Alter Ego #170 by TwoMorrows Publishing

Roy Thomas' Kirby-Krazed Comics Fanzine

IT FINALLY HAPPENS!

JACK KIRBY TAKES OVER ALTER EGO!

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No. 170 July 2021

FEATURING THESE KOLOSSAL KIRBY KLASSIKS: THE SECRET KIRBY HISTORY OF

IRON MAN! by Will Murray

FCA PRESENTS:

“THE KING” AT FAWCETT, 1940-41!

THE SIMON & KIRBY HORROR PICTURE SHOW by Michael T. Gilbert & Peter Normanton

Barry Pearl tells how

STAN LEE

Crowned Kirby “KING”! FROM JASPER SITWELL TO HOUSEROY! Roy Thomas on Jack Kirby—from 1947 to the 1990s!

82658 00440

Thing, Red Skull, & Dr. Doom TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.; other art © Estate of Jack Kirby.

JACK & THE EARLY-1960s FANZINES by Len Wein, et al.

Vol. 3, No. 170 / July 2021 Editor

Roy Thomas

Associate Editor Jim Amash

Design & Layout

Christopher Day

Consulting Editor

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John Morrow

FCA Editor

P.C. Hamerlinck J.T. Go (Assoc. Editor)

Comic Crypt Editor

Michael T. Gilbert

Editorial Honor Roll

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Contents

Writer/Editorial: A Jack For All Seasons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 The Secret Kirby Origin Of Iron Man . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Will Murray on how Kirby, Heck, Lee—& even Ditko—shaped Ol’ Shellhead in the 1960s.

Jack Kirby & The Early-1960s Fanzines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Cover Colorist

The ultimate Marvel artist in the Golden Age of Comic Fandom, compiled by Aaron Caplan.

Tom Ziuko

With Special Thanks to:

Paul Allen Heidi Amash David Armstrong Bob Bailey J. Ballmann Julia BrownBernstein Aaron Caplan Nick Caputo John Cimino Chet Cox Comic Book Plus (website) DitkoCultist.com (blog) Mark Ellis Mark Evanier Justin Fairfax Shane Foley Four Color Shadows (blog) Grand Comics Database (website) Bruce Guthrie Mark Halperin

C’mon citizen, DO THE RIGHT THING! A Mom & Pop publisher like us needs every sale just to survive! DON’T DOWNLOAD OR READ ILLEGAL COPIES ONLINE!

Heritage Auctions (website) Rand Hoppe Sean Howe Janet Gilbert Jack Kirby Museum Jim Kealy Mark Lewis Larry Lieber Art Lortie Manny Maris Doug Martin John McShane Robert Menzies Mike Mikulosky Peter Normanton Will Murray Barry Pearl Warren Reece David Saunders J. David Spurlock Dann Thomas Terry A. Thomas Mort Todd Mike Tuohey Mike Vosburg Andy Yanchus

This issue is dedicated to the memory of

Jack Kirby

Not Stan Lee’s Soapbox, But Stan Lee’s Jack-In-The-Box! . 21 The Man talks about The King, 1961-2014—as gathered by Barry Pearl, with Nick Caputo.

The Top 10 Jack Kirby Marvel Slugfests (1961-1970) . . . . . 33

Fantastic Four, Hulk, Thor, Captain America—even Spider-Man—selected by John Cimino.

“The Marvel Age Of Comics Started On September 30, 1972!” 39

That’s definitely true—if you were in the UK and hanging around with Robert Menzies.

From Jasper Sitwell To Houseroy—& Back Again! . . . . . . . . 47 Roy Thomas on being a Kirby fan, colleague, and foil, from 1947 till last week!

From The Tomb: The Jack Kirby Macabre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 On his own or with Simon or Lee—Peter Normanton salutes Kirby as a master of horror!

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt!: Simon & Kirby’s Recycled Masterpieces . 65 Jack & Joe tried never to waste a drawing—and so does Michael T. Gilbert.

FCA [Fawcett Collectors Of America] #229 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

P.C. Hamerlinck presents Mark Lewis presenting Kirby’s Captain Marvel & Mr. Scarlet!

On Our Cover: We were knocked out when Mark Halperin, co-chairman of Heritage Auctions, through Roy’s manager John Cimino, sent us a scan of this never-published 1990s drawing by the incomparable Jack Kirby, showing Jack himself and the ever-lovin’, blue-eyed Thing surreptitiously menaced by Dr. Doom and The Red Skull. And the Joe Sinnott inking was the icing on the cake! This illo spurred RT into finally doing what he’s been threatening to do for years—namely, devote an issue of A/E to The King. Our thanks to Heritage Auctions (HA.com), the ultimate source for this all-but-unseen treasure. [Thing, Dr. Doom, & Red Skull TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.; other art © Estate of Jack Kirby.] Above: One of the great (and last) co-creations of the deservedly legendary Joe Simon & Jack Kirby team was the hero of Bullseye #1 (July-Aug. 1954), who began life at the pair’s own doomed Mainline imprint, but whose final two issues were published by Charlton after Mainline went under. Bullseye and Boys’ Ranch are rightfully considered classic Western comics of the late Golden Age. [TM & © Estates of Joe Simon & Jack Kirby.] Alter Ego TM is published 6 times a year by TwoMorrows, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614, USA. Phone: (919) 449-0344. Roy Thomas, Editor. John Morrow, Publisher. Alter Ego Editorial Offices: 32 Bluebird Trail, St. Matthews, SC 29135, USA. Fax: (803) 826-6501; e-mail: roydann@ntinet.com. Send subscription funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial offices. Six-issue subscriptions: $68 US, $103 Elsewhere, $27 Digital Only. All characters are © their respective companies. All material © their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter © Roy Thomas. Alter Ego is a TM of Roy & Dann Thomas. FCA is a TM of P.C. Hamerlinck. Printed in China. ISSN: 1932-6890. FIRST PRINTING.

writer/editorial

A Jack For All Seasons

s I say in my article that begins on p. 47, I’ve been a fan of Jack Kirby’s art and concepts since at least 1947, when I was six or seven years old. Back then, of course, his byline was always shared with his partner, Joe Simon, so few people knew just who did what in that talented twosome… nor did we worry much about it. Kirby’s work and influence have been a part of this magazine at least since founder Jerry G. Bails’ third spirit-duplicator issue of the then-hyphenated Alter-Ego [Vol. 1] (Fall 1961), wherein he adapted a “Simon + Kirby 1941” figure to illustrate an essay on the 1944 Captain America movie serial. In addition, Jack became the first pro artist ever to send Jerry a drawing for inclusion in the fanzine: The first photo-offset issue, #4 (Fall 1962), printed a wonderful pencil illo of the Thing (inked by Jerry), holding up a sign that plugged A/E. (See p. 15.) A few years ago, TwoMorrows publisher John Morrow asked me a question that took me aback: “If TwoMorrows didn’t have The Jack Kirby Collector, do you think you’d be featuring Jack more in Alter Ego?” My answer was a resounding yes; the only reason there haven’t already been several issues devoted to the work of the guy Stan Lee dubbed “The King” is that TwoMorrows’ flagship title is totally built around Kirby, and I didn’t figure there was much left for A/E to say about a man celebrated thus far in 80 editions of a mag named for him! Still, I figured that sometime, someway, there should be an Alter Ego that was centered around Jack. But I dillied and I dallied for

years, since so many other pros and concepts vied for attention. The notion of a Kirby issue of A/E was consigned to the back burner of my over-stretched mind. And then my manager and friend John Cimino sent me a scan of a Kirby drawing that was being auctioned off, and which had been brought to his attention by Heritage Auctions co-chairman Mark Halperin. It depicted both Jack and his (to me) greatest Marvel Comics creation, the Thing, sharing a laugh as Dr. Doom and The Red Skull attempted to sabotage them. It was even inked by Joe Sinnott, the ultimate FF embellisher. When I learned that illustration had never been printed, I told John Morrow that I’d like to make that art the cover of an entire Kirby issue. John immediately gave his blessing, and I set about to line up material that didn’t simply duplicate what had already appeared in TJKC. Thanks to the efforts of Will Murray, Barry Pearl, Nick Caputo, Aaron Caplan, John Cimino, Robert Menzies, Michael T. Gilbert, Peter Normanton, Mark Lewis, P.C. Hamerlinck, and a host of generous scan-senders, this became a wall-to-wall Kirby issue. Even more so than #169, this is a one-subject issue—and the subject is the greatest super-hero/ action artist in the history of comicbooks. Yes, we’re sorry to lose, for the second issue in a row, both the letters section and John Broome’s memoirs—but it had to be done. For Jack was an artist for all eras, and it was high time we made certain that everybody knew that we knew it, too!

Bestest,

COMING IN AUGUST

171

PAUL GUSTAVSON An Artist Of QUALITY! (Not To Mention TIMELY & CENTAUR!)

b& [Midnight, Jester, Human Bom

ics.] Plastic Man TM & © DC Com

• Cover by GUSTAVSON, spotlighting some of his greatest artistic creations! • RICHARD ARNDT interviews son TERRY GUSTAFSON (and no, that “F” isn’t a typo!) about his fabled father, who in the 1940s drew The Angel for Timely/ Marvel… Fantom of the Fair & The Arrow for Centaur—and Human Bomb, The Jester, Midnight, Rusty Ryan, Alias The Spider, & even Plastic Man for Busy Arnold’s Quality Comics Group! Profusely illustrated—with some of the most breathtaking art of the Golden Age! • ROY THOMAS on ABRAHAM RIESMAN’s controversial biography True Believer: The Rise and Fall of STAN LEE—the full, unfettered, fact-checking version of the online article carried on The Hollywood Reporter website on Feb. 23, 2021! • Plus—FCA spotlights Fawcett’s Mighty Midget Comics—MICHAEL T. GILBERT on “Frankenstein Unstitched!” featuring BOB POWELL—JOHN BROOME— & several surprise features! (I.e., they’ll even be a surprise to us, as soon as we figure out what they are!)

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THE SECRET KIRBY ORIGIN OF IRON MAN JACK KIRBY, DON HECK, Ol’ Shellhead, & Marvel Comics by Will Murray

Heavy Metal— Early Editions

ow an essential Marvel Universe super-hero, in the beginning Iron Man straggled in late, struggling to find his rightful place in the Marvel Universe, ultimately becoming one of the few spinoffs of Marvel’s fantasy titles whose own comicbook title has run uninterrupted to this day.

The Usual Suspects The Jack Kirby-penciled, Don Heck-inked cover of Tales of Suspense #39 (March 1963), flanked by the four men credited with bringing the future “Golden Avenger” to life, as pictured in the 1964 Marvel Tales Annual. Will Murray says that Heck claimed to have done a bit of redesigning of the armor, with editor Lee’s tacit permission, when he inked Kirby’s pencils. Thanks to the Grand Comics Database. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

The origins of the character are complicated, and many behind-the-scenes details have either never been fully reported or are in dispute. According to Mark Evanier (friend and early-1970s assistant to Jack Kirby), who got the story from the artist himself, Kirby created the character design for Iron Man and brought it to Stan Lee sometime prior to the creation of Thor, Spider-Man, and Ant-Man. If verified, this` may date from the period during which he brought in the original version of Spider-Man. Little if any thought was given to who the man inside Iron Man’s bulky armor would be. Kirby’s concept sketch ultimately became the cover to Tales of Suspense #39 (March 1963).

Mark Evanier in a photo from his informative website www.newsfromme.com. Since the 1970s, Mark has had an enviable career in first comics, then TV.

Jack Kirby, Don Heck, Ol’ Shellhead, & Marvel Comics

The premise was a recycling of a 1961 one-shot Tales of Suspense #16 (April 1961) character, Metallo, who was also dubbed “the Hulk.” That two-part tale was drawn by Kirby from a script (probably) by Stan’s brother Larry Lieber, off (probably) a Lee plot. In the story, a convict agrees to test a giant lead-lined, radiation-proof suit of armor and becomes a destructive, cobalt-colored monster. This story is itself a variant retelling of a Don Heck-drawn tale with an identical premise: “I Made the Hulk Live,” from Strange Tales #75 (June 1960). Lieber quite likely scripted that story from a Lee plot as well, suggesting that the concept of a man in a suit of modern, mechanized armor might well have originated at Timely with plotter Stan Lee. The idea pre-dates Lee, of course. Writer Norvell W. Page had pitted the pulp-magazine hero The Spider against similarly armored criminals in the 1939 Spider pulp-magazine novel titled

“A Giant Lead Hulk” “The Thing Called Metallo!” was the 13-page lead feature in Tales of Suspense #16 (April 1961). At story’s end, the criminal within the power-bestowing armor faces a dilemma: he can only go on living if he doffs the armor and receives radiation treatments… but if he does remove it, he’ll be sent back to prison. In some ways, this foreshadowed the future plight of Tony Stark as Iron Man. Art by Jack Kirby & Dick Ayers; plot & script uncredited in comic, but probably respectively by Stan Lee & Larry Lieber. Thanks to GCD & Barry Pearl, respectively. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Satan’s Murder Machines. Stan was a faithful reader of The Spider from its first rough-edged issue. The villain in Page’s story styled himself… the Iron Man. Back to Metallo: The reason he was called both “Metallo” and “Hulk,” I suspect, is that the skyscraper-sized alien monster known as “the Hulk,” pure and simple, had returned in the previous month’s Journey into Mystery (#66, March 1961), after having been introduced four issues earlier. There were a lot of Hulks running around at Timely in those days! Indeed, at the conclusion of his origin story, Iron Man was referred to as “that metallic hulk who once was Anthony Stark….” At this point in the development of the nascent “Iron Man” feature, some context is necessary. Remember that, when the

“I Made The Hulk Live!” In Strange Tales #75 (June 1960), the above statement could’ve been made either by probable plotter Stan Lee, probable scripter Larry Lieber, or positive artist Don Heck. It was an even earlier antecedent of both Iron Man and the ever-incredible Hulk. Thanks to Barry Pearl. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

The Secret Kirby History Of Iron Man

Marvel Universe was first forming, The Incredible Hulk was introduced into the lineup while Fantastic Four was still a bi-monthly title. The latter status would quickly change during the momentous year of 1962. The Hulk’s magazine floundered in its first year. According to Kirby, publisher Martin Goodman nearly canceled the title with issue #3. As a precaution, Goodman ordered Along Came The Spider… Lee to abandon Rafael M. DeSoto’s painted cover for the Dec. 1939 full-length stories issue of The Spider pulp magazine, which featured in favor of two an armored villain called… the Iron Man! Thanks to David Saunders. [TM & © the respective trademark & shorter “Hulk” copyright holders.] tales in every issue. That way, if The Incredible Hulk folded, the inventory could be used up in one of the fantasy titles. But those anthology titles were fast filling up with new superstars. Spider-Man took the top spot in the retitled Amazing Fantasy. However, that magazine was then abruptly and prematurely canceled, orphaning the unpublished inventory, which included at least one “Spider-Man” story. Thor and Ant-Man took over Journey into Mystery and Tales to Astonish, respectively. The Human Torch spun off from Fantastic Four into his own feature in Strange Tales, probably because the latter comic was the top seller of the surviving fantasy quartet.

Putting Some Iron In The Diet Somewhere during this period, Jack Kirby allegedly offered Stan Lee the new character idea eventually known as Iron Man. Although the Metallo and Heck/Hulk stories had already appeared by then, Kirby may have been inspired in part by Goodman’s learning about the sales success of a new DC series phenomenon, “Metal Men,” which reportedly outsold company star Superman during its Showcase tryouts early in 1962. Goodman may have asked Stan Lee to come up with an original robotic super-hero. According to Kirby, it was common practice in those days for him to bring in concept designs for Lee and Goodman to evaluate. “I came in with presentations,” Kirby once claimed. “I said, ‘This is what you have to do.’ I came in with Spider-Man, the Hulk, and the Fantastic Four.” (It must be stated up front that this version of their working relationship was never confirmed by either Goodman or Lee; and Lee, at least once, positively denied it.) “My understanding is that Iron Man was conceived, and there was a sketch of Iron Man sitting on the shelf, before

there was any thought that the fantasy books would have heroes,” reports Mark Evanier. “Jack’s recollection was that it was going to be a stand-alone book.” Kirby believed that the new character was strong enough to carry his own title. But, given the restrictions that Independent Distribution had then placed on the number of titles Goodman could publish every month, something would have to be canceled to make room for any new title. So the empty shell that was the prototypical Iron Man languished for a time, the personality within the bulky armor as yet uncreated. “Jack’s version of it was that they had talks about doing Iron Man, but the book did not go forward because Goodman wasn’t ready for it,” explains Evanier. “So they put it on the shelf for some indeterminate period. Then the decision was made to add the characters to the anthology titles. At some point, Jack came in and Stan said, ‘We’re doing ‘Iron Man’ in Tales of Suspense with Don Heck.’” It’s entirely possible that, given the timing, “Iron Man” was under consideration to replace the Hulk magazine. Fan David Seigel remembers Kirby once remarking that he preferred the original Iron Man armor to any later iteration because the earlier version was like a “mechanized Hulk.” Meanwhile, The Incredible Hulk lumbered on, while Fantastic Four shifted to monthly frequency. And Goodman, for reasons known only to himself but perhaps motivated by the launch of DC’s “The Atom” in his own title after a very successful Showcase run, began talking about giving Ant-Man his own book. When the Hulk’s solo book was finally canceled around the turn of 1963, Lee assigned Steve Ditko to draw the final issue, telling him that he didn’t want to “waste” Kirby on a canceled magazine. Kirby went on to originate Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos instead. In the interim, sales figures had come in on Amazing Fantasy #15 from the summer of ’62, and Goodman realized that the unlikely Spider-Man was a hit, one deserving of his own title. If Iron Man had had a shot at his own title at that stage, the surprise success of Spider-Man killed that possibility. But the company’s new line of super-heroes were all selling, so Goodman green-lit “Iron Man”—as a half-a-book lead feature in one of the anthologies. Over Kirby’s objections, Don Heck was assigned to draw the first “Iron Man” story for Tales of Suspense from a Larry

Man—Or Monster? The Jack Kirby cover of The Incredible Hulk #1 (May 1962). Inks attributed to George Roussos. Thanks to Barry Pearl. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Jack Kirby, Don Heck, Ol’ Shellhead, & Marvel Comics

Lieber script based on a Stan Lee plot. Given the origin’s Vietnam background, Heck was an appropriate choice, if only because he had drawn a number of Atlas war stories set in the Korean War. Conflicts in Asia were familiar territory for him. In subsequent interviews over the years, Lee would often cite Heck as the strip’s co-creator, neglecting to mention Kirby’s formative contribution.

It was up to the artist to visualize what Stark looked like. “I would be thinking along the lines of some character I liked,” Heck said, “which would be the same kind of character [Alex] Toth liked, an Errol Flynn type. The features I’m thinking of here––a handsome good-looking guy who was rich.” Jack Kirby used to call Tony Stark “the handsomest man in comics.” We don’t know if Kirby suggested any ideas for who Iron Man would be in his other identity, but Heck recalled that Kirby contributed “some ideas” beyond the prototype design. Mark Evanier notes, “Jack was at that point very interested in Howard Hughes. Hughes was one of the celebrities that Jack was always fascinated with. He used to talk about Howard Hughes a lot. I think that Jack at some point saw Iron Man as Howard Hughes, and that was probably what prompted Heck to draw Errol Flynn.” Heck had received a Photostat of the already-designed Tales of Suspense cover, but didn’t like what he saw. Iron Man was a human tank with a neckless cannon-shell helmet and a metallic apron. With Lee’s tacit permission, he inked the cover, redesigning the armor in part.

As Lee once put it, “So, working DC editor Robert Kanigher conceived and wrote with my old friend, “The Metal Men”—which many fans at the time artist Don Heck, saw as an early response by that company to the I modeled Iron overnight success of proto-Marvel’s Fantastic Man after Howard Four—to debut in Showcase #37 (March-April 1962), Hughes, who had with art by Ross Andru & Mike Esposito. The DC designed, built, series is said to have “outsold Superman” during and flown his own its several-issue Showcase run, although surely plane and had that would’ve been merely in terms of percentages, not total number of copies, since the Man of Steel’s been a billionaire main title would’ve had a far larger print run. Will industrialist Murray theorizes that such success might’ve led inventor. Don was publisher Martin Goodman to admonish Stan Lee my first choice to to introduce a metallic/robotic hero. Thanks to the draw Iron Man. Grand Comics Database. [TM & © DC Comics.] I knew that his combination of realistic storytelling and sophistication was just what a strip about a handsome playboy/adventurer needed.”

Testing Their Metal

The Heck Factor Don Heck told me what happened next: “Stan called me up and told me that we were going to have this character, and the character’s name was Iron Man,” he said. “That his name was Tony Stark and the way he was wounded in Vietnam. It was just a synopsis over the phone. We didn’t actually sit down and work out the character and the rest. I knew what the costume looked like because I got the cover in the mail.” Larry Lieber’s contributions may or may not have been limited to inventing the name “Anthony Stark” and scripting from Lee’s plot. “The idea of Iron Man wasn’t mine,” Lieber averred. “I added, but I didn’t make it up. It was just getting a synopsis, and maybe [Stan] told me what he looked like or something. But I didn’t even have to know what he looked like––a guy in an iron suit––and then I would just write the story.” In any event, Lieber almost certainly wrote a full script, from which Heck drew the origin story.

“Iron Man Is Born!” Don Heck’s splash page for the first “Iron Man” story, in Tales of Suspense #39 (March 1963). Plot by Stan Lee and script by Larry Lieber—but reportedly Jack Kirby played a major, officially unheralded part in Ol’ Shellhead’s creation… including designing the hero’s armor, although Heck made subtle changes to it when drawing the actual story. Thanks to Barry Pearl. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

The Secret Kirby History Of Iron Man

According to Mark Ellis, who later worked with Heck at Millennium Comics, “Don told me that when he was given the first ‘Iron Man’ story to pencil and ink, as well as Jack Kirby’s original design of the armor, he had problems with the helmet and the ‘metal mini-skirt.’ His words. So, he made some slight alterations in both, making Iron Man’s helmet less like a gun-turret and changing the skirt into something closer to trunks. He said he did this mainly to make it easier for him to draw, but he also felt it streamlined Jack’s original armor design, which nevertheless continued to be featured on the covers of Tales of Suspense.” Among Heck’s modifications was replacing the bullet-shaped helmet with an oval one that had a neck, jutting jaw, and skull-like look, complete with a sinister grilled grin. He also dropped the sheet-metal kilt and simplified other elements. While these changes helped, they did not eradicate the difficulties in animating the cumbersome character for his origin story. Heck had such difficulty drawing Iron Man’s rigid armor that he petitioned Lee to let him further modify it for the second story. “Don said he suggested to Stan a more astronaut/space-suit kind of thing... much more streamlined that didn’t have as much look of weight to it,” Mark Ellis recalled to me. A concept sketch was reportedly produced, but Lee rejected it, preferring to stay with the Kirby-as-modified-by-Heck design. Unfortunately, that origin story misfired. Goodman didn’t care for it, especially the scene in which the powerful Iron Man is temporarily knocked down by having a steel filing cabinet thrown at him. Lee or Lieber covered for that misfire by indicating that the cabinet had been weighted down with rocks. Ironically, Goodman reportedly wondered why Lee hadn’t assigned Kirby to the kickoff story. “The first story was not well liked in the office,” Mark Evanier told me. Not surprising, coming as it did from a publisher who once complained that he never made any money off the three Rs of science-fiction: “rockets, robots, and rayguns.” This, and the lack of Kirby dynamics, apparently caused “Iron Man Is Born!” to be delayed at least a month. According to its job number, X-51, the first “Iron Man” story was drawn at the

Skirting The Issue This eighth page from the “Iron Man” intro in Tales of Suspense #39 is the first to feature several panels of the brand new armored hero, sporting the Heck-designed metal “trunks” in place of the “metal mini-skirt” Kirby had given the character. Artist Heck also gave the helmet a more oval shape, with several other changes in what passed for its “face.” Story by Lee & Lieber. Thanks to Barry Pearl. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

same time Jack Kirby was doing Incredible Hulk #5, and between FF #10 and #11, which makes it contemporary with January or February 1963 cover dates. By that reckoning, the origin should have debuted in Tales of Suspense #38, last surviving fantasy title without a hero strip. Instead, it appears to have been held up at least one month, and finally appeared in issue #39, dated March 1963 and going on sale the same December day as Amazing Spider-Man #1.

Kirby Redux

Errol Flynn

Howard Hughes

Anthony Stark

Handsome and super-popular film star Errol Flynn and the dashing inventor/aviator/ magnate Howard Hughes were both men after whom Anthony Stark might have been modeled, moustache and all; it’s not impossible that each influenced the look of the man inside Iron Man’s armor. The panel from Tales of Suspense #39, provided by Barry Pearl, is the work of writers Lee & Lieber and artist Heck. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

So disappointed was editorial with the “Iron Man” origin story that Larry Lieber was taken off all the super-hero strips and Jack Kirby was tasked to continue the feature, despite his busy schedule, in hopes of salvaging it. Heck recalled Lee breaking the news to him this way: “You did a great job, Don. Kirby’s doing the book from now on.” (Of course, Kirby was only going to pencil the series, not script it. More about that in a moment.)

Jack Kirby, Don Heck, Ol’ Shellhead, & Marvel Comics

member of the Metal Men, Lead. Colorist Stan Goldberg commented, “The color of iron is gray. But we changed it to yellow because it looked better. Now he doesn’t look like a robot and wasn’t as scary-looking.” Veteran writer Robert Bernstein was brought in to replace Lieber as “R. Berns,” but Heck was retained to ink Kirby on the second published “Iron Man” story. Apparently unaware that Heck had partly redesigned the armored suit, Kirby drew his original design, which Heck largely followed—though occasionally he slipped up, giving Iron Man an incongruous chin. On the third story, Dick Ayers was brought in as inker. Here, we see the unmodified original Jack Kirby Iron Man armor design. It’s denoted by many extra joints in the fingers and open mouth slot, in contrast to Heck’s more sophisticated grilled-grin design.

Follow The Bouncing (Iron) Ball Talk About A Whacky Filing System! It doesn’t make any sense, of course, that Wong-Chu would have “weighted each drawer of this cabinet with rocks”—but, at some point, original writer Larry Lieber or editor Stan Lee added the final word balloon on p. 12 of the origin story, when publisher Goodman objected to the company’s newest hero being bowled over by a mere filing cabinet. Art by Don Heck. Thanks to Barry Pearl. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Uncertainty over the strip’s sales potential led to some confusion over which “Iron Man” story was prepared next. Lee and Goodman sometimes built up inventory before releasing the first adventure of a new character. For example, the first “Human Torch” story in Strange Tales (#101, Oct. 1962) was apparently not the first one drawn. That seems to have been “Prisoners of the Fifth Dimension,” which sports an earlier job number on its splash page. Why that story was delayed while another was prepared in its place is unclear, but it explains why there were two different retellings of the Fantastic Four’s origin in the early days of the “Human Torch” strip. In any event, the first order of business was to brighten up Iron Man‘s Hulk-gray armor. With his second appearance, “Iron Man versus Gargantus!,” Stark coats the old armor a heroic gold because the public recoils in fear from his forbidding gray. I suspect that this second appearance was not actually the one drawn second. That was probably the “Stronghold of Doctor Strange!” story in Tales of Suspense #41 (May ’63), which devoted several of its early pages to establishing Tony Stark and his dual identity. I’ve often wondered why Iron Man was originally colored the same dull gray as the Incredible Hulk. After all, in the first issue of the latter, Lee had quickly learned that gray was not a good hue for a protagonist, and had had the Hulk recolored green without explanation in issue #2. So why did Lee make that same mistake just a few months later? And why was Iron Man gray in the first place? A cool cobalt blue would have been more appropriate. This had been the color of the robotic Hulks that had preceded Iron Man, such as Metallo. In the color language of comics, iron is usually rendered as a dark or cobalt blue. The reason may go to the commercial motivation for the creation of Iron Man. One of the members of DC’s Metal Men was a robotic strongman called Iron, who is colored dark blue. Had Goodman released a metallic blue Iron Man, a lawsuit might have been deemed likely. Gray may have been the only metallic color available—even though that was the hue that DC used on another

With the fourth published story, “Trapped by the Red Barbarian,” Don Heck returns to pencil and ink, and so does Iron Man’s ominous death’s-head helmet. Heck retains the metallic apron in an anti-Russian tale that goes back to Iron Man’s Cold War origins. Over the course of the strip’s first year, Kirby and Heck fought a low-level version of “armor wars” over how the Golden Avenger should be depicted. I doubt that Kirby noticed, but no doubt Heck fretted every time he had to reconcile Kirby’s pencils with his own inks! Nowhere is this disconnect more in evidence than in issue #43 (July ’63), wherein Iron Man battles Kala, Queen of the Netherworld. In several scenes, Iron Man is depicted putting on a bullet-shaped helmet which appears to be made of flexible metal and is obviously devoid of a chin. Heck inked those panels faithfully, but when Iron Man dons that same helmet, suddenly the Golden Avenger sports a Don Heck chin! The metallic kilt comes and goes until Heck surrendered, retaining it as a permanent feature. Iron Man’s shoulder antenna comes and goes at random. Belt elements kept changing. So it went all through 1963. The armor design switched back-and-forth. It was rarely consistent. The closeness of the job numbers indicate that Lee was stockpiling inventory at a faster clip than usual, probably to keep Heck busy. Forgotten in the rush was the villainous Doctor Strange, who had been set up as a recurring foe in the third strip. He would not be seen again for the rest of the Silver Age, a collateral victim of the success of Steve Ditko’s new “Doctor Strange” feature over in Strange Tales. With Tales of Suspense #45 (Sept. ’63), the lagging feature expands to 18 pages when Pepper Potts and Happy Hogan are introduced. The figure of Iron Man on Heck’s cover is replaced with a pastedown of Kirby’s Iron Man figure from the “Kala” splash page, a move made less obvious by the Heck inking of both. Stan Lee takes over the scripting chores in an effort to give the strip a fresh new direction. Two issues later, Heck is replaced by Steve Ditko, who introduces The Melter. In one of the strangest artistic mismatches of that era, Ditko is inked by… Don Heck! Kirby’s cover shows the familiar bullet-headed Iron Man, but inside strides a version of the Don Heck armor. According to the newszine The Comic Reader, this issue was supposed to introduce a modified version of Iron Man’s armor. Here’s the squib:

The Secret Kirby History Of Iron Man

Jack Is Back! (Above left:) When Kirby took over the penciling of “Iron Man” with Tales of Suspense #40 (April 1963), he restored the “metal mini-skirt” and other aspects of his original concept drawing—whether the latter had been the art used as the cover of TOS #39 or a wholly different illustration. Heck, in inking, didn’t alter Jack’s drawings overmuch; but the hero’s armor was suddenly colored “golden” (i.e., yellow). Plot by Stan Lee; script by Robert Bernstein (as “R. Berns”). (Above right:) Will Murray posits that “The Stronghold of Doctor Strange!” in TOS #41 (May ’63) was actually prepared before “Iron Man vs. Gargantus!” Same credits as previous, except the inking was by Dick Ayers. He hewed to Kirby’s pencils more closely than Heck had. Thanks to Barry Pearl for both scans. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Not By The Steel Of My Chinny-Chin-Chin! Robert Bernstein (a.k.a. “R. Berns”) with his wife Beverly and daughter Alison. Courtesy of Julia Brown-Bernstein, with special thanks to Art Lortie.

