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Contents

THE

KIRBY COMPARISONS! OPENING SHOT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 JACK FAQs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Mark Evanier’s 2017 Baltimore Comic-Con panel, featuring Tom King, Walter Simonson, Mark Buckingham, Jerry Ordway, Dean Haspiel, John K. Snyder III, and Rand Hoppe

ISSUE #86, SPRING 2023

C o l l e c t o r

EULOGISTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Superstars of comics pay tribute the day after Jack’s 1994 passing GALLERY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 cover comparisons INCIDENTAL ICONOGRAPHY. . . . . 32 the FF suits up THINKIN’ ’BOUT INKIN’. . . . . . . . . 34 with Dave Stevens, William Stout, and Barry Windsor-Smith KIRBY OBSCURA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 don’t open the box! FOUNDATIONS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 the final S&K Link Thorne story BOOM!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Jack’s influences and inspirations for the Fourth World and beyond EYEDUNNO. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 spot the differences KIRBY KINETICS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 a career comparison COLLECTOR COMMENTS. . . . . . . . 78 Front cover inks: WALTER SIMONSON Front cover colors: TOM ZIUKO Special thanks to: CHRISSIE HARPER COPYRIGHTS: Ben Boxer, Big Barda, Demon, Dingbats of Danger Street, Dr. Canus, Dubbilex, Forever People, Four-Armed Terror, Highfather, House of Mystery, House of Secrets, Houseroy, Infinity Man, Jason Blood, Jimmy Olsen, Kamandi, Kanto, Merlin, Metron, Mister Miracle, Morgaine le Fey, My Greatest Adventure, New Gods, Oberon, Orion, Shilo Norman, Spirit World, Superman, Ted Brown, Witchboy TM & © DC Comics • Arnim Zola, Avengers, Black Bolt, Black Panther, Blastarr, Bucky, Captain America, Celestials, Crystal, Devil Dinosaur, Diablo, Eternals, Falcon, Fantastic Four, Galactus, Grottu, Hank Pym, Harokin, Hulk, Inhumans, Journey Into Mystery, Ka-Zar, Klagg, Lockjaw, Machine Man, Martian, Nick Fury, Orikal, Prester John, Primus, Recorder, Red Skull, Shadow Thing, Shagg, Silver Surfer, Spider-Man, Stone Man, Strange Tales, Tales of Suspense, Thing, Thor, Triton, Ulik, Wasp, Watcher, Wyatt Wingfoot, X-Men TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc. • Black of New Genesis, Collages, Faces of Evil, Ramses, Sky Masters, Sundance of Mars TM & © Jack Kirby Estate • 2001: A Space Odyssey TM & © Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. • The Fly TM & © Joe Simon Estate • Black Magic, Fighting America & Speedboy, Link Thorne, Sunfire TM & © Joe Simon & Jack Kirby Estates • Country Lion, Sorceror TM & © Ruby-Spears Productions • “Camelot” lyrics © MTI

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[above] Splash page pencils from Mister Miracle #13 [April 1973]. Our cover this issue is an unused version of MM #13’s cover, inked on vellum from a Xerox of Jack’s pencils, and originally intended for the UK’s Jack Kirby Quarterly before it ceased publication.

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The Jack Kirby Collector, Vol. 29, No. 86, Spring 2023. Published quarterly (see?) by and © TwoMorrows Publishing, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614, USA. 919-449-0344. John Morrow, Editor/Publisher. Single issues: $15 postpaid US ($19 elsewhere). Four-issue subscriptions: $53 Economy US, $78 International, $19 Digital. Editorial package © TwoMorrows Publishing, a division of TwoMorrows Inc. All characters are trademarks of their respective companies. All Kirby artwork is © Jack Kirby Estate unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter is © the respective authors. Views expressed here are those of the respective authors, and not necessarily those of TwoMorrows Publishing or the Jack Kirby Estate. First printing. PRINTED IN CHINA. ISSN 1932-6912

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Opening Shot

Compare & Contrast

by editor John Morrow

think we all can agree: Jack Kirby was fast! This issue, you’ll read Gil Kane commenting on seeing Jack draw a ten-page Boy Commandos story in one day. For comparison, you’ll also read about Dave Stevens taking two weeks to draw one cover. Both Jack and Dave were great artists, but I’m pretty sure Dave didn’t produce enough material to support an ongoing publication about him, like this one (almost 30 years and still going strong!). Check out this checklist of Dave’s art career: https://www.davestevens.com/gallery/checklist It only takes a couple of seconds to scroll down through his checklist, whereas the now sold-out Jack Kirby Checklist: Centennial Edition is 272 pages, mostly documenting Kirby’s published work. However, that published work is just one facet of his output. As regular TJKC readers have seen since 1994, there’s a wealth of unpublished Kirby work out there as well—quantitatively more than Dave Stevens’ entire lifetime of work, published or not. That isn’t meant to cast aspersions upon Dave—no one in comics has ever rivaled (or likely ever will rival) Jack’s prolific output, and Dave and Jack approached comics very differently, with unique requirements for their respective work. So there’s really no comparison there. But think about that: Jack created as much, or more, unseen work, as many artists produced, ever. Granted, in many cases, there are compelling reasons why it was never published, and some of it saw the light of day, but with minor or major changes made to it. So this issue, I wanted to focus on more of that obscure material, much for the first time—and when it was altered, show side-by-side comparisons of what it looked like before changes were made for publication. Thankfully, there is still this paper trail of Kirby’s original intent and execution, before someone who felt they knew better than Jack, was able to monkey with it. Comics is a commercial medium, and Kirby was pragmatic enough to know that he was at the mercy of inkers, editors, and publishers who could, on a whim, transform his work to their liking. Despite those “corrections,” I can’t think of an instance where his underlying storytelling was totally obliterated by someone else (although Stan Lee sure came close in a few instances!). Take this issue’s alternate version of Mister Miracle #13’s cover, for example. Does the published version (or the splash page) tell the story any better? With hindsight, many of the alterations seem arbitrary and infuriating. But since Jack cared first and foremost about telling stories, I suspect

we fans are a lot more upset about the changes you’ll see here, than Jack ever was. H [right] Take two genres that Kirby knew well (sci-fi and westerns), add pop culture of the times, and you get 1972’s Sundance of Mars! 1971’s NASA probe Mariner 9 was the first to orbit Mars, and the hit film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was released on September 23, 1969. Jack had to be aware of both, and you can even argue this unused character resembles Robert Redford (who many thought would make a perfect film Captain America back in the day). A sci-fi western set on Mars, starring Redford? Sounds like something only Kirby’s imagination could come up with!

[top] Richard Kolkman commented: “I’ve recently noticed the unpublished concept Sunfire, Man of Flame in a whole new light. It’s from circa 1955—so it would stand to reason this character might be a reaction to Atlas’ 1950s Human Torch revival. If Fighting American was to counter Captain America... perhaps this one was too close to the Torch and was turned down by Crestwood? But it probably was shown to someone, as a masthead was created for this pencil art [same as Night Fighter, which was a concept reworked from an unused Fighting American cover].”

Uncovered

Kirby’s Amazing Fantasies

by Chrissie Harper • Originally posted on October 7, 2021 at http://blog.chezchrissie.co.uk

f course, most Kirby fans know that Jack designed the original version of Spider-Man, which never got used. We know, also, that Kirby penciled the cover to Spidey’s first appearance, in Amazing Fantasy #15 (1962)—because the original cover Ditko drew was rejected by Stan Lee. But how about Kirby artwork inside this landmark comic? Well, surely, the iconic origin story is fully-penciled and inked by Mr. Ditko. But there’s one aspect I never paid much attention to before: the teeny-tiny Spidey figure at the top right of the opening splash page. Not only is this drawing not very good, it’s also not by Ditko. As we now know, the original hyphen-free logo was pasted over

when Lee decided the name needed a hyphen (but for much of the actual story, the hyphen is absent). It was looking at the photo above of the original artwork (as held by the Library of Congress) that got me thinking. In addition to the logo being replaced, a pattern of radiating webbing has been erased at some point during production—my guess is, before Ditko inked it… further, that the webbing pattern around Peter’s heroic shadow on the main artwork was added by Ditko due to the webbing around the logo being taken out. It would’ve been dumb to have this pattern repeated so close together, but maybe it was a visual effect he really wanted to use on this page. So, perhaps, what was sitting amidst the webbing up top originally

was that big spider now placed above Peter’s shadow— not a little Spidey figure. The original logo [right] looks to me like something Ditko might have penciled in himself. The webbing effect was obviously inked in (along with that logo), then whited-out when Stan changed his mind. There’s no white-out on the Spidey figure, so that clearly was done before the final logo changes. Let’s enlarge the figure as much as we can… Ditko didn’t draw this, and if he had inked it (as he did Kirby’s cover on this issue), he’d have fixed the funky problems with the costume. Ditko never would’ve messedup his own design in this manner. These problems— the way the webbing is drawn, either radiating in the wrong direction, or simply drawn as straight crossed lines— are typically seen on one particular artist’s version of Spidey: Jack Kirby’s. Add to it the angular anatomy and posing, and this looks like a “fix” done in the office by Kirby—probably his own rushed inking, too. Lee generally seemed to use whoever was on hand to make panel fixes, although he often tried to use Kirby if he had figures that needed extra dynamics (such as some of Don Heck’s early Avengers work, which is peppered with Kirby revisions). In this case, I imagine Kirby just happened to be there. H [right] The 1966 Great Comics Game book featured a similarly awkward image of Spider-Man. Richard Kolkman recognized it from the 1965 Marvel office letterhead with border art by Kirby/ Ayers—only the webbing on Spider-Man has been altered a little. But it’s still a direct repro from Marvel’s stationary!

Mark Evanier

JACK F.A.Q.s

A column answering Frequently Asked Questions about Kirby

Jack Kirby 100th Birthday Panel

Held at the Baltimore ComicCon on Sunday, September 24, 2017 Featuring Tom King, Walter Simonson, Mark Buckingham, Jerry Ordway, Dean Haspiel, John K. Snyder III, and Rand Hoppe. Transcribed by Steven Tice, and copyedited by Mark Evanier and John Morrow

[above] Jack hard at work in his home studio in 1971, and a portrait of the artist as a young Thing [right]. Read the story behind this drawing at https:// kirbymuseum.org/ blogs/effect/2015/ 06/02/the-summerof-jack/ [next page, top] Baltimore Con panelists: (back row, left to right) Tom King, John K. Snyder III, Dean Haspiel, Rand Hoppe, and Mark Buckingham. (front row) Walter Simonson, Mark Evanier, and Jerry Ordway. Photo by Kevin Shaw. [next page, bottom] Tom King has just embarked on a new Kirby-related project titled Danger Street, which combines all the characters that appeared in DC’s First Issue Special #1–13 into one mini-series— including Kirby’s Atlas, Manhunter, New Gods, and Dingbats.

MARK EVANIER: I have it in my contract that any place I go, I get to do a panel about Jack Kirby. [applause] We have some people here with lots of good things to say about Jack. I’m not going to waste any of your time telling you that Jack Kirby was a fabulous artist. There are only about 50,000 comic books downstairs that you can look at to come to that conclusion yourself. I was privileged to know Jack, to work with him for a brief time. I was his utterly useless assistant for a couple of years, meaning that he didn’t need assistants, but he was nice enough to say, “Oh, here’s something to do, and here’s some money, Mark.” My two major contributions to his work were to get out of the way—and I think I deserve a lot of credit for that [laughter]—and to help him get a better inker. He was an amazing man, and I’ll just tell you, those of who never had a chance to meet Jack, he was a darling man. He was polite, he was honest, he was a nice person. He stood on no ceremony. [He was] “Jack.” If you called him “Mr. Kirby,” he would correct you, and he treated everyone as an equal. Obviously, a lot 4

of people were not his equal, and he didn’t care. If you came up to Jack with the worst artwork in the world—and, believe me, I did [laughter]—he would give you encouragement. He would tell you, “Keep at it. Keep drawing.” The only two things that would make him give you a negative critique of your work was, number one, if he thought that it was derivative, that you were just copying other people. I tell folks that if I had emerged from my association with Jack able to perfectly replicate Jack Kirby artwork, he would have considered me a colossal failure, because I wouldn’t have created anything. And the other thing is if you were lazy. Jack was a strong believer in hard work. One of the many things I learned from him—I learned lots of stuff from Jack about writing and drawing. I learned an awful lot of stuff from Jack about being a human being—not that I can always apply it. He was just such a decent man, being kind to people—in some cases, I thought too kind with people he shouldn’t have trusted—but I learned that he was a very, very hard worker. One day, a life-changing day, I thought to myself, “You know, you’re never going to be able to have the imagination of this man, but it might be possible to work just that hard, to be dedicated to producing work, and producing not just for the reason of getting a paycheck, or not just even for the reason of having people say, ‘Wow, you do great work’—for the self-satisfaction you get from creating something.” And all of these people up here write and draw, and they’re all very talented people, and they probably have that same quality of, they finish the work, and they go, “Wow, I did something I’m very proud of here.” And sometimes you finish it, and it gets mauled in the production process. It gets inked badly, or colored badly, or printed badly, or distributed badly. You can still get a certain pride in the fact that you did your part of the job right, to the best of your ability, and that was Jack all the way through. He was just an amazing man, whose presence I feel every time I go to a comic book convention; he’s all over the room. He’s everywhere. You look around and you see his influence. Not only do you see the characters that he launched, but you see people doing his style, and you see people who have picked up the

superannuated storytelling that he popularized. Jack told exciting stories. They were all exciting, they were all interesting. This is the reason that we keep going back to his work again and again. You all go back to it and reread it and reread it, and the twelfth reading, you suddenly see something that wasn’t there before, and you go, “Wait a minute. Did somebody sneak in in the middle of the night and doctor my copy? That wasn’t there when I read this story before.” I read the whole Fourth World series maybe twice a year or something, and every time through I go, “Wait a minute, I was in the room when that page was done, and I didn’t notice that.” His stuff is so rich and so exciting that people want to continue it. They want to draw his characters, they want to tell more stories of his characters, they want to try to blend their imaginations. Our imaginations get stimulated by Kirby stories. You want to take that to the next level, and it’s very exciting to just look at Kirby work for the first time, to see someone who just discovers him and is just enraptured by him. Since he passed away, I have had people come to me constantly and try to say to me the thing they wish they could have said to Jack, and it’s a very personal thing, usually. It’s not just, “Yeah, I thought the comic book was really neat.” It was always, “That story meant a lot to my life,” or, “That series caused me to become a writer, or an artist, or a sculptor, or a sign painter,” or whatever it was, because he inspired a lot of people. And I keep doing these panels because I want to keep on sharing this good fortune I had to know him with others. These people are all going to talk about what Jack meant to them, and, if we have time, we’ll answer whatever questions you may have about him, and I bet there’ll be plenty. This is Mr. John Snyder, folks. [applause] This is Mr. Tom King. [applause] Mr. Walter Simonson. [applause and cheers] Mr. Jerry Ordway. [applause] Mr. Mark Buckingham. [applause] The mover and shaker behind the Kirby Museum, which is doing wonderful work to preserve Jack’s stuff, and you’ll undoubtedly have spent some time already in their booth picking through stuff, this is Mr. Rand Hoppe. [applause] Mr. Dean Haspiel. [applause] Immediately following, in the same room we’re going to be talking about Len Wein. That will overlap with Kirby in some ways. Well, Tom, you get to talk first. I have this all programmed in my mind. Tom is doing the new Mister Miracle series for DC, which many of you have probably picked up, and the ones of you who haven’t, should. Talk to us. What does Jack mean to you?

