Killraven Epic Collection

Killraven: Warrior of the Worlds
Marvel Epic Collection, 2021

'Killraven: Warrior of the Worlds' was published in 2021. As an entry in Marvel's 'Epic Collection' imprint, it's designed to be an affordable trade paperback reprinting the comic books of the 1970s that featured the Killraven character. In the 504 pages of this Epic Collection, you get all of Killraven's entries in Amazing Adventures from issue 18 (May 1973) to 39 (November 1976). Also bundled in the book are the May, 1976 issue of Marvel Team-Up featuring Spider-Man and Killraven, and the 1983 Killraven graphic novel, 'Last Dreams Broken'. 

The last section of the Epic Collection contains various editorial essays, draft script and art pages, and Marvel encyclopedia entries for Killraven and his allies. In his editorial essay for the debut of Killraven in Amazing Adventures #18, Roy Thomas reveals that he first conceived of the character in 1971, but his pressing writing and editorial duties kept him from presenting Killraven until two years later.

One thing that should be noted is that the comics in the Epic Collection are recolored and are significantly brighter than those of the original comics. Purists might object to this process, but even making allowances for the inevitable fading of the original comic, in the scans compared below, I think the recolored version is better:

left: panel from Amazing Adventures issue 33 (November 1975), right, panel from the Epic Collection reprint

I still remember encountering Amazing Adventures #18 in the Spring of 1973 on the rack in the Seven-Eleven in Elmira Heights, New York, and thinking, 'this is a cool comic !' It had a far-out, sci-fi flavor quite unlike anything else on the comic book rack.

The Killraven stories had a level of violence, and gruesome deaths, that stretched the boundaries of a Comics Code book of the mid-1970s, which added to its hip quality. The  mutants and monsters and villains in the pages of Killraven had no qualms about snuffing out Earthlings in order to bring about the subjugation of the planet at the hands - or rather, tentacles - of the Martian invaders.

Indeed, in issue #27 (November 1974) readers learned of a facility where human females were housed in cages and regularly impregnated by their hapless husbands, so that their infants could be served up to the Martians as culinary delicacies - ! Pretty strong stuff for a superhero comic, back in the day.

The Killraven saga also offered some eccentric content that could only have been approved in the 1970s, such as the episode where Killraven encountered an underground city peopled by blacks who had fled the Martian invasion in order to establish a blacks-only realm, free of white racism. 

When Killraven stumbled across the city, its inhabitants were none too pleased to see him...........written by white writer Bill Mantlo, the story featured dialogue that exemplified 70s Black Power !  

The initial issues of the Killraven storyline were straightforward sci-fi adventure, and well illustrated by Marvel veteran Herb Trimpe. But with Amazing Adventures No. 27 (November 1974) P. Craig Russell joined as the permanent artist. Russell's artwork, with its Art Deco / Art Nouveau sensibilities, made Killraven stand out from Marvel's other titles. 

Unfortunately, with issue 27, writer Don McGregor's proclivities to overwrite were given free rein, a decision that was to handicap the remaining two years of the series. 

Too often, Russell's ornate pencils, and the imaginative color schemes of a revolving cast of colorists, were overwhelmed by McGregor's pretentious verbiage.

The plots became more contrived and unconvincing, and divorced from the 'war with the Martians' theme, in order for McGregor to demonstrate that, even though comics books are for juveniles, he was an immense literary talent who rose above the limitations of the medium.

The 1983 graphic novel is a disappointment. The opportunity to tie up some loose threads plot-wise is available, but McGregor can't resist overwriting things, and too many panels are burdened with excessive speech balloons, too many of which are stuffed with grandiloquent text.  

The verdict ? If you are a Baby Boomer, like me, and you want to recapture the fun of encountering the Killraven storyline once again, then the Epic Collection is a very affordable way to do so. Just be prepared to see the writing for the series evolve from sci-fi fun, to self-indulgent circumlocutions. 

The art, however, remains strong even after the passage of nearly 50 years.

Killraven (2002)

Killraven (2002)
Alan Davis (script and art) and Mark Farmer (inks)
Marvel graphic novel, 2007

'Killraven' compiles all six issues of the miniseries first published by Marvel comics from November, 2002 to April 2003.

Alan Davis (b. 1956) started out as a comic book artist in the UK, before becoming one of the best-known artists for DC and Marvel based on his work for those companies from the mid- 80s up through the 2000s. 

In his Introduction to this compilation, Davis recalls seeing issue 18 of Amazing Adventures, which in the Spring of 1973 debuted the Killraven character, and being impressed with the character and the artwork from Neal Adams. 

In 2002, Marvel editor Bob Harras offered Davis the chance to write and illustrate a Marvel series; Davis ultimately chose to do Killraven. 

The 2002 miniseries is basically a retelling of the Killraven storyline, and features characters and plot points that will be quite familiar to those who have read the series back in the 70s. 

In my opinion, while competently done, Davis's Killraven really doesn't succeed as a re-imagining of the character and the setting. 

The artwork is decent enough, although stylistically it is very much inspired by the artwork used in Marvel's mainstream superhero titles of the early 2000s. There's nothing about the 2002 Killraven that identifies it as a sf, rather than a superhero, comic. 

I can't say I'm overly enthused by Davis's use of tilted panels in an effort to lend additional dynamism to his action sequences. Those action sequences rendered in this manner seem too cramped and too overfilled with speech balloons to be very effective in a visual sense.

Davis's plot is reasonably interesting through the first five issues, although the preachy nature of Killraven's 'Quest for Peace' gets wearying after a while. Unfortunately, Davis introduces some plot elements in the sixth and final issue that are contrived, ending this miniseries on an unconvincing note. 