Dick Ayers from Marvel Tales Annual #1, 1964.

(Above:) In the top two panels in this sequence from TOS #43 (July ’63), Heck faithfully inks Kirby’s pencils depicting a bullet-shaped Iron Man helmet. But, in the next two, any reader who’s paying attention can spot that the armored hero’s headgear has grown a bit of a chin. Apparently Dashin’ Donnie just couldn’t help himself! Plot by Lee, script by “R. Berns.” Thanks to Barry Pearl. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Jack Kirby, Don Heck, Ol’ Shellhead, & Marvel Comics

Seeing Red—While Wearing Yellow Don Heck returned as full artist, complete with his own version of the Kirby-designed armor, in Tales of Suspense #42 (June ’63). Plot by Lee, script by “R. Berns.” Thanks to Barry Pearl. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

impervious to his melting ray. Made from extruded aluminum, this new armor was otherwise indistinguishable from what had gone before. It could have been that this issue was intended to showcase a new version of the Golden Avenger. I interviewed Don Heck, who recalled this story as having been lightly penciled, suggesting that Ditko expected to ink it himself. In any case, when Heck took a brush to it, he may simply have not noticed or ignored any new Ditko flourishes. “I was shocked when I saw what he sent me, the pencils when I was inking them,” Heck remembered. “I couldn’t believe it. It was stick figures…. I had to draw over most of it.” For his part, Ditko was not happy with Heck’s inks and mentioned to me his displeasure with one panel where the battling antagonists were rendered in silhouette form. He also said that a lot of his details were lost in the inking, which probably included any armor modifications.

Avengers Assembled But there may have been a more compelling reason for the failure to launch a new Iron Man armor in that issue. The Avengers had been launched as a new title, with Iron Man as a prominent member. In the sequence of Marvel’s publishing schedule, there appears to have been a problem coordinating the introduction of the new Iron Man in the two concurrent titles. Tales of Suspense stars Steve Ditko at the drawing board of Ironman [sic]. He changes Ironman’s costume a bit. This should make some fans I know very happy. Indeed, the storyline seems intended to set up an improved suit of armor. When The Melter proves he can melt Iron Man’s armor with impunity, Tony Stark forges a new suit that’s

A Double Dose Of Iron (Man) The cover of TOS #45 (Sept. ’63), at near right, is mostly by Don Heck—but the Iron Man figure is the Kirby-penciled, Heckinked one at far right, seen two months earlier on the splash page of #43! Thanks to Barry Pearl. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

The Secret Kirby History Of Iron Man

Evidence for this can be found in The Comic Reader once again. Here is a news item from the August 6, 1963 issue: The second issue of The Avengers (which is a bimonthly despite the misprint in the indicia strip) will have this new group battling the Sub-Mariner and the Hulk. (No comment.) The story sees the Ant-Man in his new role as Giant Man [sic], and Iron Man in a new costume. Personally, I liked both characters the way they were. Regarding Iron Man’s costume, it looked just as I thought it should, although it was a little too compressible to suit me. Evidently, fan-bigwig Jerry Bails got an early peek at the new design, courtesy of Stan Lee, with whom he had been exchanging letters for a couple of years. But—which design? Was there a Ditko sketch of the modified version that was intended for the Melter story? Of course, events didn’t unfold as TCR had reported they would. Avengers #2 did not feature the Sub-Mariner. Instead, the villain was The Space Phantom. The new Giant-Man did make his first Avengers appearance there, but Kirby drew the familiar Iron Man armor of his own creation. Judging by the job numbers, Kirby started drawing Avengers #2 before Ditko commenced penciling the Melter story.

of them working together––closely. Of course, they’d argue. They might even come close to killing each other, but the idea worked and we managed to make a convincing story out of a very improbable situation.” Lee and Kirby realized that changes were in order. There seems to have been a coordinated plan to beef up the Avengers lineup between issues #1 and #2. Ditko’s Melter story and the debut of Giant-Man appeared a week apart during that interim. Had the first Ditko armor modification survived into print, it would have been reflected in the Space Phantom story. Instead, a completely redesigned red-and-gold Iron Man armor was first seen in Tales of Suspense #48 (December ’63). In another bizarre artistic mismatch, Dick Ayers inked Ditko’s “The Mysterious Mr. Doll,” wherein Iron Man’s new flexible suit is introduced. Once again, the Lee-Ditko storyline was designed to force Iron Man to create a new suit of armor in order to defeat a new and otherwise-unbeatable foe. Even there, the design would not remain consistent over

The Space Phantom story is odd in that Henry Pym shows up early on as Ant-Man, riding a pair of ants, takes one of his new size-changing pill and pops up to human size. He wears Giant-Man’s costume, but I would not be surprised to learn he had originally been penciled as Ant-Man. Several pages later, the character is re-introduced, but this time as GiantMan, and his new origin is footnoted as if he had not been seen previously in that issue. How to explain this? It’s difficult to do so. But Kirby sometimes drew partial stories and page sequences out of order as a means of managing plot pacing. He might have submitted the beginning of the Space Phantom story prior to the Giant-Man transformation, leading to some necessary revisions.

A Couple Of Red-Letter Days

Lee and Kirby seem to have swiftly realized that the makeshift Avengers, as originally configured, didn’t work as a team. Ant-Man was too weak. Thor, Giant-Man, and the Hulk were not very far apart in their physical strength. Once again, the original Iron Man was essentially a mechanized Hulk.

(Above:) Even as Stan Lee both plotted and scripted the “Iron Man” feature for the first time ever in Tales of Suspense #48 (Dec. ’63), penciler Steve Ditko gave the hero his new streamlined, red-and-gold armor… as seen in this finale of a three-page sequence of Tony Stark donning it for the first time. Inks by Dick Ayers.

Kirby once observed, “Here were several personalities that were designed to be solo heroes, and we had to produce an effective portrayal

(Bottom right:) Only weeks later, The Avengers #3 (Jan. ’64) featured “the new Iron Man” on the cover with his fellow Assemblers. Cover art by Kirby & Paul Reinman. Thanks to Barry Pearl. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

(Center right:) The Kirby-penciled cover of TOS #48 was fans’ first glimpse of the new armor, before they opened the issue. Inks attributed to Sol Brodsky.

Jack Kirby, Don Heck, Ol’ Shellhead, & Marvel Comics

subsequent appearances in his own strip and in The Avengers. Ditko’s conception, especially the “horns” of his faceplate mask, rarely looked the same, as different inkers interpreted them differently, and Jack Kirby also took liberties—or drew from a concept sketch subsequently rethought. The late Greg Theakston reportedly discovered a helmet redesign on the back of one of Ditko’s “Iron Man” pages that suggests that originally the horns were rounded—which is how they appear on certain covers. Stan Lee himself may have added the horns, Theakston thought. Ditko himself told me that his original helmet design was not used, although he did not specify details. I suspect that the helmet that first appeared in Tales of Suspense #48 was a conceptual compromise. It’s hard to account for the delay of the Sub-Mariner story, but it may have come down to scheduling issues, as well as the problems in introducing a definitive new Iron Man and settling on a final version of Ditko’s streamlined design for the character. One of the peculiar elements included in Avengers #2 was a full-page ad for the next issue, showing a Jack Kirby Sub-Mariner surrounded by the heads of the Avengers—one that depicted the bulky, golden Iron Man, suggesting that when that page was published, the new Iron Man had not been conceived. This image looks like a rejected cover, but Marvel covers–– unless they were merely mocked-up concept sketches––were usually drawn after the contents were completed. So what could it have been drawn for? The Comic Reader #16, dated Feb. 23, 1963, carried this teaser:

[sic] and other heroes of The Marvel Group (including some new ones) is being considered at this time. That concept somehow morphed into Marvel Tales, an all-reprint annual published the following year. So who would have been the “new” heroes hinted at in the TCR Extra? Perhaps Daredevil, who had lost his printing slot in the Marvel schedule to either The Avengers, would have debuted in this title. It’s a mystery. As is that Sub-Mariner art. That dynamic Sub-Mariner image resurfaced on the splash page of Avengers #3, but it’s obviously a pastedown, surrounded by entirely different heads, including the new Iron Man, inked in a different style by Paul Reinman. Strange that it was reused that way. Splash pages were invariably originals, except for the notable exception of the Daredevil #1 splash, which was probably a concept sketch and also appeared on that first cover. Periodically, that dynamic Sub-Mariner image by itself was recycled for foreign reprints. Inexplicably, the story in Avengers #3 ran 25 pages. At that time, a full-length Marvel story averaged 22 pages, and rarely ran 23 pages. Why? It’s another “Marvel mystery” that will probably never be satisfactorily solved.

Rivets & Remonstrances Steve Ditko left “Iron Man” after only three installments. Years later, he told me that he had found Tony Stark’s recurring heart issues unheroic and had decided to move on. He may also have been unhappy with the ever-changing procession of inappropriate inkers, culminating in Paul Reinman on issue #49.

EXPECT TO SEE: A meeting of all the Marvel Comics heroes. No such story was forthcoming in 1963. This sounds like a hint of the nascent idea that became The Avengers. But, combined with the premature announcement of an Avengers #2 featuring Prince Namor, I wonder if originally an annual was contemplated wherein virtually all of the new Marvel super-heroes battled the Sub-Mariner, and this idea was turned into the regular Avengers title when it had to be hurriedly substituted for the delayed Daredevil book (as detailed in A/E #118). Or perhaps a Sub-Mariner title was under consideration, and The Avengers’ heads were added later. The above is rank speculation, but a similar annual idea was teased in Comic Reader Extra #1 in the spring, months before The Avengers debuted. It read: MARVEL STORIES, an 80-page comic featuring the FF, Thor, Spiderman

Sea Change? Oddly, a full-page next-issue ad at the end of The Avengers #2 (Nov. ’63) utilized the same Kirby-penciled Sub-Mariner figure that would be reused in the splash page of #3. Inks by Sol Brodsky and Paul Reinman, respectively. Thanks to Barry Pearl. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

The Secret Kirby History Of Iron Man

Perhaps it shouldn’t be so surprising that Don Heck returned once again to guide Iron Man’s destiny. He was happy to resume that role, having now a new version of the character closer to his own vision to work from. “I found it easier than drawing that bulky old thing,” he admitted. “The earlier costume, the robot-looking one, was more Kirbyish.” Unlike Ditko, Heck appreciated the inherent drama of the character’s limitations. “If a guy can’t get hurt at all, it limits the interest as far as I’m concerned. You know nothing’s going to happen to him––that’s why Iron Man in the beginning was good, because of the fact that his battery would drain down, and the guy could be in the middle of something, and have to get the hell out of there.” Upon his return, Heck created an important new opponent based on Lee’s suggestion of a Fu Manchu-style character, The Mandarin. The artist also reintroduced the death’s-head look to Iron Man’s helmet that had been absent for so long. “I always tried to put a face, almost like a skull, on Iron Man. I was thinking of a skull look, especially when he got the new

costume,” Heck stated. A few issues later, he modified Iron Man’s helmet yet again. Gone was Ditko’s flip-up faceplate. In its place was a solid-looking helmet with a weird pattern of rivets. Surviving original art indicates the helmet rivets might have been added after the inking stage. Heck himself was unclear whether he created them, or if they were added by Sol Brodsky during the production stage. “Suddenly rivets were pushed into it,” he recalled. “That was stuff that I got in: ‘We’re changing this.’ I guess it wasn’t selling that well. I was always thinking of a skull-type look. Maybe I did it and Stan said, ‘No, that’s not what we want.’” The facial rivets harkened back to the short-lived riveted side seam on Heck’s original skull-like helmet. After a while, they were scaled back to a simple widow’s-peak array. A year later, they vanished. I asked Stan Lee about the constant changes to the armor design. “I was never happy with Iron Man,” he admitted. “We must have tried a million things. But I never felt like we had the perfect Iron Man costume. All I can tell you is––I was always trying to change Iron Man’s costume! No matter who drew it or who designed it, I was never satisfied.” Gene Colan replaced Don Heck with issue #73 (Jan. 1966) for a long interlude. He, too, did some retooling. Although he retained the basics of the Ditko-Heck version of Iron Man, he made

A Riveting Alternation (Above:) After a few issues of a pair of golden “horns” perched atop Iron Man’s helmet, as per the splash of Tales of Suspense #53 (May ’64), they were suddenly replaced by an odd “rivet” effect with #54 (June ’64), seen at right. Art by Heck, scripts by Lee. Thanks to Barry Pearl. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Jack Kirby, Don Heck, Ol’ Shellhead, & Marvel Comics

adjustments in how he portrayed the character in action.

might be found in some of the robot fantasy stories Heck had done in prior years for Stan Lee.

“My approach was that Iron Man needed to be flexible enough to fly around and do the things he was able to do,” Colan said. “The way they had him bulked up, there was no way he could look good. My idea was to thin him down. I tried to make him look as athletic as he could in spite of the armor.”

Absent that lost sketch turning up, we can look at some of his pre-hero robot stories for clues. Characters such as Heck’s pre-hero Hulk, Metallo, Orogo, and similar robotic menaces all have streamlined, sophisticated looks with big square chest or back vents. Otherwise, one can only imagine the possibilities….

Colan struggled to animate Iron Man’s helmet mask: “I thought about his helmet a bit, and I considered how metal can’t move, so I took poetic license with his face mask to show emotion. Not a lot, but just enough to put emotion across.”

But, whatever the details, one element is certain: Iron Man would never have been as blue as his X-Men doppelgänger, Cobalt Man.

Sources:

It was a solution that went back to Jack Kirby’s depiction of the character, which Stan Lee recognized as necessary. “The hardest thing was getting expression on Iron Man‘s mask,” Lee told me. “It looked too dull if it never expressed any emotion such as anger, fear, confusion, whatever. Yet, how do you get an iron mask to change expression? We finally took whatever liberties we could by changing the angle of the eye slits, which helped a little.”

The Art of Jack Kirby. Ray Wyman, The Blue Rose Press, 1992. Don Heck: A Work of Art. John Coates. TwoMorrows Publishing, 2014. “The Goldberg Variations.” Jim Amash, Alter Ego, Vol. 3, #18, Oct. 2002.

Madam, I’m “Adam”! Gentleman Gene Colan’s very first “Iron Man” cover and story were done for Tales of Suspense #73 (Jan. 1966) under his “Adam Austin” pseudonym. Colan’s “crested” look for Ol’ Shellhead largely followed the most recent version by Don Heck and lasted for quite some time. Inks by Jack Abel. Thanks to Barry Pearl. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

The Colan armor lasted all through the Silver Age, and beyond. But it was really just an elaboration of the Ditko design, as refined and finalized by Heck.

Conclusion—& Queries Looking back on Iron Man’s difficult genesis, Don Heck seems to have been a key player in the development of the Golden Avenger, even if his most significant contributions were to tweak the armor designs of others. Jack Kirby apparently agreed. He cited Heck and not Ditko as having been instrumental in developing the character when he observed: “Iron Man was a concept of survival. This guy could not survive without a specially designed suit––so with this suit he made himself more powerful than he could ever imagine himself to be. He was almost like a god, but he was also a prisoner of his own invention. Don [Heck] did an excellent job of interpreting Iron Man. He redesigned the costume and strengthened the character. I think what he did was very professional. A character like this should evolve, and I couldn’t have done the job any better.” One wonders: Had Stan Lee accepted Heck’s early redesign, what would a pure Don Heck Iron Man have looked like? Probably not like The Crimson Dynamo, which was a villain design. Or The Titanium Man, who was the last major Iron Man villain created by the team of Lee and Heck. Those designs were even more bulky and cumbersome than Kirby’s Iron Man. Heck might have kept the bullet helmet that he had redesigned. Clues

1999.

The Illustrated History of Superhero Comics. Mike Benton, Taylor Publishing Company, 1991. “Iron Man: Almost 44 years later, Don Heck Is Still Drawing Comics.” Will Murray, Comics Scene #37, Sept. 1993. “The Iron Man Mystery.” Will Murray, Comic Book Marketplace #72, Oct.

“Monster Master.” Will Murray, Comic Scene, Vol. 2, #52, Sept. 1995. “Origins in Iron.” Will Murray, Starlog #364, April 2008. Son of Origins of Marvel Comics. Stan Lee, Fireside Books, 1975.

JACK KIRBY & The Early-1960s Fanzines by Aaron Caplan

The Golden Age of Comics Fandom

he early 1960s were a period of extraordinary growth for comics fandom. Founded by Jerry Bails with an assist by Roy Thomas in March 1961, Alter-Ego (yes, hyphenated for the first four issues) was not the first comics-oriented fanzine, but it was the first to support the super-hero revivals begun at DC in the latter ’50s. At the tail end of the month, Bails sent the spiritduplicator-printed Alter-Ego #1 to fans whose addresses had been printed in DC comics and to science-fiction fans whose letters had been printed in SF fanzines he happened to see. Shipped just one week after the first issue of Alter-Ego, but doubtless in preparation earlier, Don & Maggie Thompson’s Comic Art #1 was more of a crossover zine focused on funny-animal comics and newspaper strips, and distributed to a more intellectual group of seasoned sci-fi fans (who absolutely hated the term “sci-fi”). Unlike the Thompsons, who restricted the circulation of Comic Art because they lost money on every mimeographed issue distributed (free), Bails wanted to distribute A/E #1 to as many comics

fans as possible and had soon amassed a huge mailing list… and following. The result was explosive: Alter-Ego had a huge, immediate impact, jump-starting comic fandom, with the fanzine itself splintering into Bailscreated offshoots (On the Drawing Board/The Comic Reader for news, and The Comicollector for ads) that became additional key publications of the new fan movement. As the late and great Bill Schelly wrote, “The golden age of comic fandom had begun.”

The Thing Is… The first artwork ever done by a pro artist for one of the 1960s wave of comics fanzines was the above drawing by Jack Kirby of the Thing, from The Fantastic Four. His pencil sketch was apparently inked (and rather well, too) by editor/ publisher Jerry Bails for AlterEgo [Vol. 1] #4 (Fall 1962). All art accompanying this piece, unless otherwise noted, was provided by Aaron Caplan. [The Thing TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Many of these early publications were considered crudzines: amateurish fanzines that were crudely produced by teenagers using a mimeograph or spirit duplicator (a.k.a. “ditto printing”) process, usually with a maximum print-run of 25 to 200 copies. Crudzines (noted for bad spelling and grammar, often-shallow articles, and abysmally amateurish art) were often, nonetheless, charming in their simplicity, honesty, and zeal for comicbook collecting.

Early Fanzines Featuring Original Kirby Art

Them’s Fighting Words! Kirby penciled this striking pose of his and Joe Simon’s 1950s hero Fighting American for the fanzine Super-Adventures #9 (Fall ’68). [Fighting American TM & © Estates of Joe Simon & Jack Kirby.]

As the popularity of the DC (and then Marvel) super-heroes grew in the early ’60s, the number of comics fanzines increased exponentially. And so did fan interest in Jack Kirby. With an estimated 3000+ comic fanzines produced between 1961 and 1972, there were hundreds that featured Kirby-focused material: feature articles, news stories, interviews, and artwork, along with early analysis, reviews, and commentary on his work. The earliest fanzines with Kirby content originated with that first generation of Marvel fans, writing glowing and enthusiastic articles about Simon & Kirby, Fantastic Four, or Golden Age Captain America. As prolific an artist as Kirby was, he rarely contributed to early fan publications. Even the seemingly “inaccessible” Steve Ditko was heavily engaged in fandom at that time; he actively submitted artwork, covers, fully illustrated comic strips, letters, and opinion pieces to fan editors prior to 1968. While many Kirby illustrations

Kirby In The Golden Age of Comic Fandom

were published in the latter part of the decade, these were likely due to his increased participation in such conventions as the New York comics convention (he was the guest of honor in 1966 at David Kaler’s second self-styled “Academy Con”) and the San Diego Comic-Con which was founded in 1970, at which Jack drew many convention sketches. Let’s talk a bit about printing methods, which have a direct bearing on why early fanzines rarely featured Kirby artwork. Many 1960s zines used ditto printing as their primary production method. Ditto machines (also known as spirit duplicators) used a “ditto master,” which was a sheet backed with an inky dye. You would type or draw on the front of the master, which would impregnate the ink onto the back side of the sheet. The image on the back of the sheet appeared in reverse. You would load the ditto master into the machine roller, which used a smelly solvent (ahhh… the smell of purple ink…) to dissolve some of the blue/purple dye onto your copy paper. Voilà, up to 200 copies could be printed this way. Unfortunately, this made it difficult for fanzine editors

to solicit art contributions from pro artists, as they would have to meet them directly and somehow convince them to draw directly on the ditto master. Yet, that’s exactly what fandom legend Bernie Bubnis and future Wolverine co-creator Len Wein did! Bubnis, who lived in New York City, published two different ditto fanzines with Kirby art: Super Hero Calendar 1964, a calendar in which each page celebrated a month, with top artwork by notable pros including Kirby, who drew the “January” page of “The Cyclops” and Russ Manning (“December” Tarzan back page). Bubnis also published the New York Comicon Booklet 1964, a dittozine commemorating the first official comic convention, held on July 27, 1964, of which he was one of the principal hosts; the zine included a full-page Thor pin-up by Kirby. Wein, another native New Yorker, produced five issues of his fanzine Aurora, some of which included Kirby ditto art. Aurora # 3 (July-Sept. 1963) included a Kirby pin-up, while Aurora #4 featured a beautiful multicolored cover of Captain America!

Fans Analyze Kirby’s Style How do you identify various artists, their styles and their techniques? What do you look for? What is it that differentiates Gil Kane from Joe Kubert, Carmine Infantino, or Jack Kirby? Early fanzines attempted to answer these questions. While many fans contributed thoughtful and detailed analyses of Kirby style and techniques (e.g., Kirby expert Bob Cosgrove of Champion and Comic Crusader fame comes to mind), Super-Hero #4, dated Fall 1966, includes my favorite article on the subject, “Artists Anonymous.” The piece was written by editor Mike Tuohey and illustrated by a young 17-year-old Rich Buckler, and accurately described some key Kirby characteristics. “Kirby’s male hands are quite singular. The fingers usually have a stubby look to them; the bones in them seem to extend from wrists to finger tips very frequently. The inner finger is very rarely next to the middle finger…“ [see Figure 5 in

Early Simon-&-Kirby-centric Fanzines… In Glorious Multicolored Ditto! (Above:) A typical feature article by Kirby fan Mike Tuohey (“Look, Mike,” says Aaron, “at least I spelled your last name right!”) and illustrated by future pro Richard “Grass” Green, from April 1963’s Masquerader #4, published & edited by another future pro, Mike Vosburg. The image at left is probably based on a Golden Age pose by The Shield’s originating MLJ artist, Irv Novick—but the one at right is definitely inspired by the short-lived 1960s Archie Comics revival The Double Life of Private Strong, where The Shield was illustrated by Kirby. [The Shield TM & © Archie Comics Publications, Inc.] (Right:) Fan-artist Jim Gardner’s Valor #1 from May 1965 focused on Golden Age comics, in particular the Simon & Kirby super-heroes—but there’s definitely some Silver Age content in there, too! [Shield & Fly TM & © Archie Comics Publications, Inc.; Stuntman, Fighting American, & Speedboy TM & © Estates of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby.]

Jack Kirby & The Early-1960s Fanzines

Kirby Goes Ditto! (Above:) Len Wein’s classic fanzine Aurora #4, with awesome Captain America cover (in color, which required two extra ditto masters). (Top right:) Kirby Thor pin-up published in Bernie Bubnis’ New York Comicon Program Booklet 1964, plus Kirby’s Cyclops illo from Bubnis Super Hero Calendar 1964. Aurora #4 image provided by J. Ballmann; Cyclops & Thor images courtesy of B. Bubnis. [Captain America, Thor, & Cyclops TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

the drawing elsewhere on this page]. Tuohey went on to describe typical Kirby mouths, hair (“always parted on the right side”), eyes (“the left eye is always slightly larger”), faces (“defined cheekbone in the left cheek area is always apparent”), and more.

Early “Interviews” During the first half of the ’60s, most of the interviews published in fanzines were, in one word: lame. Fans had extremely limited access to comic writers and artists; long-distance telephone calls were outrageously expensive, comicbook conventions were not regular events, and unless you lived in New York City and were lucky enough to tour the Marvel or DC offices, you would probably never meet any comic book creators. A fanzine editor’s only option for interviewing comic pros was to send a list of questions through snail mail. The typical result (if the comic pro would even respond) was a list of inane questions followed by one-word “yes” or “no” answers! As I said: LAME. One of the first people to interview Jack

Since When Was Kirby “Anonymous”? (Right:) From Mike Tuohey’s “Artists Anonymous” analysis of the Kirby style, as greatly enhanced by the awesome artwork of Rich (then “Rick”) Buckler, in the latter’s fanzine Super Hero #4 (Fall 1966). [© the respective copyright holders.]

Kirby In The Golden Age of Comic Fandom

Kirby in an entertaining fashion was future pro Len Wein in Mike Vosburg’s fanzine Masquerader #6 from Spring 1964.

Fan Artists Emulate Kirby Speaking of Rich Buckler, who became a serious student of Kirby’s storytelling techniques, take a brief look at some of his early work from Gary Acord’s Dolfin Comics #1 from 1968, seen below. Can you spot the Kirby influence? The first Dolfin issue also showcased the Kirby-esque talents of a young Jim Starlin in his “Dolfin vs. The Big Man” strip. Interestingly, this strip is a reprint of Starlin’s first published comic strip (signing his name as “Jim Star”), which had been published in the dittozine Amateur Komix #3 in 1966!

The “Is Kirby King?” Controversy While most fans of that day adored Kirby, disputes as to whether he was “the best” comic artist were quite common, particularly in the latter half of the ’60s. For example, in The Marvel Tribune #6 (May 1968), Mike Robertson wrote an opinion piece called “Is Kirby Really King?” Robertson, an influential BNF (“big name fan,” a term from SF fandom) and prolific fanzine editor/ columnist, maintained: “For one thing, you find that he draws an unrealistic pose; how many times in real life have you seen anyone stand, walk, or jump with their legs at least four feet apart? Also… ever notice how his characters’ hands are almost always out of

proportion with said characters’ other features?” This generated a thoughtful rebuttal from popular fan artist Don Dagenais in Marvel Tribune #9 (see p. 20). Even “big name fans” who would eventually idolize Jack would argue whether he was the “King” of comic artists. In his “Graphic Traffic” column in Marvel Mirror #5 (1968), 16-year-old Mark Evanier, then known for his DC vs. Marvel rants (Mark was pro-DC), viciously slammed both Kirby and Marie Severin. Regarding Marie, Evanier wrote: “That slop which Miss Severin laughingly calls artwork is the worst ever at Marvel, and the only reason she’s drawing anything is that she’s Stan Lee’s friend.” His Kirby comments were also disparaging: “‘Jack Kirby is the greatest artist in the business!’ says [Stan] Lee… Bullfeathers!” This particular column elicited a caustic letter of comment (LOC) in the next issue from Roy Thomas, then Marvel’s associate editor. Roy’s letter starts with mild accolades on the previous issues’ content, but ends with a no-holds-barred refutation of Evanier’s anti-Kirby/ Severin tirade (again, see p. 20). This was not the first or last time Evanier and Thomas came to verbal blows on the subject of Kirby. Previously, Mark had written anti-Marvel/Kirby letters in the Yancy Street Gazette #10 & 11 (July 1967), published by Steve Ziegler, John Hoecker, & Jan Bertholf. Roy responded by writing a 2-page column in YSG #18 (May 1968) titled “View from the Top: Pros Rank Kirby #1.” In the article, Roy exclaims: “I’m curious… just where does Mark get his (quote) information (and unquote). He must have inherited a cracked

Jim Starlin c. 1969.

Rich Buckler late 1960s.

Channeling Kirby Future pro artists Rich Buckler & Jim Starlin let their Kirby influence shine through in a pair of “Dolfin” stories in the fanzine Dolfin Comics #1 (1968). At left, Buckler ably captures the Kirby style… while, at right, Starlin displays his own Kirby chops! Within a few years, Buckler would be penciling Marvel comics starring such Kirby co-creations as Fantastic Four and The Avengers, and Starlin would debut with work on Iron Man. [© the respective copyright holders.]

Jack Kirby & The Early-1960s Fanzines

Pro To Future Pro (Left:) Len Wein, who would be a full-fledged professional himself in a very few years, interviewed Jack Kirby for Mike Vosburg’s Masquerader #6 (Spring 1964). Rather than send a list of questions, Wein actually visited Jack’s house! [© Estate of Len Wein.] (Above:) This fan-handwritten version of a Kirby interview appeared in the 1968 fanzine Excelsior— and no, that isn’t Stan Lee’s handwriting! In fact, we’re not sure who wrote it! [© the respective copyright holders.]

crystal ball from Dr. Strange… or, since he’s a DC fan first and always, from whoever it is that Mark Merlin changed into for a few dreadful issues.” (Sorry… I can’t help but snicker, LOL.) Ironically, just two years later, Mark Evanier would quit his job as editor of Marvelmania Magazine, the more or less official Marvel “fanzine,” to work for Kirby, who would very soon migrate to DC. Mark developed a very close, personal relationship with him, wrote Jack’s definitive biography, and is now considered the foremost expert and advocate for Mr. Kirby!

