Kamandi

Kamandi () is a fictional comic book character created by artist Jack Kirby and published by DC Comics. The bulk of Kamandi's appearances occurred in the comic series ''Kamandi: The Last Boy on Earth'', which ran from 1972 to 1978. He is a young hero living in a post-apocalyptic future. Following the Great Disaster, humans have backslid to savagery in a world ruled by intelligent, highly evolved animals.

Publication history

Creation

DC editor Carmine Infantino had tried to acquire the license to publish ''Planet of the Apes'' comic books. After rival Marvel Comics acquired the rights, Infantino asked Jack Kirby for a series with a similar concept. Kirby had not seen the films, but knew the rough outline and had created a similar story, "The Last Enemy!", where a present-day man finds himself in a future where anthropomorphic animals have founded their own civilization. Kirby also had an unused comic strip he created in 1956, titled ''Kamandi of the Caves''. Kirby brought these elements together to create ''Kamandi''. Although his initial plan was not to work on the comic books personally, the cancellation of ''Forever People'' freed him up to do so.

The series

The ''Kamandi'' series was launched in October–November 1972, and was written and drawn by Jack Kirby. The book went to a monthly publishing schedule quickly, a sign of its early popularity.

Kirby provided art and story through the comic's 37th issue, in January 1976. Kirby also drew issues #38 through #40, although they were scripted by Gerry Conway. Kirby subsequently left DC. The series continued, initially with scripts by Conway and art by Chic Stone. Later issues were written by Paul Levitz, Dennis O'Neil, David Anthony Kraft, Elliot S. Maggin, and Jack C. Harris (alternating), with art by Pablo Marcos, Keith Giffen, and Dick Ayers. The title was canceled during the "DC Implosion" of 1978, despite respectable sales figures. The final published issue was #59, cover-dated September–October 1978. Two additional issues, completed but not released, were included in ''Cancelled Comic Cavalcade'' #2.

Entering the DC Universe

During Kirby's run on the book, Steve Sherman indicated in the letters column that the series was connected to Kirby's then-current '' OMAC'' series, which was set in the future, but prior to the Great Disaster. The only explicit connection to the DC Universe occurs in issue #29, in which Kamandi discovers a group of apes who worship Superman.

Other stories, not by Kirby, explicitly take place in the DC universe. Kamandi meets Batman in '' The Brave and the Bold'' #120 (July 1975) and #157 (December 1979). ''Superman'' #295 (January 1976) establishes that the costume seen in issue #29 is Superman's and that Earth A.D. is an alternate timeline. Issues #49–50 of the series establish Kamandi's grandfather to be Buddy Blank, the former OMAC, and features a brief return of his satellite ally Brother Eye. ''Cancelled Comic Cavalcade'' #2 guest stars Sandman and establishes that Kamandi is Jed Walker.

The 1975–1977 '' Hercules Unbound'' series and the OMAC backup stories in ''Kamandi'' and '' The Warlord'' tie OMAC to the storyline of ''Hercules Unbound'' and the Atomic Knights, indicating the Great Disaster to be the atomic war of 1986 that precipitated the events of the latter. ''Superman'' #295 (Jan. 1976) implies the Great Disaster to be a natural occurrence.

'' DC Comics Presents'' #57 (May 1983) shows that the events of the Atomic Knights stories were a fantasy in the mind of Gardner Grayle, but ''DC Comics Presents'' #64 and ''Crisis on Infinite Earths'' #2 establish that Kamandi still exists in an alternate future of Earth-One.

Following ''Crisis on Infinite Earths'', Earth-AD is erased from existence.

Revival

A young Kamandi and his grandfather Buddy Blank appear in ''Countdown to Final Crisis'', which sees the beginning stages of the Great Disaster as a virus causes humans and animals to develop aspects of each other.

Kamandi also appears in ''Final Crisis'', where he meets Anthro via a time distortion.

DC Rebirth

In January 2017, the miniseries ''The Kamandi Challenge'' was released to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Jack Kirby's birth. Each issues features a new writer and artist.

