Nearly three years ago,
Dynamite Entertainment began the process of licensing the original characters still owned by the estate of Jack Kirby. The long-gestating project culminating from the publisher's pitch will hit comic shops in three months as Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross present "Kirby: Genesis."
Dynamite today announced the May start date for the launch miniseries of what they plan to grow into a full line of superhero comics based on Kirby's characters. The series will include "Black Terror" artist Jack Herbert completing finished art from Ross' layouts. The #0 issue kicking off the affair will retail for $1.00.
In a press release, Dynamite described the story for the project, saying, "The Pioneer 10 space probe carried a message to the stars. Now an answer's on the way -- but not one we expected! When it arrives, the lives of three ordinary people -- and the entire world -- will be changed forever. Featuring Captain Victory, Silver Star and more of Jack Kirby's greatest concepts, with finished art (from Alex's layouts) by Jack Herbert."
CBR News spoke first with Busiek and Ross during their initial planning for the "Kirby: Genesis" series in an interview published late last month. "We have an over-arching concept that will link everything from a central creative point," Ross said then. "Things will explode out from that and start to reveal themselves in the series."
"Most of those expansive universe projects involved looking back. In this, we're lighting the fuse," Busiek added. "This is the beginning of something. There are ways in which this project will be like 'Marvels.' Our lead character is a normal guy who is witness to the amazing changes happening around them and is a human's eye view to it. But while somebody like Phil Sheldon is a witness to the beginning of something everybody knows in its final form, our guy gets to see the world happening at the same time as the readers."