Acknowledgements The author would like to thank the following fanzine historians for their significant input and advice: J. Ballmann and Manny Maris.

Kirby In The Golden Age of Comic Fandom

And I Quote… Re Greg Kishel’s Marvel Mirror #6 (June 1968): Marvel associate editor Roy Thomas offered a few choice comments of his own on some remarks by California fan (and future fellow pro) Mark Evanier that had been quoted in the preceding issue. Those two guys are on considerably better terms nowadays (and have been for most of their professional careers); and, based on things he’s since said in public, we kinda suspect Mark’s had a sincere change of heart about the talents of not only Jack Kirby but also Marvel artist Marie Severin. Well, it’s no big deal. Roy’s said (and thought) a number of things he regrets, as well. [© the respective copyright holders.]

ROY THOMAS PRESENTS

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“Is Kirby King?” During the ’60s, big name fans incessantly argued whether Kirby was the best comic artist. In Marvel Tribune #9 (Jan. 1969), published by Ron Liberman, fan Don Degenais responded to a piece written three issues earlier by a Mike Robertson that had been less than enthusiastic about Jack’s artwork—and the debate could go on forever! Artist unknown. [Thor TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

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Not STAN LEE’s Soapbox, But STAN LEE’s JACK-In-The-Box! “The Man” Talks About “The King”—1961-2014 by Barry Pearl, F.F.F. Aided and Abetted by Nick Caputo, F.F.F. A/E EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION: The two comicbook professionals with whom Jack Kirby’s name will be forever linked, of course, are the late Joe Simon and Stan Lee—the first his official partner for a decade and a half during the 1940s and the first half of the ’50s, the other his boss but also his de facto “senior partner” for a little over a decade from the late 1950s through 1970 (with a considerably more distant relationship during the latter ’70s). So I recently sent Barry Pearl, who’s spent the past few decades collecting and collating material about the Lee-coined “Marvel Age of Comics,” an e-mail which might (or might not) have been worded precisely as he phrases it directly below....

ood Afternoon, Mr. Pearl:

Stan Lee spoke or wrote about Jack Kirby many times over the years. Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to write an article assembling the major instances of these statements and quotes. As always, should you or any of the Yancy Street Gang be caught or clobbered, Ben Grimm will disavow any knowledge of your actions. Please dispose of this message in the usual manner. Good luck, Barry.

Bestest,

Jack Kirby & Stan Lee May I start by explaining why Roy asked me to write this piece? After Stan Lee and Flo Steinberg sent me a stack of comics during a long hospital stay in 1963, I decided to write a book about Marvel. My collecting articles, books, and now videos has never stopped. I didn’t know where to begin on the above assignment, but then I remembered Lewis Carroll, who wrote: “Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end; then stop.” So let’s start at Stan’s beginning:

(top of page) Kirby and Lee both speaking at the 1967 New York Comicon. Photos by Mark Hanerfeld and Andy Yanchus. (Left:) The splash of Rawhide Kid #17 (Aug. 1960), probably the first time their names appeared together in print—albeit on opposite sides of the picture (thanks to Barry Pearl for this scan). (Above:) The cover of Fireside/Simon & Schuster’s Silver Surfer graphic novel (1978), perhaps the last occasion on which the two giants collaborated on masterworks that bore their names inside. Thanks to the Grand Comics Database. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

“The Man” Talks About “The King”—1961-2014

Overstreet: At one time you were an assistant to Simon and Kirby at Timely… What were they like? STAN: Oh, that’s the way I started… They were fine. They were funny. Joe Simon was apparently the boss, and he walked around puffing a big cigar. He talked in a very deep voice and he was great. I liked him, he had a lot of personality. And Jack would sit hunched over the drawing board and do most of the actual art work, also puffing a big cigar. I liked him, too, and it was great watching him draw. They were terrific! In those days, everybody was real busy doing their work. There was a lot of pressure to turn those things in on time, and there wasn’t too much time for anything else…. STAN: Jack was about the best. He was really the most creative artist of all, because he was more than an artist. I call him a great conceptualizer. He could conceive of stories and follow them through. All I would have to do with Jack is give him a very brief outline on what to do, and he would just do the whole story. After a while when we were rushed, I didn’t even give him an outline, he just did whatever story he wanted and I’d come back and put in the copy. He also was an incredibly fast artist, and he had great integrity. Everything he did was his best. He never did less than his best.1 (About Kirby’s speed, Stan states in Marvelmania Magazine #1 that Kirby is a speed demon, drawing three pages a day!)

everywhere refer to the jolly one as Jack King Kirby.3 STAN: [quoting Martin Goodman] “‘You know, Stan, I’ve just seen some sales figures for this DC [Justice League of America] magazine. It’s doing pretty well.… Let’s do a team like the Justice League.’ And I said, ‘Fine.’ I went home and wrote an outline, a synopsis for The Fantastic Four. I called Jack [Kirby], handed him the outline... and said, ‘Read this. It is something I want to do. And you should draw a team.’ Jack, of course, contributed many, many ideas to it and I would venture to say Jack and I created The Fantastic Four, in a way, although the name was mine, the characters were mine, and the concept was mine, originally. But he never pushed me to do super-heroes. Jack was at home drawing these monster stories.”4

STAN: No!2

STAN: It was natural for me to choose Jack Kirby to draw the new superhero book that we would soon produce. Jack had probably drawn more superhero strips than any other artist and he was as good as they come. We had worked together for years, on all types of strips and stories. Most importantly, we had a uniquely successful method of working. I had only to give Jack an outline of a story and he would draw the entire strip, breaking down the outline into exactly the right number of panels replete with action and drama. Then, it remained for me to take Jack’s artwork and add the captions and dialogue, which would, hopefully, add the dimension of reality through sharply delineated characterization.... After kicking it around with Martin and Jack for a while I decided to call our quaint quartet The Fantastic Four. I wrote a detailed first synopsis for Jack to follow, and the rest is history.5

Cal Caputo [1964 interview]: Do you think that Simon and Kirby were a better team than Lee and Kirby?

3 Bring On the Bad Guys, Simon & Schuster; 1st edition (October 1, 1976)

STAN: Nope.

4 New York Times, May 2, 1971

Mike Hodel: Do you think that Simon and Kirby were better than Lee and Kirby?

STAN: Much as I hate to admit it, I didn’t produce our little Marvel masterpieces all by myself. No, mine was the task of originating the basic concept, and then writing the script—penning the darling little dialogue balloons and cuddly captions that have been such a source of inspiration to scholars and shut-ins everywhere…. Heading the list of such artists who have helped create what has come to be known as the Marvel Age of Comics is Jolly Jack Kirby. I originally dubbed him Jolly Jack because it was impossible to tell if he was smiling or not behind Joe Simon & Jack Kirby the massive cigar which formed a protective smoke screen (the latter seated at the drawing board, as usual) in an late-1940s around him while he worked. publicity shot—framed by (above However, to prevent you from right) the lead splash panel from worrying needlessly, I’ll hasten to Novelty’s Blue Bolt, Vol. 1, #2 (July add that he did eventually come ’40), the first time Simon and Kirby up for air, and later on, because teamed up, with Kirby clearly doing of his cataclysmic creativity the penciling—and (bottom right) and countless contributions to the splash from Blue Bolt V1#5 (Oct. our Marvel mythology, I hung ’40), Jack’s first byline with Joe, the sobriquet of King before his though he’d also penciled most of the intervening “Blue Bolt” stories. Inks last name. Thus today, readers 1 Overstreet Comic Book Quarterly #4, June 1994 2 Excelsior (fanzine) #1, 1968

by Joe Simon. Thanks to the Comic Book Plus website for the comics scans. [Art & story © Estates of Joe Simon & Jack Kirby.]

5 Origins of Marvel Comics, Simon & Schuster/A Fireside Book; (September 30, 1974)

Not Stan Lee’s Soapbox, But Stan Lee’s Jack-In-The-Box!

character floating around the artwork—a silver-skinned, smoothdomed, sky-riding surfer atop a speedy flying surfboard. When I asked ol’ Jackson who he was, Jack replied something to the effect that a supremely powerful gent like Galactus, a godlike giant who roamed the galaxies, would surely require the services of a herald who could serve him as an advance guard. I liked the idea. More than that, I was wild about the new character. It didn’t take long for us to christen him with the only logical appellation for a silver-skinned surfboarder—namely, The Silver Surfer.8 STAN: [about laying out a story for a new artist] I can call Jack… I can say, “Jack, make it a 12-page story, and, roughly, this is the plot.” Jack can go home, and the next day he has the whole thing broken down. He gives it to the artist, and the artist just has to worry about drawing his work on the breakdowns. They’d rather have Jack break it down for them once or twice until they get the feeling of it.9 STAN [in a 1962-63 letter to Alter Ego founder Jerry Bails]: ...As for Jack starting strips and then turning ‘em over to less talented artists— well, it’s not quite that simple. The poor guy only has two hands, and can only draw with ONE! I like to have him start as many strips as possible, to get them off on the right foot—but he cannot physically keep ‘em all up—in fact, I sometimes wonder how he does as much as he does do. At present he will concentrate on FF and our new war mag. SGT. FURY—as well as pinch-hitting for other features if and when needed. AND he does almost all of our covers, of course.

“…The First Time I Have Found It Necessary To Give The Signal!” Despite the afore-depicted Rawhide Kid and various stories that Stan plotted and Jack penciled, the yarn in The Fantastic Four #1 (Nov. 1961) was the true launching of the Lee-Kirby team. Script by SL; pencil by JK; inking probably by George Klein. Thanks to Bob Bailey. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

STAN: Jack is the greatest artist in the world. He also is a great story man. He does all the breakdowns and basic plots and I provide the dialogue. He didn’t start that way but Jack and I think so much alike.6 Cal Caputo [from same 1964 interview as above]: Who conceived the Fantastic Four, you or Jack? STAN: Both—’twas mainly my idea, but Jack created characters visually. STAN: Some artists, of course, need a more detailed plot than others. Some artists, such as Jack Kirby, need no plot at all. I mean, I’ll just say to Jack, “Let’s let the next villain be Doctor Doom”... or I may not even say that. He may tell me... he just about makes up the plots for these stories. All I do is a little editing.7 STAN: After we had discussed the plot for (are you ready for this?) “The Galactus Trilogy,” Jack spent the next few weeks drawing the first 20-page installment. When he brought it to me so that I could add the dialogue and captions, I was surprised to find a brand-new

FF is easily our favorite book at the Marvel bullpen. It’s my baby and I love it. People have asked for original scripts—actually we don’t even HAVE any. I write the story plot—go over it with Jack—he draws it up based on our hasty conferences—then, with his drawings in front on me, I write the captions and dialogue, usually right on the original art work! It seems to work out well, although it’s not a system I’d advise anyone else to try... .10 COMICS BUYER’S GUIDE: During the Silver Age, you worked a great deal with Jack Kirby. How much of a collaboration actually existed between the two of you? STAN: A tremendous amount. In the beginning, I would give Jack the idea for the character. I would describe the characters and give him an idea on how I wanted them to be. Jack would then draw the story and give me the exact rendition that I was looking for in the character. After a while he was so good at it that I only had to tell him a few words. I mean I would say something like, “In the next story let’s have Dr. Doom capture Sue and have the other three come and get her.” I would tell him a couple more things, and that was about it. He would then draw the whole story and add a million things that I hadn’t even told him. I would get the story back, and some of the things in it I would have liked, and some other things I would have felt he shouldn’t have done. It didn’t matter, though, because it was fun— even the parts that he drew which I felt weren’t quite right for the story. I would try and figure out a way when I was writing the story to make it seem as if I wanted those parts included from the start. I made them seem as if they fit in perfectly. I think we had a great collaboration. Whatever he drew, I was able to write and I was able to enjoy writing it. 11 8 Bring on the Bad Guys, Simon & Schuster; 1st edition (October 1, 1976) 9 Castle of Frankenstein #12, 1968

6 WFMU-FM Radio, 1967

10 The Comic Reader #16, February 1963.

7 Castle of Frankenstein #12, 1968

11 Comics Interview, 1999

“The Man” Talks About “The King”—1961-2014

For Marvel Age readers, the beginning is The Fantastic Four #1 in 1961. At that time, it was not common to have an artist’s name on the splash page, but Kirby’s was there near the border, and by issue #11 it was part of an actual credits list. On Fantastic Four #3’s Fan Page, Stan writes: “Considering that our artist signs the name JACK KIRBY on everything he can get his greedy little fingers on, I think we can safely say that’s his name.” In issue #4 (May 1962), a (supposed) writer to the letters page, Jim Moony, asks Stan for a picture of Jack Kirby. Stan’s reply: “Every time Kirby poses for a picture, the camera lens breaks.” [NOTE: Jim Mooney—with an “e”—was a longtime comics-artist associate of Stan’s, so it’s not unlikely that Stan wrote both letter and answer.]

Just Another Day At The Office The cover of Fantastic Four #10 (Jan. 1963) and the first two interior panels from that issue that feature “Lee and Kirby,” four months before the name “Marvel Comics” would be slapped on any of their work. In the very next panel, the pair will be interrupted by none other than Dr. Doom himself. What? You didn’t know that Stan and Jack had help on their efforts from real-life heroes and villains? Inks by Dick Ayers. Thanks to the Grand Comics Database and Barry Pearl, respectively. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

FF # 10 not only shows Lee and Kirby on the cover, but on page 5, panel 1, Lee’s caption reads: “…And that, dear reader, is as far as Jack Kirby and I got with our story…” Then the panel displays “the offices of Kirby and Lee.” (It is probably the only time that Stan put Jack’s name first!) Then, atop the “Fantastic 4 Fan Page” in that issue, Lee writes: “Look, enough of that ‘Dear Editor’ jazz from now on! Jack Kirby and Stan Lee (that’s us!) read every letter personally, and we like to feel that we know you and you know us!...” From that point on for the next several years, missives on the letters pages for books the two men worked on together were almost always addressed “Dear Stan and Jack”—even, one suspects, on occasions when the reader may have written “Dear Editor” or some other salutary phrase. As Lee said on a Los Angeles radio program in 1967: STAN: When [fans] write a letter, they don’t say “Dear Editor,” they say “Dear Stan and Jack,” “Dear So-and-So.” They call us by name, and we give ourselves nicknames. We started this as a gag and they’ve caught on. Uh, the fellow here at my right isn’t just Jack Kirby, he’s “Jolly Jack” or… or Jack “King” Kirby.12 In another issue Stan, responding to another letter, writes: “You must be the only reader left who doesn’t know that Stanley writes the stories and Jackie Kirby draws them.”

credits, the initial use of that future regular nickname… though he still calls him “Jolly” in #32. Beginning in #56. individual credits disappear from FF; henceforth that comic (plus Thor and their other collaborations) is said to be “Produced by STAN LEE & JACK KIRBY.” Mark Evanier: Stan told me something interesting. There was one point in the Spider-Man books when the credits changed from “Art by Steve Ditko” to “plotted and drawn by Steve Ditko…” Stan said that simultaneously he offered the same thing to Kirby— to give him a co-writing credit—and Jack, instead, asked that the credits read “Produced by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby” or some variation of that. If you look at the credits, very rarely after that did it say “Written by Stan Lee.” Jack asked to keep it ambiguous, and Stan went along with it.” 13

Stan plays the credit box straight until Fantastic Four #24, when he begins to write comments along with the credits. He now writes: “Tenderly Drawn by JACK KIRBY,” followed in the next issue by “Astonishing Art by JACK KIRBY”… then “Powerfully Drawn in the Heroic Manner by JACK KIRBY.” Importantly, it’s in Fantastic Four #28 (July 1964) that Stan first refers to Kirby as “The King” in the

Marvel’s regular “Bullpen Bulletins” page began in issues dated December 1965, although Stan had been writing a “Special Announcements” section in the letters columns since October 1963. Most often, when Jack Kirby was mentioned in the earlier format, it was regarding a particular comic he was working on. Beginning in October 1964’s letters section/Special Announcements in FF #30, Stan would often refer to Kirby as “Jack (King) Kirby,” picking up on the splash-page credits reference two issues earlier.

12 Stan Lee & Jack Kirby interviewed by Mike Hodel on WBAI FM, NYC, 1967

13 Comic Interview

Not Stan Lee’s Soapbox, But Stan Lee’s Jack-In-The-Box!

inker can really do it justice. 16 WILL MURRAY: Did you have a preferred Kirby inker? STAN: I liked all of our inkers. Dick Ayers was very good on Kirby’s stuff. Sinnott I felt was wonderful. I liked Sinnott, Ayers, Paul Reinman, and Sol Brodsky even, because all four of them could also pencil. Reinman was good because he was also a painter and he inked in masses like a painter. Most of the plots, [Kirby] had much more to do with them than I did. When he did give me the artwork, a lot of times the plots were not the way I would have wanted to do it. So I would change them in the copy and the story ended up not being what I’m sure Kirby expected. It was fun doing them. But I don’t miss the sitting and dreaming up the plots. 17 In an answer to a letter-writer in Fantastic Four #35 (Feb. 1965), Stan says, “We honestly feel that Chic [Stone]’s inking is perfectly suited for Jack’s penciling, and that the ‘King’ has never been better.” Bullpen Bulletin: DIDJA KNOW that most of our amazin’ artists work at home and sometimes don’t visit the bullpen more than once 16 Crusader (fanzine), 1964 17 Interviewed by Will Murray, 2000

This Is No Bull! This Is A Bulletin! Amazingly, it just recently sunk in on A/E’s editor, Roy Thomas, that the regular “Marvel Bullpen Bulletins” page only commenced with the December 1965-dated issues (as seen here), which were in preparation around the time he started working for Stan Lee in early July of that year. Stan had been edging up to such a thing for some time, so that when a full official fan-page officially appeared, the response was less “How great!” than “What took you so long?” And there’s a reference to “JACK (King) KIRBY” in the fourth item on the left. Thanks to Barry Pearl. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Bullpen Bulletin: The Fantastic Four… Drawn as usual by Jack (King) Kirby… inked by Chic Stone who seems to have become everyone’s favorite almost overnight.” 14 Bullpen Bulletin: Everybody’s been clamoring for a sample of JACK (King) KIRBY’s inking as well as his pencilling. So, if you’ll remind us next spring, we’ll try to get him to pencil and ink a special pin-up page for one of next year’s annuals. Of course, it will mean our buying him a brush, but no sacrifice is too great to make for you Marvel madmen. 15 Both the above items, of course, were written by Stan. STAN: It’s a funny thing with Jack’s artwork. You never know just how good Jack really is. If he gets a good inker, he looks good. If he gets a bad inker, he looks bad. But Jack Kirby’s penciling is so magnificent no 14 “Special Announcements” section on letters pages in Amazing Spider-Man #15 (Aug. 1964) 15 Marvel Bullpen Bulletins: December 1965

A “King” Comes Riding! Fantastic Four #40 (July 1965) had been the first time that the “Jack (King) Kirby” appellation was used on an actual splash. Before that (and often afterward), it was either just plain “Jack Kirby” or “Jolly Jack Kirby.” Script by Stan Lee; pencils by Kirby; inks by Vince Colletta. Thanks to Barry Pearl. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

“The Man” Talks About “The King”—1961-2014

a month!... And JACK “KING” KIRBY drops in, loaded down with a new mess of masterpieces, once a week. Poor Jack! He is so absentminded that he usually goes home with someone else’s hat, portfolio, or train ticket! Stan wanted to put a label around his neck reading: “If found, please return to the merry Marvel bullpen,” but he couldn’t— Jack lost the label! 18 Stan would often imply that Kirby was okay with changes in artists: Bullpen Bulletin: Dashing DON HECK takes over the pencilling chores on Agent of Shield for this ish, after which JACK KIRBY, the king himself will carry on in following issues. 19 Bullpen Bulletin: JACK (KING) KIRBY himself insisted that Jazzy JOHNNY ROMITA was the only logical illustrator to handle Capt. America in the master’s own style. 20 Bullpen Bulletin: Jolly JACK KIRBY’s ears must be really burning. Every comic mag fan has his own personal favorite among all the artists employed by all the different companies—but, when it comes to the opinion of the pro’s [sic] themselves—when it comes to naming the ARTISTS’ ARTIST, there isn’t even a contest! Every time the conversation here at the Bullpen gets around to artwork (and what ELSE is there to talk about?), you should hear the top men in the field lower their voices when the name of King Kirby comes up. It’s generally agreed that, when you talk of super-hero illustration; of action drawing; of imaginative conceptions; of dynamic, doublebarreled drama; Marvel’s many-faceted master simply has no peer! There is hardly a pro pencil-pusher in the field today who hasn’t been influenced by Jolly Jack’s memorable masterpieces—or by the constantly shattering impact of his creativity. Don’t be embarrassed, Jack—this is just Stan’s cornball way of telling you that it’s been a ball all these years, pal—and the best is still ahead. 21 Bullpen Bulletin: If STAN (The Man) LEE and JACK (King) KIRBY happened to meet the street, they might not recognize each other! The two characters have been so busy lately that they haven’t seen each other in weeks. Can you imagine producing sensational strips like theirs by collaborating over the phone? Well, you better believe it! 22 Bullpen Bulletin: All of Marveldom assembled sends best wishes to Jolly JACK and ROZ KIRBY on their 25th wedding anniversary! We’re beginnin’ to suspect that these two have a good thing going. 23 STAN: Philosophically, there was another thing, and I had a big argument with Kirby about this once. We were being interviewed by Barry Gray in New York. He had a talk show. Jack and I went up there. He wanted to talk to us about Marvel and how it was selling. This was in the middle 1960s. Barry said, “I understand you people are starting to pass DC.” And I said, “Well, we’re doing the best we can, but they’re such a big company and so rich, and we’re just this little company.” And Jack said, “That isn’t true, Stan! Why don’t you tell him we’re better than them? And bigger than them.” And I’m trying to shut him up. I said, “Jack, nobody likes anybody who’s bigger and better. Let them think we’re Avis. We’re just trying harder.” And Jack never understood that. You’ve got to use a little psychology. 24 18 Marvel Bullpen Bulletins: February 1966 19 Marvel Bullpen Bulletins: January 1966 20 Marvel Bullpen Bulletins: May 1966 21 Marvel Bullpen Bulletins: April 1967 22 Marvel Bullpen Bulletins: May 1967

“Friends, Romans, Countrymen…” One of the many colorful costume designs that Jack Kirby drew in 1969 for a production of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar at the Vera Cruz University Theatre… in fact, this is the one for Julie himself! Matter of fact, a whole 13 plates’ worth of these designs has recently been published in an 8½" by 11” portfolio, which are being sold on the site of the Jack Kirby Museum. Thank to Rand Hoppe. See p. 56 for an ad for the Kirby Museum. [Art © Estate of Jack Kirby.]

Bullpen Bulletin: Jolly JACK KIRBY won three “Best Artist” awards from different fan groups in just one week. 25 Bullpen Bulletin: This we’ve gotta tell you! The world-famous Society for Comic Art Research and Preservation, the largest group of comic-book fans in the nation, recently completed their annual International Convention of Comic Art at New York’s famed StatlerHilton Hotel…. [Among the awards it handed out were:] Best Editor: STAN (The Man) LEE; Best Writer…Smilin’ STAN, again!... Best Pencil Artist: JACK (King) KIRBY… Best Inker: Joltin’ JOE SINNOTT. 26 On a more personal note, the Bullpen Bulletins for Jan. 1969 (in, e.g., Fantastic Four #81) announced that “JOLLY JACK KIRBY’s handsome son Neal has just announced his engagement….” Bullpen Bulletin: Here’s an announcement we make with mixed emotions. JACK (King) KIRBY and family are leaving New York and moving to California. In fact, by the time you read this, the King will already be settled on the shores of the blue Pacific! But don’t panic, pilgrim—he’ll still be doing his bit for the Bullpen,

23 Marvel Bullpen Bulletins: December 1967

25 Marvel Bullpen Bulletins: November 1968

24 Interview with Will Murray, 2000

26 Marvel Bullpen Bulletins: December 1968

Not Stan Lee’s Soapbox, But Stan Lee’s Jack-In-The-Box!

same as ever. It’s just that he’ll be spending most of his extra cabbage on air-mail stamps rather than those king-size cigars he loves to sport. Actually, it’s a terrific deal for the Great One, who certainly deserves his place in the sun; but poor ol’ Stan has conniptions every time he thinks of the long-distance phone bills he’s going to run up each month when he calls his pantin’ partner to discuss their latest plots! Hooo boy!27

Bachelor: To what do you attribute Jack’s loyalty throughout all these years?

Bullpen Bulletin: Speaking of JOLLY JACK, many longtime fans have been writing to say that THE FANTASTIC FOUR is getting better with each issue—with the stories reading more like the memorable masterworks of the FF’s early years. This kinda breaks us up, because it’s beginning to seem as though we have to take a few steps back in order to surge forward!

Bachelor: How would you feel if Jack Kirby ever left?

Incidentally, on the same Bullpen Bulletins page, Stan mentions that Kirby has done the costume designs for the Vera Cruz University Theatre’s Shakespeare production of Julius Caesar.28 Bullpen Bulletin: And how’s this for an eye-opener? JACK (KING) KIRBY has done both the script and the pencilling for a dynamite thriller in the current issue of CHAMBER OF DARKNESS! For those of you who never knew that the Jolly One is as gifted a writer as he is an artist, this will be a real serendipity. And, speaking of J.K., he and his radiant Roz are now building their own home in sunny California. He should worry about how much we have to spend on postage stamps!29

STAN: Basically, Jack’s a loyal person. He’s had a hand in so many of these strips. I know the way I feel about them. To leave would be almost like abandoning your children. If you are happy and doing well somewhere, there’s never any reason to leave.

STAN: I’d cry a little. Bachelor: Do you feel Marvel Comics would quite be the same if he did leave? STAN: Fortunately, I don’t think any one person’s holding the whole place up. For example, Spider-Man with John Romita is one of our best-selling books… Daredevil with Gene [Colan] is doing well, and down the line we do have others. But I think there is no doubt that Jack has set the pace. 30 STAN: Jack is the greatest mythological creator in the world. Well, we—we kicked Thor around and we came out with him. And I thought he would just be another book. And I think that Jack has 30 Bachelor College Magazine, 1968

27 Marvel Bullpen Bulletins: June 1969 28 Marvel Bullpen Bulletins: January 1970 29 Marvel Bullpen Bulletins: April 1970

If I Had A Hammer… (Left:) Stan and Jack, aided by the scripting of Stan’s brother Larry Lieber, brought a super-hero version of Thor, the mythological Norse god of thunder, to comicbooks with Journey into Mystery #83 (Aug. 1962). Inks by Joe Sinnott. Thanks to Doug Martin. (Above:) Lee felt “Thor” had been his initial idea, while Jack (who had previously drawn a couple of other one-time versions of Thor and his hammer for DC Comics) maintained that he brought the notion to the editor. However it happened, and despite a whizbang of an origin tale, “Thor” didn’t really take off until Lee began scripting the stories with issue #97 (Oct. 1963)—even more so after Kirby soon became the resident penciler—after which it steadily rose to become a continuing work of increasingly epic grandeur. Thanks to Barry Pearl. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

“The Man” Talks About “The King”—1961-2014

…When Jack drew, you had the feeling that Jack had the entire drawing in his mind, and when he put the pencil on the paper, he was just “tracing” what he already had in his mind. Most artists would draw a circle for the head and a circle for the body, and then they’d start filling it in, but Jack would just start with the head and he would draw it, and every line was right there from the start. He didn’t make little rough drawings first… it was the most eerie feeling, watching him draw—you felt he was tracing what was already in his head. Jack Kirby… was the most dependable artist in the world. He never missed a deadline. He never did a bad job… all his jobs were great. It’s hard to talk about Jack without sounding as if you’re exaggerating, because that’s how good he was. 32 A sad chapter in the relationship between Lee and Kirby was ignited by a newspaper article by Nat Together Again For The First Time! Freedland of the New York Herald Since there was just a passing reference in Stan’s Soapbox that month of Kirby’s departure, readers would Tribune, published at the turn of 1966. certainly have been forgiven—especially by an anxious Stan Lee—if they had believed that the stories in Fantastic Four #103 and Thor #180 (both Sept. 1970) had been drawn by the same artist who’d drawn most previous issues— In explaining Marvel’s success, he but in fact they had been done, respectively, by the teams of John Romita & John Verpoorten, and Neal Adams & just concentrated on Lee, whom he Joe Sinnott. Thanks to Barry Pearl. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.] called “an ultra-Madison Avenue, rangy look-alike of Rex Harrison.” turned him into one of the greatest, uh, fictional characters there But notice how Freedland puts down Jack Kirby even while making are. Somebody was asking him how he gets his authenticity in the a nod to Kirby’s contribution to Marvel’s success: costumes and everything. And I think a priceless answer Jack said was, “They’re not authentic. If they were authentic, they wouldn’t be Here he [Stan Lee] is in action at his weekly Friday morning authentic enough.” But he draws them the way they should be, not summit meeting with Jack “King” Kirby, a veteran comic the way they were. 31 book artist, a man who created many of the visions of your childhood and mine. The King is a middle-aged man with STAN: When you talk about Kirby, you really run out of baggy eyes and a baggy Robert Hall-ish suit. He is sucking superlatives. Jack was a writer as well as an artist (as many of the a huge green cigar, and if you stood next to him on the legends were). He was incredibly imaginative, and he did his most subway you would peg him for the assistant foreman in a important writing with his drawing. When I say that I mean, if 1 gave girdle factory. Jack a very brief idea of what I wanted for a story, he would run Mark Evanier: That article did enormous damage to Jack, personally with it. I could say, “Jack, in this next story, I think I’d like to have Dr. and professionally…. It convinced Jack he couldn’t get the proper Doom kidnap Sue Storm and bring her to Liberia, then the Fantastic recognition there [at Marvel]…. [Stan would] say, “I never fully Four have to go after her, and in the end Dr. Doom may promise that understand why Jack or Steve [Ditko] left.” Steve’s reasons were pretty he won’t hurt Sue if they do something, and Reed says, OK, I agree, obvious, and so were Jack’s, and I’d explain them to Stan. He would and the Thing would say, how can you trust him, and Reed would nod. And then three months later he’d say, “Can you explain to me say, despite all of his faults Doom is a man of honor, he would never what Jack is upset about?” 33 lie.” I would discuss the idea with Jack like that and that was all I had to do. And then Jack would go home and he would draw the story It was not Stan’s fault that newspapers wrote what they wrote, and he would add a million elements that I hadn’t told him about, and he was always trying to get the most publicity possible. From so he was really writing in pictures and dreaming up ideas along the my personal point of view, the writers of these newspaper stories way. And then when I did write the copy [the words, dialogue, and knew nothing of comics and mostly never read one. Here are just captions], it was such a joy, because all 1 had to do was look at the a few of the articles that ignored the artists, which will give you illustrations that Jack had done and each picture gave me a thousand some insight as to why Kirby was upset: new ideas. Jack never did a dull panel. Every drawing of his contained an expression on the character’s face that almost told me what kind of dialogue to write. Jack could get more drama into a few lines than any artist I knew. His imagination and the things he came up with were wonderful… and on top of all that, he was fast! I don’t know how anybody could have been that good and that fast…. There was only one other artist I knew who was as fast as Jack, perhaps even a little faster… that was Joe Maneely.