Writers on the series included Dan Abnett, Peter Tomasi, Jimmy Palmiotti, James Tynion IV, Bill Willingham, Steve Orlando, Marguerite Bennett, Keith Giffen, Tom King, Greg Pak, Rob Williams and Gail Simone while artists were Dale Eaglesham, Neal Adams, Amanda Conner, Carlos D'Anda, Ivan Reis, Philip Tan, Dan Jurgens, Steve Rude, Kevin Eastman, Joe Prado, Walter Simonson and Ryan Sook.

In '' Infinite Frontier'', Kamandi travels back in time and establishes Checkmate under the alias Kingsley Jacobs.

Fictional character biography

Kamandi is a teenage boy on a post-apocalyptic Earth dubbed Earth A.D. (After Disaster). The Earth has been ravaged by the mysterious Great Disaster, which devastated human civilization. Isolated pockets survive in underground bunkers, while most humans revert to savagery. By Kamandi's time, an unspecified period after the Great Disaster, the effects of radiation and the intelligence-enhancing drug Cortexin cause various animals to become anthropomorphic.

Kamandi is the last survivor of the human outpost in the "Command D" bunker, from which his name is derived. After a wolf kills his grandfather, Kamandi leaves the bunker in search of other human outposts.

He soon discovers that the only other intelligent humans left on Earth are Ben Boxer and his friends Steve and Renzi, a trio of genetically engineered mutants. He also makes a number of animal friends including the dog scientist Dr. Canus, the tiger king Caesar, and his son Tuftan. Later additions to the cast include the alien Pyra, the primitive girl Flower, her twin sister Spirit, detective Mylock Bloodstalker, and his associate Doile.

Other versions

* An alternate universe variant of Kamandi appears in ''Kamandi: At World's End'' and '' Superman: At Earth's End''.
* Kamandi appears in ''Superman/Batman''.
* Kamandi appears in '' Wednesday Comics''.
* Kamandi appears in ''The Multiversity''.

In other media

Television

* A ''Kamandi'' animated series was optioned during the late 1970s, but was cancelled before entering the production phase.
* Kamandi appears in '' Batman: The Brave and the Bold'', voiced by Mikey Kelley. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.

Film

* Kamandi appears in '' DC Showcase: Kamandi: The Last Boy on Earth!'', voiced by Cameron Monaghan.
* Kamandi appears in '' Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths'', voiced by Will Friedle.

Video games

Kamandi appears as a character summon in '' Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure''.

Merchandise

Kamandi received a figure in the DC Universe Classics line in 2010.

Miscellaneous

Kamandi appears in '' Justice League Adventures'' #30.

Collected editions

* ''Kamandi Archive:
** ''Volume 1'' collects ''Kamandi: The Last Boy on Earth'' #1-10, 224 pages, October 2005,
** ''Volume 2'' collects ''Kamandi: The Last Boy on Earth'' #11-20, 228 pages, February 2007,
* ''Countdown Special: Kamandi, the Last Boy on Earth 80-Page Giant'' #1 collects ''Kamandi: The Last Boy on Earth'' #1, #10 and #29.
* ''Kamandi by Jack Kirby Omnibus''
** ''Volume 1'' collects ''Kamandi: The Last Boy on Earth'' #1-20, 448 pages, September 2011,
** ''Volume 2'' collects ''Kamandi: The Last Boy on Earth'' #21-40, 424 pages, December 2012,
* ''Wednesday Comics'' collects ''Wednesday Comics'' #1-12, 200 pages, June 2010,
* ''Kamandi by Jack Kirby Omnibus'' collects ''Kamandi: The Last Boy on Earth'' #1-40, 896 pages, March 2018,
* ''The Kamandi Challenge'' collects ''The Kamandi Challenge'' #1-12, 460 pages, April 2018,

See also

* Jack Kirby bibliography
* Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts

References

External links

*
*
Kamandi
at the DC Database Project
Kamandi
at Mike's Amazing World of Comics

{{Jack Kirby, state=collapsed
1972 comics debuts
1978 comics endings
2017 comics debuts
2018 comics endings
Characters created by Jack Kirby
Comics about anthropomorphic animals
Comics by Jack Kirby
Comics characters introduced in 1972
DC Comics male superheroes
DC Comics titles
Defunct American comics
Post-apocalyptic comics
Superhero comics