This is a review of Kamandi: The Last Boy on Earth Volume One. Jack Kirby (the creator of Kamandi) wrote a lot of material for DC. Thus far I’ve read The Demon and OMAC, but this graphic novel blows them out of the water. Kamandi is a riff on the original Planet of the Apes movie that came out in the late 1960’s, but Mr. Kirby runs with it. In Kamandi, there are super-intelligent lions, tigers, cheetahs, groundhogs, bats, etc. Humans are now on the low end of the totem pole, and are treated like animals or even exotic pets. Some enterprising animals have even taught humans how to talk!
Kamandi, who owns a single pair of blue cargo shorts, lives in a bunker (Command 1 – get it?) with his grandfather. One day he leaves the shelter to see how earth fares after being ravaged by an unnamed natural disaster. He finds out that things are much, much worse than he thought. Thus begins a bizarre road trip.
This is not superhero comic. Kamandi has no special powers, and gets the crap kicked out of him on a regular basis. Indeed, there’s a scene where he goes berserk because he realizes that he’s stuck in this world with no way out. He’s rescued by one of his friends – Kamandi makes lots of friends, both animal and human, but the friendships never last long. He’s always wandering away, being captured by rampaging gorillas, or falling out of the hot-air balloon he’s using to escape.
This graphic novel moves quickly, has a rotating cast, and in many ways reads like a war comic. It’s really a post-apocalyptic comic. Substitute zombies for the different animals, and you’ll see what I mean. My favorite storyline in this volume is when a group of conservationist lions put Kamandi and his female companion, Flower, into their version of a nature preserve. Unfortunately, there are cougar poachers who want a piece of him. This issue is the best single comic I’ve read in years.
Highly recommended!
Abandoned Places 