31 WBAI Radio, 1967

Dallas Times Herald [1975]: In the beginning was Stan Lee. And Stan Lee created the Fantastic Four. And he saw that it was good. And the Fantastic Four begat the Hulk and Spider-Man. 32 Comic Book Marketplace #61, July 1998 33 “It’s Stan Lee’s Universe,” article by Abraham Riesman for Vulture online magazine, 2016

Not Stan Lee’s Soapbox, But Stan Lee’s Jack-In-The-Box!

New York Times Magazine [May 2 1971]: The turnabout came in 1961, when Stan Lee metamorphosed the Marvel line and very likely saved comic books from an untimely death. The Press Telegram Newspaper of Long Beach, CA [Aug. 19, 1977]: First he begot The Fantastic Four, a cosmic powered quartet… and the Fantastic Four begot The Hulk and The Hulk begot Spider-Man, who begot a whole lot of success for Stan Lee. Newsday, of Long Island [June 8th, 1978]: It was Lee’s fertile mind that created the many superheroes who were eventually to make Marvel mighty. As late as the Bullpen Bulletins page in Fantastic Four #100, a mere two months before he decamped for DC Comics, the following item appeared: “We just had a visit from JACK (KING) KIRBY, who winged his way eastward from sunny California to rap it up with Stan about the new INHUMANS series the Jolly One will be producing in the forthcoming AMAZING ADVENTURES. Sly ol’ Stan not only conned Jack into doing two yarns at once, but even cajoled the King into doing the script as well as the penciling for this great new series.” There’s another reference to this upcoming feature by “King Kirby” in the following issue of FF.

illustrating at that point). But there’s nary a mention of Jack Kirby amid the Bulletins, or in any of the magazines’ letters pages. So far as we could find, Kirby was not mentioned again on the Bullpen Bulletins page until he returned to Marvel five years later. Marvel’s then associate editor Roy Thomas says that, while Stan Lee never discussed the matter specifically with him, he suspects his boss didn’t know quite how to tell readers that Jack had left—because it had been so totally unexpected by him at the time, unlike Ditko’s exit several years earlier—so Lee decided to barely mention it, and mostly to deal verbally with all the changes and artistic musicalchairs that Kirby’s departure had caused. The reader had to puzzle out the rest for himself. Kirby’s leaving Marvel in 1970 was, however, a question Stan was often asked about in the days and years to come. Here is his fullest reply: STAN: I hated losing Kirby. To me, the FF has never been the same since Kirby left… I really don’t know why he left. I think it was a personal thing. Jack never told me. I think it could be as simple as that he got sick of everything he did saying “by Stan Lee and Jack

Some comics readers (most of whom didn’t read fanzines, the only real source of comics news in those days) must have been confused when not only did John Romita rather than Kirby pencil the cover of Fantastic Four #102 (Sept. 1970), but the “Stan’s Soapbox” in that issue began: Who says lightning never strikes twice? Remember a few years back when Steve Ditko suddenly left the hallowed halls of Marvel to seek his fortunes elsewhere? Well, at the time of this writing (early in March), Jack Kirby has unexpectedly announced his resignation from our surprised but stalwart little staff. The rest of the Soapbox is basically a commitment to continue to provide “some of the wildest and wackiest surprises yet to electrify your eyeballs and stagger your senses!” In the rest of the Bullpen Bulletins page, which many probably read before the Soapbox, Stan wrote that Marvel was “so wrapped up in changing our schedules, juggling our artist-writer team-ups, and planning a whole plethora of pandemonious new projects for you, that we’re afraid to make any definite pronouncements right now”—followed by a fairly lengthy biography of John Romita, without mentioning that he was taking over the penciling of Fantastic Four. (#102’s letters page, prepared before the Bulletins page, was still composed of letters addressed to “Dear Stan and Jack,” though by #103 that had been changed to simply “Dear Stan.”) It was left for the Bulletins page appearing in FF #103 and elsewhere to sound a more triumphal note, if a rather non-specific one: Bullpen Bulletins: ITEM! Let’s face it—this is probably mighty Marvel’s proudest and most crucial hour! Even here, at the worldfamous House of Ideas, we’ve never made so many sudden, cataclysmic changes, or taken so many unexpected, unprecedented gambles! Never before has any leading magazine company dared to switch the artist line-ups of some of the world’s best-selling mags! But, despite our countless other faults, we’ve never been accused of being timid… and the announcements that follow will show you why—

Not To Be Nega-tive About It…

The rest of the page (which appeared in all Marvel comics that month, of course, not just FF) belatedly reveals that Romita is now the penciler of Fantastic Four, with Gil Kane relieving Romita on Amazing Spider-Man, while Neal Adams will be drawing Thor (the only full comic besides FF that Kirby had been regularly

Not long before Kirby quit Marvel, he had penciled another issue of Fantastic Four, with which Stan was less than satisfied… so it had gone on the shelf, until such time as Stan could ask Jack to do a bit of redrawing. A few months afterward, with “revisions, deletions, and addenda” by John Buscema and John Romita, that story and art were the basis of FF #108 (March 1971). Inks by Joe Sinnott. Thanks to Barry Pearl. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

“The Man” Talks About “The King”—1961-2014

STAN: The one thing I remember and felt bad about when Jack left was that I had been thinking about—and maybe I even talked to him about it—that I wanted to make Jack my partner in a sense; I wanted him to be the art director, and I thought that he could serve in that function and I would serve as the editor. Maybe this was way earlier, but I was disappointed when he left, because I always felt that Jack and I would be working there forever and doing everything. 36

Kirby.” Maybe he just wanted to do his own thing and have the book say “by Jack Kirby.” But as far as I was concerned, if he had told me he wanted to do his own book, I’d have said fine and let him write it and draw it, but he never said it to me. I’ve heard that he was tired of doing things that he never owned a copyright on, shares of the profits, and so on. I wish I had the same thing, I don’t blame him. But what surprises me is that he doesn’t have any copyright now at National [DC] as far as I know. So, I really don’t know why he left. And I will say in all honesty that I’d like Jack to come back, I want him to come back eventually. I sort of half expect that he’ll come back when his contract ends, I think he’d be making a mistake not coming back. I say he did his best work at Marvel, his style is pure Marvel. I also must admit that he has so many books at National that have failed, whereas if they had been for Marvel, I think they still would be published, especially New Gods.

Lee and Kirby had actually said similar things about collaborating on comics and with each other: Comics Journal: Would you ever do a book all by yourself… do the pencils, inks, story, everything? KIRBY: Not necessarily, no. I don’t feel that I should do everything myself... you know, everybody has that feeling, that ‘boy, if they could let me by myself.’ Nobody does anything by themselves; nobody ever does. When a guy comes out and makes a statement ‘I did this,’ you can be sure 50 people helped him. It’s true. The only time you do something by yourself is when you’re in trouble.37

The thing about Jack is that, though he’s a very good story man and good artist, he tends to get Jack Is Back! too wrapped up in what he wants When the “King” returned to Marvel, Stan played up his becoming the to do that he forgets what readers writer/artist of Captain America, a character he had co-created, beginning might want. I think his material with issue #193 (Jan. 1976)—with a story inked by Frank Giacoia. Thanks to was a little better with us because Barry Pearl. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.] STAN: Comic books are a we exercised some control. I collaborative medium. Had I not remember on the very first issue of The Fantastic Four I suggested the worked with artists like Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko... all those guys… my synopsis of a monster and Jack drew 100 red monsters. I said, quote, stories would not have looked as good. OK, I might have had the first Jack it’s more dramatic to have one monster that the reader worries idea for the characters, but after I would tell Jack about it, or Ditko about, unquote. The trouble with Jack is that he is so imaginative he about it, or John Romita, I didn’t have time to write fully fledged tries to put every idea he can think of on every page. He tries to make scripts. So I would tell them roughly what I wanted the story to be every page a whole new original thought and action. That isn’t a good and they would draw it any way they wanted to. I didn’t give them story. You have to build up a mood. You’ve got to take one idea and a script that said, “Panel one, draw this, panel two, draw that.” I just stretch it over a few pages and milk the utmost drama out of it. It’s a said, roughly, “This is the story I want to tell, go to it, guys.” These matter of pacing. Jack goes too fast, you don’t have a chance to catch guys were writers themselves. But they would write with pictures. And 34 your breath reading his stories. they would give me the artwork. I would put in the copy, I’d write STAN: I really don’t know, why [Jack Kirby left]. We really never had an argument of any sort. I think Jack thought he wasn’t getting paid enough. And of course that was not up to me; that was up to the publisher who paid him. And I did not want Jack to go. I said at the time, “Jack, instead of being a freelance artist, why don’t you join the staff? I’ll tell our publisher to make you my partner.” You see, I was the editor, and art director and the head writer. “I’ll make you the art director. I’ll be the editor, we will work together as a team, you’ll make the same salary as I do and we’d be a team.” I would have loved that. He didn’t want to do it. He said that he wanted to be a freelancer. He thought he could make more money, I think, at DC. And he worked there. I don’t think it worked out; he eventually came back to us.35 34 Great Britain’s Fantasy Advertiser #55, 1975 35 Video of Stan Lee, October 1, 2008

the dialogue and the captions. It was a total collaborative affair and sometimes I feel a little guilty, you know, “Stan did this, Stan did that.” I did it, but I did it with them. And they really deserve as much credit as I ever get.38

STAN: I think if he comes back I’d like someone else to write the stories the way we always did. I’d like Jack to plot them—he’s great at plotting them, breaking them down—but I’d like someone else to put in the dialogue and so forth. We can’t have people doing their own thing, because in the Marvel world, everything meshes with

36 Interview with Roy Thomas, Comic Book Artist #2, 1998 37 Comics Journal, 1975 38 The Comic Art Professional Society (newsletter), 2008

Not Stan Lee’s Soapbox, But Stan Lee’s Jack-In-The-Box!

everything else, so it all has to tie in. 39

emotion that you put in. To me, nobody could convey emotion and drama the way you could. I didn’t care if the drawing was all out of whack because that wasn’t important. You got your point across and nobody could ever draw a hero like you could. And I just want to say without getting too saccharin that one of the marks I think of a really true great artist is he has his own style. And you certainly had and still have your own style and it’s a style that nobody has even been able to come close to. And I think that’s something you can be very proud of and I’m proud of you for it.

Bullpen Bulletin: This month’s news is too big to hold off for another minute! Jack Kirby is back! Yup, that’s right! Ol’ King Kirby (and don’t forget, it was at Marvel that he got that sobriquet) has returned to the bosom of the blushing bullpen. This is where his heart is—this is where it all started—and this is where one of the greatest talents and comics belongs…. And, just to prove the master’s hand still hasn’t lost its touch, he’ll be taking over the strip he started more than three decades ago—the one and only CAPTAIN AMERICA! Jack’ll KIRBY: I have to thank you for be writing and drawing the whole helping me to keep that style, magilla by his lonesome…. But, as Stanley, and helping me to evolve soon as Jack and I get a breather all that and I’m certain that and when you least expect it, whatever we did together, we got watch for a gigantic special edition sales for Marvel and I – of—you guessed it—THE SILVER SURFER! Anyway, one of the most LEE: I think it was more than that, dramatic moments at the Mighty Jack. We got the sales, and no Words, Words, Words… Marvel Con, which was held at matter who did what, and I guess During an August 1989 radio exchange between in-house guest Jack Kirby Easter time, was when most of that is something that will be and phone-in Stan Lee, a query was raised about the authorship of the the Bullpen was on the stage for a argued forever, but I think there precise lines spoken by Galactus (his “exit speech”) on p. 10 of Fantastic panel discussion of The Fantastic Four #50 (May 1966). The question was not settled... but it still seems was some slight magic that came Four, and I mentioned that I had a safe to say that the script was by Lee, the art by Kirby, and let folks argue into effect when we were working special announcement to make. As about the rest in some other place. Inks by Joe Sinnott. Scan courtesy of together and I am very happy that I started telling about Jack’s return, Barry Pearl. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.] we had that experience. to a totally incredulous audience, everyone’s head started to snap around as Kirby himself came KIRBY: Well, I was never sorry for it, Stanley. It was a great experience waltzing down the aisle to join us on the rostrum. You can imagine for me and certainly if the product was good, that was my satisfaction, how it felt clownin’ around with the co-creator of most of Marvel’s and I’ve, I’ve felt like that and I, I think it’s the feeling of every good greatest strips once more…. 40 professional. And it’s one of the reasons I respect you is the fact that, you know, you’re certainly a good professional and, and you’re STAN LEE, interviewed by Jules Feiffer [1998]: Nobody drew like certainly fond of a good product, and I feel that’s the, that’s the mark Jack Kirby. He was not only a great artist, he was also a great visual of all of us. storyteller. I would say, “Look, Jack, here’s the story I want you to tell.” And Jack would bring back the story that I had given him, but At one point, Reece made a statement that ended by voicing he would also add a lot of imaginative things of his own. He should in passing an uncertainty about whether the dialogue in Galactus’ have been a movie director. He knew when to make a long shot, a “exit speech” in Fantastic Four #50 had been written by Stan or close-up. He never drew a character who didn’t look interesting or Jack… and Stan’s quick response (followed by Jack’s response to it) excited. In every panel there was something to look at. (Reprinted in soon made it clear the pair had quite different views on how they Dr. Jeff McLaughlin’s Stan Lee: Conversations, 2007, from Civilization, had done their comics, and even about what they had done in them. June-July 1998.) The following exchange is virtually verbatim, omitting only a few short remarks interjected by Reece and/or Knight, which were In August 1987, on WBAI Radio in New York, Stan phoned basically ignored by the other two, who at one point were talking in to a talk show hosted by Robert Knight on which Jack Kirby over each other as well: was the major guest, on the occasion of his 70th birthday, also via phone. Likewise present, in the studio, was 1970s Marvel staffer LEE: Oh, I’ll say this: Every word of dialogue in those scripts was Warren Reece. By this time, Kirby had left Marvel and, for the most mine. Every story. part, the comicbook field: KIRBY: I can tell you that I wrote a few lines myself above every LEE [to Kirby, via phone]: You know, you were talking earlier about panel… your drawing and people sometimes criticized your figures and LEE: They weren’t printed in the books. Jack isn’t wrong by his own so forth. I always felt that the most important thing about your rights because—Jack, answer me truthfully— drawings—I remember when I was a kid and I first saw Captain America, it wasn’t the correctness of the anatomy, but it was the KIRBY: I wasn’t allowed to write… 39 Comic Book Marketplace #61, 1998 40 Marvel Bullpen Bulletins: October 1975

LEE: [continuing from previous] —did you ever read one of the stories after it was finished? I don’t think you did. I don’t think you ever read one of my stories. I think you were always busy drawing the next one.

“The Man” Talks About “The King”—1961-2014

STAN: I just want to say that Jack has, I think, made a tremendous mark on American culture if not on world culture, and I think he should be incredibly proud and pleased with himself, and I want to wish him all the best, him and his wife Roz and his family, and I hope that ten years from now I’ll be in some town somewhere listening to a tribute to his 80th birthday and I hope I’ll have an opportunity to call at that time and wish him well then too. Jack, I love you.41

The Wedding-Crashers While their faces weren’t shown, Jack Kirby and Stan Lee tried to gain entrance to the wedding of Reed and Sue Richards at the end of the story “Bedlam in the Baxter Building” in the 1965 Fantastic Four Annual. Was this the last time Jack and Stan appeared together in a Marvel story before 1978? [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

That was the last time that Stan Lee and Jack Kirby ever spoke on the same forum. And, from a 2005 interview with Stan Lee: DAN EPSTEIN: Are you sorry you were never able to patch things up with Jack Kirby before he passed? STAN: We did patch things up. Everything was fine. I met him at a convention and we talked for a while. I even spoke to his wife. In the later years, people had been telling Jack that he had been cheated and not treated well, so he sort of lumped me in with the rest of management. But at the end, he realized I wasn’t management in those days. 42 Finally, from a Playboy interview that Stan Lee gave in 2014:

You never read the book when it was finished. KIRBY: [continuing from previous] …dialogue, Stanley… my own dialogue. And that, I think that’s the way people are. So whatever was written in them was—well, it, you know, it was the action I was interested in. LEE: But I don’t think you ever felt that the dialogue was that important. And I think you felt, well, it doesn’t matter, anybody can put the dialogue in, it’s what I’m drawing that matters. And maybe you’re right. I don’t agree with it, but maybe you’re right.

www.comics.org

There was a bit more of an exchange—without any sort of agreement or meeting of the minds—and Lee made his exit from the phone call thus:

STAN: I’ll tell you, the last thing Jack Kirby said to me was very strange. I met him at a comic book convention right before the end. He wasn’t that well. He walked over and said, “Stan, you have nothing to reproach yourself about.” He knew people were saying things about me, and he wanted to let me know I hadn’t done anything wrong in his eyes. I think he realized it. Then he walked away. 43 Barry Pearl was awarded the status of being a “Fearless Face Fronter” by Stan Lee himself for his book The Essential Marvel Age Companion: 1961-1977, a 1400-page interactive volume covering every single Marvel comic and story during that period… a total of more than 5000. A full blog is at: https://forbushman.blogspot.com/. He has written for The International Journal of Comic Art; 75 Years of Marvel (Taschen); The Stan Lee Story (Taschen); The Jack Kirby Quarterly; The Stan Lee Universe (TwoMorrows); Kirby, King of Comics; The Art of Steve Ditko; Alter Ego; and Ditkomania. He has also written introductions for editions of Marvel Masterworks and for PS Artbooks’ Pre-Code comics reprint series. 41 “Earth Watch” with Robert Knight, WBAI radio, 1987 42 Exclusive interview by Daniel Robert Epstein, 2005 43 Playboy, November 2014

A Good Cast Deserves A Curtain Call… (Left to right:) The two gents responsible for the foregoing article, plus the third member of the self-styled “Yancy Street Gang”… Nick Caputo, Barry Pearl, and Dr. Michael J. Vassallo, with a copy of the 2015 Taschen volume 75 Years of Marvel: From the Golden Age to the Silver Screen. When this photo first appeared in A/E #136, Ye Editor accidentally misstated that it was taken at the publishing company’s New York bookstore; however, it was actually snapped at the New York Book Fair that year. Courtesy of BP.

The Top 10 JACK KIRBY Marvel Slugfests (1961-1970) According To John “The Mego Stretch Hulk” Cimino

he Slugfest. That’s a term used in the comicbook world, where costumed characters engage in battles so grandiose that they capture the imagination of readers for years to come. The slugfest was first brought to life by the greatest comicbook artist of them all, Jacob Kurtzberg, best known by his pen name Jack Kirby. Throughout the 1940s, Kirby began revolutionizing what was to become known as dynamic storytelling. But who could’ve predicted that he would raise the bar even higher some twenty years later, in the 1960s, when he began collaborating with his former gofer Stan Lee and co-created the Marvel Universe? Whether it was just “time” or whether Lee brought it out of him, somehow at the age of 44, Jack Kirby was able to reinvent himself and leap to unprecedented new heights of creativity and transform his already unique storytelling style into a magnificent symphony of comicbook calamity that set the standard for not only Marvel Comics, but the entire industry. When his heroes clashed, the Earth shook, buildings came crashing down, and crowds ran for cover. Yes, Jack Kirby was the undisputed king of comics, and he would inspire new comic artists unlike any other. Being a young impressionable kid from Waltham, Massachusetts, it was no different for me. I gravitated to Jack Kirby’s work the moment I saw the reprinted cover of Fantastic Four #25 in the pages of the Simon & Schuster hardcover collection Marvel’s Greatest Superhero Battles as a ten-year-old back in 1984. Kirby’s art was like nothing I had ever seen before and much different from the art in most comics on the racks at the time. The way the Hulk and the Thing looked, the way they were locked in combat, the way everyone stood back and watched, it was all, dare I say it—so Kirbylicious. For more than a year, that book never left my side, and the more I dug into it, the more I fell under the Kirby spell. To this day, Jack Kirby’s action-packed battles are the stuff of legend. They’re talked about in comic shops, at comic conventions, and all over social media. You can see their influence in not just the comics stories of today, but in video games, cartoons, and major motion pictures (next time you see a super-hero get punched through a few buildings at the movies, be sure to give Mr. Kirby a silent thank-you). In writing this article, I went through literally hundreds of comics by Jack Kirby, and getting my list down to just ten of my favorite fights was a daunting task indeed. You’ll notice they’re all from Marvel comics between 1961 and 1970—’cause that’s when I feel Kirby’s slugfests reached their peak. I’m sure there will be a few readers out there who will disagree with some of my choices, but hey, Roy Thomas chose me to give you my list, and who am I to argue with “The Boy” when it comes to honoring “The King”? So sit back, get comfortable, and enjoy the Kirby Krackle, because these are THE 10 GREATEST JACK KIRBY SLUGFESTS OF ALL TIME!

Cimino Discovers Kirby (Left:) Little Johnny Cimino in 1984, reading his copy of Marvel’s Greatest Superhero Battles—and (below) Jack Kirby’s cover for Fantastic Four #25 (April 1964), which JC says was a life-changing event for him. Inks by George Roussos. Thanks to John for the images. [Cover TM & ©Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Kirby’s Greatest Hits—Literally!

10.) THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #8 (1963): Spider-Man vs. The Human Torch The first (or, to phrase it another way, the tenth) fight on my top ten list may be a little bit of a surprise to most of you. While the Hulk will toss around buildings and punch holes through battleships in his slugfests to prove he’s the strongest one there is, Spider-Man tackled The Human Torch over something with a little more substance: the attention of Torch’s girl friend Doris Evans (can you blame him? she was a hottie). With the rare combination of Jack Kirby’s pencils, Steve Ditko’s inks, and Stan Lee’s dialogue, this was a six-page hormone-filled story/fight that flowed perfectly to grab the attention of the teenage reader. It was like Archie Comics meshing together with Marvel Comics, and it totally captivated me. I felt for Spidey, as he was this “creepy” costumed hero on the outside, facing the “cool kid” that was Johnny Storm and his brand new XK Jag that all the girls swooned over. Matter of fact, the early interactions between the Torch and Spidey (in The Amazing Spider-Man #1 and Strange Tales Annual #2) were stellar scraps, filled with teen-angst and fun that captured the magic of the early Marvel heroes.

I Lick Ulik! Kirby’s cover for Thor #137 (Feb. 1967). Inks by Vince Colletta. Scan from JC. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

9.) THOR #137-139 (1967): Thor vs. Ulik Jack Kirby had Thor clashing with many super-heavyweights during his run on this title. Why does Ulik, the big bad Rock Troll, get the nod over the others? Well, Thor brawling it out with Ulik was always tremendous in my eyes. While this 3-part (or 3-round) story was their first and best slobber-knocker, IMHO, historically, all their fights were incredibly entertaining. Each one was consistently action-packed, brutal, and full of sheer mass destruction! You had to love Ulik’s insane eagerness to fight the Thunder God and to prove he was better than Thor in every way. With that kind of ego-driven-motivation, all their fights were long battles of attrition that Thor usually won in the end. But Ulik was a stubborn, proud bully who always returned for more with renewed vigor. Kirby laid the foundation of their rivalry in these three issues, and both God and Troll never looked better.

Torch Song The back-up “slugfest” between rivals Spidey and The Human Torch in Amazing Spider-Man #8 (Jan. 1964) ran only six pages—and that’s counting when the rest of the F.F. got in on the action for the final two pages—but it was a real revelation to J. Cimino. Pencils by Kirby, inks by Steve Ditko, script by Stan Lee. Thanks to Barry Pearl for the scan. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

8.) FANTASTIC FOUR #57-60 (1966-1967): The Fantastic Four and The Silver Surfer vs. Dr. Doom Many would argue that Jack Kirby’s best work is in the pages of Fantastic Four comics, especially when the FF clashed with their arch-enemy and Marvel’s greatest villain, Dr. Doom. Doom’s thirst for ultimate power and to make the Fantastic Four (especially Reed Richards) grovel at his feet knew no bounds. In this 4-part epic clash of maniacal manipulation, Doom cons The Silver Surfer, steals

The Top 10 Jack Kirby Marvel Slugfests (1961-1970)

7.) TALES OF SUSPENSE #80-81 (1966): Captain America vs. The Red Skull The rivalry between Captain America and The Red Skull started in the 1940s. By the mid-1960s, both characters returned to clash once again in front of a new generation of comic fans. The difference was that, this time, Jack Kirby’s art and dynamism had increased tenfold, and by 1966 he was at his creative peak. Throw in the power-lusting psychosis of The Red Skull wielding the unlimited power of the Cosmic Cube, and you have a tremendous obstacle for the Sentinel of Liberty to overcome. Was this battle one of the reasons why it was the Marvel Age of Comics? You betcha!

6.) FANTASTIC FOUR #39-40 (1965): The Fantastic Four and Daredevil vs. Dr. Doom As I stated before, when the Fantastic Four clashed with Dr. Doom, it was always an event. Readers knew Jack Kirby was going to be going all-out drawing Doom as menacing and imposing as ever, and the gadgets he was going to create to try to thwart the Fantastic Four with were always a visual delight. The last segment of this epic battle, in which the Thing makes a triumphant return and humbles Doom, is a masterpiece and one of the greatest moments of the Silver Age. It should be noted that, while Frank Giacola is listed as the inker in issue #39, it was Wally Wood who did the inking on the Daredevil figures and on his other identity, Matt Murdock. In the next issue, Vince Colletta took up the main inking duties over Kirby. Either way, this was a classic battle of a humbled Fantastic Four, who needed the assistance of Daredevil to overcome the menace of their greatest enemy—Dr. Doom!

5.) FANTASTIC FOUR #55 (1966): The Thing vs. The Silver Surfer Thing + Doom = Boom! While the entire F.F. and The Silver Surfer got into the act in this four-issue story arc, it was Dr. Doom’s freewheeling combat with the ever-lovin’, blue-eyed Thing (commencing in Fantastic Four #57, Dec. 1966) that brought out the unequivocal best in the King—that, and some of the Surfer scenes! Script by Lee; pencils by Kirby; inks by Joe Sinnott. Thanks to Barry Pearl for the scans. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

his Power Cosmic, and then shows the naïve herald of Galactus how that power should be wielded. The result is a surfboard-flying Dr. Doom showering the landscape with bolts of pure energy and bellowing to the heavens that the world is his to command. The action is fast-paced, and the Fantastic Four are, of course, up to the task to take Victor down.

With no threats to currently deal with, Ben Grimm arrives at his girlfriend Alicia Masters’ home. When he enters, he’s startled to find that The Silver Surfer is already there visiting her. Jealous and enraged about this, Ben attacks the Surfer and begins to wreck everything in the process (perfect start to a slugfest, IMHO).

Danger Cubed! The storyline in which The Red Skull first obtained the all-powerful Cosmic Cube (can we spell “Tesseract,” boys and girls?) was another of the timeless slugfests selected by longtime Marvel editor Roy Thomas to be reprinted in a gorgeous upcoming volume of Captain America’s greatest exploits published by the UK’s prestigious Folio Society. Will it shock anybody to learn there’ll be plenty of Kirby artwork in that tome? Cover of Tales of Suspense #80 (Aug. 1966) and a panel from #81 (Sept. ’66)—inks by Don Heck and Frank Giacoia, respectively. Script by Stan Lee. Thanks to JC. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Kirby’s Greatest Hits—Literally!

The Baxter Building Needs More Comprehensive Insurance!

Surf’s Up!

Kirby’s cover for Fantastic Four #40 (July 1965) was inked by fabulous Frank Giacoia. Thanks to John C. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Benjamin J. Grimm faces the Power Cosmic on the Kirby/Sinnott cover of Fantastic Four #55 (Oct. 1966). Scan courtesy of John C. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Eventually, Reed Richards and Sue Storm enter the scene and stop Ben from finishing the fight. Reed has to talk some sense into Ben and convinces him to help Surfer out of the rubble and to apologize for his actions. Ben feels terrible for letting his insecurities get the best of him. But let’s be honest here: the Thing never catches a break. In this fight, he’s greatly overmatched by the Silver Surfer and yet still manages to beat him up pretty good. Then know-it-all Reed Richards comes along and says, “You don’t know how lucky you are, Ben! He only used a fraction of his power against you.” Jeez, Reed, give ol’ Benjy a break, he already apologized. Sheeesh! Man, how can you not love these comics?