series yet, but I will say I’ve met several people here at the convention who’ve said, “Have you seen the new Mister Miracle series? It’s great!” EVANIER: Actually, [DC Comics] sent me Xeroxes or it. I haven’t seen a printed copy yet. How many issues are out—two? That’s all I’ve seen so far, because DC stopped sending me—if you’ve ever worked for DC Comics and you want them to stop talking to you and stop sending you free comics, testify against them in a lawsuit. [laughter] So, anyway, I’m back now working with them, so... TOM KING: When I close my eyes and see comics, I see Jerry Ordway’s pictures, and Walt Simonson drew the first comic that brought me in. I have John’s work on the wall over my desk. Anyways— SIMONSON: We’re all really boring. [laughter] KING: So, confession time. When I was a kid and I read Kirby comics, I hated them. When I first came to Eternals, I thought, “This is big and blocky and—I want John Buscema or even Jim Lee.” I wanted stuff that was fast, and cool, and sexy. I was like, “I don’t get this.” And I didn’t understand Kirby until I went to college. When I was in college, I would cheat on things—don’t tell—but, by turning it into comics, I was taking classes and doing dinosaurs and Calvin and Hobbes and that kind of sh*t. So I was taking a class on World War II, and I was like, “Oh, comic books are in World War II; easy paper to write.” And so I went to the library and read every comic I could from the Golden Age during World War II, and after a while it was like The Matrix, where I could see the code instead of the comics, because there was a formula. You start to see the formula, and what they’re doing is like, “Oh, Batman’s at the circus again and they have to find the bad guy.” And it bored me. But I would notice that the comics that always sort of stopped the wheel from turning, that I’d have to stop reading, were always Kirby comics. There was something he was doing that was storytelling on another level. His comics were still interesting fifty years later. [baby in audience starts babbling] Yeah, that’s what I’m saying. [laughter] That kid gets it. Yeah, there’s something about that. So I sort of understood that there was something deeper here. It was the storytelling. And once I saw that, I started revisiting Kirby, and I realized that he’s just like the foundation of modern pop culture society or whatever, and we don’t understand that because we’ve been in pop culture, so when we see the foundations, it gets a little confusing, because it’s raw and it’s tough. And then just, to talk about what I’m doing now, DC came to me and said—I was like, “I just want something to do,” and they

WALTER SIMONSON: I haven’t seen that

left.] And I’d never seen an Atlas comic, and it was drawn differently. It was colored differently. It was probably Jack—maybe Dick Ayers, I’m not sure who actually inked it. But it was a big rock statue, and a painter was hired by a bearded mad scientist, to come paint the statue with certain magical paints that he had to stir up, and there was the muddy glop that Jack could draw so beautifully, and he painted the statue. He was supposed to be out of there by midnight, and at midnight the statue awoke, and it turned out it was an alien spy from the center of the Earth. And I was like, “Really?” [laughter] And, as a kid, I was like, “Wow!” The castle was like a Frankenstein sort of thing, but the big blob was dripping this paint as it was chasing him, and finally the guy managed to get back to the paint room and grab a bucket of turpentine and throw it on him like Dorothy threw water on the Witch, and the paint all melts off. It didn’t occur to me at the time—later, I went, “So this would be the easiest alien invasion to thwart, ever.” [laughter] Just throw turpentine on it. It’s gonna be fine. But the art was fabulous! There was this Blob guy walking around. First of all, the old Atlas’ were kind of orange and brown. They were so weird. It was unlike anything else I’d ever seen, but I don’t know if there were credits there or not. A million years later, I’m in college, my freshman year. I’m in a dorm room with all my

said, “How about the New Gods?“ I go, “Oh my God, the New Gods? Yeah, I can tell these stories.” And my first thought was, you can’t out-Kirby Kirby. You just can’t do it. It’s impossible. I don’t have better ideas than him. I don’t have better dialogue than him. I don’t have that in my head. So what I do is, I try to bring out what was always in the artwork, which is that Kirby told these great, grandiose, galactic stories, and yet somehow they were always a metaphor for some inner personal conflict or a metaphor for—that’s what I saw. They were trying to get at something deeper, so I try to aim at that—instead of going bigger, I went underneath to try to dig at that stuff, because I find that aspect of him to be fascinating. EVANIER: Okay. Walt, where did you discover Jack? SIMONSON: I read comics as a kid. Where I grew up in College Park, Maryland, there were virtually no Marvel comics anywhere, there were no Atlas comics. The first comic I ever saw by Jack was an Atlas comic, from I don’t know which one of the monster books in the mid-Fifties. I was visiting my grandmother in Albia, Iowa, which is a long way from here, and there was a drug store beneath her apartment, it had a spinner rack, and there was a story called, “The Glob” or “The Blob,” I can’t remember. [Editor’s note: It was “The Glob” from Journey Into Mystery #72, Sept. 1961,

[above] Jack incorporated what looks to be a lot of Egyptian and Mesopotamian imagery in this striking collage, circa 1970.

friends, and there’s a well-read copy that turns up of Journey Into Mystery #113. It was the return of the Gray Gargoyle. I open it up, and it starts off, it’s got this Viking ship sailing through the air with all of Jack’s Asgardian warriors, Odin and Thor, and I’d never seen that before. I was a Norse myth fan before this, so I guess it was karma that my first Marvel comic was a Thor comic. “What the hell is this?” And they had a caption. It said, “We promised old Jack Kirby that we’d let him draw a couple of pages of fight scenes…”. I didn’t know who Jack Kirby was. I didn’t read the credits, so I just thought, “Wow, some fan wrote in and asked them to do a big battle, and they just did this big battle for some guy who wrote them a letter.” And I was astounded. Then was a couple pages of fight, and then it goes on into the story. It was inked by Chic Stone. It had a raw, visceral quality of life. I couldn’t even describe the stuff. I had read a lot of comics, but I had a lot of guys whose work I really liked, like Carmine Infantino, even Curt Swan. But this stuff was just explosive in a way. Guys were just standing around and it was explosive. I wouldn’t see any more comics, any of his work for not quite a year, and then I discovered Journey Into Mystery #120 and #121 on the newsstand at the same time, and I biked back and forth to that drugstore probably a good round trip of five to eight miles, about five times. I was a sophomore in college. I didn’t really buy comics. I wasn’t snotty about it. It was a comic book. I wasn’t going to buy a comic book. After about five trips, I went, “Okay. I’ve had enough aerobic exercise. I just need to buy the damned comics.” Which is what I did. And then, within a couple of months I was buying all the Marvel comics that I could find. And I read Marvels, Jack remained my favorite. I have to say, the Fourth World is probably my favorite Jack work, but I don’t have to look at it that much anymore because I ingested so much at an age when I could do that kind of thing. Without looking at it, there is always Jack Kirby under my work no matter what I’m drawing, and if there’s anything I try to take from Jack—it’s not so much I want to be Jack, there’s no chance, but what I want is Jack’s stuff had life and energy to it, and I would like that sense of energy and power in my own work, not done the way Jack did it, but however I can get at it. So he was a huge influence for me, he was a huge influence in my work.

blue called the Guardian, holding this round photo of Don Rickles, with Jimmy Olsen running in this green science-fiction jumpsuit in the background, and at the top it said, “Kirby says, ‘Don’t ask, just buy it.’” [laughter] So I said to my aunt, “I think we should buy this.” [laughter] So I got it, and what got me about it was not only the lead story—which I couldn’t quite figure out what was going on because it was the beginning of the whole Fourth World thing. So I didn’t quite know what Inter-Gang was, or all the different things that were going on with that, but what really fascinated me was, in the middle there was a drawing of Jack Kirby that he had done of himself sitting at his drawing table [below], talking about how this was going to contain a Golden Age story by him. And it had a reprint of Star Spangled Comics #7 from 1942, which was the first appearance of the Guardian and the Newsboy Legion. Now, I wasn’t really familiar with Jack’s Golden Age work. I knew it had been reprinted—Captain America’s stuff in Fantasy Masterpieces—but I hadn’t really put two and two together because I was much younger at that time. But looking at the Guardian stuff, I was looking at this completely different drawing style, much more of a fluid, smooth, curved drawing line. Also, the incredible amount of detail. The story is no more than eight to ten pages, but it covers the origin of the Guardian, of the police officer who puts on this suit and helps out the Newsboy Legion, these derelict kids who live in Hell’s Kitchen. And so there’s this huge cast fighting all these gangsters. There are, like, ten panels to a page, and to me it was almost like looking at a toy box with a bunch of plastic soldiers. There was just a vast amount of detail. And what really got to me about it was, in this one book, there was all this work: the present day at the time, 1971, featuring this very modern graphic style, with blocky fingers and technology and all that— and in the back was this 1940s Dead End Kids-type storyline. And, even at ten, I just was kind of overwhelmed that one guy had done all of this, and it was really very inspiring to me. I couldn’t figure out how someone could have that much range and be drawing for that long. So it was very inspirational to me. I still have that issue, too. I was just looking at it before I came out here, so... anyway, that’s my initial experience of Kirby. EVANIER: Okay. How has it influenced your work?

EVANIER: The same question [for John Snyder]—where’d you discover Kirby?

SNYDER: Well, to me, I think it’s so many different ways. In one way, that you can have a range, that you can have a lot of different styles, that you can grow as an artist, that you can always look for different ways to change it. That it’s okay to change your style, to have different styles to work in, and that you can do anything from what he was doing back in the Forties to this kind of inner city story, to something as vast as what he was doing with the Fourth World material.

JOHN K. SNYDER III: Well, I have a couple different answers to that, because when I was a kid growing up, my uncles would collect a lot of comics, and they would collect specifically Marvel comics, and they would keep them, so I had access to a lot of the early issues of Fantastic Four and Thor and all that. But when Kirby really had an impact on me artistically, or something where I could get some kind of an interpretation or think more about his work, was when I was ten, my aunt bought me a copy of Jimmy Olsen #141, and it was when DC had raised their prices to twenty-five cents. It was a much longer, bigger comic, there was more in it, so that was kind of exciting. I always liked the Annuals and that sort of thing. But it had a photo of Don Rickles on it. [laughter] And I loved Don Rickles when I was a kid, and I really liked Jack Kirby’s work because I’d grown up with it, and I couldn’t quite figure out how this was all coming together. Also, at that time I didn’t know that Jack Kirby was drawing for DC, so it was Superman and this character in yellow and

EVANIER: Now, Jerry, you actually got to know Jack a little bit. Tell me where you first discovered his artwork. JERRY ORDWAY: I remember watching the Marvel Superheroes TV show, which was basically they took panels and semi-animated them. A year later going to my brother’s college graduation, I was just under ten. It was May of 1967. We had no newsstands in our neighborhood, so we were at a train station and my mom gave my little brother and myself a dollar bill to buy comics to read. And we saw, “Oh, my God, there’s comics of this cartoon.” [laughter] 7

that you should be versatile. Like the guys in those eras, they had to follow trends. Westerns were big, romance was big, horror was big. You had to work in all those genres. You couldn’t just draw a superhero, a guy flying, or whatever. That couldn’t be all that was in your toolbox. Jack could draw horses. Jack could draw anything. And that was an inspiration at a time when there really were pretty much only superhero books, a few Westerns, and a few horror stories. The fact that, as an artist, you needed to be able to be versatile because it gave you more options, too. I mean, Jack had a long career because he changed with the trends, he would follow the trends, or he could create trends. EVANIER: Would you like to rebut anything I said about Jack as a human being? ORDWAY: No, no. He was a terrific guy. And you can overdo stuff like this, I guess, and lionize somebody, but he truly was—with me, [as] a young artist, he treated me the same as anybody else. He was happy to talk to you. He never gave advice except like, as other people have said, he always did encourage you to do your own thing—drawing your own characters or whatever. It was nice that somebody could be like that and not be a big star; he’s not a jerk, or whatever. There was never any of that. He treated me well, he treated any fan who came up to him well, and he always had a story for everybody. EVANIER: As most of you know, I wrote a book about Jack, and in a new edition which they’re selling at the Abrams table, I quoted a line—I swear I put it in the first volume and somehow it dropped out, so I put it in the second edition. And it was a time when Jack was looking at a fanzine. A new artist was taking over Captain America, and this guy was quoted as saying he was going to do stories “in the Kirby tradition.” And Jack said, “The kid doesn’t get it. The Kirby tradition is to create a new comic.” [laughter] I made a mental note: I tend to sop things up and remember them. I remember that as, “Oh, I’m going to quote that the rest of my life.” [laughter] Jack was a very quotable person. I sometimes didn’t even know where to put some of the quotes. Mark, tell us where you first discovered Jack’s work.

Some of the characters stood out, especially Thor; my brother and I both bonded over Thor. We just thought this was great, and it was an issue—it was just so interesting, and I’m not sure if it was this specific issue or if it was the next one. When we got to Colorado where my brother was going to college, we just happened to find a drugstore and the next issues were out, so the train station had the comics at the end there, and by the time we were in Colorado the next day, there’s the next issue of Thor. And there’s a sequence in one of those where Thor was in a malt shop and he was having a milkshake, and we just thought that was so interesting that something so big could be in something so intimate. Flash forward, I loved all the Marvel stuff, but when Jack left Marvel was when I became a huge fan, because, again, of Jimmy Olsen. I kept hearing, “The King is coming.” I’d see that in the blurbs in the books. And then I also discovered, Jack’s DC books didn’t make it to the main newsstand, which was our source in Milwaukee. We were on a trip in the country, at a drugstore again, and I saw Jimmy Olsen, the first book that he did, and it blew me away. It was just so mind-blowing. And the Fourth World stuff was mind-blowing, because I also respected and was impressed by the fact that this guy is the writer, editor, and the artist. I was like, “Wow, that’s really amazing!” I didn’t realize you could write and draw your own comics. So number one, that’s the biggest influence I think he had on me, was that it opened that possibility. You didn’t have to work with Stan Lee or whoever. Not that that was a bad thing, but you could actually express yourself in an almost more pure way. You may still have an editor who guides your work or whatever, but that opened that possibility that it may exist, because comics were like an assembly line at that time, and, to a degree, still are, where, to make the deadlines, one guy does one thing and moves on, and another guy finishes, or whatever. But that lesson has also stuck with me, that you could do that, that it was possible. So, beyond the cosmic aspect, it was like a personal level. It was showing me as a young artist that there was the potential that you could do this. From an artistic nuts-and-bolts point of view, the fact that Jack was so versatile, it’s kind of, people almost think of him doing just big god-like things. He did great romance stories, and he did great Westerns, and stuff. The hardest lesson for me was

