Tuesday, June 13, 2017

The Uncollected - Manhunter?


Why is there no handy-dandy easy to read collection of the Manhunter adventures from early issues of Adventure Comics. These Golden Age adventures by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby have been reprinted almost completely, but never have they been collected. I first encountered them in the back pages of New Gods when for a short time DC needed to fill out its comics expanded to justify a twenty-five cent price hike. I found the stories enthralling and no doubt it was those appearances which prompted one of my all-time favorite series.


The unforgettable Manhunter from the Bronze Age Detective Comics by Archie Goodwin and Walt Simonson has been collected several times on its own by DC and others. It remains a singular masterpiece, one which will shine for a great long time as one of its creators, Archie Goodwin, is no longer with us. DC has respected the creation (for the most part) and has done relatively little with the character, though not the name itself.


Jack Kirby, one of the important creators in Manhunter's Golden Age history, made a one-shot update for the pages of 1st Issue Special #5. This story has been reprinted as has all of Kirby's output for DC at this time. But never have the stories by Steve Englehart and Dick Dillin stories from Justice League of America which pick up on this very Kirby revision ever been collected. We, the Manhunter fans need these.


Add all of those fantastic yarns up and you have a rich reprint volume indeed. It's past time. Come on DC, it's the moment when we Manhunter fans get what we deserve.


Special Note: "The Uncollected" will be an irregular feature here at the Dojo where I suggest collections which seem long overdue to me. Hopefully I will learn to my glee that collections which I'm in favor of might in fact have already happened. We'll see.

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2 comments:

  1. that sounds like a great feature. There is so much that would be much easier to read if it got collected.

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    1. As much as is out there, I still come up with stuff I want. I read trades almost all the time now save for a few new comics I get now and again. The Golden Age of reprints it is, but there's more to do.

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