4.) TALES TO ASTONISH #82 (1966): Iron Man vs. the Sub-Mariner What makes this fight so interesting is the legend behind the making of this comicbook. Artist Gene Colan drew the first of two parts of this epic fight in Tales of Suspense #79 & 80—and then only the first two pages in Tales to Astonish #82 before reportedly coming down with the flu. Stan Lee had to scramble to make the deadline and asked Jack Kirby to finish the art for the story (our pal “Rascally” Roy Thomas wound up writing the actual dialogue). The ten pages that Mr. Kirby drew in such a short amount of time are a true testament to the man’s unmatched skill. What readers got to witness that month was an absolute genius piece of work that

By Land Or By Sea… Gene Colan penciled the cover and the first two pages of this climax of a two-part Iron Man vs. Sub-Mariner brouhaha—but then Kirby stepped in for the final ten pages in Tales to Astonish #82 (Aug. 1966)! Inks by Dick Ayers; plot by Stan Lee (surely aided and abetted by JK); script by Roy Thomas. Scans courtesy of JC. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

The Top 10 Jack Kirby Marvel Slugfests (1961-1970)

had Namor and Iron Man fighting back and forth in a momentous manifesto of mayhem that was the pinnacle of super-hero action. I need say no more about this slugfest, as it was just another example of why Jack Kirby is the King of comicbooks.

3.) JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #125/ THOR #126 (1966): Thor vs. Hercules Another unforgettable rivalry between two super-heavyweights in the annals of Marvel history is Thor clashing with Hercules. Both of these immortals are considered the strongest and greatest warriors of their respective pantheons (Asgardian and Olympian). When they had first clashed in Journey into Mystery Annual #1, the results had been inconclusive. Here, in the rematch, things got a bit spicier because they weren’t fighting for honor and pride; they were fighting for the affections of Jane Foster! Both immortals usually had flocks of women eager to embrace their “godhood,” so this was uncharted territory for them. The result? The two Casanovas battle it out harder than ever to impress a girl as New York City suffers. Jane Foster eventually runs back to Thor after daddy Odin strips him of half his powers, which gave Hercules an unfair edge at the end of the fight. After the final beatdown, Thor shuns Jane’s affection and must return to Asgard to get his powers back. Talk about love and drama? This fight had that in spades!

2.) JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #112 (1965): Hulk vs. Thor Not since the Hulk squared off with the Thing had a fight been so highly demanded by readers. But, to be honest, everyone knew that the Hulk was eventually going to pummel the Thing, no matter how hard Ben fought back. This one was way different! Thor and the Hulk were the two physically strongest characters in the Marvel Universe, and fans demanded to know which one of them was the In Gods We Truss! stronger. Readers flooded the Marvel offices with letters, seeking an (Above:) 1966 was clearly a banner year for Kirby-drawn clashes! answer. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby pay homage to the insanity in the Thor #126 (March ’66) saw the greatest Thor vs. Hercules battle ever— opening splash page, with Hulk and Thor fanboys arguing over who and Thor lost! ’Course, neither he nor Herc knew till later that Loki’s trickery had robbed him of half his strength, though never of his innate the real champion of the Marvel Universe is. Thor drops in and tells nobility. Script by Stan Lee; inks by Vince Colletta. Scan courtesy of them the tale of the encounter he had with the Hulk back in Avengers Barry Pearl. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.] #3, when they were both off-panel. The two “royal” powerhouses of Marvel engaged in a tremendous combat to see who was the stronger. Thor asked Odin to take away the enchantment of Mjolnir for five minutes so he could challenge the Hulk hand-to-hand. But as that happened, the Hulk never took his eyes off the hammer and wanted to destroy it. They went back and forth in an absolutely

“Who’s Stronger—Thor Or The Hulk?” Perhaps one of the most audacious of Stan and Jack’s ideas was to re-visit an earlier Thor-vs.-Hulk hullaballoo (in The Avengers #3) in Journey into Mystery #112, so readers could see the fight there strung out to its natural length. Even so, it still didn’t quite answer the above eternal question. (John Cimino thinks he knows the answers—but then, he’s prejudiced, as can be seen by his byline.) Inks by Chic Stone; script by Stan Lee. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Kirby’s Greatest Hits—Literally!

spectacular battle that shook the entire industry to its very core. Kirby’s pacing of the fight is nothing short of pure genius. The Hulk eventually throws Thor against the underground cavern wall, causing an avalanche to separate them. Soon, the Hulk digs himself out and would find Thor fighting the Sub-Mariner and the rest of this scrap continues back in Avengers #3. Later, we see the Hulk in the desert shouting out to the world that he will one day defeat the Thunder God. How could any comicbook reader not shout “Make Mine Marvel!” after reading this issue back in the day? This is super-heroic storytelling at its finest.

1.) FANTASTIC FOUR #25-26 (1964): Hulk vs. Thing (with the Fantastic Four and The Avengers) The Hulk slugging it out with the Thing goes by many names: “The Battle of the Behemoths,” “The Clash of the Titans,” and so on. But whatever you want to call it, it has to be considered “The Brawl That Started it All!” Even before the Hulk clashed with the Thing, comics fights had come a long way under Jack Kirby’s guidance. But, despite his innovations, nothing really special had happened yet. After the two brutes first fought in Fantastic Four #12 and showed a dynamic between them that captured the imagination of the fans, Kirby set the standard of what a true comic slugfest was supposed to be, while taking the meaning of “city-leveling action” to a whole new stratosphere, when he gave them a rematch in Fantastic Four #25 & 26. Needless to say, once “Hulk vs. Thing” entered into the Marvelmythos, the comicbook world was never the same. Not only is this Jack Kirby’s greatest slugfest, it has to be considered the greatest slugfest in Marvel history. If that’s not enough praise, it can also be considered the greatest slugfest in the history of the medium! Can anyone prove me wrong?! After Fantastic Four #25 & 26 hit the newsstands, Jack Kirby was officially crowned “The King of Comics,” because these are the issues that set the standards for what a super-hero slugfest is in comics, cartoons, video games, movies, whatever! Never was a battle so grand, so epic, and so influential! It really was a total game-changer. The sense of wonderment that a reader felt taking this all in is something that can never be replicated. With Stan Lee’s brilliant dialogue meshed together with Kirby’s unparalleled storytelling, it represents heroic drama on a level very few comics have ever achieved. Stan Lee billed this as “The Battle of the Century” on the cover of issue #25, and who am I to argue with that?

Hail, Hail, The Gang’s All Here—And Fighting Like Hell! One of the first of Marvel’s infamous “continued stories” was the clash between the Fantastic Four (especially the Thing) and the Hulk in FF #25 (April 1964), whose cover is seen on the first page of John Cimino’s article… which segued the next month (#26) into an FF/Hulk/Avengers free-for-all that set the pace for all Marvel battles to follow! Inking by Sol Brodsky. Thanks to JC. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

John Cimino is a Silver and Bronze Age comic, cartoon, and memorabilia expert who contributes articles to RetroFan, The Jack Kirby Collector, Back Issue, and now Alter Ego, for TwoMorrows Publishing. He runs The Roy Thomas Appreciation Boards on Facebook and likes to drag Roy and Dann Thomas away from their daily chores on the farm to a comic convention. Check out his blog at Hero-Envy.blogspot.com, contact him at johnstretch@live.com, or follow him on Instagram at megostretchhulk, because he likes the attention.

From Ben Grimm—To Grimlock! (Above right:) When Ye Editor asked John C. which photo of him to stick on the end of this piece, JC insisted it be this one, wherein the erstwhile Rascally One is considering slitting JC’s throat as he holds up two 2020 issues of Marvel’s Savage Sword of Conan written by RT—in the first of which appeared a suspiciously slimy character named “Simino.” Photo by Dann Thomas. (Left:) The cover of Songs of Immortality, a new 12” vinyl record that contains material by the 1990s hardcore band Grimlock, from a CD originally released in 1997. And yes, the front man at left (possessor of what one recent review called “one of the angriest voices in hardcore”) is indeed the same John Cimino who authored this Kirby-clash retrospective. [Album cover TM & © the respective trademark & copyright holders.]

“The Marvel Age Of Comics Started On September 30, 1972!” “W by Robert Menzies

hat on Earth are you on about?” you’re thinking. “Everyone knows ‘The Marvel Age of Comics’ started with The Fantastic Four #1, which was on the stands in New York City on August 8, 1961, and soon elsewhere across the States!” Well, we’re both right. It’s a question of geography. And age. In 1967 Marvel had licensed out their characters to British publisher Odhams, who released the comics Wham!, Smash!, Pow!, Terrific, and Fantastic, the first issue of the latter coming out the day my parents married. By the end of the decade, all were gone. Jump

forward a few years. On the last Saturday of September 1972, the youth of Britain saw a new comic on newsagents’ shelves— The Mighty World of Marvel. Inside The Mighty World of Marvel (MWOM) #1, Marvel returned to Ground Zero with Fantastic Four #1, adding the first appearances of Hulk and Spider-Man. Even using only one colour, and dividing American editions into installments, this was a blockbuster package. One suspects that, of those readers who were lucky enough to pick up issue #1, the majority came back for the second. A new generation of True Believers had been born and were facing front. Due to the traditional weekly schedule of British comics, and the telescoped, accelerated continuity that had the Fab Four, Greenskin, and Spidey debut on the same day, growing up a Marvel fan in the 1970s was like drinking from a fire hose. In those early months, no artist’s work appeared more often than Jack Kirby’s, and for years his art graced the British titles as they reprinted his runs on the World’s Greatest Comic Magazine as well as Hulk, Ant-Man, Thor, The Avengers, Captain America, Nick Fury, and what seemed like a thousand other characters— despite the fact that, from sometime in 1970 through 1975, Kirby was under contract to DC Comics and did no new work

“Age” Is Just A Number! In the United States, the Stan Lee-christened “Marvel Age of Comics” began with The Fantastic Four #1 (Nov. 1961), behind a Jack Kirby/ George Klein cover seen above, even though the name “Marvel” wouldn’t appear on comics covers again till ’63… But, in Great Britain/the UK, that “Age” can be said to be have been birthed when The Mighty World of Marvel #1 (dated Oct. 7, 1972) went on sale—with the John Buscema-penciled (though certainly Jack Kirbyinspired) cover glimpsed at left. Thanks to Robert Menzies for all art spots printed with his article, unless otherwise noted. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.] Incidentally, the Stan Lee side of the “Marvel UK” launch and its aftermath were covered by Robert M. back in Alter Ego #15; the two pieces can be considered bookends.

Jack Kirby UK Credits

by Kirby; while Marvel Database has no inker credit, the GCD identifies Frank Giacoia as the inker. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Captain Britain #16 (January 26, 1977) Am I Blue? The Odhams company that began reprinting Marvel stories in weekly instalments circa 1967 not only eliminated all mentions of the word “Marvel” on its covers, but also worked in a couple of coloring errors all its own. Perhaps it’s just as well that the interiors were black-&-white !? This is the cover of Terrific #20 (Aug. 26, 1967). [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

for Marvel. Throughout the ’70s, nonetheless, Jack’s 1960s art was endlessly recycled for pin-ups, letters-page art, annuals, even activities and games, a tiny percentage of which will appear in this edition of A/E. This trend continued even into the 1980s, with reprints of the reprints, and reprints of the reprinted reprints. One of these, I confess, has weighty sentimental value for me, as in 1983 my family were in the Highlands visiting our clan castle for the first (and only) time, and 15-year-old me was delighted to find a lonely British reprint of The X-Men #4 in a cupboard-sized village shop. So, you see, for my generation, growing up in Britain—or bonny Scotland, in my particular case—the Marvel Age was a 1970s phenomenon, with Jack Kirby the vanguard artist. I unfortunately never had the opportunity to say this to the man in real life, but thanks, Jack. From me and all the other British fans still in awe of your genius.

Jack Kirby UK Credits Assembled by Robert Menzies, 2020 Avengers Annual 1975 (UK), contents page Art taken from cover to Tales of Suspense #86 (February 1967). Pencils

Recycled pin-up taking art from cover of Captain America #112 (April 1969). Kirby & Giacoia art. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

“The Marvel Age Of Comics Started On September 30, 1972!”

Captain Britain #19 (February 16, 1977) Fantastic Four pin-up. I can’t seem to find the original U.S. source for this. However, there is a re-inked and re-coloured version of this by J.A. Fludd on the Kirby Museum site called “Four & Foes” and something posted by Josh Morrows on the Comics Horizon website from July of last year. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

The Mighty World of Marvel #6, Vol.7 (September 19, 2018) Splash page (page 6) from Fantastic Four #72 (March 1967). Kirby & Sinnott. Colour art probably recycled from the variant cover for Silver Surfer #14 (Kirby 100 Variant) from 2017. (Incidentally, Philippe Queveau on the comicartfans. com website owns the original art.) [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Titans Annual 1978, contents page Thing waving a fist at Galactus in the first panel from page 3 of Fantastic Four #75 (June 1968). For reasons unknown, they have removed Johnny Storm and Reed Richards, who in the original art are standing behind Ben on his left and right. Kirby & Sinnott. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Marvel Comic Album (pictured at left) Not sure about the main art’s source—it’s very similar to the pose from the cover to The Mighty Thor #177 (June 1970), although it’s a different piece—but the original art was used for the Kirby variant cover to Generations: The Unworthy Thor & The Mighty Thor #1 (2017), with new colours by Paul Mounts. Captain America is closely modelled on the pose from page 5, panel 3 of Captain America #108 (December 1968) by Kirby & Syd Shores. The Iron Man pose looks very like a Gene Colan swipe to me. Not sure about Ol’ Greenskin; may be a Marie Severin or (more likely) Herb Trimpe swipe. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Jack Kirby UK Credits

“Among Us Wreckers Dwell!” splash page taken from Tales of Suspense #64 (April 1965). Art by Kirby & Giacoia (the latter pseudonymously as “Frank Ray”). [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

“Captain America, Living Legend of World War II” Leaping Cap and Bucky excerpted from the cover of Tales of Suspense #65 (May 1965). Kirby pencils, no inker listed in Marvel Database but GCD credits Chic Stone. Image at left of Steve Rogers and Cap from cover of Tales of Suspense #63 (March 1965). Kirby & Giacoia. Top right image from cover of Tales of Suspense #74 (February 1966). Kirby pencils. Sol Brodsky credited as inker on GCD. [All art on this page TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

“‘4’ Power” (Fantastic Four Annual 1970, UK) This page, which is the quartered double-page spread with awful puns, has recycled the four separate battle images of the team fighting the Mad Thinker’s android on the cover of Fantastic Four #71 (February 1968). Cover by Kirby & Joe Sinnott. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

“The Marvel Age Of Comics Started On September 30, 1972!”

“Battle of Wits” (Fantastic Four Annual 1970, UK) The negative image of Doctor Doom (bottom right) has been lifted from the opening splash page from Fantastic Four #58 (January 1967). Art by Kirby & Sinnott—but note the mislabelling of Johnny Storm as “Johnny Richards.” [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

“Mission Impossible” (Fantastic Four Annual 1970, UK) The central art with Blastaar is taken from the page 8 splash from Fantastic Four #63 (June 1967). The small image of him running, located below his right leg, is panel 2 from page 12 of the same comic. Kirby & Sinnott art. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.] Mr Fantastic, Invisible Girl, and the Thing all from the cover of Fantastic Four #59 (February 1967). Kirby & Sinnott art. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Robert Menzies in a COVID mask, to “commemorate” the fact that he wrote this article in 2020… though, so far, 2021 hasn’t looked all that different, has it?

Jack Kirby UK Credits

Addendum:

Jack And The Angel by John McShane (as told to Robert Menzies) TRANSCRIBER’S INTRODUCTION: On the Scottish comic scene, no one has met or worked with more comic creators than John McShane. Former co-owner of the “aka comic shop” in Glasgow—of which I was a dedicated visitor—he has met many of the legends of comics and encouraged a generation of Scottish creators like Frank Quietly (Vincent Diegan), Grant Morrison, and Mark Millar. He has even popped up in print as a character in Captain Britain, Vol. 2, #4 (Feb. 1986), story and art by Alan Davis!

he story behind my first encounter with Jack [Kirby] really begins at a London convention in 1980. The big American guest for me that year was Archie Goodwin, but I was so awed by this great writer and editor, and he was so shy, that it was a little awkward when we met. Flash forward to San Diego Comic-Con 1989, and I’m there representing Trident Comics. I was in a private bar before the public arrived, possibly on the Thursday. It was quite empty, but I spotted Archie. He recognised me and this time we had a much better blether [Scots for “chat”]. Then we noticed this guy who was there by himself. We didn’t know him but we invited him to join us anyway. He told us his name was Glen Kolleda, and during the conversation he mentioned his project with Jack, a small statue based on one of Jack’s prints with a Biblical theme called “Jacob and the Angel.” The next day I met up with Igor Goldkind, Fleetway’s representative for 2000 AD, Crisis, and Revolver, and we went for a drink. When I was there I saw Glen come up with a small gentleman beside him and a slightly taller woman. I said, “Excuse me, Igor!” and shot away faster than Barry Allen! I “innocently” [McShane winks] said, “Hello, Glen!” and Glen said, “Oh, hello, John! Have you met Jack?” [McShane laughs loudly.] Jack’s wife, Roz, looked at me slightly suspiciously, but Jack was absolutely lovely. We talked about the fact we hadn’t had the privilege of seeing him at a convention in Britain, and I know you’ve talked, Robert, about how various circumstances had prevented him from coming [see “JK in the UK” in The Jack Kirby Collector #73]. He said

that he had never been in Scotland, only in England. His ship had docked in Liverpool for training before he went into combat. I’ve seen his war sketches from foxholes: if anyone should be doing war comics, it’s Jack. I had business cards with me, but Jack always deferred everything to Roz, who was very solicitous of him, and she took my card. She made sure no one was exploiting him. Jack was so open and we spoke for some time. I certainly never expected to meet Jack Kirby in a random bar in San Diego. Later, when I saw Glen’s little statue—probably at Jack’s table, although Glen may have had a separate table; I don’t recall exactly after all this time—I thought it was lovely and said to myself, “I’m buying one of them!” I also picked up a pre-signed copy of the print that the statue is based on. I still have both. After that, I never saw much of Jack privately, even though I attended the next two San Diego Cons in August 1990 and July 1991, both of which had Jack as a guest. He was always surrounded by people. People were always at Jack’s table asking him questions, and it was nice just to stand there and listen to the King. That’s why I took those two photos, as a memento. I turned the flash off for the photos as I didn’t want to bother him. I didn’t want to flash

John McShane with the small statue carved by Glen Kolleda based on a Biblically-themed Kirby print, “Jacob and the Angel”—which is seen below, retrieved by layout guru Chris Day from the Internet, is the original Kirby art! [© Estate of Jack Kirby.]

“The Marvel Age Of Comics Started On September 30, 1972!”

in his face or be obtrusive, because he was such a lovely, lovely man. I did attend a great panel Jack did with Will Eisner, whom I’d known for a while. I think that was 1990. Jack got quite sentimental about Will, calling him the best boss he ever had. It was very moving. During the con Will and I planned to go for a drink and he said, “Hang on a minute. Jack will be here and we can go for a coffee or something.” I said that was fine. But Jack was surrounded by about fifty people and was moving at a rate of centimetres. Time ran out. Forty-five minutes later and Jack hadn’t managed to get to the square, so we had to go our separate ways, but it was nice to be invited.

Jack “King” Kirby in one of the photos taken by John McShane at the 1989 San Diego Comic-Con—and, to finish off with some “UK content,” the cover of The Titans Pocket Book #4 (1980), with reprinted pencils by Kirby. [Cover TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Jack wasn’t looking poorly the first time I saw him, but, sadly, he did decline after that and was looking a bit frail. Roz was very solicitous and tried to follow him around, but when you’re surrounded by fifty people that isn’t easy. If Will Eisner can’t get a cup of coffee with you, things are a bit tight! [laughs]

I was very privileged to have met Jack. If it hadn’t been for me knowing Archie, and us inviting Glen Kolleda over, I would still have met Jack but I wouldn’t have had that lovely conversation.

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THE HERO INITIATIVE CREATES A FINANCIAL SAFETY NET FOR COMIC CREATORS WHO MAY NEED EMERGENCY MEDICAL AID, FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR ESSENTIALS OF LIFE, AND AN AVENUE BACK INTO PAYING WORK. SINCE INCEPTION, THE HERO INITIATIVE HAS BEEN FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO BENEFIT OVER 50 CREATORS AND THEIR FAMILIES WITH OVER $500,000 WORTH OF MUCHNEEDED AID, FUELED BY YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS! IT’S A CHANCE FOR ALL OF US TO GIVE BACK SOMETHING TO THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE GIVEN US SO MUCH ENJOYMENT.

Art by Jack Kirby, 1941. Thanks to Warren Reece. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

From Jasper Sitwell To Houseroy—And Back Again! Or, JACK KIRBY & Me, 1947-2021! A Personal Appreciation by Roy Thomas

mong a certain small (and clinically insane) coterie of otherwise perhaps laudable Jack Kirby fans, I seem to have the reputation—unsought, unappreciated, and totally undeserved—of being a Kirby-hater. Or at least (and it’s pretty much the same thing to the above folks) of being a guy who believes that writer/editor Stan Lee contributed something to his and Kirby’s decade-plus association besides “just” putting precise words in the mouths of Kirbyanimated characters. Well, on the last count, I’ll admit—I’m guilty as charged. But this article is about my relationship, both as a comicbook fan since 1947, and since 1965 as a fellow pro, to Jack “King” Kirby... so let’s concentrate on that aspect of things, shall we?

“Simon&Kirby” I’m not sure, frankly, exactly how old I was—or where and how it happened—that I became aware of Jack Kirby. Joe Kubert’s name adorned most of the latter-1940s “Hawkman” stories in which I reveled—Gardner Fox’s, E.E. Hibbard’s, Jerry Siegel’s, Joe Shuster’s, and Bob Kane’s names, among a number of others, were likewise on tales they either wrote or drew or had ghosted for them. Actually, I didn’t become aware of Jack Kirby in the 1940s at all—not really. What forced itself upon my consciousness, probably in late 1947 when I was just turning seven, was the team I knew as “Joe Simon and Jack Kirby”—virtually as one entity, “Simon&Kirby.” Like most people, young or old, who weren’t professionals in the comicbook field, I had no idea of who did what when I saw those two names on a “Stuntman” splash page—probably not in Stuntman #1 in early ’46, more likely when the origin story

The Kirby Trilogy? (Left:) Roy Thomas, on right, and his manager/pal John Cimino attacked by—or are they attacking?—a huge Galactus display at the TerrifiCon held at the Mohegan Sun Casino, NY, on Aug. 19, 2017… which is about as close as RT ever came to having a personal photo taken with Jack Kirby! Photo courtesy of JC. (Above:) Jack Kirby himself, with a peaceable pipe.

was reprinted in Black Cat Comics #9 (Jan. 1948), in late ’47. Of course, I suppose I could’ve seen Stuntman #1… I was certainly buying comics by spring of 1946, at age five. During that period, I simply had to learn to read before I started school in fall of ’46 (first grade—no kindergarten for this kid, or most kids I knew, back in the mid-’40s)… because I just had to know what those gaudily clad characters were saying, which would help explain what they were doing. I do remember being very confused by the triple-identity aspect of “Stuntman,” since at the time I didn’t really know anything about real stuntmen and their relationship to the equally mysterious movie industry that was the backdrop of the series. Mostly, I think I simply rejoiced in the thrill of the drawings… first of the circus acrobats (whose colorful costumes were the general inspiration that formed the basis of not only Stuntman’s costume but of those of Superman, Batman, and the rest as well)… and of the super-hero outfit that the aerialist mutated his carnival gear into. I’m pretty sure I devoured other “Stuntman” reprints when they popped up—but I probably missed some. All I really knew over the next few years after 1947 was that, anytime I saw those magic names “Simon and Kirby” on a comics story, it meant that the artwork would be “good”—by which I meant exciting, lively, dynamic. Sometimes other people drew most or all of those stories, and as I got older I could tell that Simon and Kirby had some unattributed helpers—and sometimes I believe I recognized the S&K style on unsigned stories. In fact, one of my favorites of “their” 1940s stories, a “Boom Boom Brannigan” yarn in Prize Comics wherein an imitation (and alien) costumed Superman type who called himself “Superior Male” came to Earth and got knocked out

Jack Kirby & Me, 1947-2012!

Why Did You Pull A Stunt Like That? Actually, this splash page from Harvey Comics’ Stuntman #1 (April-May 1946) was probably not the source of barely-five-years-old Roy’s first exposure to the “Joe Simon and Jack Kirby” byline. It’s more likely to have been when this origin story was reprinted in Black Cat Comics #9 (Jan. 1948), on sale just before he turned seven. [TM & © Estates of Joe Simon & Jack Kirby.]

by the titular four-color prizefighter, only looked to my inexpert eyes like a “Simon and Kirby” job—it was, in actuality, all Joe Simon. But I loved it just the same. Matter of fact, I may have been a closet Simon and Kirby fan even before I saw that first “Stuntman” story. When the pair briefly came back post-WWII to DC Comics, even though much of that work was unsigned, I recognized their “look” on the “Newsboy Legion” (co-starring the Guardian, whom I liked better than the boys themselves) in a few issues of Star Spangled Comics. And, when I was given a few “old” comics by relatives, I recall seeing a house ad for Adventure Comics #93 (Aug.-Sept. 1944), with a very much S&K Sandman and Sandy sitting atop some sort of muzzled dragon on a cover titled “Sleep for Sale”—though I never, till this day, have read the story inside, which in any case wasn’t by Simon and Kirby. For the next decade, I continued to at least glance at anything I saw on the newsstands that either claimed to be (or simply looked like) the work of Simon & Kirby. Some of it was “true crime” or mild horror—two genres I generally eschewed as not interesting me, except for the artwork, which was rarely reason enough in and of itself for me to part with one of my too-scarce dimes. The Simon & Kirby romance comics, if I even noticed them, I wouldn’t have touched with a ten-cent pole. Ditto the war comics. Just as was the case with the many EC horror or crime or war comics I perused briefly before putting them back on the shelf, I didn’t buy them.

I probably purchased one or two science-fiction entries by S&K, though. SF I liked. And I bought at least one or two issues of Boys’ Ranch, too. Nice stuff, even though it wasn’t super-heroes. At least Westerns weren’t horror or “true crime”! And then there was Harvey Comics’ Captain 3-D #1-andonly! When I saw that hero leaping at me from the stands, I had to have it—even if it cost a quarter instead of the usual dime and the insides were only in approximations of black-&-white after you donned those red-and-green “glasses.” Beautiful stuff, and a great origin—even if the good Captain’s outfit was a little silly with those striped pants and the little knob on the top of his helmet— and even though I wished he had some real super-powers. What I was coming to realize about the Simon & Kirby heroes was that, while they might be idealized athletes in terms of conception, they were rarely much more than Batman in a brighter costume. (I’d have felt the same way about their early Captain America, but of course I didn’t see any of their work on him until I was in my early twenties.) Then came—Fighting American! I was already stoked by the return of The Human Torch, Sub-Mariner, and Captain America at “Atlas”—in Cap’s case, mostly because of the artwork of John Romita, who I recognized even at age 13 had combined Simon-&-Kirby dynamics with the look of Milt Caniff’s Terry and the Pirates and Steve Canyon. But

From Jasper Sitwell To Houseroy—And Back Again!

3-D Or Not 3-D, That Is The Question! (Right:) No “Simon and Kirby” signature on this de facto one-shot from December 1953, but there was no mistaking these patented Kirby poses and dynamics in Captain 3-D #1. And if you’ve still got your 3-D specs left lying around from Alter Ego #115 & 126, you’ll get a clearer look at Cap’s encounter with Iron Hat McGinty and his blockbustin’ bulldozer! From RT’s own collection. (He’s got two copies!) [TM & © Estates of Joe Simon & Jack Kirby.]

Harvey’s (and S&K’s) Fighting American was even more dynamic, even if the hero was clearly “only” a copy of Captain America. I had no notion, of course, that Simon & Kirby were the guys who had created Cap around the time I was born, and that they were out to “show them [‘Atlas’] how it’s done,” to employ Joe’s phrasing. Fighting American—even though he, too, was mostly just an athlete in a stars-and-stripes costume—was one of the greatest visual concepts to come out of comicbooks in the mid-1950s. I loved his origin—in which a weakling’s mind is transferred into the revitalized body of his murdered, physically perfect big brother. I saw, even then, the parallels with Cap’s origin as briefly recounted by Romita in Young Men #24—even if I didn’t know the real

connection between the two sentinels of liberty. Every couple of months, I looked forward to the new issue of Fighting American as much as I did the latest Torch/Namor/Cap offering from the “Atlas” guys. But when the latter soon vanished from the newsstands, I suppose I wasn’t too surprised that the even more dramatic Fighting American swiftly followed them into oblivion. (I bought an issue or two of Harvey’s Thrills of Tomorrow during that period, too, and even then realized that it was made up of reprinted [actually, they were re-reprinted] “Stuntman” stories—and that “Stuntman” was far and away superior artwise to most of the rest of the stuff on the shelves. But it didn’t last long, either.)

Joe Simon seated at a New York City comics convention a decade or so back, flanked by Roy (on our right) and publisher J. David Spurlock. Joe passed away in 2011, at age 98… and he was mentally spry and feisty right up to the end!

Clearly, I soon began to realize, most of the rest of the comics-buying public—i.e., other kids—did not share my refined tastes. After that, Simon and Kirby mostly vanished from

Simon & Kirby Go Down Fighting! (Left:) For some reason, there was no byline up front in Fighting American #1 (April 1954)—but by #2 (June ’54), pictured here, and through #5 of its original 7-issue run, a big “Produced by Simon & Kirby” box appeared on the first splash page in each issue. Then, in #6 & 7, it was back to zero credits. The Simon & Kirby byline, alas, was losing its considerable once-luster. Thanks to Barry Pearl & Dave Armstrong. [TM & © Estates of Joe Simon & Jack Kirby.]

Jack Kirby & Me, 1947-2012!

my consciousness… and indeed, from nearly everybody’s, since the team broke up soon afterward, a victim of changing times. One of the last things I remember by them was Bullseye, a Western hero I loved. (What? You forgot that I’ve said I got the idea for Iron Fist’s dragon chest-brand from that S&K hero?)