MARK BUCKINGHAM: Well, being from Britain, my introduction to Jack was through Marvel UK. In the early Seventies, Marvel had the good sense to actually set up their own little business doing black-and-white reprints in a sort of magazine format, of the early Marvel material, and we had the benefit that the stuff was coming out weekly, and quite thick—the volumes would be forty-odd pages, so we were getting a year’s worth of Marvel condensed and sort of thrown at us on the newsstand. As a five-, six-year-old, simply finding this stuff among the Beano and the Dandy and the humor comics and all the kind of stuff that we had, and the war stories, we suddenly had this stuff, and it was absolutely phenomenal. And right from

the outset, the lead book that they published was the Mighty World of Marvel, and it had Hulk in it, it had Daredevil, and it had Fantastic Four. And the point at which I started picking it up was where they were reaching all the stuff with the Inhumans and Silver Surfer, and it was just like, “What is this? This is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced in my life.” And I took to it immediately, and I followed that stuff. And then my first experience of actually picking up an American comic book is—they weren’t easy to find. We didn’t have a distribution network where that stuff was easily accessible. Most of the American comics that came to the UK were just ballast in

ships, so it was just random piles of stuff that they would stick in a boat and would somehow get distributed around news agents in the UK. And the first one I found was a Jack Kirby, The Eternals #3, and, again, it was like, “Wow, the imagination coming from this artist is absolutely—”. And seeing it in color when I was so used to blackand-white comics, it was a whole other level. So that was extraordinary. In fact, my lovely wife Irma was good enough a couple of years ago at a convention in London, there was an art dealer there, and he happened to have a page from that issue and I had her get it for me, so that’s a treasured, treasured possession. Yeah, so I always appreciated his work as an artist that was kind of coming into the business in the late Eighties, and with my peers like Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean and like that. We were all kind of trying to spin off into new directions and experiment and trying new approaches. We weren’t necessarily—I mean, we didn’t mind that stuff, but we were trying to go somewhere different and to see how far we could push the boundaries. But there is always something about that work that appealed to me, and it was a bit later on—I remember doing a signing at a comic store in Bath [England], and it was at a stage where I felt like my work wasn’t quite going the way I wanted it to. It seemed too soft, it seemed to lack any sort of passion, and I wasn’t quite sure what I was doing wrong. And then on a shelf I noticed for the first time a copy of the Jack Kirby Collector, and it was the one with the Mike Mignola-inked cover with the Cyclops on it [TJKC #24, previous page, bottom]. It was just extraordinary to look at that. I only know it was the first time I’d seen raw Kirby, reproductions of his pencil art. I think it was the entirety of issue #6 of New Gods, “The Glory Boat,” and it was just like, “Okay, now I know what I want to do. This is how I actually inject the energy back into my work.” I really wanted the dynamism, the rawness of it. I was using my pen and pencils, and I basically just threw that away and went to a news agent and just bought a box of the ones with the eraser on the end that cost just a few cents each, and it was just like, “That’s how I’m going to draw from now on.” And the more blunt they were, the happier I was. [laughter] This is raw energy going into your arm, and I absolutely changed the way I drew, and in a lot of ways, I think that’s where Fables then became the great work that it eventually was, because I was drawing on that wellspring of energy that I had rediscovered through Jack’s work. I’m very sad that I never did get a chance to meet Jack. I would have loved just to shake [previous page, top] A blocked-in, but never finished Thor figure, use unknown. his hand and thank him. That would [above] Pencil art from Eternals #3 (Sept. 1976), with a friendly note to readers from editor/pal Jack. 9

have been wonderful. But he was not really an artist. In my mind, he’s like a force of nature. He just touched every aspect of the comic world, and the pure energy and the creative vision that he had that was just in every fiber of his being, he—from the stories I’ve read, he could go have a cup of coffee and come back with a concept like The Demon, and where did this come from?

When we were ordering, Jack ordered what he wanted, and then Roz said, “No, you’re going to have this instead,” [laughter] because Roz was the perfect person to run his life. We then all started talking, and Jack just fell silent. When the entrees came, we all started eating, so we stopped talking. And Jack suddenly said, “There’s this guy named Jason Blood...” and he told us the whole first issue, the whole concept of the comic, something that any of us who write would have spent a week on, two weeks on, getting all the names, and the character motivations, and who they are right—and Jack had figured it all out between the time I ordered my hot turkey sandwich and the time it arrived. When we were done, he was rushing to get back to the studio, and he sat down at his drawing table. He had these Hastings House editions of Prince Valiant and he told me to “find me the one with the goose head in it,” and I found it. He used that as a reference just to inspire him, and he drew what was pretty close to the finished version of the Demon right there, and the comic was all created. It was all there at that point. What he wanted to do was to get another writer and an artist. I think I would have been the writer, maybe, and have us do the book under his tutelage. And when he pitched it to Carmine, Carmine said, “Oh, you do the first issue to set the style of the book.” So Jack did the first issue, sent it in. I think they wanted it so badly, he sent the first half of it in, and Carmine called him and said, “Hey, this is great. This is going to be a hit. We’re going to suspend New Gods and Forever People so you can do this.” [crowd groans] Jack was devastated by that. He looked like he’d been punched in the face, but he soldiered on and did The Demon, and it was a wonderful comic. I’m going to skip Rand for the moment. Dean, same question I’ve been asking everybody: when did you first become aware of Kirby, and what did it mean to you?

EVANIER: The Demon was created at a Howard Johnson’s restaurant in Thousand Oaks, California. I swear to you. I was present when this happened. Jack wanted to do some new comics that he would supervise, edit, maybe write the first few issues [of], and then turn over to others. He didn’t want to draw them. Carmine [Infantino] at DC said, “Oh, come up with some sort of a monster character,” and it may have been Carmine who used the word “demon,” or Jack who used “demon,” but suddenly the name “Demon” was fixated. And that was all there was: “The Demon.” Jack, the whole family, Steve Sherman and I went to this Howard Johnson’s restaurant for dinner. I remember I had a hot turkey sandwich [laughter] and orange ice cream with a cookie stuck in it. I remember the weirdest things.

DEAN HASPIEL: Actually, I think someone else mentioned kind of being allergic to Kirby’s art style at first. Was that you, Tom?

[previous page] This original version of the cover to Strange Tales Annual #1 (1962) definitely benefited from its extensive redo. [right] Here is the original Kirby/ Ayers cover to Tales of Suspense #21 (Sept. 1961), as it appeared on the cover of the United Kingdom’s Spellbound #40 (1964, published by LH Miller & Sons). Below is his robotic appearance inside the actual issue, unlike either cover.

KING: Yeah, yeah.

know, come to the end of it and you go, “Okay, great, it works. Now to do something different. Now to push it a little bit more.” And when I created the Red Hook, this webcomic series that I won a Ringo award for last night [applause], it was a challenge for me. I wanted to figure out what would happen if Jack Kirby and Alex Toth got together and collaborated and created a hero, and that’s kind of what I was thinking when I was designing and creating this character. And the story, it’s bananas, but it’s steeped in a certain reality. He was able to find humanity in the chaos of life. That was another thing, so that’s something I also try to imprint into my work. And I’m always thinking about Jack Kirby... I realize, visually, the way he drew gravity and scope is something that is unparalleled. You could see the weight to the stomp of Gorgon of the Inhumans. You could feel that weight. And it doesn’t stop. It sounds like I’ve come to a finite “that’s my Jack Kirby.” You continue, like Mark said, you could read a comic today, and [though you] saw Jack drawing when he was creating it, you still rediscover new things. He was unstoppable.

HASPIEL: Kind of freaky, right? I think the Kirby that I first saw was the chock-a-block latter stuff and I wasn’t responding to it. And I came to Kirby through three people: John Byrne, Ron Wilson, and Walter Simonson, because it was in their work that I saw what I should have been seeing in Jack Kirby’s work, but rediscovered his stuff by going backwards. So, if you’re picking up comic books at the newsstand, you start to follow these series, and then you see the numbers and you realize—I started reading Fantastic Four at issue #197, and it might have been drawn by Keith Pollard… but these are latter issues, and maybe you saw a Kirby cover, or he was doing covers for another series on the side, but you wouldn’t follow that. So you would go to the comics shop and start rummaging through the back issues, where you get all the back stories; that’s when I really started to discover Kirby and realize that he was, like, the genesis. Even though it said “Stan Lee Presents” in all the comics, it should also have said “Jack Kirby Presents,” you know? Because he co-created most of these heroes. And then finally it locked in with Ben Grimm, the Thing… of course, “This Man, This Monster” issue, #51 of Fantastic Four, and you’re just looking at all this incredible stuff. You could always tell by his imagination how unparalleled he was. I also identified that there was a sophisticated naivete to the artwork. It just was so user-friendly. And also, his Seventies work, when he returned back to Marvel, it was an interesting pacing I saw where he would have four pages of regular comics, and then a splash page, and then chapter two, the splash page would be on a punch or a close-up of a face or something. I really liked the pacing in that. So I was learning storytelling through just reading his comics, and, yes, he did romance comics, and of course, war. At some point I started to wonder if a lot of his post-World War II comics were PTSD comics of sorts, and struggling or trying to reconcile what happened in the war. And then also, he was the guy who asked the big questions about God and gods, and dared to answer them in his work, which I think is very rare among a lot of artists. That’s a big question. The way he influenced my work, again, through Walter, John Byrne, Ron Wilson, and a lot of other artists, was to just push. You

EVANIER: Now, Rand his been doing this wonderful work building on Jack’s legacy on the Kirby Museum along with Tom Kraft, and I should also mention John Morrow of the Kirby Collector, people who were motivated. Tell us what it was that prompted you to devote so much of your life to this man’s work. RAND HOPPE: I got hit by the Kirby lightning bolt at summer camp in a tent, during the rain. My friend was reading a Kamandi comic. It was part of a huge stack of comics that was making its way around the summer camp, and I read the Kamandi, and I said to my pal, “My gosh, this is the best comic out of the whole stack.” And he said, “Oh, well, that’s by Jack Kirby. See all those other comics you just read, with Captain America and Fantastic Four and Avengers and the Silver Surfer? He created all those characters, too.” And at that moment—I knew who Charles Schulz was, sitting at a drawing table making Peanuts in the newspaper every day. Well, then suddenly I was aware of this amazing guy sitting at a drawing table making these amazing stories, and it just changed my life. I had that twelve-year-old moment. I have just been a comics fan ever since, and I went to my first comic convention in New York City in order 11

on, that really treats him as a serious cultural figure.” He’s just so important to the world, and what he did is just so astonishing that it just seemed like, to have a non-profit out there doing that, telling that story, was a pretty good idea. So I pitched it to John, who helped me make contact with Lisa [Kirby], and here we are, twelve years later. We’re still a virtual organization. We don’t have a regular exhibit space, but we come to shows like this. We’ve had a few pop-ups in New York City, and we’re interested in having pop-ups wherever. We’ve helped out with a lot of exhibits. We’re flying Mike Royer out of the country for the first time. He’s going to Portugal at the end of October. EVANIER: I hope you’re not bringing him back. [laughter] HOPPE: Well, we’re not doing it, but people reached out to us. There’s going to be an exhibit, and they’re flying him out. But we were like, wow, get Mike out there.

[above] Mighty Mike Royer inked and lettered this splash page from Jimmy Olsen #139, working from a pencil photocopy from Jack’s files. It gives you a great example of how different those Olsen issues would’ve looked, all inked by Royer. Image courtesy of Tom Kraft of the Jack Kirby Museum.

to see Jack Kirby. He had a little room off the ballroom, and my thirteen-year-old pal and I got to stand there and watch Jack do sketches for the fans. We couldn’t pay ten dollars for the sketch. We wanted to buy comic books. [laughter] I just stuck with comics for a long time, and I’m an artist and cartoonist, myself. Nothing ever really came of it, but I ended up doing a lot of web design. I got to interview Jack in ’92, which was really nice—the audio’s published online. It’s really kind of a fun interview. But I was doing web design and media design and so on, and a lot of my clients were these small non-profits. And I was just working with John Morrow on his website, looking around at comics. “You know, Kirby needs a non-profit. He needs something, an organization that’s out there that will grow and live 12

EVANIER: Mike was a very valuable part of Jack’s work. I don’t want to spend a lot of time talking about him because we want to get some questions here. When Jack needed a new inker, he felt the old guy wasn’t working out for about 33 different reasons. Mike Royer was not only the best choice, he was the only choice. He was the only guy we knew who could letter the books in southern California. There might have been someone someplace, we didn’t know who it was. I was a friend of Mike’s. I knew Mike before I knew Jack, and I suggested him, and he was the obvious choice. Mike met Jack before I did, but the people at DC Comics didn’t like the idea of the books being edited three thousand miles away. They liked the idea that the books were created in the office, and that the freelancers—like someone like Walt Simonson. Their view would be, “Very talented guy. We can take his work and make it into something.” [laughter] “He’s not really drawing the comic. He’s kind of doing the first draft and our production department, we’ll turn it into an actual, professional comic book.” My first visit up there, I hand-delivered to DC an issue of Hot Wheels for Alex Toth. It was Hot Wheels #5, and he’d written it, penciled it, and inked it, and DC said, “Oh, well, we can turn this into something. We can fix it and change it...”. They looked at it and said, “Let’s take the black out from between the panels.” Which is like, “Let’s destroy the entire composition of every page. What one thing can we do that’ll destroy the composition on every single panel at the same time?” So when Jack insisted on Mike Royer, it was kind of like, “Okay, let’s give Jack this kid he wants, and the kid’ll screw it up, and that

will prove we should do the books here.” And they were just waiting for Mike to fail. You can all see how talented Mike was as a letterer and inker, but what you don’t really know about is Mike Royer is the single most reliable guy who ever did comics, with the possible exception of Dan Spiegle. Mike Royer never missed a deadline in his life. He was like clockwork. He had to ink fifteen pages a week, and letter them. Joe Sinnott, Frank Giacoia, any other great Kirby inker you mention could not have done that. I don’t mean not done it as well, I mean not even done it at all, because, first off, Joe Sinnott couldn’t letter. Joe Sinnott would ink about ten pages a week. And so Mike was basically doing about twice as much work a week as Joe Sinnott. Never missed a deadline. You saw how good the work was, and finally DC was won over. They went, “Wow, the guy’s great.” But it took a while for them. We’ve got some time for some questions, here. This gentleman has his hand up.

first, they upped it to monthly. The other three were bi-monthlies. SIMONSON: And so they came out, and, essentially, from where I’m sitting—I did not talk to Jack about these books… but to me, what they were was the story of a giant cosmic war, its history, its [getting to] where it is now, from four different points of view, and each one of those books is a different level of the war. Kind of like the old E.E. Doc Smith’s stuff, where I knew there’s no chance I can do that: a) I’m not that fast, and b) I just can’t do it. So I just chose to concentrate on one guy, Orion, and then try to bring the other guys in as I could. But that was just such amazing thinking in that work. I tried to emulate the thinking without trying to be the same guy as much as I could. It was very inspiring. Jack’s work—Thor and all that stuff—that’s all printed on newsprint, with crappy presses, letterpress, and eventually plastic plates. And it’s really awful reproduction. So if you go to the Kirby Museum booth, they have a bunch of the art, or facsimiles of the art, laid out on a board, and they’re in layers, so you can lift up the inks, and you can see the reproductions of Jack’s pencils [below]. And if you lift it up, you can see the color. And, I mean… it is mind-boggling to see what he was doing on a page of comics, or a double-page spread. I will say that my astonishment at Jack’s talent has only grown as I’ve gotten older and realized more and more what he’s done. It’s like looking into the Grand Canyon. You can’t see it all at once. You go, “Oh, wow, it’s big. Oh, wait, it goes further down. No, wait, it goes even further down in Colorado.” And it’s kind of like that with Jack’s work, because it just gets bigger and bigger as I look at it. That’s the big part of it. It’s just mind-boggling. So you should see that.

