“The Lone Voyager” (p 21 of The World Around Us #37 The Sea) by Jack Kirby and Dick Ayers

“The Lone Voyager” (p 21 of The World Around Us #37 The Sea)
By Jack Kirby (1917-1994), Dick Ayers (1924-2014)
14 x 21 in, ink over graphite on Bristol board
Coppola Collection

Produced in 1961, on the cusp of Kirby’s work on The Fantastic Four, “The World Around Us” was an anthology spinoff of the Classics Illustrated series, published by the Gilbertson company, that ran from 1958-1961. The US series had ended with the previous issue (#36), and 48 of 59 known pages for issue #37 were included in the actual comic that appeared in Europe. Kirby and Ayers contributed a 10-page story (The Lone Voyager) that ran on pp 21-30. This is the title page (p 21) for that story.

The story features the legendary Naval Capt. Joshua Slocum, who was the first person to sail around the world. In Fairhaven, Massachusetts, from 1891 to 1892, Slocum rebuilt an oyster boat named Spray. On June 21, 1892, he launched the rebuilt vessel. And on April 24, 1895, he set sail from Boston, Massachusetts, as The Lone Voyager.