A&E HERO STORY
PITTSBURGH COMICS ARTIST TOM SCIOLI PENS THE LIFE OF JACK KIRBY
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t’s clear from reading Tom Scioli’s comic books that he draws a lot of inspiration from legendary comic artist Jack Kirby. He describes Kirby as his hero. Just recently, he finished a biography of Kirby’s life in comic book form, a project he took on for a few years. “I felt very close to him,” Scioli says. “It felt like I was hanging out with him. I was spending that much time immersed in his world. In a way, it felt like I was sort of living his life.” Scioli’s 208-page comic book, Jack Kirby: The Epic Life of the King of Comics, releases Tuesday, July 14, telling the entire story of Kirby’s life from childhood to death. Kirby, who most prominently began to make comics in the early-'40s and passed away in 1994, co-created many of the most beloved and well-known superheroes from Marvel Comics, such as the Hulk, the Fantastic Four and Iron Man. Kirby also did a lot of work for rival company DC Comics throughout his career, most notably New Gods, a cosmic epic that serves as the source material for an upcoming film directed and co-written by Ava Duvernay. Scioli outfitted the book, published by Ten Speed Press, with narration written as though it’s a first-person account from Kirby and primarily used evenly-sized six-panel layouts, a go-to for Kir-
BY MATT PETRAS - PITTSBURGH CURRENT CONTRIBUTING WRITER MATT@PITTSBURGHCURRENT.COM
Tom Scioli (Photo: Gregory Neiser)
16 | JULY 7, 2020 | PITTSBURGH CURRENT