AUDIENCE MEMBER: I’ll ask this, I guess, for Walt, and then carry on. Your Thor is probably the most successful post-Jack Kirby Thor. I think most people would agree with that. But clearly the cosmic Kirby ones, the Fourth World, Fantastic Four, and Thor, really present challenges for creators over the years, and trying to do it artistically and commercially successfully. What do you think of as the big challenges of trying to do a Fourth World, or a Fantastic Four, or a Thor? SIMONSON: Well, those books are different. Thor, and the FF, and the Fourth World stuff, are quite different books, even though Jack drew all of them and created some of them. So they mean different—and, also, when you’re younger, you don’t think in those terms. I’m thinking, “If I can draw this, the check’s gonna clear.” [laughter] We didn’t ask questions. Now you have people saying, “What’s it like to work on a Jack Kirby book?” And I think, well, in 1983, there was a check coming in every month, and that was how the comics were done back then. And so I was not old enough to think about what Jack would think about this. It was just this was the Marvel character that I was working on. In Thor’s case, I was a huge fan from about Journey Into Mystery #113, #114. That run, for me, from Jack and from Stan, which is the Absorbing Man’s introduction, the Destroyer, the Trial of the Gods, Tana Nile. There’s Ego the Living Planet, the whole Hercules stuff, the Troll War. All that stuff. It was just astounding to me when I read it. Every month was something new and interesting and different, and if I tried to do anything in my run of Thor, I didn’t want to be those guys, I couldn’t have been those guys, but I wanted to be inspired by them to the extent that I wanted new stuff as much as I could bring in there. I wanted each issue to have its own thing. I wanted ideas to come tumbling one after the other. I didn’t come up with as many ideas as they did in that run, but that was what I was after. I was on the book for almost three-and-a-half years, and I tried to do something that would be as interesting and sort of as different—that’s a thing, also. When I read Jack’s stuff on Thor… I had never read anything like this. And when I started my run on Thor, the first thing I did was have somebody else pick up Thor’s hammer. Because, after twenty years of Thor stories, nobody else had picked up the hammer. Stan and Jack had Loki pick it up once… that was a mistake. I ignored that. Basically, that gave me the story to start with that nobody else had done at the time. And I kind of tried to do that, and that was probably the inspiration for that book at the time. But that’s really what I was trying to do. With the New Gods, I’ll say there was no way I could have done what Jack did. Jack did something I thought was astounding on this book. He told the greatest storyline. I’ve never seen anybody else do that, where there were four different titles, every one of them monthly. Four different titles—.

EVANIER: If you ever want to just sit down and read the Fourth World series from scratch, I’ll tell you a little secret here. Every story, there’s a number that starts with X: X-100, X-101. This is pretty much the order Jack did them in. The Kirby Collector has occasionally printed a list of them sequentially. But the first three things Jack did for DC were Forever People #1, New Gods #1, and Mister Miracle #1, in that order. Then he did the first two Jimmy Olsens. And you could rearrange the comics to read the stories in that order if you so chose. You can’t do that with Marvel. One of the things a lot of people have never gotten—and on the Internet there’s about 85 Jack Kirby forums on Facebook now, and I go on about twelve of them and just correct stuff. [laughter] Some people get an idea in their head and they won’t get it out. An issue of Thor and an issue of Fantastic Four that came out the same month might not have been done in the same month. The Fantastic Four might have been done four months earlier, or three months later. Jack was

EVANIER: Jimmy Olsen was eight times a year and it sold so well at 13

shadow, with negative space, and all this other stuff, and just saw how really cool it all was. And, also, I’m a rock music fan, and last year I was watching the Grateful Dead movie, and there was a scene where they just started showing comic book panels. It was all Kirby stuff. They showed Thor, they showed the Silver Surfer, all that. EVANIER: Is there a question in here? [laughter] AUDIENCE MEMBER: Yes. It’s just a comment as to how great—well, yeah, I am leading up to something. You probably saw the movie Argo, and you probably saw he was involved in it, he did some bits of artwork for that for a movie they never made. It was based on Roger Zelazny’s novel the Lord of Light, which now I think Heavy Metal is selling reproductions of that in these really groovy—. EVANIER: That’s not a question. AUDIENCE MEMBER: Yes, they are making a TV series now based on the Lord of Light. I don’t know, do you think they’re going to use Kirby’s artwork for that? Do you think it will translate? EVANIER: Yes. Okay, next? [laughter] AUDIENCE MEMBER: Will you talk a little bit about gods and aliens, and that type of stuff that made it into his work? EVANIER: Well, Jack was fascinated by the theory that was in the—what was the book? AUDIENCE MEMBERS: Chariots of the Gods.

[above] Amazing wood carving rendition of pages from Forever People #1, carved by Claire Langdown (the partner of renowned British sculptor David Nash).

jumping around. He was drawing what they told him to draw, and some people refuse to turn loose of this idea. Sometimes he would draw the Fantastic Four, and the next part he wouldn’t draw for three months, because he was doing the books when they needed them to keep the inkers busy and such. I think another question. Sir?

[right] The Monsanto House of the Future was an attraction at Disneyland’s Tomorrowland from 1957 to 1967. Just like the Mole Man’s house in Fantastic Four #88 (July 1969, next page), it was made out of plastic. Jack likely saw it on the Wonderful World of Disney television show, and it inspired him for FF.

AUDIENCE MEMBER: My own experience, I probably came to Jack Kirby in the same way that Tom did, as a kid. I think the first time I ever saw his artwork I was, like, six or seven years old. I happened to open up a Thor comic book and saw the big splash page with Asgard and I was like, “What the heck am I looking at?” Later on, I think, I saw the Super Powers limited series that he did in the Eighties, and at the time my reaction was like, “This is lousy. This is blocky and stuff.” And it was only after I went to college and I took an art theory class, and actually began to appreciate what Kirby was doing with light, with 14

EVANIER: Yeah, he was fascinated by the theory even back in the Fifties. It popped up in some of the stories he did back then. He didn’t necessarily believe it, but he thought it was a wonderful premise to explore and extrapolate from, and if you went to Jack and said, “Now, you don’t believe that really happened…” he’d say, “Can you prove it didn’t?” [laughter] Jack was intrigued by all sorts of things. Some of them made it into his stories. That’s why he was such a fascinating man to talk to, he could just discourse on all sorts of topics. And one of the things that I think is key to understanding Jack’s work is, his mind made unusual associations. He put things together that you and I would never have thought would go in the same story. He would take this, and this, and this, and put them together, and a lot of his great creations were a case of taking stuff and putting it together in an odd way. So he always had these thoughts going on. You’d talk to Jack

sometimes and he’d start talking about this, and suddenly he’s talking about that—segues are for kids. He was jumping around and he would lose me. I would go, “...yeah.” And I’d get it later on. Sometimes he would say something to me and I would go, “God, I bet that’s brilliant, if I could figure out what it means.” [laughter] So that particular theory was something that intrigued him, and he was always going to use it as the basis for something, and it turned out to basically be the Eternals. Another question, over here, this gentleman. AUDIENCE MEMBER: Do you guys know what gave Jack the idea for his famous “Kirby Krackle”? EVANIER: No. I think it just came out in his drawing. Jack would just sit down and draw. He didn’t have a lot of thought behind what he did in advance. It just came out. People used to come to me all the time and say, “Hey, let’s do a book of Jack’s preliminary rough sketches, and all his doodles and concepts.” There aren’t really any. There’s almost none of that. He drew for money. He drew to feed his family, and he didn’t spend a lot of time drawing stuff that wasn’t directly related to getting a paycheck on Friday. So he’d draw, and things emerged on the pages. You can see his concept of anatomy changing over the years. You can see the way he was drawing people’s faces change over the years. And it just worked out on paper. ORDWAY: When you’re working in a medium like comics, there were limited colors. You got 64 choices. If you were trying to do an effect, you had to solve that problem graphically, and that’s where I think using a negative space happened. A lot of people would do lightning just outlining a lightning bolt or something. There’s more impact to doing it against black… it’s like problem-solving. He came up with stuff by trying to distill something into an easily readable graphic. So we all benefit from it because we all use it. SIMONSON: I’m sure part of it was also speed. He did so many pages, but you go look at those pages, and it’s like van Gogh, because van Gogh did his pencil drawings. It’s pencil marks on the page. I don’t know how fast van Gogh was, but I’m sure Jack was very fast. But you make those marks and you get kind of Kirby Krackle out of it, and I think Jerry’s right. If you did something really complicated, you couldn’t reproduce that stuff. You see something that’s bold, and graphic, and quick, and I think that’s my best guess where it originated.

Conway and Len Wein reminiscing about them fanboying one time, and they saw Jack work on a page, and he just started in one corner and finished the thing down the other corner? EVANIER: Yes. To watch Jack draw was to watch Jack begin a page as if he was tracing a drawing underneath it that only he could see. He’d start on one corner and just go through, and especially with those double-spreads, and somehow it would all line up. It’s scary. The only other person I’ve ever seen do something like that was Sergio Aragonés. He’d start drawing a foot and then draw the entire scene around the foot. Mike Sekowsky did that too, one of the most amazing guys I ever saw drawing. He could draw upside-down, backwards, with a blindfold on. If Jack Kirby took two hours to draw a page and there were six panels, he would take a sixth of the two hours for each one. Mike Sekowsky would sit there and start figuring out where everything should go for an hour and 45 minutes, and then the last twenty

EVANIER: Now, if I don’t miss my guess, the Len Wein panel is in the same room, right? AUDIENCE MEMBERS: Yes. EVANIER: We were supposed to stop this at 2:30 and then start the Len Wein panel at 2:45. Let’s just go right on through. [applause] We don’t need a fifteen-minute break between panels. We’ll get just a couple more questions about Jack. Yes? AUDIENCE MEMBER: In the same vein, I think I saw online, Gerry 15

minutes [swooshing noises] the page would appear. Startling. You’d blink and you’d miss it.

did, he was putting together things that were so obscure, you could never track it back to the source. If he needed inspiration, he had all these pulp magazines and other books. He’d pick one up, open to a page, and if it said, “The aliens came down disguised as lions,” he’d turn around and do a story that had nothing to do with aliens or lions, but he got from A to Z somehow via a thought process we could never know. Questions for these people here?

SIMONSON: Shoot me now. [laughter] EVANIER: And there are things you can do that he—it’s always fascinating to me that artists envy each other’s unique skills. Crossfire was drawn by a man named Dan Spiegle, who I think was one of the ten greatest comic book artists who ever lived. [scattered applause] We had a cover on one issue by Dave Stevens, who we all know, and one time the two of them got together and they were talking, and Dan was going, “Dave, I could never have drawn what you did,” and Dave was going, “I could never have drawn what you did.” They’d go back and forth. “I could never have drawn that page.” “Well, I could never have drawn that head.” Finally Dan says, “No. Dave, listen, you have to understand. I couldn’t have drawn that cover if I took a week on it.” And Dave said, “I took two weeks.” [laughter, applause] Jack was such a fan of other artists. He admired all these guys. If you went to Jack and said, “Who were the great comic book artists around?” he would just name everybody he could think of, starting with Bill Everett, Steve Ditko, Marie Severin, John Romita, Don Heck. Wally Wood was always high on his list. He would just name these guys, and he was in awe of everything they did that was unique to them, because they did things he couldn’t do.

AUDIENCE MEMBER: Did Jack Kirby write down his ideas? EVANIER: Very rarely. No, there’s not a lot. The only extant Kirby unused ideas are things he told either Steve Sherman or someone like that… I’ve still got a bunch of notes that I made. AUDIENCE MEMBER: Was he improvisational? EVANIER: Yeah, he was very much. I learned a lot about Jack when I started teaching improv comedy at one point, and there were definitely some connections there. Jack would finish an issue of New Gods at 2:00 in the afternoon, and then he’d take an hour off, and at 3:00 he’d start doing a Mister Miracle. There was not a lot of thought. He would just go in and start drawing page one of Mister Miracle. Sir, over here.

AUDIENCE MEMBER: Mark, real quick, I have a question. Is it true that Jack’s machinery was influenced by Wally Wood’s machinery? Have you heard that?

AUDIENCE MEMBER: This is especially for Tom, but I guess everybody else. We know Jack as an artist, he’s a storyteller, but you design first now as a writer, and kind of just approaching it from that standpoint, how do you approach that when it’s more about the written word and the story vs. the art? And you’re doing that every month now on Mister Miracle, so how are you channeling Jack?

EVANIER: I don’t think so. Jack’s stuff came out of nowhere. Or, if it [below] “Country Lion”, an unproduced RubySpears concept. Who knows if this would’ve been a disguised alien...?

KING: Well, first, I cheat. That’s the key to comics. [laughter] The evolution of Mister Miracle, all twelve of them, began with the same—if you look back, we began every issue with this narration, these captions that are in the third person, and sometimes they’d address the audience. To me it reads like Jack doing a parody of Stan Lee kind of like, it’s almost like Funky Flashman’s thing, almost. There’s lots of weird—I literally steal those. I look in the front and in the back of every Mister Miracle, and it opens and closes with Jack’s original words, because I can’t write as good as that. They’re off-the-wall and they make no sense, but somehow—it’s like reading the Bible. You know when you read the Bible, this is written so terribly, but every once in a while there’s this one sentence where you go, “That must mean something as written.” That’s how I read Jack Kirby. It doesn’t make sense on the surface, but underneath it there’s some powerful stream of something... ORDWAY: One of the things in reference to writing, that issue of Jimmy Olsen, Jack’s first issue—there’s a really tremendous, it’s not even an examination, but he set the tone: Here’s who Superman is. There was a world champion boxer standing next to Superman, and he’s saying, “I’m a nobody compared to you.” Basically, he set the tone for what Superman was. You lose track of that in the comics because he’s your fatherly figure 16

at that time. Jack clearly saw this guy as a god or as somebody above everybody else, and he said that. And I remember reading that, and that actually impacted me as a reader of that book, but also in the way I look at Superman, and why I’ve always tried to humanize Superman so much, because, without that humanity, people would fear him. And I think, in just a couple of panels, Jack set the tone for how people, within his story, here’s how they look at Superman. And it was just a groundbreaking thing to read that and go, “Oh, I get that, but I’d never thought of it before,” because we had George Reeves, or we had just this genial kind of version of him.

with all Jack’s power, it had that grace and that observation of individual movement that gives character. So a lot of the writing was in the drawing, as well as in the actual words. KING: Mister Miracle #3 is called “The Paranoid Pill,” and that’s not the proper way to use English, right? You’d say “The Paranoia Pill,” right? It’s the wrong noun/adjective thing, but somehow the Paranoid Pill, that hard D hitting that P, suddenly it becomes poetry.

