Saturday, March 25, 2017

365 Days of Defiance, Day 84: Escape from the Planet of the Ape-kolips

Darkseid is...being a complete jerk towards Scott Free. That's Mister Miracle if you're nasty.


Panels from Mister Miracle (1971 series) #9 (July-August 1972), script and pencils by Jack Kirby, inks and letters by Mike Royer

You guys know I love Kirby. One of the many things I love about his work (along with the power, the wonder, the craziness, the boldness, and the quotation marks) is his themes of resistance against power and evil. Think of Kirby's Thing (too stubborn to lay down and take a beating) or Thor (he says thee NAY!) and their bombastic displays of defiance and resistance against the unbeatable foe. In Scott Free Kirby combines the resistance with escape in the saga of the ultimate escape artist: there is no trap, no disaster, no threat that Scott cannot get out of, defying nature, physics, and story logic. He's not running away: he'll be back.




For my money, this is Kirby's version of one of my favorite scenes from the movies: Artoo Detoo finally kicking the Millennium Falcon into hyperdrive just as the Empire is ready to capture the rebels...and the grim visage of Vader on the bridge as they do so.



Panels from Star Wars (1977 series) #44 (February 1981), script by Archie Goodwin, pencils and inks by Al Williamson and Carlos Garzon, colors by Glynis Wein, letters by Rick Veitch

Like Luke Skywalker, it's not the end of Scott's story. The fight is just beginning.

2 comments:

Dave said...

Darkseid's lookin' pretty svelte in that last panel. The Slim-Fast must be working. (Or is he on Weight Watchers?)

Blam said...

An ominous figure named Darkseid beckoning a young man to become his protégé with the promise of massive power if he leaves behind his old self? Huh... I know there's a Star Wars connection there somewhere.