It’s August, and that means it’s also the second annual Jack Kirby Tribute Month (created by Howard Simpson). Basically there are character prompts for each day. I participated in this last year (you can find what I did here on the site), and I’m going to try and do them all again this year.
A new wrinkle for this year’s Kirby Tribute Month is that each week has a specific theme. There are only three days that fall within August this first week, and the theme is Kirby’s issues of DC’s 1st Issue Special. Today’s prompt is Atlas, who appeared in 1st Issue Special #1.
I never saw this comic on the spinner rack back when it came out, but like most of the other issues of this title, it wasn’t too costly to buy when I finally came across a copy years later. Atlas is set in an ancient time, seemingly before written history, and to me feels a bit like Jack’s take on a Conan the Barbarian type of character. Like the vast majority of Jack’s work, you get to the end of that issue, and it feels like there’s a lot of potential, if he had been given the green light to continue the story.
I’d never tried to draw Atlas before, so it was fun to do this! Hope you enjoy, and stay tuned for tomorrow’s entry!
I love your take on Atlas. But, to be honest, I really want to see what you do with the Dingbats of Danger Street.
Glad you like it. As to the other, stay tuned. 🙂
Thanks Mark. Good one. I like your take better then the original. I got to know the Atlas character a little more when I attempted to turn the B&W Showcase Great Disaster into digital fare. Doing that was definitely an education into the range of Jack’s work. That being said, your deft efforts are excellent to view. I love it.
Glad you enjoyed it! Like most of the stuff Jack did that went in First Issue Special, I felt like there was potential beyond just the one issue DC published. As mentioned above, Atlas felt to me like Jack’s take on a Conan the Barbarian-like character, set in a period before written history. Would’ve been fun to see him explore further in that world.