US publisher Amigo Comics are to publish an English language collection of Sky Masters of the Space Force: The Complete Sunday Scripts in Colour: 1959-1960, edited by Ferran Delgado in January 2018, featuring self-contained stories from an amazing newspaper strip drawn by two of the greats of American comics – Jack Kirby and Wally Wood.
Kirby, one of the greatest comic artists, was born 100 years ago this year. A relentless entrepreneur with an indefatigable work ethic, Kirby was always trying new things. As you’d expect, he tried the newspaper comic route too.
One of the Sky Masters Sunday strips published in 1959. The two panels at the bottom of this image were used in the strip’s horizontal format
The last two panels on this Sky Masters have never been reissued internationally – until now
Kirby’s Sky Masters of the Space Force was his own foray into the world of newspaper strips and it became a gorgeous-looking strip – with a crazy backstory. Add another legendary artist, Wallace “Wally” Wood, to the tale and you can see why it’s one of those comic gems well deserving a new step into the limelight.
The background of the strip is as fascinating as the strip itself, because the consequences of what happened around it blacklisted Kirby, and pushed him over to Marvel.
Sky Masters debuted in 1958, created at the beginning of the space race by artist Jack Kirby and writer Dave Wood ― when who would get into space and to the moon first ―was a national obsession. Initially called Space Busters, designed to be sold to a newspaper syndicate, it became Sky Masters after Harry Elmlark, an agent from the George Matthew Adams Service, asked DC Comics editor Jack Schiff for a science-fiction comic to be adapted into strip form, to capitalise on American interest in the Space Race in the wake of the previous year’s launch of Sputnik.
Schiff rejected Space Busters and then either collaborated in the creation of a new strip, or, according to the book Tales to Astonish: Jack Kirby, Stan Lee and the American Comic Book Revolution, simply encouraged Kirby and Wood to produce “a strip that dealt with rocket launchings, moon shots, and general story lines just a little ahead of current developments in the news.”
Another example of Sky Masters in vertical format
Jack Kirby’s guide for a horizontal presentation of a Sunday Sky Masters strip
Much admired, the original of this Sunday Sky Masters strip is owned by artist John Byrne
A black and white Sky Masters original, via the Jack Kirby Museum
The strip takes place in the not to distant future where the United States sends men into space but hasn’t ventured much further yet. The series in clearly anchored in the late 1950s/early1960s so it serves as a highly stylised period piece that still holds up very nicely. The material used in this archival edition ranges from original art, to press proofs, to tear sheets, and boasts the best reproduction of the strip ever.
While a limited collection of Sky Masters was published back in 1980 by Quality Comic Art Productions, a complete collection didn’t appear until 2000 in The Complete Sky Masters of the Space Force from Pure Imagination – but the Sundays were only published in black and white.
Eight were reprinted in colour in an earlier Sky Masters book from Pure Imagination and the remaining Sundays were reprinted in colour by Comics Revue magazine – but this newAmigo Comics collection has much more to offer.
Working with the Kirby Museum, it’s an oversized deluxe book compiling a complete set of all 54 Sunday strips, which have a plot line independent of the daily strips, presented in meticulously remastered colour. The book also features dozens of never-before-reprinted scrapbook panels.
This single Sky Masters panel shows the amount of work Ferran has put into restoring the strip
Sky Masters of the Space Force Volume 1 1958 – 1959 (Spanish Edition) – available from amazon.co.uk. Ferran adapted art for the covers of these editions – coloured by Javier Rodriguez
It also contains plenty of extras including, 15 full-page originals also feature, and a section with 20 colour guides painted by Kirby himself, plus articles by renowned national and international experts, and some 80 cartoons never re-edited internationally, etc.
This new collection is edited by lettering artist and comic expert Ferran Delgado, who also edited two Spanish language collections of the strip, published by Glenat that have, for many, been the only way you could even see the strip for many years.
Ferran, who has also painstakingly recreated Marvel title pages of yore for the Spanish editions of Marvel Comics in the past, says the Sky Masters strip is very special to him, and it’s clear this new collection is a labour of love just like the previous Spanish editions. He spent lots of time and effort on those to pay tribute to one of the best strips ever made – although, unfortunately, one of the less known.
“I’d like to think that I helped to widespread awareness, at least in Spain,” says Ferra.
“It was the best work that both Kirby and Wood could do at their age, as they were at their peak, totally motivated to succeed in newspapers strips,” Ferran enthuses. “They felt like it was a dream come true, and it was an opportunity that maybe would never show again, so they threw themselves on the project.
“Furthermore, the final art was more than the sum of the individuals, it’s something absolutely special and unrepeatable.”
Intrigued? Well, there’s just a week left to pre-order this stunning-looking collection from your local comic shop via Diamond PREVIEWS… what are you waiting for?
Sky Masters of the Space Force: The Complete Sunday Scripts in Colour: 1959-1960
Writer/Art: Jack Kirby, Wallace Wood, Various
Cover: Wallace WoodISBN Code: 978-84-16486-79-3
NOV171207 – STL069209
HC, 128 pages FC
• Pre-order Sky Masters of the Space Force: The Complete Sunday Scripts in Colour: 1959-1960 by Jack Kirby and Wallace Wood from Forbidden Planet (using this link helps support downthetubes)
Web Links
• Amigo Books: www.amigocomics.com and facebook.com/AmigoComics
• Ferran Delgado on DeviantArt | Blog
• Ferran is publishing his own Spanish language edition of the Sundays collection, details here
• Here’s a gallery of some of Ferran’s work on the Spanish language daily strips published by Glenat
• Ferran Delgado interviews Comicraft’s Richard Starkings (includes examples of Ferran’s lettering work)
• Sky Masters on Wikipedia (details the behind the scenes legal battles over the strip)
The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.
He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, US Comics
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