Kamandi, the Last Boy on Earth #4
Published and © by DC, March 1973
Title: “The Devil’s Arena!”
Synopsis: Trapped in a dispute between tigers and gorillas, Kamandi finds his mission: “To see that humans get their second chance.”
Writer: Jack Kirby
Penciler: Kirby
Inker: Mike Royer
Review: Another solid outing for Kamandi, but a few things are starting to annoy. The biggest: Why is everyone so surprised that Kamandi can talk when other human “animals” do, too? Sure, he’s more articulate than some, but several human characters speak this issue. There’s also the fact that Kamandi just isn’t a very likable personality. He’s quite petulant, angry, and disrespectful to just about everyone. Seriously, he’s in serious need of a timeout. Of course, this reviewer circa 2010 isn’t the target audience for Kamandi, and Little Me would have eaten this up.
Grade: B+
Second opinion: “With this one comic, Jack Kirby became the indisputable King with me.”– Jim Kingman, Comic Effect #27, Summer 2001 … Recommended by The Slings & Arrows Comic Guide (second edition), 2003.
Cool factor: The King goes meta as Kamandi reads a “really ‘far-out’ ” comic: Kirby’s The Demon #1!
Notable: First appearance of Prince Tuftan.
Character quotable: “Say! I’ve found some of the old comic magazines that are still quite readable!” – Kamandi, last Bronze Age reader on Earth!
Editor’s note: This review was originally published by Comics Bronze Age on Oct. 7, 2010.