Kirby, Period Still, when “Challengers of the Unknown” debuted a year or so later in Showcase #6 (Jan.-Feb. 1957), I recognized that “Simon & Kirby look,” despite the lack of any credits on the stories. Little did I suspect that this was Jack working minus Joe (albeit with a concept the pair had reportedly co-created earlier). I followed “Challengers” for as long as Kirby was drawing it; as soon as he checked out, so did I. I remember admiring his handful of “Green Arrow” art jobs, too, even if they were too short to really sink your teeth into. Why weren’t Simon & Kirby doing whole magazines like Challengers of the Unknown any longer? And then—something weird happened. I began to notice Kirby’s work—sometimes signed, sometimes not—in the “Atlas” line (even if, by then, the Atlas seal had disappeared from that company’s covers; but what else was I going to call it, unless it was “Marvel,” the name I’d known it by as a kid in the late 1940s?). This “Atlas” art was cruder, more rushed-looking than the old S&K stuff, but at least now I was finally beginning to realize that the team art I’d loved had mostly been the stylings of Kirby. (Made me wonder what that guy Simon had done… and was doing, now that he and Kirby had clearly parted ways.)

know now, Joe Simon was the comics’ editor—and he’d hired his talented ex-partner as artist. Jack, alas, was gone after an issue or two… and Joe, not long afterward… but they’d done enough superb spadework that The Fly limped on for several years in lesser hands. Meanwhile, Kirby seemed to be ever more confined to the pages of the once-Marvel/once-Atlas line, drawing those cockamamie monster mish-mashes. I mostly consigned him, I suppose, to my memories of his past glories.

Jack “King” Kirby And then, one day at the turn of August 1961, I walked into the Metro News store in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, where I was just graduating from college—and here were copies of this comic called The Fantastic Four #1 staring back at me. It looked like one of the “Atlas” monster comics, yet it had a logo that read like a super-hero group, as if it were inspired by, oh, let’s say, DC’s Justice League of America. Where the JLA had fought a giant starfish on their very first cover, these four guys were battling a gigantic Kirby monstrosity that was ripping a huge new manhole in a city street. And what four guys! I probably spotted the (truly awful, by my lights) new version of The Human Torch first, because it was bright red; but I quickly focused on the second, smaller monster on the cover—and realized from the box at the right that he must be called “The Thing.” art.

I paged through the comic and bought it—for the concept and

Kirby was mostly drawing these tales of King Kong- or even Godzilla-sized monsters with ludicrous names and equally ridiculous stories… over-sized critters who were created, wreaked havoc, and were defeated all in stories that were never over about a dozen pages long and often quite shorter. I admired the artwork to a certain extent, especially the design of the monsters, but I never spent a dime on a single one of those comics. I’d occasionally page through one, but then I’d put it back on the shelf and pick up the latest Flash or Green Lantern— —or, just for a little while there, a couple of characters coming out of, of all places, the Archie Comics Group! Yep, I was on hand in 1959, still reading comics at age eighteen, when two issues of The Double Life of Private Strong heralded a too-brief revival of The Shield, a hero I remembered vaguely from stories in a few issues of Pep Comics I’d seen as a kid. Nice stuff! No credits— but I knew it was “Simon & Kirby,” of course. Just a couple of weeks later, there was Adventures of The Fly, a great new character, with an origin that echoed the wonderful Fawcett “Captain Marvel.” What I didn’t know at the time, of course, was that these two titles were, in a sense, the last proud echo of the Simon & Kirby team. As I

Monster Sale! (Left:) Kirby’s cover for the first “Challengers of the Unknown” story, in Showcase #6 (Jan.-Feb. 1957), reportedly inked by Roz Kirby & Marvin Stein. It was, though nobody knew it at the time, a bit like a foreshadowing of the Fantastic Four before they gained super-powers and switched companies (just like Jack did). [TM & © DC Comics.] (Right:) A couple of years later, following a reversal of fortune too complicated to be gone into here, Jack was working mostly for the rump company that had once been Timely/Atlas Comics (and would soon become Marvel Comics), on giant-monster extravaganzas such as the one in Amazing Adventures #5 (Oct. 1961). Thanks to John Cimino & the Grand Comics Database for both scans. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

From Jasper Sitwell To Houseroy—And Back Again!

Lee, and about other aspects of the comicbook business. And I was soon thrilled to learn that, when Jerry sent a copy of CC #1 to Stan, he sent back a letter that mentioned my review— and me by name. It just couldn’t ever get any better than that! I soon began to have a far greater appreciation than before of both Lee and Kirby—but again let’s concentrate on Jack here. He was all over the comics that came out from once-Atlas over the next year or so: The Incredible Hulk, “Thor,” “Ant-Man,” “Iron Man,” even a “Human Torch” solo feature. While Lee didn’t fully write everything, and Kirby didn’t pencil everything, those two seemed

There’s A Star-Spangled Banner Fly-ing Somewhere! And, as a matter of fact, it was flying at the Archie Comics Group! This was—except for DC’s Sandman #1 (Winter 1974)—the unheralded “last hurrah” of the Simon & Kirby team, though it’s not known if Joe S. did any actual scripting or artwork for either Archie title, but he was editor/ packager of The Double Life of Private Strong #1 and Adventures of The Fly #1 (both Aug. ’59). Thanks to John Cimino & the GCD. [TM & © Estate of Joe Simon.]

I fell in love with the Thing before I’d finished reading the origin story. And, upon that reading, I’d fallen in love with the writing as much as with the art. The dialogue had a different tinge to it, somehow—a bit more realistic, and certainly more full of drama and emotion, than the Julius Schwartz-edited DC mags that I liked (but, I quickly realized now, on a quite different and more juvenile level). Yeah, it was Stan Lee’s writing that made me an instant fan of The Fantastic Four— But it was Jack Kirby’s art, too, that did that— especially his visual representation of the Thing—and to a lesser extent of the Mole Man, a far more sinister-looking villain than the Mirror Master and Sinestro from Julie’s books, bless ’em. I immediately sat down and wrote what got printed, Stan Lee & Jack within 2-3 weeks, as a “review” of FF #1 in the first issue of Kirby the ad-fanzine The Comicollector, from my Alter-Ego editor (left to right) at a 1966 Jerry G. Bails… dated September 1961, but actually out in meeting of the National the mails by late August. In it I identified the artist as “Jack Cartoonists Society. Kirby (of the oldtime Simon-Kirby team, which originated Thanks to Sean Howe. Captain America, the Guardian, Stuntman, Challengers of the Unknown, and many others),” and noted that the new “Together For The First Time”—Down Under! comic stood “somewhere between the Challengers and the new Justice We figure you probably spotted the Jack Kirby/George Klein cover for 1961’s League of America.” Otherwise, I didn’t comment on the artwork as Fantastic Four #1 back on page 39, so here’s an Australian edition of that such. But my love for the Thing was evident in the review. Within a short time, through Jerry and other fans, I learned far more than I’d ever known before about Simon & Kirby, about Stan

iconic image, which appeared in 1974 from Newton Comics. It’s almost as garish as one of those early-’70s “Day-Glo” posters, but it gets the job done! [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Jack Kirby & Me, 1947-2012!

to be the real powerhouses behind this new conglomeration of super-heroes, and I was on board for the duration. But I only ever exchanged a couple of letters with Stan—and, not knowing where he lived or if “Atlas” would forward letters to him, I never sent any kind of missive to Jack Kirby.

Jasper Sitwell—“Muscle Of The Midwest” And then, one early-July day in 1965, Stan Lee hired me at what by now was known as Marvel Comics—and everything changed for me. Strangely, I don’t recall the precise first time I met Jack Kirby, the way I do my first encounters with Stan and with artists John Romita and Bill Everett. But it was surely on a Friday, as that’s the day Jack usually came into Manhattan to deliver work and to talk over upcoming assignments with Stan. I wasn’t any more awestruck meeting Jack than I had been meeting Stan or John or Bill—well, that is fairly awestruck, actually—and I’m sure I gushed a bit about my love not just of the Marvel work he was doing but of his earlier efforts on the likes of Fighting American, et al. I recall that he remembered (and pronounced for me) the name of the villain called “Super-Khakalovitch” from FA #6; he seemed to appreciate the fact that I recalled names like Poison Ivan and Hotsky Trotsky—but how could I not have? At the same time, it never occurred to me what Jack might’ve thought of me, this underweight, under-sized young hayseed from Missouri who often talked too fast and, without purposely doing so, probably used more multi-syllable words than the average comics professional he’d met before. I guess I learned that later, when his early-1970s assistant, Mark Evanier, stated that Jack had said he’d based the loquacious, if not downright prissy agent Jasper Sitwell in “Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.” at least partly on me. I was, I suppose, both flattered and deflated. But I was totally thrilled when Jack tossed me onto the splash of a three-page humor story he wrote and drew for an annual or something, and had me referring to myself as “Rascally Roy Thomas—Muscle of the Midwest.” The “Rascally” appellation had come from Stan, but the rest was pure Jack. I was sorry to see I wasn’t in any other panels in the story…and was even sorrier when, because he didn’t much like the story, Stan delayed its publication for several months, so that it wound up in a different magazine

“Don’t Yield—Back S.H.I.E.L.D.!” The introduction of new S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Jasper Sitwell in Strange Tales #144 (May 1966). Script by Stan Lee; layouts by Jack Kirby; pencils by Howard Purcell; inks by Mike Esposito. Jack later told his early-1970s assistant Mark Evanier that he’d based Sitwell partly on Marvel thennewcomer Roy Thomas. Truth be known, it was a far from flattering portrait, but of course Silver Age comics were painted with broad strokes. Besides, Stan wrote the dialogue, and he may not even have realized whom Sitwell was based on. Thanks to Bob Bailey. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

from whichever one it had originally been intended for. But I was ecstatic to finally see it in print… and if Kirby wanted to also use me as the basis of Jasper Sitwell, well, that was (retroactively) okay with me, too. Because Jack and Stan were always each other’s main order of business when he came into the office, I don’t really recall having any real one-on-one conversations with Kirby during that era. But on occasion, on Fridays, a bunch of us would go to lunch—only rarely with Stan in attendance—and I was thrilled (that word again!) to be seated at a table with the likes of Jack Kirby, John Romita, Sol Brodsky, Stan Goldberg, occasionally Frank Giacoia or Bill Everett. They talked about the good old days, the bad old days, the new times, shop talk, not-shop talk, whatever. The only thing I remember pretty much verbatim from any of that is when someone (probably Goldberg or Romita) asked Jack what he thought the next big trend in comics would be. Without missing a beat, he replied something very close to: “I don’t know… nobody knows. But I do know one thing…it won’t come from Jack Kirby and it won’t come from Stan Lee. It’ll be two guys in a basement somewhere, with some big new idea.” I thought of that particularly when the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles hit. “Two guys in a basement,” indeed. I was there, to my happiness (as a comics historian) and my sadness (for what it meant to the Lee-Kirby team), that Friday in late 1965 when a New York Herald Tribune interviewer with more self-esteem than insight talked with Stan and Jack in the former’s office. I wasn’t present for nearly all the conversation, but Stan did call me in at some point, for some reason—and then I was there

From Jasper Sitwell To Houseroy—And Back Again!

“You Just Slip Out The Back, Jack… Make A New Plan, Stan…” I didn’t see much of Jack after the Kirbys moved to California in 1969. Nobody back East did.

“Muscle Of The Midwest” The publication of the three-page story “This Is A Plot?,” penciled and written by Kirby, was delayed for some months because Stan didn’t much care for it… so it’s uncertain whether it was done before or after the debut of Jasper Sitwell. Still, Roy was chuffed to see himself lampooned by the King on its splash panel, which saw print in the 1967 FF Annual. Inks by Frank Giacoia. See the entire page in A/E #161. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

for the rest of the confab. And I was as shocked as anyone—well, probably not as shocked as Jack and his wife Roz—when, a couple of weeks later, the reporter’s account was published and he heaped all his praise on Stan (probably because Stan had been so animated, as was his wont) and dismissed Jack as just a guy in a cheap suit who looked like the “assistant foreman in a girdle factory,” I think it was. The reporter, damn him to hell, had been too obtuse, too full of his own “inspired” interpretation of what he was seeing, to realize that he was in the room with two pop-culture geniuses, not one—and that it was simply that one of them was more outgoing, more “on” than the other. Would that numbskull have dismissed Leonardo da Vinci as a lesser talent if he’d proven less verbal than Michelangelo? Probably. That interview’s publication, I’ve been convinced from 1970 onward, was one of the real, insoluble nails in the coffin of Stan’s and Jack’s relationship. Not that there weren’t other problems between the two of them… and if I had missed them myself, I’d have had my new friend [artist] Gil Kane, at least from 1969 on, to tell me how much Jack vented on Stan when Stan wasn’t around. But then, Gil said, Jack had been the same way towards Joe Simon years earlier. Gil felt that, while Stan could be rather heavy-handed and insensitive at times regarding the way he was relating to those who worked for him, Jack himself was a collector of grievances, real and imagined. It’s a not uncommon human failing, no less prevalent in creative geniuses than in girdle-factory foremen. Gil had it right, I think. There were no pure-white heroes, no pure-black villains in the Lee-Kirby relationship. Sure, Stan should have talked more with Jack about the problems that were arising between them… except that, whenever he did (like when Jack wanted future Marvel credits to read “a Lee-Kirby production” or after the Herald Trib debacle), I strongly suspect that Jack would assure him everything was settled… and Stan was only too happy to believe him and not look too hard to see what might still be simmering beneath the surface. If Jack didn’t speak up, was it really so surprising that Stan couldn’t read his mind? Two great and talented guys—who couldn’t sustain their unequal partnership forever. Tell it to Gilbert & Sullivan—Laurel & Hardy—Abbott & Costello—Martin & Lewis—or, for that matter, to Simon & Kirby!

I do recall the day in early 1970 that Stan Lee called production manager Sol Brodsky and me into his office and told us that Jack had just phoned him and quit—had informed him, in fact, that he was already working for DC Comics. (As it would turn out, probably on the very concept he had tried to sell Stan some time before, which was probably the Fourth World or at least the New Gods part of it, only to be verbally patted on the head by Stan and told to just keep working on FF and Thor. As if you can just turn a mind like Kirby’s on and off whenever you have a particular need of it.) Stan was so startled and taken aback by Jack’s leaving—far more so than when Steve Ditko had quit a few years earlier—that he mentioned the Kirby departure in a single sentence in the “Stan’s Soapbox” in Fantastic Four #102, and in #103 simply announced a month after the fact, that henceforth John Romita would be drawing Fantastic Four and that Neal Adams was taking over Thor for the nonce. I think he just didn’t want to give Kirby any additional publicity—although, before that, up to the very end, Kirby would figure at least as prominently in the Bulletins’ various “items” as anybody this side of Stan himself. Jack’s abrupt departure led to the second and last time I ever wrote dialogue for anything drawn and/or plotted by Jack Kirby. Earlier, I had dialogued an Iron Man/Sub-Mariner clash that Stan had intended to script before he’d had to rush off on a vacation or some such thing… and this second dialoguing was of Jack’s final “Ka-Zar” story in Astonishing Tales #2. Stan didn’t want to script it, under the circumstances, so it fell to me… and I was excited to do it, even though it was hardly one of Jack’s more inspired jobs. But it was Kirby! Cut to: A year or so later. I recall when I first saw his Mr. Miracle #6 (Jan.-Feb. 1972) come out from DC, and was horrified and, yes, at least mildly

The Plot Thickens… When Jack abruptly left Marvel, Roy stepped in to dialogue the Kirby-penciled “Ka-Zar” story for Astonishing Tales #2 (Oct. 1970). He regrets that it didn’t occur to him to give the artist credit for the plot… though, at just that moment, he was hardly trying to think of ways to ingratiate himself with Jack Kirby. Inking by Sam Grainger. Thanks to John Cimino. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

Jack Kirby & Me, 1947-2012!

disgusted by his thinly veiled attack on Stan in the guise of the distinctly less-than-admirable Funky Flashman. I wasn’t too happy with his turning me into Houseroy, Funky’s feckless flunky, either—but at least I quickly realized that the burlesque wasn’t really aimed at me; in fact, Houseroy was almost a sympathetic character in the end, being abandoned and betrayed by Funky in a way that reminded me instantly of the fate of poor Chop Chop Chop in Harvey Kurtzman’s “Blackhawk” parody back in Mad #5. I know Stan was both hurt and, even more so, lividly angry, whatever he may have told people (or himself) later. I heard Kirby’s name even less from his lips after that story was published. And yet, I always sensed, without his having to say it often, that he’d love it if Jack changed his mind and came back. But he wasn’t about to approach Jack with the suggestion, directly or indirectly. It would have to come from Jack.

“You Don’t Need To Be Coy, Roy…” Then, in the summer of 1974, when as Marvel’s editor-inchief I was a special guest of the fifth San Diego Comic-Con, I was approached by someone (Jack’s son Neal, I think) asking me to have a drink with him and Jack… probably Roz, too, I don’t recall.

they were, and I didn’t ask. I wanted to know… and I didn’t want to know, because I’d have lost a lot of respect for whoever had said that. “They’re idiots,” I told Stan unequivocally. “Hire him back— but don’t let him write.” Neither Stan nor I had changed our minds about Jack’s dialogue on New Gods, et al. “Well, he says that if he comes back, he has to write all his own material,” Stan rejoined. “Okay, then get him back anyway,” I said without hesitation. “Better to have him working for Marvel than for DC or anyone else.” “That’s what I thought, too,” Stan said, “but I just wanted to see what you thought.” And so Jack did come back to Marvel—although, of course, mostly remaining at a respectful geographical distance in the L.A. area. He and Stan made a show of it, first at that Marvel convention in Manhattan where Stan breathlessly announced Jack’s return and then in walked Jack, then in the comics themselves, with The Eternals and several other projects that were never going to make

At that time, Jack clearly wanted to feel me out about whether the way was open for him to return to Marvel. He was quite direct about it… no beating around the bush. I’d already figured the bloom had to be off the rose between Jack and DC editorial director Carmine Infantino—but this was the first solid proof of that. I hadn’t particularly expected to be approached as a go-between—not that I was overly surprised, either—and I hadn’t prepared an answer. But I found myself saying something very, very close to the following: “Jack, I know Stan would love you to come back. But there is that one little matter—he was very hurt by your portrayal of him as that Funky Flashman character a while back. Now, I didn’t mind all that much about the ‘Houseroy’ character—I never felt it was really aimed at me—but Stan did feel Funky Flashman was aimed at him.” Jack laughed nervously, and said, basically, “Well, you know, that was all just in fun.” I decided to ignore that line of conversation entirely. If there was one thing Jack and I both knew, sitting there opposite each other that day, it’s that there had been nothing “in fun” or good-natured about the Funky Flashman sequence. I just repeated to him that as editor-in-chief, I—and more importantly, Stan as publisher—would love to see Jack back at Marvel, and that the two of them would be able to get past any difficulties. As it happened, I left the editor-in-chief job a couple of weeks later, and Jack (for unrelated reasons) decided to delay his attempted return for a little while.

Jack Is Back—Sort Of! Several months later, in ’75 now, on an errand in to Marvel, I found myself hailed by Stan from his office. I went in, and he closed the door behind us. “Jack wants to come back,” he told me… knowing, of course, of our meeting months before. “That’s great,” I said. Stan then told me, to my surprise, that there were “a couple of people out there”—he gestured vaguely toward his doorway—who didn’t think he should allow Jack to return. He didn’t say who

A Houseroy Is Not A Homeboy The Funky Flashman/Houseroy story in Mister Miracle #6 (Jan.-Feb. 1972) didn’t exactly make Roy (let alone Stan!) feel all warm and fuzzy toward Jack, either. Here, Funky sacrifices Houseroy in order to effect his own escape. Inks by Mike Royer. Thanks to Barry Pearl & Nick Caputo. [TM & © DC Comics.]

From Jasper Sitwell To Houseroy—And Back Again!

me forget Fantastic Four, but which were still welcome additions to the Marvel canon. I myself found every excuse I could to work with Jack, mostly by arranging for him to pencil covers for early issues of my new series The Invaders, so he could draw the WWII versions of The Human Torch, Sub-Mariner, and especially Captain America. I was really pleased with those covers—and with his rendition of one character I had visually designed myself, Union Jack. Jack gave me the original art for that cover (#8) when I asked him if I could buy it, and I had it for a couple of decades. I was a fool ever to let it go. Around this time, I also became the scripter of Fantastic Four, and I had a minor brainstorm. With Stan’s blessing, I phoned Jack and invited him to become the artist and plotter of that comic. I don’t recall our discussing how payments would be divided, but, since the plotting was by now counted more officially as part of the writing, it meant that his name could come first, before mine… I figured he might like that. Of course, I’d still be the editor, under my contractual deal with Marvel, so I could ask for changes if needed… but I felt I’d be able to give Jack his head as much as Stan had a few years earlier. Probably more so, because I’d have been less likely to insist upon extensive changes after an entire story was penciled, the way Stan often had. I knew how much those late, often unpaid-for changes had angered Jack, and I figured it would rarely be worth it to me to insist upon such things. Jack, though, informed me that he would pencil FF only if I would write out for him a detailed plot—panel by panel—for each story. I don’t recall even thinking about how that might have affected the proffered credits, because his counter-offer was an instant non-starter for me. If I wasn’t going to get any of Jack’s thinking in terms of pacing and storytelling, then at that stage I figured I’d just as soon have Rich Buckler or someone else draw the comic in a Kirby style. I felt Marvel would wind up getting more for its money the latter way. So, regretfully, I gave up on the idea of a Kirby-Thomas Fantastic Four. Not long before, I had also launched a new title, What If?, with its parallel-world tales of Marvel heroes, and I invited Jack to be the artist and de facto co-plotter of one issue I would script and, of course, co-edit—I don’t recall any conversation re credits, payment, etc., but there may have been one. I wanted a story in which Jack, Stan, 1963-68 corresponding secretary Flo Steinberg, and I myself would get zapped by cosmic rays and become the Fantastic Four instead of Reed and the gang… I don’t think there was ever any doubt in anyone’s mind that we four would wind up as the Thing, Mr. Fantastic, Invisible Girl, and Human Torch, in that order. Jack took the assignment… then double-crossed me. When the pencils (and the plotted story) came in, Jack had erased me from the whole thing and had made Sol Brodsky the Torch instead. For a little bit, I was mad as hell. After all, this concept had been totally my idea, not Jack’s… I was the series’ editor, and he had disobeyed my instructions. I could’ve insisted on major changes, even if it had meant having someone else redraw Sol (who had left Marvel in 1970 but soon returned to become a vice-president and special assistant to Stan for various projects) into my likeness. But, after a bit of thought, I realized that Jack’s version— however he had intended it, and whatever unspoken motivations lay behind it—was really a better idea than having me be the Torch. After all, Sol had been around, as Stan’s associate and an artist, at the time of FF #1. Sol had even designed that upper-and-lower-case Fantastic Four logo… and had wound up inking issues #3 & 4… several years before I wandered into Marvel’s Madison Avenue digs.

“What If The Fantastic Four Were The Original Marvel Bullpen?” Well, in that case, Roy Thomas would have conceived the story idea, Jack Kirby would have written and penciled it, and Mike Royer and Bill Wray would’ve inked it. Scan sent by Barry Pearl. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

So I let the story stand, and had Kirby dialogue it. (Or perhaps he had already written dialogue, unbidden… I forget, and it doesn’t matter much at this point.) It worked out pretty well—a fairly good story, even if the “S” People turning out to be the Skrulls was a pretty lame excuse for a mystery. Jack got off some funny bits of dialogue, too. It became the last time Jack would draw the Fantastic Four for comicbooks. But of course I had to run the whole thing by Stan, and he insisted on one change throughout. Jack loved to refer to Stan, in person or in print, as “Stanley,” perhaps as a diminutive, perhaps as a way of reminding him that he’d once been Simon & Kirby go-fer Stanley Lieber rather than Stan Lee. Whatever the reason, Stan would hit the roof whenever Jack did that in writing… and he instructed me to change each and every “Stanley” in the story to “Stan”—something I (reluctantly) did. I kind of liked Jack’s calling him Stanley in that What If? yarn, since it sounded more like the way Jack spoke. But I didn’t mention that to Stan. And since by then I had moved to Los Angeles, he and I never had that much occasion afterward to discuss Jack Kirby, except in general “I-really-don’tunderstand-why-he-ever-left” terms. Probably it’s just as well.

You Don’t Know Jack… But… Soon, Jack was gone from Marvel… and before long from mainstream comics… for good. It had to do with, as I understood it, non-return of artwork (much of which had been stolen from Marvel’s warehouse anyway) and/or because he wouldn’t sign a work-for-hire contract which we all had to sign in the late 1970s. Before long, Jack was bad-mouthing Stan again to the fan press, but Stan—at least for the most part—tried not to respond in kind. He finally came to realize and fully accept, I think, that he and Jack weren’t on the same page—never would be—and, really, never had been. The same was doubtless true re Jack and me, as well, though that wasn’t 1% as important. I consider myself lucky to have been hired by Stan and David DePatie, around 1979, to plot and script several episodes of the Marvel/DePatie-Freleng animated Fantastic Four TV series for which Jack did storyboards, including for a

Jack Kirby & Me, 1947-2012!

Dann Thomas) while Jack and I were on some panel, Roz told Danette that I was “the best writer.” I don’t know if that came from Jack, or was just Roz’s way of being polite, but it made me feel good to hear it. Because Jack was the best there was at what he did. And I don’t mean just drawing. For my own part, in recent years I’ve made a belated discovery. I’ve said for decades, and meant it, that Joe Kubert was and is my favorite comics artist, and Kirby my second-favorite.

An Olympian Feat Kirby penciled the storyboards for all the several animated Fantastic Four episodes that Roy scripted for TV circa 1979, including these for the one titled “The Olympics of Space.” Special thanks to John Morrow. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

couple of original stories of mine. Oddly and relatively uniquely for television, we did those stories the old plot-first “Marvel-style” way, which was already slowly fading from Marvel itself—to comics’ detriment, I’ve always believed, seeing what Stan, Jack, Ditko, and others, including myself, turned out back in the ’60s and ’70s and even afterward. I’m glad to say that Jack and I (and Roz and I) were always friendly when we encountered each other at cons and the like. He and I served on panels and as costumecontest judges together, and though we never really had an extended private conversation, we were always civil and more. Once, at a San Diego Con in the late 1970s, when Roz was standing next to my ladyfriend Danette Couto (a.k.a. my future wife

We Go Ego! We had to forego our letters section till next issue, but we knew you (like us) would want to see Shane Foley’s illo for it, featuring alternating “maskots” Captain Ego and Alter Ego as they might have been if drawn by Jack Kirby. Roy confesses it kinda make his mouth water. [Captain Ego TM & © Roy Thomas & Estate of Bill Schelly—created by Biljo White; Alter Ego hero TM & © Roy & Dann Thomas—costume designed by Ron Harris.]

I finally came to realize, though, that what I really should have been saying all along was that Joe Kubert’s “Hawkman” and “Tor” were artwise my favorite Golden Age comicbook features… ever.

…but that Jack Kirby was, overall, my favorite comics artist It just took me a few decades to totally realize it.

Like I said above: Jack was the best there was at what he did. He always was… and he always will be.

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by Peter Normanton

That Old Black Magic—Plus! Two early “Joe Simon and Jack Kirby” concoctions of eeriness were Black Magic and The Strange World of Your Dreams, both series for the Prize/Feature comics group. The covers of Black Magic, Vol. 2, #9 (a.k.a. #15, Aug. 1952), and TSWOYD, Vol. 1, #2 (Sept.-Oct. ’52) were pencilled by Kirby; the inker is unidentified, though some or all of it may have been done by Kirby himself and/or by his partner Simon. [TM & © Estate of Joseph H. Simon & Estate of Jack Kirby.]

f there had never been a Jack Kirby, I wonder how comics would have evolved, for without his innovation, the eminence of the Silver Age may never have been. Those of you with the good fortune to have savoured the excitement of the Golden Age or the ensuing years of the Silver Age will know how

Jack’s vision made it that extra bit special. As special as these comics were, my long-held affection for them curiously waned around ten years ago. The four-coloured treasures that had once shimmered with such lustre no longer shone quite so brightly. It was a strange period in my life, yet the

From The Tomb Presents: The Strangest Stories Ever Told!