SIMONSON: Something else that I’ve seen in Jack’s work, it’s not very often discussed, a little bit here and there—[Jack’s] characters acted brilliantly in his stories. Mostly we talk about the power and the energy and whatever, but the acting in those stories is phenomenal, in terms of gestural quality. They’re still bigger than life a lot of times, but the scene Jerry’s referring to—at one point the champ and Clark Kent are discussing Superman, and he shakes Clark’s hand, and he says—I might be misremembering this. What I remember is, “That’s quite a grip you’ve got there, Kent,” and I think he may even be holding his hand like it’s sore. He’s holding his wrist… it was really just fantastic. It was a whole scene, just a beautiful moment of quietness, and yet it was still very powerful and did set the tone for Superman that was very different from the way he was treated elsewhere. And I think of Kanto in Mister Miracle when Mister Miracle goes back to Apokolips and meets Kanto, and Kanto is this guy who’s dressed in Renaissance garb, and bows and doffs his cap. You could imagine Errol Flynn playing this guy, in some costumed drama. But it had that grace. Even 17

[below] Pencils from Mister Miracle #6, showing the irresistible last panel verbiage that Tom King utilized in his own Mister Miracle series.

It doesn’t make sense, but it makes more sense than the original.

[above & right] Jack’s pencils and Royer’s inks for Kanto the Assassin in Mister Miracle #7. Errol Flynn (top), indeed!

SIMONSON: And when I read that story when the comics were coming out, it never occurred to me. I didn’t think, “Oh, the pill’s paranoid. That’s kind of strange.” [laughter] I knew exactly what he meant. But he just used a shortcut. A lot of Jack’s drawing he did, especially back when the comics were first produced, they were not reprinted. Comics came out like magical corn on a spinner rack. They were gone a month later, you never saw them again. And that’s kind of how they were treated. And so, something like that, there were shortcuts to meaning. It may already have been 22 pages, or 20, whatever it was, and you had to go, “Here’s my meaning.” And Jack

THE CHILLINGLY WEIRD ART OF

was a master of that. Maybe the Paranoid Pill is exactly an example of that, where you got it instantly, and yet you didn’t have to have it explained to you. It was right there. EVANIER: All right, for those of you who have come in the last few minutes, we are now going to miraculously turn the Jack Kirby tribute panel into the Len Wein tribute panel. Can you thank these gentlemen for joining us? [applause] H

MATT FOX

MATT FOX (1906–1988) first gained notoriety for his jarring cover paintings on the pulp magazine WEIRD TALES from 1943 to 1951. His almost primitive artistry encompassed ghouls, demons, and grotesqueries of all types, evoking a disquieting horror vibe that no one since has ever matched. Fox suffered with chronic pain throughout his life, and that anguish permeated his classic 1950s cover illustrations and his lone story for CHILLING TALES, putting them at the top of all pre-code horror comic enthusiasts’ want lists. He brought his evocative storytelling skills (and an almost BASIL WOLVERTON-esque ink line over other artists) to ATLAS/MARVEL horror comics of the 1950s and ’60s, but since Fox never gave an interview, this unique creator remained largely unheralded—until now! Comic art historian ROGER HILL finally tells Fox’s life story, through an informative biographical essay, augmented with an insightful introduction by FROM THE TOMB editor PETER NORMANTON. This FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER also showcases all of the artist’s WEIRD TALES covers and interior illustrations, and a special Atlas Comics gallery with examples of his inking over GIL KANE, LARRY LIEBER, and others. Plus, there’s a wealth of other delightfully disturbing images by this grand master of horror—many previously unpublished and reproduced from his original paintings and art—sure to make an indelible imprint on a new legion of fans. SHIPS FALL 2023! (128-page COLOR HARDCOVER) $29.95 (Digital Edition) $15.99 • ISBN: 978-1-60549-120-2

TwoMorrows. The Future of Pop History.

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TwoMorrows Publishing • 10407 Bedfordtown Drive • Raleigh, NC 27614

by ROGER HILL

Eulogists

Testimonials: February 7, 1994 Sample Headline Conducted by phone by Will Murray, the day after Jack Kirby’s passing on February 6 at age 77 [These comments were copyedited by Will Murray and John Morrow, and excerpts were originally used for Will’s article in Comics Scene #42 (May 1994)]

I squeezed in the Sunday in the same day, in order to keep up with the other stuff. Jack was so dependable. The work would always come right on time. He and I worked very good together, because we were both the same mentality. We always meet deadlines. There were no hang-ups with Jack; it just came right on time.

Dick Ayers (1924–2014)

[above & below] Newly discovered filler panels (circa 1960) from Sky Masters; upper inked by Kirby, lower by Ayers. [right] The Wasp gets her powers in this Don Heck-inked art from Tales to Astonish #44 (June 1963).

I didn’t see him that often. When I was doing Sky Masters, sometimes I would meet him at Grand Central Station and we’d have coffee together, but I didn’t know him socially. He was a very talented guy, y’know? I enjoyed his work very much when I inked it, at the point when Stan Lee told me not to trace; not to ink it just as he penciled it. He told me to really let myself go, and “do my thing.” He said if he wanted someone to just draw exactly and ink over his lines, he’d just pick up anybody who could trace off the street. Then I got to enjoy it very much, because his initial concept was always very exciting. His concept was terrific, and his design, but you had to really stretch your imagination on his anatomy. And his guns; when I did Rawhide Kid, I used to get upset because I like my Colt .45s and I want them to look like that, and the Winchester rifles and all of that. His handles were so bad on the pistols, that I’d redraw them. [laughter] But as I say, his concept was always exciting. Creative and prolific. He saved the industry, with Stan. Stan did the choosing; he pitted me with Jack, and it went from there. At that point, it was so dead, Stan looked at me one time and said, “It’s time to get off the ship. It’s sinking.” I was in the process of taking the exams with the Post Office, and I actually worked there a couple of weeks. I called him and said, “Well, it’s all over.” And Stan said, “Let me try something.” And he sent me a cover to ink, and then he sent me a horror story, and we were off! There was one point where I was doing the inking, and I wanted to do everything he turned out. It got to be like a game; I think it was clocking myself at about 100 pages a month. And then in addition, Sky Masters: To keep up with him, I had to ink all six dailies—I forget whether

Don Heck (1929–1995)

I was just thinking about it. It sorta leaves an emptiness in you. He was super, something special. To me, it’s sorta like losing a big brother. I was lucky enough to go out there last May—first time I ever went across country. I got to be with him up on a stage, and we had dinner together. Topps had paid for it; Jim Salicrup was there too. I’m still shocked about it. I know he was sick, but still, with somebody like that, it’s sorta like Walt Disney or one of the other giants, that you figure will last forever. He was just terrific, and such a great innovator. He was probably the greatest innovator I’ve ever known. He could take just a normal thing, and expand on it, and take it to the limits. It’s hard for me to put it into words; he was just great. There won’t be anybody like him again. Both he and Stan Lee did more for comics than anybody. There’s no question about that. And all the people who are suddenly making all sorts of money, owe a lot to him; [laughter] whether or not they realize that, I don’t know. Some of the ones who really knew what the score is, do. 19

pose almost. If he drew an army—you think of guys with guns, waiting to attack somebody; I’d be drawing them very similar, probably. He made every one different, so it became interesting. Even his rocks! Rocks he made look interesting. If you have a field, and you saw rocks or a mountain, if you look at his drawings of rocks, they’re never duplicated. You want to look at them. You wanted to look at his rocks! [laughs] At least I did. He was never interested that much in reality, I don’t think, in terms of “I must make it very accurate.” He knew what reality was, and he did it his own way. Sometimes I think he couldn’t take the time to; it would’ve slowed him down and bored him to repeat things accurately, so each time he did it, he made it different, you know? Sometimes with costumes and things, to some extent, I think. He was just a bundle of creativity, and he knew what was important. He was going to make it as dramatic as possible. He had seen the movies, the Errol Flynn movies and all, and he remembered the feeling of them. And he knew how the Disney animators would do something dramatic; they’d look down on them like the coachman in Pinocchio or whatever, and he would do those things too. He’d put it in and exaggerate, and he’d get all the drama he could out of a situation.

Joe Simon (1913–2011)

Jack was one-of-a-kind. Jack’s whole life was comic books. He did a couple of brief stints in comic strips, but comics was his whole life, and he was great at it. Roz never told me he was sick, but she didn’t have to. We worked together very closely. One thing that struck me about Jack, I could give Jack a script, and I could give the same script to some other really terrific artist, and Jack’s script would come back, and it would be alive, you know? And the other guy,

[above] Jack in his driveway, early 1970s. [below] Simon-inked splash page from Adventures of the Fly #1 (Aug. 1959).

Larry Lieber (b. 1931)

Even when he worked here [at Marvel], I personally didn’t have much contact with him. I’d be in the office and he’d come up there, and I’d speak to him whenever he came, but I never socialized with him, and I didn’t know much about him. Then I heard that he lived out in California, and somebody showed pictures of his beautiful home, and I thought, “Gee, that’s lovely.” But I never visited him, I never called him. He enjoyed working so much, and he loved comics. He talked of comics being an American art form, which a lot of comic artists didn’t talk about. They were just doing it, and complaining, and all that. And in the old days at any rate, he seemed to create so much, that you would think someone wouldn’t do that who wasn’t really enjoying it, y’know? I always had the feeling he enjoyed it very much. I wrote for him years ago, and I loved his stuff and looked at it and studied it. It was a long, productive life. He certainly made his mark. He left a wealth of stuff, he had a reputation, and he made good money over the years. I think he was almost the essential comic artist for his time. There are many artists in comics, but if I had to pick the one who typified comics—he put in what was important in a comic, and left out everything else. I think his artwork was complemented by Stan’s writing in the years when they did The Fantastic Four and those books. They complemented each other very well. And I think what Stan was doing with the writing and the characters, Jack was doing with the drawing. For comics, those were the best, what I call “essential comics.” Jack was just a wonderful comic artist. He knew how to get the most out of the thing in one picture. He got the most drama, and certainly the most action, that you could get with his perspectives and everything. And I don’t think he ever put in anything that was dull. He never put in anything just because it looked pretty, and didn’t tell the story. It was all telling the story. If it was a bunch of Indians attacking in a Western, you could be sure you’d want to look at them. They were each wearing a different costume, and different headband. If he drew a crowd of people, everybody was in a different 20

you’d have to throw it out, because it wasn’t even a story—they couldn’t tell a story the way Jack did. That’s my impression of Jack. As far as drawing, everybody knows his action and extreme perspectives and everything else, and a lot of people in the business tried to copy it. I don’t think any of them came close. We had a lot of fun; we had great times working together. We had our studio in Tudor City, and we had people working for us there. How will he be remembered? As an innovator, as a comic book innovator. I don’t know what else you can say about him.

Stan Lee (1922–2018)

I just heard about it this morning. I think it’s a terrible loss for the comic book field. Jack was a towering talent. I think he’ll be remembered for as long as people enjoy literature and legend. Jack and I had been friends for so many years, and collaborators for so many years. I’m terribly sorry to hear of his passing, of course. I’m sorry that he and I weren’t closer during the last years, but it’s just one of those things.

Carmine Infantino (1925–2013)

He was a very talented man. He lived a pretty fruitful life, and he was a force in this industry. What else can you say about the guy? He was an important cog in this whole Machiavellian thing we call “comics.” Without that spoke in the wheel, it would’ve been a very unfinished picture. He had tremendous talent; you can’t take that away from the man. I think history will bode well for him. There’s no black marks against the guy that I know of. He was just a tremendous talent, and he left an impression on this business. Let’s just say, the business would’ve never been the same without Kirby. His pleasure was work; period. He never wanted a vacation. His artwork was explosive. That’s the beauty of it. You felt the energy in the stuff. He was an icon, and the icons in this field are slowly disappearing. I was never really close with him. He worked for me, and I respected him. But we were never really, really close. But he had a fruitful life, I would say. And he certainly got a lot of respect. There’s gonna be a lot of people leaving this business that nobody will ever remember. He’s not going to be one of those, that’s for sure.

The only reason I never ended up drawing more like Jack, was because I couldn’t do it. If I’d have had my druthers, I’d have drawn a lot more like Jack. But I couldn’t formularize it like he did. I think he influenced maybe fifty years of comic artists, because I was talking to young people today in the office, and they were telling me he was instrumental in getting them interested in comics. I was the same thing 45, 50 years ago. I think that’s a hell of a span of influence. I was trying to write down my thoughts today. I think one of the things he did was, before his stuff started to reach people, comic artists were trying to figure “How little can I do, and still make a dollar?” And after Jack, I think it was, “How much can I do, and how much can I gain from this?”—meaning, learn from it, and get something out of it, rather than money. I think what he did was: I used to think “stay in comics, make a few bucks, then go into illustration,” meaning legitimate

John Romita Sr. (b. 1930)

Like a lot of guys, he was very instrumental in my being in comics. I still remember the day I saw Captain America #1, when I was about ten years old. I remember, even as a ten-year-old kid, this was something special. It was different from all the other comics I had seen. From that day on, he’s never been far out of my mind. 21

[above] Under editor Joe Simon’s direction, Jerry Grandenetti redrew Jack’s cover of Black Magic #20 (V3 #2, Jan. 1953) for its planned reprinting in DC’s unpublished Black Magic #10 (1975). [below] John Romita’s corrections for the cover of Thor #159 (Dec. 1968), and a close-up of the original Kirby figure.

stuff. And I suddenly realized you can do great, satisfying, progressively improving stuff in comics, and consider yourself an illustrator anyway. I think he had a lot to do with all of that. Before him, I think comic artists were considered second-class artists, and after his influence, they started to get some stature. He told me back in 1965, that I would live to see the day when comic art was going to be in museums, and he was way ahead of his time, because we laughed at him. I remember it was a luncheon at the Playboy Club, and that’s what he told me. From that time on, every time comics got a write-up, I thought of Jack Kirby. I can’t calculate the influence he’s had on it. He gave it so many more creative juices than almost anybody. His throwaway ideas were better than most people’s lifetime ideas. [laughter] I used to say I wish I had his wastebasket ideas, but he probably never wasted a thing. It’s hard to keep the emotion out. I’ve been trying to write something all day, and I think that’s what’s let me crystallize it. You’ll never be able to replace him. We’ve gone with too little of his stuff lately, and now to go without any of it… it’s gonna be worse. Also, I envy his body of work. He had a body of work in his lifetime that you’ve just got to envy.

