1. Jack Kirbys New Gods
DC ComicsJack Kirby is the greatest genius to ever work in comics, as well as one of the finest and most influential artists (working in any medium) of the 20th century. That he still isnt being furnished with the proper amount of credit for his creations, even as more and more of them reach the big screen each summer, is nothing short of an abject travesty. In addition to being a pioneer of the medium, as well as one of the grand architects of superhero fiction, Jack Kirby disregarded more great ideas in a lunchtime than most creators will have in a lifetime. Kirbys long, illustrious career would take too much space to go into here (but, for those whos curiosity I just piqued, check out Mark Evaniers wonderful biography Kirby: King of Comics for the full account). Suffice it to say that, prior to New Gods, his career highlights had included creating (or co-creating) Captain America, The X-Men, The Avengers, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Iron Man, The Fantastic Four, Silver Surfer and The Black Panther, together with most of their associated supporting casts and villains as well as literally thousands of other creations. However, Kirby felt that he was held down at Marvel. He had failed to get the credit he deserved (or very much money) for the characters that have since made billions of dollars worldwide. And so, in the 1970s, he was lured to DC with the promise of creative freedom and the opportunity to finally do things his way. Thus, for one brief, shining period, readers got to see the greatest imagination in the history of comics completely unleashed. The result was an amazing, forward thinking series of stories, collectively referred to as Kirbys Fourth World cycle. For a few months, the King of Comics was simply unstoppable. Titles like The Forever People and Mister Miracle, spinoffs like Young Gods of Supertown and a show stopping run on the Jimmy Olsen book (yes, you read that correctly) all connected and dovetailed together, forging a brave new continuum within the DCU. The backbone of all these stories, however, was New Gods. In this series, Jack Kirby attempted nothing less than a complete revamping of mythology, an overhaul of superhero fiction and the creation of a freshly rhizomatic sci-fi Bible that gleamed and shone in the wake of the brave new world that King Kirby was creating. It was a work of sustained genius that stood poised to re-wire the very fabric of comics themselves, with dreamlike future tech (Boom Tubes, The Anti-Life Equation and the tablet PC-like Mother Boxes), a hyper verbose writing style and the greatest splash pages that have ever been produced in the comics medium. ...Then, it was abruptly cancelled. Well always love Carmine Infantino as a great comics artist and editor and a monumental mind in his own right, but well never, ever forgive him for pulling the plug on Kirbys magnum opus and thus eviscerating the greatest masters greatest masterpiece in the process. As it turned out, DC treated Kirby just as badly as Marvel had and, although he came back and stitched an (editorially hampered) ending onto the saga years later, the story largely remains unfinished to this day. Still, looking on the bright side, we did get 11 issues of unfettered Kirby imagination. The late, great man might not be around anymore, but the most beautiful part of him, his mind, can still be visited and explored by pouring over his exquisite, dynamic artwork again and again. Because comics were not (and still arent) respected in mainstream literature or art, jack Kirby is still not seen for what he was; a genius with an imagination to equal Tolkien and an ability to describe dream states on paper that could rival even Salvadore Dalis. If youre new to comics, do yourself a favour and pick this one up. That way, you can bear witness to the medium at its very, very best. ...And thats it. 10 DC comics that dont usually make the lists, but that are all superlative, scintillating, stupefying...One might even say...Super. - CQ