Captains Outrageous

sight of a vintage Marvel hero, invariably drawn by Jack, would occasionally rekindle some of those fading embers, engendering a smile as I recalled the days of my youth. Those embers finally began to burn anew when, one afternoon while sprucing up my loft, I came upon a box of early British Marvel reprints, mostly Mighty World of Marvel and Spider-Man Comics Weekly. I hadn’t bothered with these comics in such a long time, since first becoming enamoured of their US counterparts in the snowbound month of January 1977. My tidying up was soon forgotten, as the fifth issue of Mighty World of Marvel, dated November 4th, 1972, insisted I partake of its content. With each turn of the page, their enchantment began to work, exposing me once more to Jack’s artistry from The Incredible Hulk #3, followed by The Fantastic Four’s third appearance, along with an equally exciting Steve Ditko “Spider-Man” episode dating back to Amazing Spider-Man #2, each of course scripted by Stan Lee. Less than half an hour later Mighty World of Marvel #5 became Mighty World of Marvel #6, and so it continued, leaving my loft as jumbled as ever. Between them, Jack, Stan, and Steve had saved the day, having reached out through the years to return me to the fold. It wasn’t long before my appetite for comics had been wholly renewed, prompting me to resume my dubious acquaintance with their darker side. This should have come as no surprise, because the villains Jack created alongside Stan Lee were in every respect as diabolical as the pre-Comics Code abominations for which I have such a fascination, alluding to the fact he, too, at some point in his career had dallied in this tenebrous domain. This portion of his time in comicbooks has too often been overlooked, overwhelmed by the exploits of his super-heroes; yet, together with Joe Simon, he played an unusual part in promulgating the odious tide that consumed the newsstands of the United States at the dawn of the 1950s. From their earliest days, the vampire was plying its malfeasance in the handful of comics being readied for publication. This blood-sucking infestation was in evidence in a “Dr. Occult”

(Left:) Jack makes at best slight concessions to the style of Captain Marvel co-creator C.C. Beck for the hero’s battle with Bram Thirla, one of comicdom’s earliest vampires, from Fawcett’s 64 Pages of New Captain Marvel Adventures [“#1,” 1941], although his own style is evident in his rendition of the vampire, etc. Inks by Dick Briefer, of Prize “Frankenstein” series fame. As for Joe Simon, surely he was doing something locked down in a hotel room with Kirby and Briefer for several days! [Shazam hero TM & © DC Comics.] (Above:) The covers to Timely’s Captain America Comics #5 & #8 from the August and October 1941 issues reveal so much more of Kirby’s style and his panache for horror. Inking by Syd Shores & Al Gabriele, respectively. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

adventure created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster for New Fun #6, cover-dated October 1935. Five years later, one of the greatestselling heroes of the age was pitched into battle with “The Vampire” as the finale for the highly prized premier of 64 Pages of New Captain Marvel Adventures, from March of 1941. While Jack may have lacked confidence at this embryonic stage in his career, his (and partner Joe Simon’s) emulation of C.C. Beck’s cartoon-like style was indeed admirable, with Dick Briefer also to be applauded for his masterful embellishment. It is highly likely pulp writer Manly Wade Wellman was assigned to write this tale, which detailed Captain Marvel’s altercation with the vampire Bram Thirla. Although Thirla managed to sink his fangs into our hero, the Big Red Cheese refused to succumb to his vampiric curse, living on to bring this foul creature to heel, thanks in part to Billy Batson’s discovery of “The Vampire Legend,” penned by one H.P. Lovecraft. There was one other occasion during the Golden Age when the undead slipped from the shadows to plague Jack’s drawing board, in the pages of Timely’s Marvel Mystery Comics #20, cover-dated June 1941. The unworldly creature skulking in the panels of the “Vision” episode “The Vampire Killer of Star City” was not what it seemed, in a tale oozing with an atmosphere presaging the terrors of the pre-Comics Code years by almost a decade. This newly established duo had dabbled with the darkness some months before, in the pages of Daring Mystery Comics #6’s Fiery Mask encounter with the “Legion of the Doomed” in September 1940, where deep in the bowels of the Earth a host of demons colluded with malice aforethought. The artwork in the

The Jack Kirby Macabre!

The Horror? The Horror? (Above:) The covers to Captain America Comics #9 (Dec. 1941) and #10 (Jan. 1942) reveal an appreciable glee to Jack’s excessive artistry; however, though Kirby himself said he thought of that series as “horror,” it was a rare event to witness anything truly gruesome in the pages within. Inks for #10 by Joe Simon; inker of #9 unidentified. (Top right:) The chessboard splash from Captain America Comics #1 (March 1941) set the tone for so many of these Timely stories, teasing with a terrifying image before delivering an action-packed thriller devoid of any real horror. Joe Simon may have contributed to this splash in terms of either pencilling or inking; Syd Shores is credited with co-inking. Scripter unidentified. (Bottom right:) However, the scene in the netherworld from the “Fiery Mask” story in Daring Mystery Comics #6 (Sept. 1940) was indeed a disturbing spectacle. Simon is credited with pencilling the first four pages of this story, Kirby with the remaining six pages (as per page depicted), as well as scripting and inking. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

final six pages of this tale has been attributed to Jack, a sequence evocative of the cinematic melodrama of what even then was a bygone age, with Joe Simon providing the script throughout and the art for the first few pages of this descent into the netherworld. Having returned the Fiery Mask to this mortal plane, there was a suggestion the menace of the last few pages had all been but a figment of his imagination in an ambiguous denouement, whose cunning conspired to aggravate the readership’s sense of perturbation. For a while, the reader may have lingered over this unease, but not so for the team of Simon and Kirby, who were already preparing to unleash yet another terror for the next installment of “The Vision” in Marvel Mystery Comics #14. There is uncertainty as to which of the team provided the script for this tale, but the heroics of The Vision were very much to the fore as the aforementioned terror ripped and clawed its way through this seven-page embroilment. Such was the volume of titles hitting the newsstands at this time, the gallantry of the super-hero fraternity completely swamped the modicum of horror found in their pages, allowing their gruesome display to pass largely unnoticed. As the chill of the December of 1940 fell upon the streets of North America, the newsstands buoyed with ever-greater excitement, for nestled amongst the scores of comics on sale that month was the first appearance of Captain America Comics, cover-dated March 1941. This latest addition to a fledgling industry exploded onto the scene as a patriotic rallying call destined to become the team’s finest moment. In these pages they gave comicbooks a monumental figure, whose presence would champion the cause of the free world, undermining the dread Axis, before steadfastly marching on into the next century. From its inception Captain America Comics flirted with this dark genre, but let’s keep things in perspective:

this was never truly a horror comic. Captain America’s nemesis, The Red Skull, may well have been a character of the most ghastly ilk, whose visage would have been entirely suited to the macabre of the next decade, but

From The Tomb Presents: The Strangest Stories Ever Told!

A Decade And A Half Of Kirby Terror Running across the bottom of this page and the next come the rampaging zombies from the “Captain America” entry in Timely’s All-Winners Comics #1, dated Summer 1941, with Al Avison assisting Kirby on the pencilling, and inking credited to Simon, Gabriele, and Shores—scripters officially Simon & Kirby… …followed by the splash to “The Return of The Red Skull” from Captain America Comics #3 (May 1941), which would have been perfectly suited to any of the horror comics of the early 1950s. Art & script attributed to Kirby & Simon, with some inking by Gabriele and Shores. [Preceding two covers TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.] The “Boy Commandos” splash from Detective Comics #134 (April 1948) is a rare example of the macabre at DC [and is TM & © DC Comics], with pencils attributed to Kirby and inking to George Klein… …while Jack’s cover for Prize’s Justice Traps the Guilty, Vol. 2, #1 (Oct.-Nov. 1947), pushed the boundaries as to what was acceptable in comics just that little bit further. Pencils by Kirby; inks may be by Simon. [This and the following two covers TM & © Estates of Joseph H. Simon & Jack Kirby.] In a six-pack column at far right on the facing page, we have the Kirby-pencilled covers to Black Magic #1 (Oct.-Nov. 1950) and #6 (Aug.-Sept. 1951); inkers uncertain. Below those are Jack’s cover to the Mort Meskin-inspired debut for the short-lived Strange World of Your Dreams (Aug. 1952; inker uncertain), alongside one of the titles that presaged a new age in comics: Marvel’s Tales to Astonish #1 (Jan. 1959), with inks by Christopher Rule. At bottom right are seen two of Jack’s lesser-known post-Code covers, the first a collaboration with Joe Simon for Harvey’s Alarming Tales #1 (Sept. 1957)—with central figure and flying chair by Simon and the rest of the piece by Jack—plus a return to the waxworks for DC’s House of Secrets #3 (April 1957), with Kirby reportedly both pencilling and inking. [Final two covers TM & © Estates of Joseph H. Simon & Jack Kirby, and DC Comics, respectively.]

the horror manifest in these issues was little more than a ruse. Jack would have been familiar with the way in which the film promoters of the day used advertising campaigns to induce fear in their unsuspecting audience. Similarly, he manipulated the horror motif to spice up his splash pages, using abominations of the foulest kind in a masquerade threatening acts of indescribable butchery. However, these tales were essentially thrill-packed yarns awash with customary super-heroics, deftly orchestrated to keep the reader hanging on until the very last. When Captain America Comics debuted, Cap was almost immediately pitted against a deathly chessboard. Then, just a month later, issue #2 ran with a splash for “The Ageless Orientals Who Wouldn’t Die!” whose imagery would have been quite at home in any of the Marvel monster comics of the early 1960s. Jack’s predilection for highly advanced machinery was also revealed later on in that same issue’s “The Wax Statue That Struck Death,” as he drew upon Paul Leni Leo Birinsky’s silent masterpiece of 1924, Waxworks, and Michael Curtiz’s more recent Mystery of the Wax Museum, released in 1933. And so it continued, but the horror in these Simon and Kirby issues rarely lived up to expectation. Not surprisingly, the ensuing issues of Captain America Comics rendered by Al Avison would carry on in a similar vein. Despite this subterfuge, there was one Simon and Kirby story from the period that would endure, foreshadowing the horror of the next decade, and furthermore pre-empting the zombie apocalypse accredited to a certain George Romero. This episode took place in the pages of All-Winners Comics #1, during the summer of 1941, when Captain America was thrown headfirst into “The Case of the Hollow Men.” Having crafted a characteristically chilling splash, Jack, aided and abetted by Al Avison, then set about detailing the strangulation of a police officer at the hands of a deranged zombie. Could George Romero and those that followed him have been exposed to these pages? We can only wonder, for, like the zombies of their films, this putrescent horde were hell-bent on mindless slaughter as epitomised by Jack’s memorable panel dominating page eight of this demented encounter. This surely has to be the blueprint for the zombie carnage that has since followed. The team’s departure from Timely would bring an end to this ghoulish experimentation, as their new employers at DC had recently learned to keep their distance from the excesses deployed by their rivals. Nevertheless,

The Jack Kirby Macabre!

amid the huge volume of work he produced for the company, Jack did manage to sneak in the occasional spooky splash page, as early as Star Spangled Comics #24’s “Newsboy Legion” story “Death Strikes a Bargain,” dated September 1943. Lamentably, these images were few and far between, and by the winter of 1947 this dynamic pairing had turned their attention to crime comics, beginning with Clue Comics #13 (March 1947) for Hillman and Prize’s Headline Comics #23 (March-April 1947). Later that year they debuted the gritty Justice Traps the Guilty, again for Prize, with an unequivocally horrific electric chair cover, a scene they wisely avoided in the pages within. Jack had previously used a harrowing electric chair splash in Captain America Comics #9’s “The Man Who Could Not Die” from December 1941, somehow getting away with it, but on this occasion he chose to observe a degree of caution. The excess on show in this cover reveals the extremes to which creators would go to in a marketplace flooded with comics, consequently paving the way for the debauchery of the coming decade. When that decade finally did arrive, it wasn’t long before Prize Comics announced their “True Amazing Accounts of” Black Magic, its premier coverdated October-November 1950. Having packaged Black Magic from their studio, just as they had with Justice Traps the Guilty and Headline Comics, Joe Simon and Jack Kirby left it to their readers to ascertain the truth behind these “true amazing accounts.” Their audience would have also discerned an absence of gore in this content, a feature synonymous with the disreputable comics of the period. Messrs Simon and Kirby had taken a gamble in avoiding the bloody onslaught relished by their competitors, which paid off owing to some rather inventive stories depicted by a regular team of in-house artists, amongst them Mort Meskin, George Roussos, Marvin Stein, and Bill Draut. As able as this team was, only Jack’s artistry abounded with any real sense of verve, in what was an adequately house-styled package. From the outset, Jack’s layouts for “Last Second of Life” adhered to a seemingly static six-panel grid, a format observed in most of his stories for this series. However, the energy in his artwork, along with his compelling narrative, allowed him to succeed in a way few of his contemporaries ever would. While not as gruesome as his competitors, Jack certainly had his moments, notably in Black Magic #6’s (Aug.-Sept. 1951) macabre blood transfusion splash for “Union with the Dead,” a scene conspicuous by its absence in the accompanying story, echoing his guileful approach at both Timely and DC. The skeletal remains of a group of long-dead miners carried a damning impact in Black Magic #10’s “Dead Man’s Load” (March 1952), in a page of artwork which for once deviated from the six-panel grid. Black Magic #18’s “Nasty Little Man” (Nov. 1952) was indeed a

From The Tomb Presents: The Strangest Stories Ever Told!

chiller, threatening for the duration of its telling, leaving the atrocities inflicted on its protagonists to the imagination of the erstwhile reader. The cover to this issue also hinted at Jack’s ability to draw monsters, as had the “Angel of Death” cover adorning Black Magic #15 (Aug. 1952), the pair appearing several years prior to the iconic Marvel monster comics of the early 1960s. By comparison to its counterparts this title was fairly innocuous, but it did manage to attract the attention of the Senate Subcommittee Hearings into Juvenile Delinquency when Richard Clendenen, from the United States Children’s Bureau, was called upon as the opening witness on the Wednesday morning of April 21, 1954. In a series of slides he cited the tale “The Greatest Horror of Them All!” from Black Magic #29 (Nov.-Dec. 1953), which he mistakenly referred to as “Sanctuary,” as a typically gruesome story, along with another six comics which we will evaluate at a later date. Over 60 years later, this tale of a sanatorium for people with severe deformities, labelled freaks, rendered End Of An Eerie Era by the Simon and Kirby team would still be The cover to Black Magic #29 (March-April 1954) hid a considered controversial, as a consequence of the dark secret, which, once exposed in the shooting scene finale when the girl at the centre of this story, who shown above right, nearly doomed the comicbook industry! Pencils by Kirby; inker(s) uncertain. [TM & © is revealed to be the most seriously deformed of Estates of Joseph H. Simon & Jack Kirby.] these unfortunates, is shot dead by the doctor who Issue #16 of DC’s The Demon (Jan. 1974), inked by Mike supposedly loved her. Somehow, I think Richard Royer, would be Jack’s last horror-related cover of the Clendenen missed the point of this story; surely era. [TM & © DC Comics.] “The Greatest Horror of Them All!” had to be the misguided gun-toting doctor, or maybe I have been The Atlas/Marvel monster reading too many EC comics. It didn’t matter… comics and the attendant the horror comic was doomed, with Black Magic having played an science-fiction tales would unexpected role in the industry’s downfall. become the stuff of legend, Twelve months later, Joe Simon and Jack Kirby would step deserving a lengthy article of down from Black Magic as of its 33rd issue, dated Nov.-Dec. 1954. their own, but they weren’t Although this title was never the match of those being published the horrors of just a few years by EC, Atlas, and Harvey, it did garner a favourable readership, so past. From 1968, horror would much so that, a couple of years before, the Simon and Kirby studio once again acquire a degree had introduced the perplexing The Strange World of Your Dreams, in of popularity, but Jack had the August of 1952, based on an idea conceived by Mort Meskin, little interest in its revival, who for its duration was promoted to Associate Editor. submitting just one cover and the story “...And Fear Shall Follow” for Chamber of Darkness #5 (June These were somewhat unusual supernatural stories, 1970). By then he was immersed in his Fourth World series for containing an element of psychoanalysis pertaining to the realm DC, but in the summer of 1972 he did agree to create The Demon in of dreams. Alas, Mort’s concept failed to catch on, enduring the response to the company’s request for a horror-hero title. The idea humiliation of cancellation after just four issues, with three of Jack’s may not have been entirely appealing, but his character proved far covers never seeing print. However, Mort’s idea wasn’t quite laid more successful than he could have ever imagined, achieving a run to rest. Soon after joining DC in 1970, Kirby advocated they look to of sixteen issues before its cancellation in the latter months of 1973. expand their line, with a view to embracing the culture of this new During this period there would be infrequent Kirby appearances in decade and attracting a more mature audience. The result was Spirit DC’s highly successful horror anthologies along with the reprint of World, a supernatural-styled magazine published in the Fall of 1971. the stories he created with Joe Simon for Black Magic, but Jack’s time As with The Strange World of Your Dreams, this magazine wasn’t in horror had come to an end. to last, mothballed after just a single issue, with few people ever getting to view the one that did see publication. While it may be considered a failure, Spirit World remains a unique collector’s item.

As with so many of his fellow creators, Jack would part company with horror for the duration of the 1950s, working instead on an abundance of war and romance comics. His association with Joe Simon now at an end, he supplied the occasional cover and stories to Harvey’s Alarming Tales and Black Cat Mystic and DC’s House of Mystery, House of Secrets, and Tales of the Unexpected, along with a few tales for Atlas, before joining the latter when they began to rebuild in the wake of the implosion of 1957.

The name Jack Kirby isn’t one you would automatically associate with horror comics. However, there is no denying his contribution to the genre, most notably his collaboration with Joe Simon and Al Avison on All-Winners Comics #1’s “The Case of the Hollow Men.” So, Black Magic may not have been a particularly grisly affair, but it did present its share of unsettling lore in a style that would help many creators move forward in the years following the introduction of the Comics Code. Jack will quite rightfully be remembered for his imaginative superheroes, but it was that same imagination that has allowed his darker works to stand the test of time.

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt!

Simon & Kirby’s Recycled Masterpieces! by Michael T. Gilbert

aving produced best-selling titles for DC, Timely, Harvey, Hillman, Prize, and Crestwood, Joe Simon and Jack Kirby decided in 1954 that it was time to strike out on their own by forming Mainline Publishing. Their Mainline titles included Bullseye (a Western), Foxhole (war), In Love (romance), and Police Trap (crime). Now all they needed was a good super-hero title to add to the mix. The team came up with two new characters: Sky Giant and Night Fighter. Scans of both surfaced on the online Heritage Auction site, providing a rare peek at some unrealized Simon & Kirby masterpieces. Kirby’s unpublished pencils to the Night Fighter comic suggest that suction cups on his boots allowed him to scale a wall with ease, Spider-Man style. I’m also guessing the goggles were the infra-red type, so he could see in the dark (the better to bash baddies!). But since the comic never got beyond the cover stage, we’ll never really know. The backup feature, “Sky Giant,” appears to be in the general ballpark of Marvel’s “GiantMan” a decade later. Cover notes indicate a hoped-for print date around September 1954. A second unused Night

See Creature! (Above:) On the left are two scenes from Showcase #12 (Jan. 1958) featuring a giant Kirby octopus from DC’s “Challengers of the Unknown.” Michael T. appropriated Jack’s sea creature when he drew his imaginary Simon & Kirby Mr. Monster cover—based on Kirby’s unpublished “Night Fighter” pencils, seen above. [“Challengers” material TM & © DC Comics; Night Fighter art © Estates of Joe Simon & Jack Kirby.]

In Fighting Shape (Far left:) Color guide to the Prize group’s Fighting American #8, which was canceled before it could see print in 1955. It was finally published in Harvey Comics’ double-sized Fighting American #1 (Oct. 1966, seen at near left). [© Estates of Joe Simon & Jack Kirby.]

Simon & Kirby’s Recycled Masterpieces!

Fighter sample also showed up on the site. It was a great line-up. But, as Simon & Kirby soon discovered, 1954 was a lousy time to launch a new comic company. Between attacks on comics from the 1954 Senate Subcommittee Hearings into Juvenile Delinquency, the creation of the Comics Code that same year, and the increasing popularity of TV, comics companies were dying at an alarming rate. Despite some stellar work, Mainline went under in less than a year. And with that, the two unused Night Fighter covers were gone. Gone, but not forgotten.

Recycle! Recycle! Recycle! Simon & Kirby were never ones to waste work. They’d previously reformatted a failed syndicated strip to fill an issue of their In Love romance comic. In that spirit, I thought it would be fun to take Jack Kirby’s unpublished pencils from their 1954 Night Fighter proposal and create an imaginary Simon & Kirby Mr. Monster cover. Ever since I first saw Night Fighter’s goggles, I thought, “Give that boy a fin and he’s Mr. Monster!” So I printed the scanned art from the Heritage site and (using my copy machine) blew it up to a 10” x 15” original art size (though some Golden Age originals were even larger). I then lightboxed Kirby’s Night Fighter onto a sheet of Bristol board, and converted him into my monster-fighting hero. Naturally Mr. Monster had to battle some Kirby monster, so I added one of his cool octopi from an early “Challengers of the Unknown” appearance, drawn in roughly the same time period. Finally, I inked the art, then scanned it into Photoshop, where I lettered and colored my all-new faux-1950s Mr. Monster cover. You can see the finished product on our intro page.

Now, How About Night Fighting American? (Left:) Another Simon & Kirby Night Fighter sample page, which the team had recycled from an unused Fighting American cover of the mid-1950s. (Above:) Michael T. redrew and colored the Night Fighter sample page, reworking the hero into Fighting American—as Simon & Kirby originally intended. [TM & © Estates of Joe Simon & Jack Kirby.]

But wait! We’ve got more recycling—this time from Simon & Kirby themselves! And it involves one of my favorite S&K heroes, the Commie-bashing Fighting American. Fighting American was published by Prize Comics, beginning in 1954, shortly before the team started Mainline. Simon & Kirby produced eight terrific issues—only seven of which were published before the title was canceled. So now Simon & Kirby had an entire Fighting American issue lying around unused, plus a penciled cover for issue #9. What to do? The Fighting American #8 art sat on their shelves for a decade. Then, in 1966, Harvey Publishing produced a single double-sized Fighting American comic featuring reprints of earlier issues, plus the stories intended for issue #8. That issue’s original cover (featuring the villainous Round Robin!) was used for the one-shot, though sporting a completely different color scheme than originally intended. Joe Simon, a Harvey editor at the time, produced the book. Kirby, being otherwise engaged creating roughly half the Marvel Universe, was unable to contribute any new material.

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt!

Ch-Ch-Changes! One question remained. Whatever happened to Jack Kirby’s un-inked Fighting American #9 cover? Well, that, too, got recycled. Since the team was reluctant to waste a good cover, they converted part of Kirby’s penciled art into a second Night Fighter cover, presumably as samples to show distributors their upcoming title. Simon or Kirby changed Fighting American into Night Fighter before inking the figure. However, on the preceding page you can still see FA’s kid partner, Speedboy, in the background! It’s a great cover, and I found myself curious to see how it might have looked had it remained a Fighting American cover (if the title hadn’t been canceled in 1955). So, once again, I re-created the

Kirby Recycles! (Above:) A famous 1944 watercolor illustration by Joseph Hirsch entitled “High Visibility Wrap”— and Jack Kirby’s reworking of it at right as the basis of the powerful cover of Foxhole #1 (Oct. 1954). [TM & © Estates of Joe Simon & Jack Kirby.]

Another Day At The Beach? (Above:) The newly-formed Comics Code Authority rejected the original cover produced for Mainline’s Foxhole #5, so it remained unpublished. (Charlton took over publication with that issue, and #5 appeared with a new and different, Code-approved Simon & Kirby cover, not seen here). Michael Wuhl recently inked and colored Jack’s initial, unused cover for that issue, as seen above. [TM & © Estates of Joe Simon & Jack Kirby; inks & colors © Michael Wuhl.]

War Always Was Hell! (Above:) It appears this Kirby cover was originally intended for Foxhole #4 (though Heritage says #5) but was rejected by the Comics Code for its violence. [TM & © Estates of Joe Simon & Jack Kirby.]

Simon & Kirby’s Recycled Masterpieces!

cover, changing the altered Night Fighter back into Fighting American before inking and coloring it in Photoshop.

Warfront Is Hell!

Fix Bayonets!

And then there was Foxhole, Mainline’s shortlived war title. There were apparently two unpublished covers for that one. One beachfront battle scene penciled by Kirby was likely intended for issue #5, but rejected by the Code.

A second unused Simon & Kirby cover (believed to be originally intended for Foxhole #2) wound up being recycled as a cover for Harvey’s Warfront #28. Using a little Photoshop magic and a scan of the original art, I re-colored the cover and added the Foxhole logo, approximating how it might have looked had it been printed on that title’s second issue for Nov.-Dec. 1954.

The published S&K cover for Foxhole #2 (Nov.Dec. 1954), from their Mainline company. Michael T. believes this was the replacement for the original, scrapped cover (the one that would later have “Warfront” scribbled on it, to indicate logo replacement). [TM & © Estates of Joe Simon & Jack Kirby.]

Chute The Works! (Left:) Simon & Kirby’s original (unused) cover art, and the colored version that was published a year later as that of Warfront #28 (Jan. 1956). [TM & © Estates of Joe Simon & Jack Kirby.] (Above:) Michael T. recolored this cover, adding a Foxhole logo in the process. It’s believed that this S&K cover, published up front in Harvey’s Warfront #28 (Jan. 1956), was originally intended to illustrate the “Hot Box” story in Foxhole #2 (Dec. 1954).

Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt!

MORT TODD BONUS SECTION!

Sweet Dreams, Baby! (Above:) Simon & Kirby’s unpublished covers to Prize’s The Strange World of Your Dreams #5 & #6. The title actually ended with issue #4 (Jan. 1953), but Mort Todd recently inked a photocopy of #5’s cover, and colored both #5-6. [Main art © Estates of Joe Simon & Jack Kirby; inks & colors © Mort Todd.] (Left:) Mort also added hues to an unused Simon & Kirby cover intended for Prize’s Black Magic #34. The original run of that S&K title ended with #33 (Nov. 1954). When it was revived (with a Sept. 1957 date), their cover was apparently considered too intense by the Comics Code. A tamer Joe Orlando cover (see right) replaced it. [Main art at left TM & © Estates of Joe Simon & Jack Kirby; coloring © Mort Todd; Black Magic #34 cover at right © the respective copyright holders.]

That’s it for now. Hope you enjoyed Alter Ego’s own Kirby recycling! Till next time…

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All Time Classic Con continued from #148! Panels on Golden Age (CUIDERA, HASEN, SCHWARTZ [LEW & ALVIN], BOLTINOFF, LAMPERT, GILL, FLESSEL) & Silver Age Marvel, DC, & Gold Key (SEVERIN, SINNOTT, AYERS, DRAKE, ANDERSON, FRADON, SIMONSON, GREEN, BOLLE, THOMAS), plus JOHN BROOME, FCA, MR. MONSTER, & BILL SCHELLY! Unused RON WILSON/CHRIS IVY cover!

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The early days of DAVE COCKRUM— Legion of Super-Heroes artist and co-developer of the revived mid-1970s X-Men—as revealed in art-filled letters to PAUL ALLEN and rare, previously unseen illustrations provided by wife PATY COCKRUM (including 1960s-70s drawings of Edgar Rice Burroughs heroes)! Plus FCA—MICHAEL T. GILBERT on PETE MORISI—JOHN BROOME—BILL SCHELLY, and more!

Spotlight on MIKE FRIEDRICH, DC/Marvel writer who jumpstarted the independent comics movement with Star*Reach! Art by NEAL ADAMS, GIL KANE, DICK DILLIN, IRV NOVICK, JOHN BUSCEMA, JIM STARLIN, HOWARD CHAYKIN, FRANK BRUNNER, et al.! Plus: MARK CARLSONGHOST on Rural Home Comics, FCA, and Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt! Justice League of America cover by NEAL ADAMS!

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Salute to Golden & Silver Age artist SYD SHORES as he’s remembered by daughter NANCY SHORES KARLEBACH, fellow artist ALLEN BELLMAN, DR. MICHAEL J. VASSALLO, and interviewer RICHARD ARNDT. Plus: mid-1940s “Green Turtle” artist/creator CHU HING profiled by ALEX JAY, JOHN BROOME, MICHAEL T. GILBERT and Mr. Monster on MORT WEISINGER Part Two, and more!

Two RICHARD ARNDT interviews revealing the wartime life of Aquaman artist/ co-creator PAUL NORRIS (with a Golden/ Silver Age art gallery)—plus the story of WILLIE ITO, who endured the WWII Japanese-American relocation centers to become a Disney & Warner Bros. animator and comics artist. Plus FCA, MICHAEL T. GILBERT, JOHN BROOME, and more, behind a NORRIS cover!

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CAPTAIN AND THE KING JACK KIRBY At Fawcett Publications, 1940-41 by Mark Lewis Edited by P.C. Hamerlinck & Roy Thomas

Prehistory: A Study In Scarlet

wice during its first two years of publishing comicbooks, Fawcett Publications sought out Jack Kirby to contribute his enormous talents to the company’s fledgling four-color efforts. It all began with editor France “Ed” Herron. During his time in the editorship, Herron made significant contributions to Fawcett’s comics line. Most importantly, he further developed the idea of a teenaged Captain Marvel-related character as a spinoff from the original Shazam hero that had been launched in late 1939 by writer/editor Bill Parker and artist Charles Clarence Beck. Believing that the new strip should have a different style from the main (“Captain Marvel”) strip, he pushed to have the illustrative Mac Raboy be the artist to render the adventures of “Captain Marvel Jr.” Herron was also instrumental in bringing Otto Binder over to Fawcett as a main writer, and likewise had a hand in launching the “Mary Marvel” feature, assigning Binder and artist Marc Swayze the task of bringing her character to life. But, even before all that: In the latter half of 1940, Fawcett was preparing a brand new title, Wow Comics—one of Herron’s earliest editorial assignments for the publisher. For the first issue’s lead feature, he invented Mr. Scarlet—a crusading District Attorney by day… by night, a costumed hero pursuing the bad guys who’d slipped through legal loopholes. It’s an idea not all that far removed from Joe Simon & Jack Kirby’s later “Newsboy Legion,” co-starring The Guardian, done for DC Comics; in the latter case, it was a beat cop doing double duty.

France “Ed” Herron The only photo we could turn up of the editor of Captain Marvel Adventures #1 (1941)—from the photocover of DC’s Gang Busters #10 (June-July 1950), whereon he posed as a cop about to make a collar. [TM & © DC Comics.]

Though Fawcett had a standing policy of editors not also writing for the comics they edited, Herron secretly assigned himself the scripting duties for the first appearance of “Mr. Scarlet.” He then hired freelancer Jack Kirby to produce the art for the story… probably during the latter days of the artist’s time working for Fox Comics, before he and new partner Joe Simon would take their considerable talents to another new company, Timely Comics. At this point, Kirby and Simon had already teamed up on Novelty’s “Blue Bolt” series, but apparently they were not

Young Jack Kirby (at top) in a photo found on the Internet by Mike Mikulovsky… and some nice early examples of “Kirby tech” from the Captain Marvel Adventures #1 which he and partner Joe Simon “ghosted” circa 1941, with some help from Dick Briefer and others. In “The Monsters of Saturn,” Kirby seems to have been taking at least some of his inspiration at this point from newspaper strips like Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon, but his tech designs ultimately evolved into things no one else had ever done! Script by Manly Wade Wellman; inks by Briefer, et al. [Shazam hero TM & © DC Comics.]

yet fully committed to being a steady writing-and-drawing team, so that each was free to pursue some assignments on his own. Some researchers have mistakenly assumed that Kirby was the “co-creator” of “Mr. Scarlet”—i.e., that he also designed the character visually. But C.C. Beck handled the job of Scarlet’s design (as he did for many of Fawcett’s characters), as he once confirmed to FCA editor P.C. Hamerlinck. Beck also illustrated the cover of Wow Comics #1.

