The Forever People #5

History

Written, penciled, and self-edited by Jack Kirby, with the main story inked by Vince Colletta and the cover inked by Mike Royer, the issue went on sale August 3, 1971 and carried a cover date of October–November 1971. Kirby had moved to DC from Marvel in 1970, launching the interlocking Fourth World titles simultaneously; Forever People was his most countercultural entry, built around hippie-coded New Gods whose stories deliberately addressed mid-century American anxieties about conformity, fascism, and manipulation. The character of Sonny Sumo appears to have roots in a personal promise: multiple industry sources, including a comment attributed to collector lore referencing Mark Evanier's introductions and corroborated by Jim Shooter's blog and Fourth World fan writing, indicate that Kirby had pledged to Marvel production artist and letterer Morrie Kuramoto — a Japanese-American who had survived wartime internment — that he would one day create an Asian superhero; Sonny Sumo, debuted first in issue #4 and given his starring role here, was the fulfillment of that pledge, possibly accompanied by a 'for Morrie' dedication on the original art that was removed before printing. The issue's 48-page page count — up from the earlier 32-page format — also allowed Kirby room for the Golden Age Sandman reprint and the Lonar backup feature alongside the main story.

Trivia · 8 facts

• Cover date: October–November 1971; on-sale date: August 3, 1971 (per Grand Comics Database). The issue ran 48 pages and was published by DC Comics.
• Main story titled 'Sonny Sumo!!': written, penciled, and edited by Jack Kirby; inked by Vince Colletta; lettered by John Costanza (with Gaspar Saladino on the cover). Cover penciled by Kirby, inked by Mike Royer.
• Sonny Sumo — a Japanese underground fighter who first appeared briefly in Forever People #4 — is revealed in this issue to be an unwitting carrier of a portion of the Anti-Life Equation, which he uses to put Desaad's forces to sleep, marking the first time the Equation is shown operating through a human host in action.
• First appearance of Lonar (a solitary New God) and his horse Thunderer, introduced in the backup feature 'Introducing Lonar,' written and penciled by Kirby and inked by Colletta. Lonar is depicted handling Thor's helmet in the ruins of the 'old gods,' a deliberate visual link between Kirby's Fourth World mythology and his earlier Marvel work on Thor.
• The issue contains a reprint of the Golden Age story 'Crime Carnival!' (originally from Adventure Comics #84), scripted and penciled by Kirby and inked by Joe Simon, featuring Wesley Dodds (Sandman) and Sandy the Golden Boy — part of DC's ongoing practice of running Simon-and-Kirby Golden Age Sandman reprints in the expanded-format Fourth World issues.
• Darkseid's discovery at the end of the issue — that Sonny Sumo possesses the Anti-Life Equation and must be captured — sets up the cliffhanger resolved in Forever People #6, where Darkseid uses his Omega Beams to scatter the team.
• The main 'Sonny Sumo' story was reprinted in the collected edition Jack Kirby's The Forever People (DC, 1999) and is also included in Jack Kirby's Fourth World Omnibus Volume 2 (DC, 2007), which collects Forever People #4–6 alongside concurrent Fourth World issues.
• Sonny Sumo was revived decades later by Grant Morrison in Final Crisis #2 (2008), cementing his importance as one of the Anti-Life Equation's key figures across the DC Universe.

Cast · 12 characters

Full credits

Key issues in The Forever People

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#1 1st appearance — Big Bear

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#3 1st appearance — Glorious Godfrey