Gil Kane (1926–2000)

Jack was a turning point in comics. When he came into comics, he represented the best of the old tradition, but he was the vanguard of the new. When everybody’s style was predicated on the traditional magazine illustration, book illustration styles that prevailed in the first half of the century, he introduced a vitality, a force, a sense of power, and a preoccupation with utilitarian shapes. He was a brilliant designer, so that ultimately nobody could stand against him—Reed Crandall, none of them in totality could stand against him. Jack swept the entire field, he converted it. Within two years, everyone was swiping him more than anyone else. He brought a new kind of expressiveness into heroic drawing, where it had tended to be traditional styles of Alex Raymond and Harold Foster. He brought in this power, this anger, this emotionalism, that expressiveness, that changed the entire course. And he was also the best designer that comics ever had, in terms of converting and creating brand new shapes that suggested futuristic technology. He was so good at it, and so daring, that nobody could follow him without imitating him. I was brought up, step by step, by all of the guys who preceded him. Alex Raymond and Hal Foster were two of his big influences, and they were in turn mine. But there were so many individuals who were good, with a variety of styles, that I couldn’t focus on a single figure. Then finally I put it on Lou Fine, who came closer to my two abstract concerns, which were power and grace. Lou Fine and Reed Crandall were my chief idols, up to the time Jack came in with Blue Bolt. And that preceded Captain America by about a year. By the time he did Captain America, nothing could stand before him. I remember Mac Raboy hired me as an assistant on Captain Marvel Jr., and I said, “Who should I follow?” And I thought I would follow the artists who influenced Mac Raboy. “No, just follow Jack. Jack is the best.” Jack fell into disrepute; he was discredited in the 1950s after the

war because everybody went back to an advertising style of representational drawing. And Jack’s expressiveness didn’t fit. Even when he created the romance material, they ultimately had more popularity, greater success, by putting on artists who did willowier women, leaning into the wind, more pastel-hued artists—not the strong, punch-you-in-the-eye renditions of Jack’s. Ultimately, it wasn’t until the late 1950s and the comeback of the superhero, when Jack was beginning to do monster material, that Jack finally came back; and when he came back this time, he put aside most of the lyricism, and focused almost entirely on power and anger, and came through so overwhelmingly, so pervasively, that nothing stood before him. He cleared the decks of Alex Toth, Lou Fine, and Reed Crandall, and Jack’s was the only style. Let me qualify that: there was a parallel influence, but nothing like his, in Frazetta’s work of the time. But in comic books, since Jack could do five or six pages of pencils a day, and Frazetta could do one page in maybe ten days… there was simply no comparison. Jack was the greatest comic book artist that they ever saw. He was gifted, 22

intelligent, and strikingly original, and he was so inventive that he was inexhaustible. I was his assistant on Boy Commandos when I was 16 years old, the last six months before they went into the service. They had a contract with DC to get out a certain amount of work, and they wanted to get as much as possible, so they had me penciling stories, which believe me, were copied entirely from Jack. They would do an original splash page, which they would pencil and ink, and they would get an inker to go over my stuff, and sort of raise it to its knees, and then hand it all in. I once saw him do a ten-page story of Boy Commandos in one day. In those days, we worked on a 13" x 18" sheet, and there were eight panels to a page, and they were full panels, full figures of the Boy Commandos plus Rip Carter there. It was too good; no matter who inked it but Jack, they took it down. They diminished it. Jack’s stuff was just above anybody else’s material. When Harvey Kurtzman and I were working for a small agent, Kurtzman’s entire inspiration was Jack Kirby. He’d imitate the essence of him so perfectly, I was nuts about it. Harvey’s stuff was just a wonderful imitation of Jack’s, with the verve, the spontaneity, and again that sense of vitality and force that the earlier lyrical guys like Lou Fine didn’t have. He was the first Modernist in comics too. He was just like Beethoven, representing the best of the old, but turning the corner and being the first of the new—and incidentally, the best of the new, never to be exceeded.

opened a whole bunch of doors for everyone. You could go in so many different directions. He was a superstar. He left everyone in the dust.

Will Eisner (1917–2005)

Personally, I always suspected the Jack Kirby was really the Incredible Hulk condensed into a lovable old guy by some alchemist. He was a valued colleague and I’m a bit diminished by his passing. Out of an internal fantasy of classic heroism that inhabited this compact man, came an enduring delineation of the superhero icon. He understood the superhero like no one before him, and left us a shining inheritance. H

Joe Sinnott (1926–2020)

What can you say, other than he now walks among the other giants who’ve gone before him? Also, there’s nobody that’s indispensable, but Jack certainly is the one that would be in the comic field. There’ll just never be another one like him. There were no frustrations whatsoever; he was the easiest guy to work with. He gave you everything; very little had to be added or changed. It was unbelievable, the way he made it easy for anybody that he was working with. He was the greatest storyteller of all times, and not only that, his characters were the greatest. I can’t put into words my feelings toward his work as a storyteller and as an artist.

John Buscema (1927–2002)

I wouldn’t be in comics without Jack, because I studied his stuff. I didn’t have a flair for comics. So, I used his stuff. As far as I was concerned, he was a genius at comics. Before him, everyone thought of us as an illustrator. Jack 23

[previous page] Kirby layouts and plot notes, Scott Edward (aka Gil Kane) pencils, and Mickey Demeo (Mike Esposito) inks from Tales to Astonish #76 (Feb. 1966, the first Silver Age superhero work Gil did for Marvel). [below] From Fantastic Four #83 (Feb. 1969), astoundingly inked by Joe Sinnott.

Gallery

COVER COMPARISO

A look at some editorial changes to Kirby’s work, by Shane Foley

[right] 2001: A Space Odyssey #7 (June 1977) Beautifully and faithfully inked by Frank Giacoia—with only a tiny piece of wreckage deleted near the corner box—it seems Kirby deemed this a powerful cover pic that needed no verbiage. Editorial obviously disagreed. To my mind, what finally appeared in the two blurbs is right on the money, and perhaps inspired some new readers to give the title a try, so no harm done there. Kirby either felt the image strong enough without words (fair call) or perhaps he didn’t care, since this was to be the last of the stories themed this way before “Mister Machine” took center stage. [next page] 2001: A Space Odyssey #9 (Aug. 1977) Another cover faithfully, if quite heavily, inked by Frank Giacoia— the only change for this cover is the copy. And personally, I think “From out of the Monolith—the most awesome creation of all! Mister Machine!” (which is what was actually published) is better than what Jack suggested. A powerful and wonderfully designed cover for the second issue of a great series by Jack!

ONS

Twice-told Kirby covers, with commentary by Shane Foley

Devil Dinosaur #6 (Sept. 1978) With the pencils inked with the usual polish and precision Joe Sinnott brings—deviating from the pencils only to define the man’s abdominal form and the faces a little more clearly—Jack’s wording again got heavy-handed editorial changes. Kirby goes straight for biblical allusion, but editorial, while keeping a quasi-biblical tone with its reference to “The Fall”, felt a different approach was needed. Instead, they highlighted the drama of “fear and fire.” Perhaps they felt the ’70s readership wouldn’t be inspired by “the greatest story ever told” reference?

Black Panther #8 (March 1978) Another perfect Kirby layout! I remember, though, as a 19-year-old reader, not being at all inspired by the mostly middleaged relatives of T’Challa. Here, the editorial team kept most of Kirby’s evocative wording, excluding only his “Read: Panthers or Pussycats?” title. They left that for the interior, replacing it with “Way of the Warrior!” for the cover. Probably a good call, with the characters as drawn showing enough hint of their lack of being “Panther material.” Maybe they realized 19-yearolds like me would not be attracted to those middle aged “pussycats”!

Mister Miracle #16 (Nov. 1973) So what’s with Mister Miracle’s mask, Mister Kirby? I think it’s easy to explain. When an artist is producing a lot of product (as Kirby did), and when he’s going through an uninspiring period (as was happening here), these sorts of mistakes are bound to crop up. Why was Galactus wearing a Watcher-like toga in Thor #169 (page 14)? Surely because Kirby was jacked off with redrawing the whole thing (see TJKC #52) and his mind was only half on it. Look—the planet behind them isn’t even round!! Why is Mister Miracle’s mask wrong here? Because these Miracle stories were not what Kirby wanted to be doing, producing stories and characters (like Shilo Norman) that were shockingly inferior to the stories of a few months earlier. Sure, his art was still mostly great—but errors in detail like this slipped in. What other explanation could there be?

Captain America #209 (May 1977) John Verpoorten does the inking for this cover, staying very true to Kirby’s wonderful pencils. (The change in Cap’s shield is simply being more careful with the circular shape.) Blurb-wise, we don’t know what Kirby suggested for the box above the villain, but the wording, culminating in the wonderful name of “Bio-Fanatic,” is dramatic and sounds very Kirby-ish! Is “Attack, Primus... Attack!” better than “Get him, Primus! Attack!”? Someone thought so...

Kamandi #29 (May 1975) The pencils for the published cover of this issue were shown in TJKC #65, and a poor copy of these pencils appeared in #40. Unlike the revisions to Jimmy Olsen #142’s cover, where numerous alterations were pasted over the existing art, here, when (we presume) DC requested Superman’s costume be shown instead of Ben Boxer, Kirby decided to simply redraw the whole thing, even though the bulk of the cover is almost identical. So two questions remain: first, why did Kirby redraw the whole thing, when it was easier to simply cover the left side with a new image? And second; who is “Neal” referred to at the top? (Most likely son Neal Kirby, who was handling his dad’s original art at the time.) The date (Dec. 21, 1974) is six months prior to the May ’75 cover date, so Kirby was way ahead of schedule.

Kamandi #33 (Sept. 1975) Inspiring machinery, evocative shadowing, heroes at fearful readiness—great pencils for a beautifully staged dramatic cover. Bruce Berry’s inking is right on the money here! And it seems DC editorial took note of Kirby’s “request” to leave his wording as he’s written it! It’s perfect as presented—would it have been changed? Which leads to the question: if editorial had been monkeying around with Kirby’s suggested cover wording (which continued later at Marvel as well), at what point would he know it had happened? Is he referring to recent tampering? Or something someone has pointed out from months earlier? H

A big jump...

...from jumpsuits!

Incidental Iconography

An ongoing analysis of Kirby’s visual shorthand, and how he inadvertently used it to develop his characters, by Sean Kleefeld

largely came to Jack Kirby’s work in general via the Fantastic Four. He had long since left the title when I first started reading it, but going through back issues, I found myself not only learning the

history of the characters, but also the power of Jack’s work. That said, though, I was immediately and strangely bothered by his drawing of the Invisible Girl right after she introduces the team’s new uniform. At the top of Fantastic Four #3, page 7 [March 1962, left], she proudly displays her design for the first time, which is promptly followed by an extremely odd and uncomfortable close-up of her face. Why did Jack draw that? I didn’t like that panel at all, and it didn’t even make much sense from a design or layout perspective. It turns out there was a perfectly good reason for that weird close-up, and that’s what I’m covering in this issue. As I noted last issue, Jack was surprisingly consistent with his Fantastic Four costume design once it was published, but there were a fair amount of modifications made while #3 was still being drawn! Some of this originally came to light when Greg Theakston was able to look at some of the original artwork to the issue back in the 1980s and, in his self-published Pure Images from 1990, included some penciled art he re-inked via a lightbox. The two stand-out revelations were that the costumes’ original chest insignia was two interlocked F’s instead of a number 4, and that the team also wore domino masks. That was why Jack included that strange close-up of Sue—she was putting on and showing off a mask! Indeed, in reviewing the original art for the issue that has survived, page seven includes a fair amount of whiting out around Sue and Reed’s eyes for the entire page. However, none of the subsequent pages have this, or even indications that there were additional uninked pencils around the eyes. This would suggest that Jack drew masks on page seven, and had reconsidered the idea by page eight! (Theakston pointed out in his original notes about this that, indeed, masks would be useless for three of the four characters when using their powers, and may well have driven the decision.) But that might not have been Jack’s idea. Throughout the art for the issue, there are plenty of notes from Stan Lee, well beyond his more typical suggestions in the margins for dialogue or minor art corrections. We have at least six pages in which Stan sketched page and panel layouts on the backs of the art boards. Obviously, these are very crude and quick sketches, but he was clearly providing some 32

heavy direction to Jack for this issue (although it should be noted that Jack did not always follow Stan’s notes very closely). It is entirely plausible that Stan was literally standing over Jack’s shoulder and expressly told him to nix the masks as soon as Jack finished penciling that page! Surprisingly unnoticed by most fans, too, is that page seven shows very prominent seams—or perhaps piping—running down the length of the arms and legs. This is not only visible on the original art, but made it into production. These seams, like the masks, vanish by the next page, perhaps also a decision made as Stan was reviewing Jack’s art while he was making it. However, given the whole point of this column is highlighting how Jack’s lack of concern for costume details gave rise to the iconography of his characters, it’s also entirely possible Jack simply forgot to draw these seams in later pages. The chest insignia, while also apparently having been directed to have been changed by Stan, wasn’t altered until the inking stage, however. You can see interlocking Fs in Jack’s pencils throughout the issue. Here again, we can virtually see the two working in real time with Stan adding occasional FF ligatures and stylized 4s in the margins before finally taking the entire back of the art board for page 16 to sketch out almost two dozen insignia ideas. An extruded 4 much like what was ultimately used appears circled out of that bunch, and is repeated in the bottom margin of page 17, where there is no longer any trace of the interlocking Fs seen in Jack’s pencils up until that point. But the question of how much of the Thing’s uniform should remain seems to have gone back and forth throughout the issue. While Ben rips off the top within the story to leap into battle, Jack’s original intent looks to have included his pants in that disrobing as well. The Thing is actually

drawn with just shorts and boots throughout much of the issue, but his rocky legs have universally been covered in white paint [below], thanks to repeated margin notes to inker Sol Brodsky from Stan saying simply “tights” and pointing to the Thing’s legs. More interesting is that Stan similarly also draws attention to the Thing’s hands with margin notes to specifically “add gloves.” These appear to have been noted at the same time as his comments about the tights, but as you can see in the final production of the issue, the Thing is not seen wearing gloves unless he has the whole uniform on. I find this especially curious as I would think adding all black gloves would actually be easier and quicker than removing the rocky texture from his legs. Why, then, would the latter be acted upon, but not the former, when they were requested at the same time? If it were only one notation, I could see how Sol might’ve missed or forgotten that with other changes and the ever-looming deadline, but “gloves” or “add gloves” is written in for literally every single panel the Thing appears in! There must have been some discussion after Jack had penciled the issue, but before Sol inked it, about both the tights and the gloves and, for whatever reason(s), tights were deemed an okay change, but gloves were not. (This decision didn’t last, as the Thing was drawn with boots but no tights in #4, and only a pair of trunks beginning with #5! An ongoing discussion was definitely happening there!) It is, of course, impossible to say at this late date who exactly said what and when. Maybe Stan’s margin notes about tights, gloves, and even the 4 insignia were added at Jack’s request. It’s possible all of Stan’s directions to Sol really came from Jack, who just told Stan about them after he turned in the completed pencils—he felt he was paid to draw, not erase, and might not have made changes in his art, knowing they could be more quickly corrected in the inking. Stan’s page layouts on the backs of the very art boards Jack ended up using, do suggest the two of them were having active discussions while the pages were being created, however. Regardless, Stan was definitely a lot more directly involved in the art process here than he would be in subsequent issues. We frequently do not have much insight into Jack’s design process, as much of it occurred in his head. I’ve heard more than a few people comment that Jack never sketched or laid out a page formally; he just started drawing in the upper left corner and finished art just came out, as if he were tracing invisible lines that were already on the paper. But because Stan was to be heavily involved in the discussion for this issue, seemingly while Jack was literally at the drawing board, we have additional design notes that provide at least some hints as to what was going through Jack’s head while he was designing the Fantastic Four’s uniform. It is perhaps these conscious decisions through his active discussion with Stan that cemented their look more concretely in Jack’s mind, and might explain why it wavered so little over the remainder of his career. H 33

Thinkin’ ’bout Inkin’

Approach Shots

by Dave Stevens, William Stout, and Barry Windsor-Smith

[below] Fairly early in his comics career, a young Dave Stevens inked this Kirby drawing, utilizing many of the techniques he discusses here.

