Monthly series
Shortly after the publication of the treasury edition, Marvel asked Kirby to explore the concepts of 2001 in a monthly comic book series of the same name. According to Evanier, Kirby thought that adapting the movie into a series was a bad idea, but he accepted the project anyways. There was some doubt if original characters would be considered a trademark from Marvel or MGM, so Kirby was dissuaded from creating new, recurring characters.[4]
Up until issue #6, Kirby retold the tale of the monolith, creating new characters that are transformed into New Seed.[7] Here, Kirby followed the pattern established in the film, replaying the same idea with different characters in different situations, both ancient and futuristic.
The first issue was cover dated December 1976.[8] Once again the reader encounters a prehistoric man ("Beast-Killer") who lives in what is going to become New Orleans. He gains new insight upon encountering a Monolith as did Moon-Watcher in the film, and learns how to create and use weapons. The scene then shifts, where Woodrow Decker, a descendant of Beast-Killer, and his companion Maston are in a mission to locate alien life. They crash in an asteroid between Mars and Jupiter, where they find ruins of an ancient civilization. Maston's life support is crashed by an alien and the ruins start to collapse. Decker runs for his life and encounters the Monolith. It then transforms him into a Star Child, called in the comic a "New Seed".[9][10][11]
Issue #2 introduces the story of "Vira, the She-Demon". It starts with a starving prehistoric woman called Vira accidentally entering a ritual cave full of skulls while looking for food in the volcanic region that will eventually be Italy. She is caught by other prehistoric men, but she scapes by setting a skull on fire and thus making them believe it came back to life. She overhears them talking about a stone spirit and finds the monolith, that teaches her how to use religion for her survival. She then covers herself with bones and declares to be an emissary of the stone spirit. The prehistoric men venerate her out of fear, and the tribe prospers. One of Vira's descendants, Vera Gentry, is sent by NASA to the Jovian moon Ganymede to look for UFOs. She finds it, but the aliens are hostile and destroy her life support. Vera finds the monolith while trying to survive the attack and is transformed into a New Seed.[7][12][13] Sequart Organization has pointed that Vira is probably based on Shanna the She-Devil, that had her debut five years prior.[12]
Issues #3–4 bring forth a two-part story. "Marak the Merciless!",[14] follows the story of Marak, a warrior from 203,000 B.C. Marak was the first human to organize warfare and gained his life by pillaging farm villages. During one of his battles, he is attacked by an old inventor called Egel with a bronze cub. Impressed by the strength of the cub, he follows Egel to a stone spirit (the monolith) and has a vision of a girl named Jalessa. Decided to meet her, he learns with Egel how to forge bronze and humanity transitions from Stone Age to Bronze Age. He also domesticates horses and orders his men to spare part of his enemies, to convert them to his own army. He then gets anxious to meet Jalessa, and orders Egel to find a way to transport goods to feed his army. Egel makes stone casks to protect the food, but Marak gets mad as it would be too heavy for transportation. He throws one of the casks on the floor and the lid rolls. Egel sees what happened and thus invents the wheel.[12][15] On the "Wheels of Death!",[16] Marak invades Jalessa's lands. Jalessa consults the Monolyth and meets Marak unarmed. They both agree to stop fighting and join in an alliance. In 2001, Marak's descendant Hebert Marik is NASA's captain of Liberty I Space Sation, that is flying near Mars. Liberty I is about to be destroyed by a meteor shower, so Marik orders the crew to evacuate and remains alone in the station.
In issues #5–6, Kirby introduces the two-part story named "Norton of New York 2040 A.D." It starts with "The White Zero" fighting a monster in a simulation at the "Comicsville" amusement park. He thus proceeds to enlist for space exploration and ends up battling an army of aliens and rescuing a princess. He then finds the monolith and becomes a New Seed.[1] Wired has classified the story as "a cross between Marvel's Inhumans and DC's New Gods".[4]
In issue #7 (June 1977), the comic starts with a story called "The New Seed".[1] It opens with the birth of a New Seed who then travels the galaxy witnessing the suffering that men cause each other. While the New Seed is unable or unwilling to prevent this devastation, he takes the essence of two doomed lovers and uses it to seed another planet with the potential for human life.[9] According to Cracked.com, Kirby combined several of his sci-fi heroes, including Silver Surfer, Human Torch and Uatu the Watcher, to create New Seed's personality and powers.[1]
In issue #8 (July 1977), Kirby introduces Mister Machine,[17] an advanced robot designated X-51. All the other robots in the X series go on a rampage as they achieve sentience and are destroyed. X-51, supported by both the love of his creator Dr. Abel Stack and an encounter with a Monolith, transcends the malfunction that destroyed his siblings. After the death of Dr. Stack, X-51 takes the name Aaron Stack and begins to blend into humanity.[18] Issues #9 and 10, the final issues of the series, continue the story of X-51 as he flees destruction at the hands of the Army.[9] On the final panels of the comic, Mister Machine abandons his sidekick Jerry and his family, and his solo magazine, Machine Man (1978), is announced.[1]
