Comics Alternative

This week the Two Guys discuss three very different new titles. First, they look at Harvey Kurtzman's Jungle Book, another collaboration between Dark Horse Books and Kitchen Sink Books (an earlier such publication, The Best of Comix Book, was discussed last may). What's more, this is the first volume in the publishers' new Essential Kurtzman library. Andy and Derek begin by mentioning that neither of them had read Jungle Book before, although it has been on both of their radars, so they come to this volume as new contemporary readers. And that's one of the first things the guys discuss: the datedness of the stories. Originally published in 1959, Jungle Book comprises four shorter pieces, and in about all of them Kurtzman has embedded cultural references specific to the times. This is not necessarily an obstacle to enjoying the text, but both Derek and Andy appreciated this volume more as a cultural and historical artifact than they did a cohesive work of comics art. Kurtzman's original stories are accompanied