Really, the comedy sidelines the rest of the action and plot here. Sure, we get to see Clark Kent do a flyby of Apokolips, and the Guardian slugs it out with some Intergang punks (I was tempted to scan an awesome double face-kick with a cool "SPOW!" sound effect), but the best parts are the funny stuff. I love Kirby's dialogue, and he comes up with some great lines for Rickles. Here's another one:
I don't know what Rickles' fans at the time (or Rickles himself, for that matter) thought of this, but I find it hilarious. Okay, more awesomeness tomorrow.
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Oh, and I've also got a review of a book called Kate Lawson and the Ship of Lost Souls up over at Comics Bulletin, so there's something else to read if you can't get enough of my yammering.
"I don't know what Rickles' fans at the time (or Rickles himself, for that matter) thought of this"
ReplyDeleteRickles wasn't thrilled. As Mark Evanier -- himself a participant in these events -- tells it, Kirby had permission to use Rickles in a single throwaway scene where the comedian would insult Superman. But when he sat down to do the story, this turned into the whole two-part extravaganza with Rickles a major character and featured on the cover of both issues...and he never even meets Superman, which had been the whole point originally. This is just the way Kirby approached his stories: not meticulously planned out in advance but subject to radical change as inspiration struck him. There was some grumbling from the Rickles camp, though not anything that caused trouble.
For me, I thought Kirby freaking nailed the Rickles style. It's so perfectly him...yet that was Kirby all by himself.
Yeah, I thought I had read something about the original plan changing from Evanier. I love what Kirby did with it though. Another favorite line: "Tell it here! To the little veins popping out of my head--to the little, aggravated veins!" Hilarious. He even got to have somebody call someone a hockey puck, although it's Goody instead of Don. I love it.
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