.

    And Kirby's costume designs were always pushing the outside of the envelope, but...AIM agents must love Kiber goons. Those plushie pillow helmets (sometimes with horns, sometimes not) totally distract everyone from the AIM "beekeeper" suits.

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  2. It would make for an interesting post from a trivia standpoint, Murray--compiling a list of such nimble figures who successfully leaped off of Kirby's drawing board. I suppose Captain America and the Tumbler would readily come to mind... the Impossible Man was probably as lithe as they come... the Cobra (if you're a fan of slithering)... the Beast, unless the criterion is strictly for a more slim figure... Daredevil had a good showing in the FF/Doom battle... and that Panther guy on his introductory cover looks like a contender. But yes, I felt Spider-Man was drawn a little too stiffly on the occasions I saw him rendered by Kirby.

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  3. Kirby's scripting was dated by 1979, and that is a frequent comment on his work post-1968. I understand after his experience with Stan Lee, that Kirby didn't want his clear story intentions ignored and felt the need to control the scripting. But it's a shame Kirby didn't allow a more polished scripter follow his instructions or polish his work.

    I think his art here is just as good as in the sixties, but tastes had moved on. The rise of more "realistic" artists like Neal Adams, John Byrne, George Perez, etc. make the earlier artists like Kirby, whose figures are more cartoony, also seem dated. His storytelling, composition, and visual flair is just as exciting. Unfortunately for Kirby, those strengths were not as noticeable to the kids and teens who made up much of the readership in the late seventies.

    (I find the individual panels and figures of Bingham/Day more attractive, but I still find Kirby's art overall to be much more exciting.)

    But this is great stuff. While Kiber the Cruel is a practically forgotten villain, I could easily see him and his minions being repeated villains for the FF or Cap if they appeared back in the sixties and regularly reused. There is a lot to love in Kirby's Black Panther issues. It's a real shame this was a commercial failure as some of the characters and concepts here could have been reused.

    Chris

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  4. I have no problem enjoying both Kirby and post-Kirby Black Panther, just like I dig both his and Englehart's Captain America.
    They're different animals, to be sure, and you gotta keep your mind limber. But I suggest avoiding revisiting one arc on the same day as the other. It's a lot of whiplash for even a limber brain to handle.
    I wouldn't be surprised if Kiber shows up in a future Black Panther movie. He certainly would be a visually interesting character.

    M.P.

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  5. What is and what should never be is a song by led Zeppelin.

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  6. Chris, I couldn't agree more about Kirby having his work edited (in fact I may have said words to that effect somewhere around the PPC--it wouldn't surprise me given how often I've posted on the subject of his writing), but I imagine Kirby may have had his fill of that in gigs like his Amazing Adventures work where Stan Lee had such a credit.

    M.P., in a way you could be describing "categorizing," and I think it's sound advice!

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  7. Got to disagree with Chris about Kirby's writing being dated back then - sure, it didn't follow the trend toward greater 'realism' (thats not really the right word imo, but it'll have to do) that we associate with 70s comics... but his stuff wasn't the same as it had been in the 60s either.
    He was an original who went his own way, with the result that his work from that era is appreciated more now than it was at the time (I'd suggest in part thats because its distinctiveness makes it feel less obviously '70s').

    I appreciate Kirby's prose and dialogue isn't to everyone's taste(!) but it was suited to his work - he wrote like he drew - and I don't think having someone else 'polishing' the scripts so they read more like every other boring comic on the stands at the time would have been an improvement.
    Ok, thats a bit unfair - not all the other comics were boring (; - but I do think there was something of a Marvel house style that would have been a poor fit for Kirby's stuff.

    Btw, as it happens I believe on the Black Panther Archie Goodwin did make minor 'corrections' to Kirby's scripts.

    -sean

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