Kamandi

Kamandi
Cover for Countdown Special: Kamandi, The Last Boy on Earth. Art by Ryan Sook.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Kamandi, The Last Boy on Earth #1 (October 1972)
Created by	Jack Kirby
In-story information
Species	Human
Place of origin	Earth A.D.
Abilities	Skilled fighter
Kamandi, The Last Boy on Earth
	Cover for Kamandi, The Last Boy on Earth #1 (October 1972). Art by Jack Kirby and Mike Royer.
Series publication information
Schedule	(vol. 1) Bimonthly The Kamandi Challenge Monthly
Format	Ongoing series Limited series
Genre	Science-fiction
Publication date	List (vol. 1) Octorber 1972 – September 1978 The Kamandi Challenge January 2017 –
Number of issues	(vol. 1): 59 The Kamandi Challenge: 12
Main character(s)	Kamandi Dr. Canus Pyra
Creative team
Writer(s)	List (vol. 1) Jack Kirby Gerry Conway Elliot S. Maggin Dennis O'Neil Jack C. Harris The Kamandi Challenge Dan Abnett Peter Tomasi Jimmy Palmiotti James Tynion IV Bill Willingham Steve Orlando Marguerite Bennett Keith Giffen Tom King Greg Pak Rob Williams Gail Simone
Penciller(s)	List (vol. 1) Jack Kirby Chic Stone Keith Giffen Dick Ayers The Kamandi Challenge Dale Eaglesham Neal Adams Amanda Conner Carlos D'Anda Ivan Reis Philip Tan Dan Jurgens Steve Rude Kevin Eastman Joe Prado Walter Simonson Ryan Sook
Inker(s)	List (vol. 1) D. Bruce Berry Mike Royer Ernie Chan Alfredo Alcala

Kamandi is an American comic book character, created by artist Jack Kirby and published by DC Comics. The bulk of Kamandi's appearances occurred in the comic series Kamandi: The Last Boy on Earth, which ran from 1972 to 1978.

Kamandi is a young hero in a post-apocalyptic future. After a huge event called "The Great Disaster", humans have been reduced back to savagery in a world ruled by intelligent, highly evolved animals.

DC editor Carmine Infantino had tried to acquire the license to publish Planet of the Apes comic books. When this failed to happen, he asked Jack Kirby for a series with a similar concept. Kirby had not seen the films but he knew the rough outline and he had also created a very similar story, "The Last Enemy!", in Harvey Comics' Alarming Tales that predated the original Planet of the Apes novel. He also had an unused comic strip he created in 1956, titled Kamandi of the Caves. Kirby brought all those elements together to create Kamandi. Although his initial plan was to not work on the comic books themselves, the cancellation of Forever People freed him up to do so.

The Kamandi series was launched in October–November 1972. It was written and drawn by Jack Kirby through its 37th issue, in January 1976. Kirby also drew issues #38 through #40, although they were scripted by Gerry Conway. Kirby subsequently left DC, but the series continued, initially written by Conway and drawn by Chic Stone. Later issues were alternately written by Paul Levitz, Dennis O'Neil, David Anthony Kraft, Elliot S. Maggin, and Jack C. Harris, with art by Pablo Marcos, Keith Giffen, and Dick Ayers. It was canceled during the "DC Implosion" of 1978, despite respectable sales figures. The final published issue was #59, cover-dated September–October 1978. Two additional issues, completed but not released, were included in Cancelled Comic Cavalcade #2.