[There’s more than one way to skin a cat, as the saying goes. But doing so likely wouldn’t elicit as much outrage as a discussion of favorite Kirby inkers and their respective techniques in doing so. To wit: here are three artists who are masterful in their own work, discussing their own approaches to inking Kirby. Agree or not, we’ll bet the following will generate some vehement responses from fans reading this.]

stands drawing. People assume all it takes is a technician to ink him. That anybody that can use a ruler can ink Jack, and that’s not true, I don’t think. They can ink him, but it’s not gonna look like anything. It’s gonna look like someone taking layouts and inking them straightaway, without any polish. Jack really deserves to have much better inking than he’s getting, to where people will round out his fingers, and will add a little to the hair and features and things like that, and get rid of all these [makes swishing sound] lines in the muscles, and things Jack doesn’t intend to have inked. Some of it, on metal and things like that, you add the sheen, naturally, but there’s all these jagged construction lines that people end up inking, and I’m sure Jack never intended to have that stuff inked. But it gets there; it’s all the way into the final stage.” [This was quoted from Dave’s 1980s video appearance at https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=tWqO83Zt3MM.]

Dave Stevens

“Jack really hasn’t changed his penciling since the 1950s, or as far back as you want to take it. His penciling’s still as good as it was then. He is one of these guys that has to have someone who under-

William Stout

“I was asked to be one of the inkers for what is colloquially known as The Book of Roz. The Book of Roz (actual title Heroes and Villains) was a book of pencil drawings by Jack that he did for his beloved wife Roz. Jack drew just about every major character he ever touched in that volume—DC, Marvel, and all of the other comic book companies for which he worked. “Most of the artists inked just one piece. I was asked to ink Devil Dinosaur (if you know my history, you know why I was picked for this character). “Because of my previous work on The Demon (as a favor to my pal Mike Royer who wanted some much-needed family vacation time, I ghost-inked much of issue #15 of The Demon), I had previously inked Jack’s piece from Heroes and Villains illustrating The Demon just for fun and for myself. 34

“Here’s how I did these two pieces: “I made a copy of each drawing enlarged to original art size. I took some home-made carbon paper (I covered my ‘carbon’ with soft graphite, as commercial graphite carbon paper leaves an unwanted residue on the paper) and transferred every speck and line of Jack’s drawing to a piece of cold press illustration board. “I then carefully and completely re-penciled the drawing, using Jack’s piece as a guide, so that it was as close to Jack’s original as possible. Once that was completed, I inked it. “Now, there are at least two ways to ink Jack Kirby. There’s what I call ‘The Royer Method,’ an ego-less process in which the inker tries to remain as true as possible to Jack’s pencils, basically just cleaning up Jack’s work, perhaps inking using a straight edge here and there, if necessary. “The other method is inking Jack in the style that is the artist’s normal style—a style that comes natural to the inker. “I inked The Demon using The Royer Method. “For Devil Dinosaur, I was asked to combine the two methods. I inked the pterosaur in the picture pretty much as I would have inked it using my own style, but inked the rest of the picture closer to Jack’s style. “Decades later, during COVID, I had a hankering to ink a few more of Jack’s Heroes and Villains pieces. One was Ka-Zar (you know me and my love for All Things Prehistoric). I didn’t use the Royer Method with the Ka-Zar piece, however. I thought Jack’s sabertooth in that piece looked pretty goofy. It was not one of Jack’s best attempts at drawing a sabertooth, so I re-drew the sabertooth in the same position, but enhanced it with my own knowledge of sabertooths (I painted the sabertooth mural at the San Diego Natural History Museum and have a sabertooth skull in my studio). I’m especially happy with how the Ka-Zar piece turned out.” 35

[above & right] Two differing examples of how faithful Barry’s inking was on Captain America’s Bicentennial Battles. [below] Kirby’s early influence on Barry is evident in both the unused, and published versions of his X-Men #53 cover (1969).

Barry Windsor-Smith

[e-mail commentary from September 25, 2021] “I was in England at the time I was inking Kirby’s Captain America’s Bicentennial Battles (1975). Anything I know about what went on at Marvel is simply hearsay. “I was told that Stan really didn’t like what I had done with Kirby’s drawings. Others in the offices rather liked it, though. There was one panel [top] that I simply had to rework to the extent that all that was left of Kirby was his staging. There’s a typical major close-up of Cap that suffered from Kirby’s increasing penchant to pencil largesized features and shading in blocks of dramatic shapes that, in review, would look more like a Kirby techno-villain than Captain America. If I’d inked it the way he drew it, it would’ve stopped the continuity cold, as the reader would be perplexed about the Kirby evil robot with the ‘A’ on his forehead suddenly being introduced into the story, without so much as an explanatory caption. “So I made the Cap close-up more natural and human looking. This might’ve been why Stan wanted John Romita to re-ink my work. This was not something John wanted to do and, as it was told to me by a Marvel staffer, John placed the pages out of sight until the final deadline was looming, and John had to explain to Stan that it was just far too late to do anything about re-inking the Smith stuff.” H 36

OBSCURA

Barry Forshaw

A regular column focusing on Kirby’s least known work, by Barry Forshaw

Barry Forshaw is the author of Crime Fiction: A Reader’s Guide and American Noir (available from Amazon) and the editor of Crime Time (www.crimetime. co.uk); he lives in London.

a different concept and didn’t simply end up in orgies of building-wrecking destruction and the death of the monstrous marauder. An example? Take “The Thing in the Box” from House of Mystery #61 (April 1957), the splash panel of which looks forward to the Marvel monsters: a gigantic green sea serpent, its mouth grotesquely extended, threatening a boat full of hapless sailors. This is classic Kirby, and not just for the bizarre monster of the kind that he always created so effortlessly—the human figure drawing has all the dynamism that we find in his DC work, such as his master shots of the Challengers of the Unknown. Every member of that group was shown in a different energetic pose, and that’s the case with “The Thing in the Box”—but if you were to assume that the eponymous “thing” is the creature in the splash panel, you’d be wrong.

DON’T OPEN THE BOX!

Which do you prefer: Jack Kirby’s work for Marvel or DC Comics? The former, of course, famously produced the Marvel superhero revolution, which continues to rule in terms of cinema adaptations, even today. But his DC work included the remarkable Fourth World series which may have sputtered out inconsequentially, but has proved as prodigious in its influence on both DC’s comics and their various film adaptations—with characters and concepts that are still doing service to this day (e.g. Darkseid), long after Kirby’s death. But let’s go back to the late 1950s and early 1960s, when the scenario was somewhat different. Before he began the series of Atlas/Marvel monster books that preceded the superhero period, Kirby was turning out a variety of exquisitely drawn fantasy and science-fiction tales for DC editors such as Jack Schiff in House of Secrets, Tales of the Unexpected, My Greatest Adventure, and others until the spectacular falling-out over a variety of issues that led to Kirby upping sticks and moving to the tender care of Stan Lee at DC’s rival—and drawing those gigantic worldtrashing creatures (mostly with inker Dick Ayers). In terms of the dramatic impact of his art, there is no denying the fact that the creatures that Kirby created for such titles as Tales to Astonish and Tales of Suspense allowed him to blossom in terms of striking, eye-catching creations with scenes that burst out of the panels in a way that was simply not possible in the more constrained environs of DC. However, there are those (including this writer) who actually prefer the DC SF fantasy tales, which largely avoided the deadening repetition that beset the Marvel monster books—each story at DC had

SPOILER ALERT!

Who is the typical reader of The Jack Kirby Collector? Is he or she familiar only with, say, Kirby’s lengthy run on Fantastic Four? Or his earlier work as discussed above? I’m guessing we have a good mix of both, with a lot of readers like me who love all periods of The King’s career. But here’s another question: if you are reading an article like this, can I assume you are generally familiar with the stories being discussed? All of which is a preamble to my typing those two fateful words “spoiler alert,” as you may care to read the story before reading my following comments. The smallish chest which is dumped in the ocean at the beginning of “The Thing in the Box” issues forth a voice pleading: “N-no captain! Don’t do it! Don’t send me to the bottom! Please--I beg you!” The chest doesn’t look large enough to contain a human being, and the protagonist who retrieves the box from the sea is convinced that its occupant will be drowned. But in the process of retrieving it, there are some vividly demonstrated catastrophes—the green sea serpent mentioned above, and a plague of locusts. But what’s clever about the writing of this piece is that it’s discovered that the released horror is actually coming from a hole being drilled in the box—and the occupant of the container is no less than the legendary Pandora, whose box contains all the terrible evils of the universe. And it’s a particularly canny touch that the anonymous writer of the piece (might Kirby have been involved? Dave Wood?) chooses never to show us the occupant—Pandora is never released (no doubt good news for the world). The consummate skill in delineating this sixpage adventure is bristling with all the elements that would appear in Kirby’s later superhero work along with the giant monsters. But unlike those monsters, the reader is invited to think about what’s going on—and its more complex than Gagoom or Fin Fang Foom simply laying waste to all around them.

KIRBY’S FUTURISTIC CITIES

There is a recurrent theme in the work of Jack Kirby which admirers will be familiar with. It’s the futuristic city, crammed full of vertiginous angles, that makes an appearance in a variety of stories—perhaps the most spectacular version is the splash panel in the Challengers of the Unknown #4 story “The Wizard of Time”, in which the Challs take a trip to the far future. In that case, Kirby’s impeccable pencils were enhanced by the matchless inking 38

designs, and sharp angles—it’s not as impressive as that “Wizard of Time” Challs story, but then that one is a splash panel, rather than merely one panel in the middle of a DC story. As usual, one imagines that DC editor Jack Schiff just considered “I Found The City Under The Sea” an efficient job of work, but then DC at this period—for all the excellent illustrators they had working for them—did not possess the ethos that EC Comics nurtured, in which the artists would attempt to outdo each other with ever more spectacular jobs. It is, nevertheless, a measure of the professionalism that the DC workhorses produced such good results for what was basically an assembly line product.

of Wally Wood, but to some degree, the work had already been done by Kirby. In fact, the impact of this kind of panel is not due to the detail, but to the initial basic design. Like many of the best illustrators, Kirby has usually got it right at the early stage in terms of the rudimentary lines he puts on the page, and if one looks at the cityscapes, they are in fact all about the design. Kirby fans will be familiar with the Challengers story mentioned above, but they may be less acquainted with another impressive example, also for DC Comics, from My Greatest Adventure #15 (May–June 1957), “I Found The City Under The Sea”. It’s a tale of alien menace, but this time the marauders have built their beachhead under the ocean, a destructive force which is discovered by the protagonist in his bathysphere [above]. There are many things to enjoy in the piece, including Kirby’s mastery of the way the human body works (there’s a panel of the hero trying to open the door to a room containing a bomb, which looks like it might have been drawn from photographic illustration—except the stylization, which is pure Kirby). And there is the bizarre design of the aliens: gigantic orange-skinned creatures with ruffled Afro hair, sporting tentacles and faces which simply feature two massive eyes, but no mouth or nose. But what really sets the seal on the piece is the futuristic city scene (as so often with Kirby), seen from above with its towering columns, minaret-like roof

HAVING A HEAT WAVE

Still with DC, in August 1957, Jack Schiff handed Kirby another assignment—this time, both a cover illustration and a story. For House of Mystery #65, Kirby was to draw “The Human Dragon”, and the cover illustration, while reasonably intriguing, is distinctly on the low-key side. The unlucky hero—the “human dragon” of the title—breathes fire towards a metal No Parking sign, which melts as people run in fear. What’s curious about this cover—and the behavior of the protagonist of the story—is that Kirby draws the hero with his mouth closed while breathing fire (the result of an unfortunate laboratory experiment). He seems to be exhaling the fire from his nostrils. Why was this particular method chosen? Was it felt that an open mouth gushing forth flame would look too grotesque? Rather surprising, if so—that, after all, is how dragons are actually supposed to do it. In any case, the piece is efficient enough—and sports a more dramatic splash panel than the actual cover, with the hero Gary Hall melting a steel object in close-up, unlike the medium-shot cover. The plot involves Hall’s bizarre ability being used by a crooked scientist, to blackmail him into using his skill for crime, so that Hall can obtain a remedy. Everything here is delivered efficiently enough, though it’s hardly Kirby firing on all cylinders. One point of interest is the villainous Professor Jonas Wellky, who is drawn by The King to bear a strong resemblance to the time-travelling villain of the classic Challengers of the Unknown story “The Wizard of Time” (The Challs are clearly the key reference point for this column!). Clearly a bald head, a stocky build, and a beard for Kirby meant: villain! H 39

Foundations

Here’s Simon & Kirby’s final “Flying Fool” story, “Peril Paradise” from Airboy Comics V4, #11 (Dec. 1947), with art reconstruction and coloring by Chris Fama. What would you like to see in future “Foundations” installments? Let us know!

Boom!

THE SOURCE the Origins of Kirby’s Old New Gods by Richard Kolkman

[Editor’s note: The following essay served as a big part of the research that went in to producing TJKC #80’s “Old Gods & New” epic. I’m pleased to finally be able to present Richard Kolkman’s full work here, which does an amazing job of connecting and comparing Kirby inspirations and concepts throughout his career, and how they culminated in the Fourth World.]

This deep dive into the headwaters of the Fourth World began when I read Robert Guffey’s essay “We All Live in Happyland” in Jack Kirby Collector #57 in 2011. Mr. Guffey sensed that a JFK connection exists within Kirby’s Fourth World. I have come to second that notion. “The place to look for Kirby’s reaction to the JFK assassination lay not in his Marvel work of the 1960s, but in his most important work for DC Comics in the early 1970s.”—Robert Guffey What I present here is all circumstantial evidence, but in its totality, becomes compelling. It begins firmly in the bedrock of the faithful... “There came a time when the old gods died.” (New Gods #1, March 1971). In Spirit World #1 (Fall 1971), Dr. E. Leopold Maas’ premonition story is the nexus between spirits of ancient Egypt and the events in Dallas on November 22, 1963.

“The sky grew dark and the sun dropped to the horizon! From behind me, came the sound of a rifle shot!”

[right] JFK and Jackie in a premonition of death from 1971’s Spirit World #1. [below] Kirby’s original collage, and its disappointing printing in blue ink from Spirit World #1. [next page, top] Yul Brenner and Charlton Heston from 1956’s The Ten Commandments meet Kirby’s Ramses and Highfather, alongside more Egyptian imagery from Spirit World #1.

his is how Spirit World #1 begins—with a breathless warning. For Jack Kirby’s entire career, he had the inscrutable knack for combining two diverse inspiration points and creating something timeless and uncanny. The Eternals is a perfect example: Kirby combined Greek mythology and Erich von Däniken’s book Chariots of the Gods (1968) into an epic of cosmic confrontation. While researching the Jack Kirby Checklist for 25 years, it slowly dawned on me: Many aspects of Kirby’s Fourth World at DC Comics appeared to be steeped in ancient Egyptian history (The Hebrews) and the legacy of John F. Kennedy—in the aftermath of his untimely assassination. The death of hope of the “New Frontier” was a cataclysmic shock to the American psyche—it affected everyone. Kirby admitted to Mark Evanier that the death of JFK had a profound impact upon his work. Instead of manifesting itself in the short-term, I believe it was a major thematic inspiration for Kirby’s Fourth World epic of the New Gods, and their battle to free themselves from oppression. The struggle of the ancient Hebrews to free themselves from Egyptian tyranny permeates the thematic ebbs and flows of the Hunger Dogs and New Genesis.

