Secret City Saga
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Secret City Saga is a concept and collection of various comic book titles created by influential writer-artist Jack Kirby, and published by the short-lived Topps Comics, an off-shoot of the popular Topps Trading Card company. Beginning in April of 1993, the Secret City Saga books consisted of 3 four issue mini-series (Jack Kirby's Secret City Saga, Satan's Six, TeenAgents) and 3 one-shot specials (Captain Glory, Nightglider, and Bombast), which were all preceded by the one-shot promotional giveaway, Jack Kirby's Secret City Saga #0.
The concept itself is sometimes referred to by comic book fandom as "The Kirbyverse", in reference to the fact that all characters appearing in any of the titles resided in the same shared universe and the notion that it is regarded by many fans as the final time that Kirby had complete creative control over any of the many properties that he had created in his career that spanned nearly 6 decades. It was initially seen as a creative and financial failure (due to low sales and reader interest), yet with time has garnered a small, but devoted cult following, primarily consisting of hard-core Kirby fans.
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[edit] The Secret City
The Secret City Saga chronicled the adventures of three heroes, Captain Glory, Nightglider, and Bombast. As revealed in Jack Kirby's Secret City Saga #0 (April 1993), at some point in pre-recorded history "fifteen millennia before our own", there existed a race of beings known as "the Ninth Men". Apparently, "Ninth Men" is a term used to denote that, as part of Kirby's fictional concept, civilized human society tends to repeat itself in cycles, starting off in a primitive state and later evolving and advancing in intelligence and technology until factors such as greed and arrogance then lead to said society's collapse and destruction...only to be replaced later by another race of humanoids, who tend to repeat the mistakes (unknowingly) of the prior society. Ironically, this is a theme that Kirby touched upon briefly in his more popular Fourth World books published by DC Comics in the early 1970s.
The Ninth Men populated Gazra, a society which advanced to the point in which it was harvesting the full pontential of an integrated community, with its technological advancements having been made with an organic theme, instead of machine based. Yet, their environment itself seemed to turn against them, huge nearly planet-wide storms destroying all in their path. As a constingency, the scientific and military leaders of Gazra placed three of their citizens into hibernation, with hopes that these three would survive "The Great Catastrophe" (a term used for these planet-wide storms) to spread the ideals of the society of the Ninth Men onto the next age of Man....which is revealed to be us, present-day humankind.
The three citizens were:
Keltan, a captain in Gazra's Science Team security forces, who upon awakening would assume the name Captain Glory. An unnamed female, who upon release from hibernation would assume the name Nightglider. As indicated in Secret City Saga #0, this may have been an "official" term for her and/or her kin during her days in Gazra, for she possesses bodily modification that would foster the abilities of flight, such as a hollow bone structure.
Bombast, who seems to have been a member of Gazra's military, possibly of some sort of demolitions or heavy ordinance team, whose official term seems to have been "hurlers". Skilled at ballistics and explosives.
[edit] The Kirbyverse
The 4 issue Secret City Saga mini-series told the story of the 3 Ninth Men's first adventure in the present day. After release from hibernation, they discover and attempt to foil a plot whose origin lay in the last days of Gazra, involving an evil duplicate of (then) President Bill Clinton.
[edit] Other Residents of the Kirbyverse
Satan's Six were a team of agents of the Kirbyverse's interpretation of Satan himself, created for the sole purpose of causing chaos in the mortal plane. But the continued incompetence of the members always seemed to be their downfall (and humanity's benefit). Members included: Brian Bluedragon, a doltish knight of Arthur's court, Hard Luck Harrigan, a petty gambler and bookie who worked in the 1930s criminal underworld, Dr. Mordius, a Henry Jeckyll wannabe, Kuga, the Lion-Killer, a warrior of African origin, Dezira, of ancient Babylon, and Frightful, a demon in Satan's employ whose job it was to keep the members in line....a "drill instructor from Hell", so to speak....
The TeenAgents were a group of four teenaged denizens of the Inner City, an underground pocket of the Ninth Men's world that somehow survived "The Great Catastrophe". Their job was to intervene should any of the wild (and most times, monsterous) creatures that populate the bowels of the Earth try and attack the surface world (or as they referred to it, "Upworld"). After speculation, it might be safe to say that these subterraean creatures might possibly have been some of the "ordinary" wildlife that populated the Ninth Men's prehistoric times. Members of the TeenAgents included: Aurik, who possessed the power to control his own mass and density, Dijit, who possessed gloves that each individual finger was endowed with the ability to project a different form of force bolt (fire, electricity, etc., etc.,), Seera, a female who could transform herself into a vaporous state, allowing her the abilities of flight (and seemed to have slight empathic abilities), and The Kreech, a young female shape-shifter.
Silver Star, a previous Kirby creation, who was a government agent appointed the task of fighting super-human enemies. A genetic mutant, classified as "homo geneticus", Morgan Miller was the result of genetic experimentation of his father, Dr. Bradford Miller. Possessing of incredible superhuman strength, Miller's abilities are also a curse, for each time he uses his powers it physically drains his life-force.
Captain Victory, another of Kirby's previous independent comic book endeavours. Victory is the leader of a (seemingly) fururistic intergalactic police force. With the publication of Victory #1, though, it seems that Victory's Pacific Comics' exploits are, continuity-wise, prior to the Kirbyverse's "present" (supposedly circa early 1990s).
[edit] The Kirbyverse's Odd Continuity
In addition to previous Kirby independent comic book creations, Silver Star and Captain Victory and the Galactic Rangers (originally published under the banner of one of the first so-called "independent publishers" of the early 1980s, the now-defunct Pacific Comics) retconned to become Kirbyverse canon, there are a few other odd quirks that one must consider.
Fourth World: It's long been rumored that Captain Victory was an abandoned concept Kirby originally intended to be a part of his Fourth World Saga, published in the 1970s by DC Comics. Thus, it leads one to speculate connections to certain aspects of DC Comics Hypertime.
The Liberty Project: In Jack Kirby's TeenAgents #3, the children of Inner City meet members of the Liberty Project, a super-hero team originally created by writer Kurt Busiek and penciler James W. Fry, that starred in their own series published by Eclipse Comics in the mid-1980s. Are the Eclipse exploits of the Liberty project to be considered canon in the Kirbyverse?
Jason Voorhees: One of the oddest Kirbyverse continuity quirks is that the supernatural serial killer Jason Voorhees and his exploits in the Friday the 13th film series could quite possibly be considered Kirbyverse canon as well, for he guest starred in Satan's Six #4 (1993), in a story that seemingly took place sometime after the events of the New Line Pictures film, Jason Goes To Hell: The Final Friday, in which the Six battle Voorhees in Hell. At the time, Topps Comics held a licence on the character, having published a comic book adaptation of the aforementioned Jason theatrical vehicle.
[edit] Loose Ends
Sadly, what would become the final two installments of the Secret City Saga, a new Silver Star mini-series, and a new Capt. Victory book, Victory, which were billed as 4 issue mini-series, only saw the publication of the first issues before the plug was pulled on the books. The final three issues of each have yet to be published.
[edit] See also
- Kirbyverse Cover Gallery