Summing up, if you're a die-hard Killraven fan and you want to have every incarnation of the character in your collection, then you'll want to pick up either the original issues or this graphic novel. All others can probably pass.

Killraven Amazing Adventures No. 33

Killraven: 'Amazing Adventures' No. 33

(November 1975)

‘Amazing Adventures’ No. 33,  featuring Killraven in ‘The War of the Worlds’, was issued with a publication date of November 1975. Don McGregor is replaced as writer by Bill Mantlo, while Herb Trimpe replaced Craig Russell as the artist.

This episode, ‘Sing out loudly…Death !’ is one of the more inventive in the series. Killraven and his crew are hiking through West Virginia when they decide to rest up in a cave. While the other members of his party sleep, Killraven, troubled by Psychic Visions, wanders into the interior of the cave. There he comes upon an African village (!) complete with grass huts, and bare-chested natives in loincloths chucking spears - !

Killraven is subdued and brought before a pimp (!) who reveals that during the conflict of the Martian invasion, he led a small army of black folks away from the cities and into seclusion, refusing to join Whitey in the fight against the invaders:

Things aren't looking to good for Killraven, for the 'brothers' holding him in captivity have no love for honkies. But then a Martian monster rears its ugly green head.....

Will Killraven - raised in the postracial world of the invasion aftermath - be able to convince the homiez not to smoke his ass ? Will the Kumbayaa Spirit take hold and bring racial harmony to the cave dwellers ? This is a Marvel comic from 1975, after all, so don't expect any major surprises. 

But this remains one of the more entertaining installments of the series, which was starting to look vulnerable in the eyes of the Marvel editorial staff....although its readers were blithely ignorant, the Killraven saga was on its last legs as 1975 drew to a close....

'Killraven' in Amazing Adventures No. 23: 'The Legend Assassins'

I remember seeing ‘Amazing Adventures’ No. 18, featuring Killraven and the War of the Worlds, on the shelf with the other comics at the 7-11 store in Elmira Heights, New York, in 1973.

After looking through it I thought it was an interesting comic, set in a near-future Earth devastated by a successful second invasion of the Martians from the H. G. Wells novel. The opening issue featured the ruins of New York City, mutants, monsters, high-tech weaponry, and an offbeat hero in Killraven. But I didn’t have enough extra cash to purchase it (even though 20 cents seems like a paltry sum nowadays, back then it was a lot of money in terms of allowance; this was when a Fudgesicle cost only 5 cents, and a gallon of gas less than 50 cents). So I wound up buying a copy of Jack Kirby’s ‘The Demon’, and a copy of ‘Conan’.

Fortunately Marvel has released all the first generation Killraven stories in one of its omnibus b & w ‘Essentials’ formats. At more than 800 pages in length, ‘Killraven Vol. 1’ gives you the Amazing Adventures’ run of ‘War of the Worlds’ from issues 18 to 39. There’s also issue #45 of ‘Marvel Team Up’ featuring Killraven and Spider Man (?!) and two one-shot Killraven issues from the 80s.

The Killraven stories are derived from many pop-culture idioms of the early 70s, with perhaps ‘Beneath the Planet of the Apes’ serving as one of the more central idioms. Each issue has the sort of frantic, if unsophisticated, energy that defined superhero comics in the early to mid 70s.

Amazing Adventures No. 23 is a gem in this regard. The story features a mutated, former Secret Service agent (!) named ‘Rattack (!) who lives in the tunnels beneath the ruins of the White House. Borrowing heavily from the film ‘Willard’, already a sci-fi landmark in the early 70s, the plot sees the bucktoothed Rattack and his furry rodent friends commissioned to eliminate Killraven in gruesome fashion (particularly for a Code-approved comic !). I’ve tried to scan a couple of the more gripping pages without breaking open the spine of my yellowing copy of the book (my Canon 4400F scanner lacks a beveled edge best used for scanning bound books).

I won’t spoil the story by posting the finale of the story, but these pages make for great art by Herb Trimpe, arguably the best of the Jack Kirby-inspired artists on Marvel’s staff at the time.

Killraven Amazing Adventures No. 39

Killraven: 'Amazing Adventures' No. 39

(November 1976)

This is it ! 

It’s early Fall 1976 and the final issue of the 22-issue ‘War of the Worlds’ series, starring Killraven, is out and in the pages of ‘Amazing Adventures’ (November 1976).

The cover tells us it’s ‘The Final Glory’….is this the final battle, the ultimate showdown with the Martians ? Will Killraven and his crew engage in one last desperate struggle to overthrow Earth’s conquerors and make the planet free again ?

Nope…! 

In fact, this last installment of the original Killraven saga is one of the lamest conclusions in the history of modern comics !

‘Mourning Prey’ has nothing to do with the Martian at all. Not only are there no Martians in this issue, but it’s pretty plain that Stan Lee and Archie Goodwin had no intention of commissioning a special concluding story arc. Killraven’s sales were bad, the series was being canceled, so they simply ran whatever story writer Don McGregor had in the queue.

‘Mourning Prey’ is McGregor’s writing at its worst: clumsy flashbacks, poetic, purple language, empty phrases designed to communicate Something Profound. Toss in the fact that the main adversary is a Butterfly Woman (?!) who’s mad at Killraven for slaughtering some purple caterpillars (?!), and you have the makings of a real underwhelming story………

As always, artist Craig Russell’s work is of good quality and struggles to express itself under McGregor’s verbiage.

So here it is in its entirety, the last issue of the ‘Killraven / War of the Worlds’ series from the mid-70s: