Kirby on Disney's Black Hole

Comics fans, sometime this week if you find yourself in the checkout lane of the supermarket as I did last evening, take a glance at the fall issue of Disney’s COMIC ZONE digest. This issue, amongst the typical PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN, HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL, and off-model Mickey and Goofy strips (Uncle Walt’s turning over in his freezer on those I’m sure!) you’ll find a real treat! THE BLACK HOLE by Jack Kirby! This was originally done as a newspaper strip adaptation to plug the company’s 1979 STAR WARS rip-off. Highly anticipated, the all-star film turned out to be a major disappointment all around and few papers even carried this strip. Until now, I had only ever seen a few sample strips! Now here, newly colored and like an all-new blast from the past, we’re given the first part of the King’s "adaptation." Featuring some of his best work from this period, Kirby seems to have made no effort to make the actors look like the film’s stars. This MAY have beeen for contractual reasons or it may well be Kirby just being Kirby. The point is, as the King himself once said, "Don’t ask! Just buy it!" Six pages well worth the cost of the mag. Skip the rest.