FCA [Fawcett Collectors Of America]

facial expression over in the second panel of page 3. This was the kind of shot Kirby would use often during this period of his work. Why not? It was effective. Though it is a bit surprising to see our incognito D.A. threatening to shoot the guy in order to get information out of him! The fifth page gives us some great Kirby figure action! You’d soon see a lot of this over in Captain America Comics, or in Simon & Kirby’s later work for DC. Well-intentioned or not, though, bursting into your secretary’s bedroom unannounced in the middle of the night like that might give her cause to call Human Resources in the morning. The whole story is executed very quickly and efficiently, almost breathlessly. If you want to get a feel for what Kirby’s work on his own was like at this point in time, this first outing of “Mr. Scarlet” is not a bad example of it. Of course you can find others wherein he pushes things just a little further, but many of the main Kirby Golden Age hallmarks are present here in the debut of yet another red-suited Fawcett hero.

Good Deeds Publishers in the Golden Age soon came to recognize that the names “Simon & Kirby” on their comics attracted attention and sold well.

Scarlet Dreams

“The Coming of Mr. Scarlet” is vintage early Golden Age Kirby. Unlike the work he would do just a month or two later for Captain Marvel Adventures #1 (see below), he’s not restraining himself or following anyone else’s lead. This is Kirby just being himself. There are only eight pages for Mr. Scarlet to take care of business, so things start off fast—and stay that way throughout the whole story. We get a nice dramatic reveal of Scarlet in costume in the middle of the second page, as one of the bad guys lights a match for him. And there’s a great, intense

(Counterclockwise from above left:) C.C. Beck’s cover for Wow Comics #1 (Winter 1940), featuring Mr. Scarlet, a hero he visually designed—and two pages of the Kirby-drawn “Mr. Scarlet” debut story in that issue. On p. 3, the hero gets very intimidating in the second panel; this is a type of shot Kirby used often during this point in his career. On p. 5, Kirby draws some terrific leaping, energetic figures, of the kind he was becoming known for. Script by Ed Herron. [Mr. Scarlet TM & © DC Comics.]

Captain And The King

Joe and Jack had first met while at Fox Publications. Kirby had already been working there as an artist when Simon answered a help-wanted ad in 1940 Joe Simon & Jack Kirby for an artist/ (from left to right) on an outing with their wives, editor at the in a pic taken in the summer of 1941—perhaps the company. Simon only photo known to exist of the two comics titans together during the period when they were on was interviewed staff at Timely Comics (while also doing a spot of by publisher moonlighting for Fawcett Publications on Captain Victor Fox (the Marvel Adventures #1). From Greg Theakston’s self-proclaimed fanzine Pure Imagination #2. “king of the comics”1) as well as his associate Bob Farrell, and was hired as Fox’s editor-in-chief a week later.2 Handling the art as it came through, it didn’t take long for Simon to realize that one of the Fox artists had something special going on: one Jacob Kurtzberg (he hadn’t yet officially changed his name). Kirby-to-be was looking for additional freelance work to help with the family’s bills, and Simon had taken on more freelance than he could handle. They were, as Simon admitted, visually something of an odd couple: Simon being a skinny 6’3” and Kirby a stocky 5’6.”3 But they liked each other from the start and worked well together. They rented space, and started collaborating in earnest. It was the beginning of a fruitful partnership that lasted for a decade and a half, resulting in the creation of a number of popular characters and concepts—some of which continue on today. One day, Simon met with Ed Herron, who had come into Fox Comics looking to get hired as an artist. Simon found Herron’s artwork awful and told him he needed more training. Herron was desperate, and pleaded with the editor for any kind of work he could get. “Look, Ed,” said Simon, “we have enough lousy artists

as it is. Would you like to try writing for some of them?” While he didn’t like Herron’s artwork, the editor noted that the guy’s stories were better than most of what he was currently getting. Herron leapt at the opportunity, starting off his career as a comics writer/ editor.4

The Captain Calls By late 1940, Simon and Kirby had moved on from Fox to Martin Goodman’s Timely Comics, where the team created a new character you may have heard of: Captain America. Around the time S&K were finishing up the debut issue of Captain America Comics for Timely, Simon got a call from editor John Beardsley at Fawcett Publications. Beardsley wanted Simon to come by and talk with him (and Fawcett art director Al Allard) about doing a comic issue for them, featuring Fawcett’s own Captain character: Captain Marvel. Where did things stand with Captain Marvel when Simon got the call from Fawcett? It was still early in Captain Marvel’s development, but the Fawcetts already knew they were onto something with their Whiz Comics star. The publisher sought to capitalize further on his growing popularity with an all-Captain Marvel title. In June of 1940, Fawcett had taken an early run at this idea with Special Edition Comics (released the same month as Whiz Comics #7). That one-shot had featured stories by the same Cap-creators team from Whiz: writer Bill Parker and artist C.C. Beck (with some inking and background assistance by Pete Costanza). The standout component in the “Captain Marvel” stories was Beck’s artwork. The artist in later years had a tendency to downplay his contributions to the character. He felt that a comicbook artist was merely an “extension of the writer,”5 a craftsman who would simply build according to the blueprint they were given, with no personal statement attached. I would have to take slight issue with Beck on this. If you look at the stories contained in Special Edition, the scripts were fairly run-of-the-mill for the era. But because it was Beck drawing them, this gave them a different tone.

A 1942 Fawcett Editorial Meeting A 1942 Fawcett editorial meeting held by (left-to-right) Mercedes Shull, John Beardsley, Otto Binder, Tom Naughton, and Rod Reed—and an early-’40s photo of artist C.C. Beck—frame the latter’s cover for the 1940 Special Edition Comics one-shot, only half a year after Captain Marvel’s debut. [Shazam hero TM & © DC Comics.]

FCA [Fawcett Collectors Of America]

Beck’s art was already having a profound influence on the strip—shaping it and pointing toward the endearing direction it would ultimately take.

Fawcett), but they chose not to. For them, it was back to their day job working on the other Captain for Timely.

Back to Simon: Without attracting attention at Timely (since he was on staff, and publishers frowned on the idea of staffers freelancing for their competition), he took a walk over to the Fawcett offices. It turned out that Ed Herron was also a part of the meeting—having just been assigned as their new comics editor and to spearhead a new, ongoing all-Captain Marvel title6 —and wanted to see if Simon and Kirby might be interested in doing the first issue of the new book. In Simon’s words, “Their problem was they had one week to get the first issue of Captain Marvel Adventures to the printers…. Jack and I got a hotel room around the corner from where we were doing Captain America.”7 “[We] set up shop with drawing boards propped against the small writing desk, between chairs, and even on the beds. After working a full day at Goodman’s office, and gulping a quick sandwich, the night shift would begin. Jack Kirby and I would lay out the script and art on the boards, Kirby would ‘tighten up’ the penciling. Inkers and letterers were called in to push out the pages to meet the tight deadline.

Beck’s later comment about the early issues of Captain Marvel in the 1940s. He Adventures was wrote all the that “Jack Kirby scripts for CMA did the first issue #1. (For lots more about the pulp of that. And a author’s Fawcett couple of other comics work, see guys did the the FCA section of second issue [sic], A/E #163.) but they were so bad that Fawcett decided to have it all kept in the shop where we could keep control.”12 This was the beginning of Fawcett dividing the labor on the title among multiple artists and assistants, assembly-line style. Beck was the chief artist and supervisor, going over everything to make sure it all had a consistent look sustainable for the long haul. The evidence is that this policy was fully in place around Captain Marvel Adventures #5.

Manly Wade Wellman

Well, He Did Have The Speed Of Mercury, Right? The cover of Captain Marvel Adventures #1 (March ’41), with the running figure of Cap by C.C. Beck, looks very much to have been a last-minute, slapdash affair. [Shazam hero TM & © DC Comics.]

“It [was] a week of seemingly endless work which was terminated each morning only when we dropped off to sleep against the drawing board or on the littered bed, in complete exhaustion.”8 Pulp writer Manly Wade Wellman authored the stories (or “squinkas,”9 as he termed comicbook scripts) for Captain Marvel Adventures #1… most likely under the same tight deadlines that Simon and Kirby were contending with. It’s unknown who all of the inkers and letterers were that Simon and Kirby enlisted for this marathon sprint, but according to artist/historian Greg Theakston, Kirby later identified at least one of the inkers as Dick Briefer.10 Simon and Kirby were aware of Briefer’s cartooning abilities (his “Frankenstein” feature, among others, had already begun) and were hoping he might be able to bring a more polished, cartoon look in line with what Beck was achieving on “Captain Marvel.” What about the CMA #1 cover? Even that appears to have been a last-minute thing. As relayed to FCA editor P.C. Hamerlinck, Beck said he was simply asked to draw a figure of Captain Marvel and had absolutely no knowledge that they were doing the book… and that the action shot he had rendered would wind up as the cover of a comic entirely drawn by other hands.

Analysis & Verdicts So, what was the verdict on the end product? Simon felt, “The final pages were disappointing to us. They didn’t match Charlie Beck’s polished style we had been striving for.”11 Simon and Kirby had been given the option to sign their work (something unusual for

There’s no denying that Beck and Kirby were coming from very different places as artists. Beck was all about storytelling clarity, opting for a clean, simplified cartoon approach to comics. And Kirby might not have invented all of what I’ve come to think of as the “visual grammar” of super-hero comics, but he sure did perfect it! You’d be hard-pressed to come up with a comicbook artist whose work was more powerful, dynamic, and interesting than Jack Kirby’s. So it’s somewhat fascinating to see him here, early in his comics career, trying to play in another artist’s playground by his rules. CMA #1 opened with an untitled story that has come to be known as “Captain Marvel vs. Z.” Dr. Sivana (who was already shaping up to be Captain Marvel’s arch-nemesis) produces an opponent named “Z” to give Marvel a run for his money. And Z does! The story is non-stop action from beginning to end, with Cap and Z repeatedly slugging it out with increasing intensity. The story is pretty much a literal slugfest. At one point, Cap thinks he’s definitively beaten Z, only to be shocked to have him come back stronger than ever. I’m not sure that even Superman had yet dealt with a foe quite like this, one who could battle it out with him toe-to-toe. Though the panel layouts are deliberately kept simpler than the work Simon and Kirby were doing on Captain America (they almost seem to foreshadow the standard six-panel grid Kirby would use during the Silver Age at Marvel and beyond), the figures within those panels were very dynamic and powerful. Both his Captain Marvel and Z were a bit longer-limbed, which was how Kirby tended to draw his heroic figures in those days.

Captain And The King

When “Z” Didn’t Stand For “Zorro” Two consecutive “Captain Marvel vs. Z” pages from Captain Marvel Adventures #1, wherein Kirby shows his skill at doing all-out action! Inking & additional art by Joe Simon, Dick Briefer, et al. Script by Wellman. This sort of slugfest was very unusual for a “Captain Marvel” story. [Shazam hero TM & © DC Comics.]

The rendering on these drawings is stripped down, but there’s no mistaking the energy there! The issue’s second entry, “Captain Marvel Out West,” felt a bit strange, having the World’s Mightiest Mortal plunked into the midst of a Western story about cattle rustlers; but this was the early days of the super-hero genre, and publishers were still figuring out what types of stories did or did not appeal to readers, and trying to offer some variety. Westerns in comics wouldn’t reach their zenith until much later, but there was still enough interest in them at the time. This tale is quieter in some ways than the Z story, but Kirby looks for ways to keep it interesting. For example, on the second page, he has Cap riding a bucking bronco, and the figure is actually bursting out of the panel borders. He and Simon would do that fairly commonly in their other work, but it’s unusual to see that done in a “Captain Marvel” story. You’ll also notice in this tale that Cap doesn’t seem to be flying. Instead, he’s running around chasing cattle, occasionally making high leaps over rocks and cacti. In fact, he’s merely running or leaping during most of the CMA #1 stories—and sometimes falling great distances. The only spot in the whole book where he’s definitely flying is on the last page of the last story. CM clearly already had the power earlier in Special Edition Comics. Perhaps Wellman wasn’t up to speed on Cap’s abilities. After all, he was having to write it all on the… fly.

Kirby got some nice active figure work in the Western story, especially all the poses with Cap on the horse on the first two pages. It’s simpler than Kirby’s usual style, but the strength of the drawings comes through loud and clear. The fourth page has a very nice panel in the middle of it, depicting people having fun at an outdoor barbecue. In some cases in this story, the camera is staged farther back and Cap is surprisingly small in the frame. But this is most likely a conscious storytelling choice, wanting the reader to see and feel the “wide-open spaces” and vistas of the Western setting. The third story, originally untitled but having come to be referred to as “The Monsters of Saturn,” is a science-fiction outing in which Billy Batson picks up a radio call for help from humans on the ringed planet, who’ve been enslaved by Dragon Men. The fantastical elements of this one feel slightly more at home in a “Captain Marvel” story, though it’s played a lot straighter than how something like this might have been executed later on by writer Otto Binder working with Beck. It’s interesting that the villains are Dragon Men. Kirby must have liked that concept, as he recycled it years later for Fantastic Four #35. Only, that Dragon Man was a lot less evil than these guys! Simon and Kirby let themselves get a little freer with their panel designs on this story, not sticking to a strict six-panel grid. It’s not quite as freeform as what you would see them do over in Captain America and in other strips, but you have pages with a nine-panel grid, panels with stair-step edges, circular panels, and even a triangular one! Again, some great action poses occur here.

FCA [Fawcett Collectors Of America]

But one of the particularly enjoyable aspects of this story is that you get to see Kirby doing the kind of machinery and architecture he usually drew around this time. “Kirby tech” is always fun, in any era.

Cap, either. Thirla’s teeth won’t penetrate Cap’s skin. They do get to play a bit here with vampire lore (garlic and all that), and you get to see Thirla’s vampire army transform into wolves (something that has rarely been done in vampire films; usually you just get bats).

The rocket Captain Marvel uses to make his trip to Saturn is referred to as one he seized “from a wicked scientist.” I have to wonder why they didn’t just identify him as Sivana, as that would seem to be whom they were referring to. The ship looks as though it might be very loosely based on the one Beck did for Special Edition, for the story “Sivana the Weather Wizard”—only it’s become much more Golden Age-Kirby in appearance here. It has that big, heavy, streamlined art deco sand-cast look that Kirby’s spaceships and machinery had at this point. This rocket wouldn’t have looked out of place in the Buck Rogers or Flash Gordon comic strips, which were probably at least something of an influence on his approach to the design here.

There’s a bit of humor in the inscription on Thirla’s tombstone: “Here Lies Bram Thirla: Good Riddance.” And at one point, Captain Marvel is swallowed by a giant wolf; he then proceeds to dance around inside the wolf and makes wisecracks audible from outside, until he forces it to explode back into the smaller wolves it was composed of, freeing him.

Wrapping up the book was “Captain Marvel Battles the Vampire.” While “Captain Marvel” stories would on occasion veer into the supernatural (as they had in “The Haunted House” in Special Edition Comics), usually there was some humor or tongue-incheek aspect to how it was executed. However, this tale was played straight—dark enough to the point where several people die in this story! It almost feels more like something they would have done in the pages of Captain America, where many of the villains appeared inspired by the “weird menace” genre of pulp magazines. Of course, Wellman was at home with this story, as he was still writing tales of the occult for Weird Tales and other pulps. The vampire is named Bram Thirla (you get a no-prize if you can figure out where the name “Bram” likely came from). Cap finds he’s not able to do much to Thirla, but the vampire can’t do a lot to

Once again, panel layouts for this story are a bit more restrained than they were in the previous one. It’s mostly done on a six-panel grid, but you have spots like the next-to-last panel on the yarn’s second page, where Thirla is rising out of his coffin and his wings are allowed to extend beyond the panel borders. Or the large panel at the bottom of the eighth page, where Thirla is summoning his vampire army. Again, this story displays some nice, dynamic figure work and posing. The thing that I really feel is missing is… shadows. The drawings were kept open for color, and the color tries to carry it, but you really feel the lack of black shadows. My suspicion is that Simon and Kirby were afraid that, if they went in that direction, they’d lose the clean cartooning style they were shooting for. But when you look at how Beck had handled a similar theme in the earlier “Haunted House” in Special Edition, he did use blacks. It was done very carefully; often treated more like another color than like shadows. But the blacks were there, and they added to the atmosphere of that story. More black-spotting would have helped in “Captain Marvel Battles the Vampire,” too. CMA #1 was a not entirely successful, but not entirely unsuccessful, experiment. And it’s fascinating to see an artist of Kirby’s stature—still somewhat in his formative stages—taking on a character also still in its formative stages. There are things of value here, not just on an entertainment level, but lessons and techniques that a writer or artist could pick up that would be of benefit to them.

Not The End You might think that, since Simon and Kirby moved on from Captain Marvel after the one issue, that was the end for either one ever being associated with the character again. Not so!

Cowpoke Marvel Adventures (Left:) A lively page from CMA #1’s “Out West” where Kirby shows that not only can he do great vibrant and dynamic human figures—he can do it with horses, too! (Above:) Rather than flying, the script for “Out West” had Captain Marvel running around and leaping. He’s depicted very small here, most likely a choice to emphasize the wide-open Western spaces. Inks by Simon, Briefer, et al; script by Wellman. [Shazam hero TM & © DC Comics.]

Captain And The King

Dragon Around (Left:) More vintage “Kirby tech” here, from “The Monsters of Saturn,” in the design of the gun. And we have a non-flying Captain Marvel, as he is through the majority of the issue. Script by Wellman. Inks by Simon, Briefer, et al. [Shazam hero TM & © DC Comics.] (Right:) Later, in the Silver Age, Kirby (with writer Stan Lee) revisited the idea of a Dragon Man character in the pages of Marvel’s Fantastic Four #35 (Feb. ’65). This Dragon Man was not inherently evil but a simpleminded android, often easily duped by bad guys into doing their bidding. Inks by Chic Stone. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

After the unhappy demise of Fawcett’s entire line of comics in 1953, Captain Marvel flew off into the sunset—becoming a happy memory for those who grew up reading his adventures. Later on, in 1972, DC Comics announced they were bringing back the World’s Mightiest Mortal. And Jack Kirby had a hand in it.

downtown L.A., [DC editorial director Carmine] Infantino was out there, and we sat in a room… Steve Sherman was with me, Carmine, Carmine’s then-ladyfriend, and Jack and Roz, and [Jack] told this idea, ‘Let’s bring back Captain Marvel.’ And Carmine was open to it.

Kirby biographer Mark Evanier told the story as part of 2020 San Diego Comic-Con’s online Jack Kirby Tribute Panel, which he moderated. I feel it’s best to just let him tell it, as an eyewitness participant:

“I contacted C.C. Beck. I had a friend named Gary Brown… who will remember me writing him, saying ‘Hey, will you give me C.C. Beck’s phone number?’ He got it for me, and I called C.C. Beck, and he was interested in drawing it again, and we presented this as a package to DC. And Carmine says, ‘This is a great idea; we’ll do it,’ and then a week later, he says, ‘We really kind of have to have it

“Jack loved Captain Marvel: the original Captain Marvel. Not just because he did an issue of it, but he just thought that was one of the greatest comics ever done. If there was any comicbook that he admired that was not Simon & Kirby in the ’40s, it was Captain Marvel… “When Jack was doing New Gods, Forever People, Mister Miracle for DC, he wanted to edit comics that he would not write or draw! DC said, ‘Oh yeah; we’re open to that,’ but they really weren’t. They wanted the books controlled editorially in New York, and they just wanted Jack to do the page quota he had, which was roughly 15 pages a week of his own work, and hand it in, and… comics by other people could be edited by other people. “But before Jack gave up on that, he was trying to think of a comic that he could add to the DC line-up that he could supervise… somebody else could write it (possibly me or Steve Sherman), somebody else could draw it. In this case, C.C. Beck! He said, ‘Why don’t you bring back Captain Marvel? You’re the only company that can do it.’ Because, the way Fawcett settled the lawsuit, Fawcett agreed not to ever publish Captain Marvel again without DC’s permission. So DC was the only company around that could publish Captain Marvel…. “We were at a convention [in]

The Vampire Strikes Back! (Left:) Page 2 of “Captain Marvel Battles the Vampire,” from CMA #1. You’ll notice that Thirla’s likeness changes even in the context of this page: In the first panel (as well as on the opening page) he’s drawn fairly straight. Then suddenly, for the rest of the page, he becomes more cartoony in his depiction. In the fifth panel the vampire’s wings break the panel borders—something that Simon and Kirby would do often, but it was uncommon in “Captain Marvel” stories. Some inking by Dick Briefer; script by Manly Wade Wellman. (Right:) This was a pretty clever and original way to introduce the idea, from vampire lore, that they have a severe garlic allergy. Billy Batson might be the only individual ever whose life was saved by a spicy meat sandwich. Nice dramatic, energetic posing here, on what would likely have been a far more static page in someone else’s hands. Billy Batson & Shazam hero TM & © DC Comics.]

FCA [Fawcett Collectors Of America]

edited by the people back here,’ and they took the project away from Jack. And… it was not the success they were hoping for.

With One Magic Word…And It Wasn’t “Captain Marvel!” C.C. Beck’s cover for Shazam! #1 (Feb. 1973). Although DC Comics seems to have taken Kirby’s advice about reviving the original Captain Marvel with C.C. Beck art—even if it had to be in a comicbook titled Shazam!—the company wound up doing just about everything else differently from the way the King had recommended… with less than stellar results, in terms of comics sales at the time. Still, there was the success of the 1970s live-action Saturday morning TV series—and of the 2019 blockbuster film Shazam! Cover art by Beck (Cap and Billy) and Curt Swan (Superman).[TM & © DC Comics.]

“I’m not saying that it would’ve been with Jack in control of it, but that’s how it started. And Jack was never credited for that. Nobody ever said that it was his idea. Mr. Beck was upset because he thought he was going to be working with Jack as his editor, and he did not get along with Julius Schwartz. Mr. Schwartz was a lovely man who did some great comicbooks, but he wasn’t a fan of Captain Marvel.

“There was this idea that DC had at that point: ‘Well, since Captain Marvel’s like Superman, we should have it done by the same office that does Superman. So let’s get Denny O’Neil to write it,’ and they were originally going to have Bob Oksner draw, and they were originally going to have Julius Schwartz edit it, which I think he actually did. And Jack’s point was, ‘No, no; the idea is that Captain Marvel is not like Superman! It should be done by different people; have a different feel and a different flair.’ “Fortunately, there was this wonderful gentleman who worked for DC named Nelson Bridwell, who I think is an unsung hero of ’70s comics, who understood Captain Marvel and persuaded DC to get Beck. I gave Nelson Beck’s phone number, and Nelson wrote some of the better stories that were done of that character in that series, but [he] was hampered by the fact that Julius Schwartz was not an editor who appreciated the old stories, and therefore wasn’t interested in doing the old type of stories.”13

Evanier’s story explains a lot about what was going on with that revival. Jack did so many things for comics that we can thank him for. We can certainly add his contributions to Captain Marvel to that list, and the fact that the character is not just another relic of a dim and distant but fondly remembered past.

Footnotes 1.

Joe Simon with Jim Simon, The Comic Book Makers (New York: Crestwood/II Publications, 1990), p. 39

Simon, The Comic Book Makers, p. 40

Simon, The Comic Book Makers, p. 47

Simon, The Comic Book Makers, p. 40

Will Eisner, “C.C. Beck,” in Will Eisner’s Shop Talk (Milwaukie: Dark Horse Comics, Inc., 2001), p. 73

John R. Cochran, “Joe Simon: the FCA Interview,” Fawcett Collectors of America, no. 65 (Autumn 2000): p. 30

Cochran, “Joe Simon: the FCA Interview,” p. 30

Simon, The Comic Book Makers, p. 61

Richard J. Arndt, “Manley Wade Wellman: David Drake Discusses His Friend and Fellow Writer,” Fawcett Collectors of America, no. 222 (March 2020): p. 74

10. 64 Pages of New Captain Marvel Adventures [#1]. The Grand Comics Database, last modified May 16, 2020. https://www. comics.org/issue/1178/ 11. Simon, The Comic Book Makers, p. 61 12. Eisner, Will Eisner’s Shop Talk, p. 61 13. Comic-Con International, “The Annual Jack Kirby Tribute Panel | Comic-Con@Home 2020,” YouTube video, 1:12:05, posted July 24, 2020. https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=qI0z4tUHe_s Mark Lewis has drawn several comics, but primarily works in the TV/ direct-to-video side of the animation industry in Southern California. The first show he worked on was X-Men: The Animated Series. Visit him at marklewisdraws.com.

The WHO’S WHO of American Comic Books 1928-1999 Online Edition Created by Jerry G. Bails FREE – online searchable database – FREE www.bailsprojects.com – No password required

The splash figures from p. 1 of Captain America Comics #1 (March 1941) by Joe Simon & Jack Kirby. [TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.]

ED AND EXP COND SE ION! EDIT

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KIRBY & LEE: STUF’ SAID

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RETROFAN #16

BARRY WINDSOR-SMITH discusses his new graphic novel MONSTERS, its origin as a 1980s Hulk story, and its evolution into his 300-page magnum opus (includes a gallery of outtakes). Plus part two of our SCOTT SHAW! interview about HannaBarbera licensing material and work with ROY THOMAS on Captain Carrot, KEN MEYER, JR. looks at the great fanzines of 40 years ago, HEMBECK, and more!

Career-spanning interview with TERRY DODSON, and Terry’s wife (and go-to inker) RACHEL DODSON! Plus 1970s/’80s portfolio producer SAL QUARTUCCIO talks about his achievements with Phase and Hot Stuf’, R. CRUMB and DENIS KITCHEN discuss the history of underground comix character Pro Junior, WILL EISNER’s Valentines to his wife, HEMBECK, and more!

Sixties teen idol RICKY NELSON remembered by his son MATTHEW NELSON, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., rural sitcom purge, EVEL KNIEVEL toys, the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers, Saturday morning’s Super 7, The Muppet Show, behind-the-scenes photos of Sixties movies, an interview with The Sound of Music’s heartthrob-turnedbad guy DANIEL “Rolf” TRUHITTE, and more fun, fab features!

An exclusive interview with Logan’s Run star MICHAEL YORK, plus Logan’s Run novelist WILLIAM F. NOLAN and vehicle customizer DEAN JEFFRIES. Plus: the Marvel Super Heroes cartoons of 1966, H. R. Pufnstuf, Leave It to Beaver’s SUE “Miss Landers” RANDALL, WOLFMAN JACK, drive-in theaters, My Weekly Reader, DAVID MANDEL’s super collection of comic book art, and more!

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships August 2021

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Summer 2021

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships Fall 2021

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Now shipping!

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships August 2021

PAUL GUSTAVSON—Golden Age artist of The Angel, Fantom of the Fair, Arrow, Human Bomb, Jester, Plastic Man, Alias the Spider, Quicksilver, Rusty Ryan, Midnight, and others—is remembered by son TERRY GUSTAFSON, who talks in-depth to RICHARD ARNDT. Lots of lush comic art from Centaur, Timely, and (especially) Quality! Plus—FCA, MICHAEL T. GILBERT, JOHN BROOME, and more!

BACK ISSUE #128

BACK ISSUE #129

BACK ISSUE #130

KIRBY COLLECTOR #81

TV TOON TIE-INS! Bronze Age HannaBarbera Comics, Underdog, Mighty Mouse, Rocky & Bullwinkle, Pink Panther, Battle of the Planets, and Smokey Bear and Woodsy Owl. Bonus: SCOTT SHAW! digs up Captain Carrot’s roots! Featuring the work of BYRNE, COLON, ENGEL, EVANIER, FIELDS, MICHAEL GALLAGHER, WIN MORTIMER, NORRIS, SEVERIN, SKEATES, STATON, TALLARICO, TOTH, and more!

BRONZE AGE PROMOS, ADS, AND GIMMICKS! The aborted DC Super-Stars Society fan club, Hostess Comic Ads, DC 16-page Preview Comics, rare Marvel custom comics, DC Hotline, Popeye Career Comics, early variant covers, and more. Featuring BARR, HERDLING, LEVITZ, MAGUIRE, MORGAN, PACELLA, PALMIOTTI, SHAW!, TERRY STEWART, THOMAS, WOLFMAN, and more!

“KIRBY: BETA!” Jack’s experimental ideas, characters, and series (Fighting American, Jimmy Olsen, Kamandi, and others), Kirby interview, inspirations for his many “secret societies” (The Project, Habitat, Wakanda), non-superhero genres he explored, 2019 Heroes Con panel (with MARK EVANIER, MIKE ROYER, JIM AMASH, and RAND HOPPE), a pencil art gallery, UNUSED JIMMY OLSEN #141 COVER, and more!

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Now shipping!

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships June 2021

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships July 2021

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships Aug. 2021

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $10.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships Fall 2021

2021

BRONZE AGE TV TIE-INS! TV-to-comic adaptations of the ’70s to ’90s, including Bionic Woman, Dark Shadows, Emergency, H. R. Pufnstuf, Hee Haw, Lost in Space (with BILL MUMY), Primus (with ROBERT BROWN), Sledge Hammer, Superboy, V, and others! Featuring BALD, BATES, CAMPITI, EVANIER, JOHN FRANCIS MOORE, SALICRUP, SAVIUK, SPARLING, STATON, WOLFMAN, and more!

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BACK ISSUE #127

SOLDIERS ISSUE! Sgt. Rock revivals, General Thunderbolt Ross, Beetle Bailey in comics, DC’s Blitzkrieg, War is Hell’s John Kowalski, Atlas’ savage soldiers, The ’Nam, Nth the Ultimate Ninja, and CONWAY and GARCIA-LOPEZ’s Cinder and Ashe. Featuring CLAREMONT, DAVID, DIXON, GOLDEN, HAMA, KUBERT, LOEB, DON LOMAX, DOUG MURRAY, TUCCI, and more. BRIAN BOLLAND cover!