Jack Kirby would have been 100 years old on August 28, 2017, and to celebrate the genius of the comics master, DC Comics has launched the Kamandi Challenge, a 12-issue miniseries set to begin in January.

Inspired by the post-apocalyptic world inhabited by Kirby’s boy-hero Kamandi, 12 artist-writer teams will tackle one of the 12 sections of Earth A.D. Each team is working independently, without knowledge of the stories being created by the other teams.

Kirby wrote and drew more than three dozen issues of Kamandi: The Last Boy on Earth between 1972 and 1976. Before leaving DC, he drew a couple of issues that were scripted by Gerry Conway. The series continued under various creative teams until 1978. The character has made brief guest appearances in various DC titles since.

DC Publisher Dan DiDio described the talent behind the Kamandi Challenge: “Over two dozen of the comic industry’s best and brightest talent have been selected to participate in one of the greatest comic book adventures of this, or any other decade, the Kamandi Challenge. Over two years in the making, we expect this series to reach heights of excitement and adventure worthy of ‘The King’ himself.”

According to DC, the following teams will be working on the Kamandi Challenge:

• Issue #1 by Dan Abnett & Dale Eaglesham
• Issue #2 by Peter J. Tomasi & Neal Adams
• Issue #3 by Jimmy Palmiotti & Amanda Conner
• Issue #4 by James Tynion & Carlos D’Anda
• Issue #5 by Bill Willingham & Ivan Reis
• Issue #6 by Steve Orlando & Philip Tan
• Issue #7 by Marguerite Bennett & Dan Jurgens
• Issue #8 by Keith Giffen & Steve Rude
• Issue #9 by Tom King & Kevin Eastman
• Issue #10 by Greg Pak & Joe Prado
• Issue #11 by Rob Williams & Walter Simonson
• Issue #12 by Gail Simone & Ryan Sook

Cover art for the first issue will be provided by Bruce Timm. Unannounced fan-favorite artists will provide covers for the remaining issues, which will each have a variant cover by the issue artist. 

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