THE MOUNTAIN OF JUDGMENT Ramses’ words ring out in righteous indignation: “It would take more than a man to free the slaves; it would take a god!” Indeed, Moses delivered the Jews from the tyranny of the Egyptian Pharaoh. With a staff like Highfather’s, Moses parted the Red Sea—an avenue of escape from Egyptian slavery. The mythos of the Hunger Dogs is grounded firmly in the Old Testament chapter of Exodus. Slavery is an evil affront to life: “You’re dead as an individual. You have no choice. You can’t object and you

have no stature as a person. You’re dead. A slave is a dead man. That’s what Darkseid wants. Darkseid wants complete subjugation of everything at a word—his word. He wants every thinking thing under his control.” —Jack Kirby (Train of Thought #5, Feb. 1971). Cecil B. DeMille’s epic film The Ten Commandments (1956) was screened for movie fans in a visually stunning new format: “Cinemascope has more dimension to it, more depth... the more lifelike it is, the more impressed you are with the image.”—Jack Kirby (1969). For years, The Ten Commandments was broadcast on ABC-TV every Easter. Watch it and listen carefully—it sounds and feels every bit like New Gods. The twin stone tablets brought down from Mt. Sinai by Moses were “commandments,” but they were always subject to man’s free will. The Source always represented the “Life Equation.” The hand of fire only guides us—it does not possess us. (Kirby’s character Dubbilex reminds me of the double-X: the two tablets that contain the Ten Commandments, X+X). Ramses was Kirby’s original villain in his developing “New Gods” idea in 1966. Alternately known as the “Black Pharaoh” or the “Black Sphinx,” the concept art was ably inked by Don Heck. Kirby’s lineage of Pharaoh antagonists from the past can be laid out thusly:

“The Mad Pharaoh.” King Hatap comes out of suspended animation with his black arts knowledge to menace Iron Man. With a cover by Kirby and Ayers, the story art is by Don Heck, which gives him some rights to a Pharaoh villain in 1969’s X-Men. • F antastic Four #19 (Oct. 1963) “Prisoners Of The Pharaoh.” RamaTut descends in his time machine (The Sphinx) and rules ancient Egypt. His “Chariot of Time” also ties in with Dr. Doom’s time platform in issue #5 (July 1962). •R amses (concept art, 1966, above), Kirby’s original Fourth World villain (inked by Heck); Ramses wields an unidentified “Eye Weapon.” When Heck utilized the Pharaoh concept in X-Men #54–55 (March–April 1969) as the “Living Pharaoh”, he is diminished somewhat when Arnold Drake’s Iceman refers to Pharaoh as “Pyramid Poppa”! Perhaps this is why Kirby developed Darkseid as a serious replacement in 1969. •A nd finally, Prester John [left] wields an “Evil Eye” after emerging from a centuries-long sleep in Fantastic Four #54 (Sept. 1966). “I Am the Alpha and Omega” (Revelation 1:8 and 22:13). The beginning and the end of all things—Kirby played with this idea, first in Fantastic Four #82–83 (Jan.–Feb. 1969) when Dr. Doom’s “Alpha-Primitives” overwhelm the FF, and later as Highfather’s “Alpha Bullets” reclaim the Forever People in their issue #7 (March 1972). The “Omega Effect” first occurs in Amazing Adventures #4 (Jan. 1971, right) when the Mandarin consigns his co-hort to oblivion—in exactly the same manner

• Challengers of the Unknown #4 (Nov. 1958). “The Wizard Of Time” features Pharaoh’s astrologer, Rhamis, his time machine, and a telescope he calls the “Cosmic Eye.” • Tales of Suspense #44 (Aug. 1963) 49

[below] Pencils from The Demon #16, page 17 (Jan. 1974).

Darkseid dispatches most of the Forever People in their issue #6 (Jan. 1972) and DeSaad in New Gods #11 (Nov. 1972). The leaping-off point to the juncture to everywhere was never more apparent. When former Simon & Kirby Studio artist Carmine Infantino (who was then editorial director of National/ DC Comics) visited the Kirbys during Passover weekend in April 1969, he proffered a deal: Join us at National— all is forgiven (it’s a long story). Apparently, Infantino’s tastes didn’t align with his New York roots. According to Rosalind Kirby, “He came to the house on Passover, and I gave him matzo ball soup, and he hated it.” Thematic parallels between Moses and Highfather

are apparent (a parent). They are the fathers and the deliverers of their people—as both tap into The Source.

THE OLD GODS The rise of the Norse gods began with the Aesir! Buri, Borr, Odin, Thor, and Loki arose in the old world of Asgardian wonder.“Tales of Asgard” chronicled the rise and fall of Asgardian fortunes in Journey into Mystery #97–125 (Oct. 1963–Feb. 1966) and Thor #126–145 (March 1966–Oct. 1967). From the beginning of his comic book career, Jack Kirby featured gods in his timeless tales: Mercury (later “Mokkari” in Jimmy Olsen), Hurricane (Son of Thor), Pluto, Apollo, and Diana the Huntress. Who can forget when Mercury addressed Jupiter (in street parlance), “It’s in the bag, all-wisest” in Red Raven Comics #1 (Aug. 1940)? With the growing success of Marvel Comics in the 1960s, Kirby grew restless—he was never one to rest upon his laurels. In an endless cycle of re-invention, Kirby wanted to end and renew Thor. At Marvel, Stan Lee held to his editorial policy of “apparent” change—without actual change. Thor was one of the lucrative toy and product generators for the nascent Marvel, so Thor’s demise was out of the question. Readers caught brief hints of Ragnarok in Journey into Mystery #119 (Aug. 1965) and #123 (Dec. 1965). When the end (and new beginning) finally unfolded in Thor #127–128 (April–May 1966), it was a speculative adventure. In “Aftermath,” we get a glimpse into New Genesis. A new golden age, a new rebirth is presented in Thor #128: “A life soon shared by the young, new race of gods which joyously takes domain over all it beholds... ”. The threat of Ragnarok again rears its deadly head in the legendary Thor #154–157 (July–Oct. 1968). When Kirby created concept art in 1966 for his re-imagined Asgard, he crafted Honir, Balduur, Heimdall, and Sigurd (Thor). [Enchantra] may have been part of this, also. In 1966, Kirby stated, “... the characters of what I call the groovy Sixties... their trappings are different, they must be more showy.” Kirby was clearly ready to shake up the 1960s, and swing into a new decade. Since Kirby featured Ramses (Pharaoh) in his pantheon, how far behind were the other Egyptian gods? Ra—the Sun God, the God of Light—with a lineage to Balduur, and Lightray (of New Genesis)... was he a contender? Could Ra be the provisionally titled [Black of New Genesis]? (See TJKC #52’s cover.)

Sun worship and Ra led to the development of our calendar. Over the waters of creation, over the river Nile, and the floods, a confluence of beliefs merged between the setting sun, and the rise of the Orion constellation in the winter’s night sky. Under Ra’s watchful “Eye of Horus”, the pyramids of Giza were erected near Cairo. The placement of the three great pyramids are matched perfectly with the three stars in the belt of Orion (the Hunter) constellation. This is known as the “Giza-Orion Correlation Theory.” (Google it!) It’s too accurate to be a coincidence. Kirby’s fascination with the transmutation of matter resided within the pyramid of Cheops—an alchemical secret; the Philosopher’s Stone (The Demon #8, 9, 12, 15, 16)—an antecedent of the formative “Cosmic Cube” at Marvel in Tales of Suspense #79–81 (July–Sept. 1966). In The Demon #16 (Jan. 1974), when Warly transforms Morgaine le Fey with the Philosopher’s Stone, she becomes an Egyptian Queen—a sarcophagus! On the eve of President Kennedy’s assassination, there was another strong Egyptian influence in American movie theaters; Cleopatra, starring Elizabeth Taylor [above], was the biggest budget film of its time—another link in the zeitgeist of the unfortunate events of 1963. The winter sacrifices of Egypt’s princes were far in the distant past, but they also resonated among us, in our times. To a well-read man like Kirby, the times seemed downright prescient. The twin planets of New Genesis and Apokolips—sister planets, one in the shadow of the other; one light, one dark—have their origins hinted at in the preface to New Gods #7 (March 1972): “Their races had sprung from a survivor of the old! The living atoms of Balduur gave nobility and strength to one!—and the shadow planet was saturated with the cunning and evil which was once a sorceress.” This is explained by their creator: “I refer to Karnilla of the Thor stories. Even as good and evil mesh in principle, it was my choice to have her pregnant by Balder, the genetic seeder of New Genesis.” —Jack Kirby (1974)

was now. In 1961, when called upon by Stan Lee to develop a new comic book for a new decade, Kirby responded with the Fantastic Four: “I love young people, I love teenagers... they’re very vital and very active... the Fantastic Four was my admiration for young people.” —Jack Kirby (1992). Kirby, being young at heart, included himself in the new vanguard. After all, President Kennedy was exactly as old as Jack Kirby—they were both born in 1917. In what may have been a delayed effect, Kirby finally started to percolate new ideas behind the scenes at Marvel. In September 1964, while taking notes for Avengers #14 (March 1965) and other projects, Kirby scrawled some rough concepts out on the back of a photostat of a page from Avengers #13 (Feb. 1965). Kirby writes “Millennium People” as well as “Maximus, Roman Emperor” and “Hulk falls into fountain of youth” (which finally happens in Tales to Astonish #80, June 1966). Maximus was a villain in Tales to Astonish #56 (The Wasp, June 1964) and later, was the insane power-hungry Maximus of the Inhumans. “The Millennium People”, however, haunts us with its similarity to “Forever People”: A race of super beings who stood for peace and harmony—a new way of thinking. After The Man from U.N.C.L.E. television series debuted on Sept. 22, 1964, Kirby was formulating a photo-feature concept: “Teen Agent.” With his son Neal, Kirby photographed various scenes of unpublished intrigue. James Bond was also in full swing, but notice how Kirby bends the concept towards youth. It was the birth of Kirby’s experimentation with collage—photo compositions that would take Kirby’s narrative where line art simply couldn’t go. It was another innovative art form for the comic books of the 1960s, and Kirby was the spearhead. First came the Beatniks—then the surfers—who Kirby tapped into (a California scene) when he created The Silver Surfer in 1965. Freedom was beckoning from all directions—but the West Coast, like New Genesis, symbolized love. The East Coast vibe exuded a dark, old-school factory harshness—vital for survival—back where the Hunger Dogs howled loudest. In January 1969, the Kirbys left New York and moved to southern California. The break with the past was life-changing. The future was bright. “Apokolips is New York while New Genesis is California... the California of the Summer of Love and beyond, must have been a revelation to [Kirby]... Kirby has often stated that the future belongs to the young.” —Kevin Ainsworth (TJKC #46) “California is a place for kids. It’s wasted on me, but for kids you can’t beat it.” —Jack Kirby (1969) The “Outsiders” of the Wild Area [in Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen] are symbolic of The Hebrews—always on the move. The Hairies, along with Kirby’s “Mountain of Judgment” concept art, date back to 1966, when Marv Wolfman and Len Wein were shown these concepts in Kirby’s studio, “The Dungeon.” Hippies, Hairies— take your pick; they were one and the same; free thinkers, on the move... a drop-out society who produced results! The Mountain of Judgment was a former missile carrier re-fitted as an Omni-Bus for the Hairies—as they travel along the Zoomway. Jude is the leader of the Hairies. He, presumably, is a DNAlien like the rest of his kind, according to Kirby in Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #135’s text piece. “Jude” not only hearkens back to ancient Europe, but also reflects the sounds of the times: Hey Jude—the Beatles’ smash hit of 1968. The idea of a bus-full of teen visionaries dates back to Ken Kesey and his band of Merry Pranksters and their bus “Furthur” (yes, that’s how it’s spelled) as detailed by Tom Wolfe in his 1968 novel The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. To the conscious mind, the hidden road is obviously the imperceptible one. In Strange Tales #127 (Dec. 1964), Dick Ayers has the Human Torch hurtle toward a mountain in a jet car—only to have it open an access to a hidden road. Ayers opened the concept up to future adaptations. Kirby has SHIELD drive into a hidden opening

THE NEW FRONTIER “The New Frontier of which I speak is not a set of promises—it is a set of challenges. It sums up not what I intend to offer the American people, but what I intend to ask of them.” —John F. Kennedy (1960) As always, the advent of a new generation heralds a new age. It was especially true after the Great Depression, and in the afterglow of World War II in America. On the watch of the youngest US president in history, youth culture thrived. On March 1, 1961, President Kennedy formed the Peace Corps, in service to the world. “It’s about love these days... with the youngsters. Jesus was all about love... let me try to get away from warrior gods and see how that works out...” —Jack Kirby (1974) The times, they were a changin’, and Kirby knew it. You couldn’t rely on the old to propel you into the future, and the future 51

in a mountain, in layouts for Strange Tales #149 (Oct. 1966). Finally, in Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #134 (Dec. 1970), Kirby fully exploits the hidden road concept. As if on cue, in the Fall of 1969 emerged a new television program: The New People, a grim, deterministic tableau of an island-bound new society of young people; this was not Gilligan’s Island. The Dell comic book adaptation featured a stark photo collage cover on the first issue. Old thinking is war-like, and not conducive to our times. Kirby’s young new gods at National reflected his entrenched enthusiasm: “If you’ll watch the actions of the Forever People, you’ll see the reflection of the ’60s in their attitudes, in the backgrounds, in their clothes... I felt I would leave a record of the ’60s in their adventures...”. —Jack Kirby (1971) As a postscript, the adventures of Kamandi, the Last Boy on Earth and Moonboy in Devil Dinosaur represent Kirby’s final youthful outings. The “New Frontier” evokes two kindred sons of twentiethcentury America—John F. Kennedy and Jack Kirby.

I began to dress up—the lightning insignias. Karnak with the judo-type uniform, it’s almost Oriental and half-Egyptian...”. With Karnak, the Egyptian motif appears yet again. An imposing grandeur was developing—in monthly, twelvecent installments—of family matters on a grand scale. “There was the sense that something big was coming, something scary, something secret— something that didn’t belong in comic books.”—Sean Howe Interlocking story arcs really started emerging with the classic “Galactus Trilogy” in Fantastic Four #48–50 (March–May 1966). The growing Marvel Universe was expanding at a galactic pace: “Galactus is a true god—a god in the meaning of modern technology... it’s a modern mythology... we have our ‘new’ god today—technology. A new way of looking at things that I have got to represent.” —Jack Kirby (TJKC #44) On Marvel’s September 1966 Bullpen page, Stan Lee asks the important question: “Ever wonder what it’s like to illustrate galactic wars, battles between gods, and cosmic adventures day after day?” This sounds like a question that Jack Kirby would be able to answer— quite emphatically. Who else at Marvel would know what this creative, illustrative feat was “like?” With great creativity comes great responsibility. There are a few interesting antecedents to the Fourth World in Kirby’s Marvel stories (and always more to find):

THE NEW GODS

• Ulik, first appearing in Thor #137 (Feb. 1967) is a brutish, dangerous antagonist similar to Kalibak—Orion’s half brother in New Gods.

It was heralded—the Great One was coming! Kirby’s imagination sold comics, and National was counting on it. Kirby finally had a voice at DC Comics—a voice he did not have while storytelling with Joe Simon or Stan Lee. Kirby’s pantheon concept found fertile soil in the early 1970s, and exploded at DC. The beginnings of the modern superhero myth began earlier, at the “House of Ideas.” On the letters page of Mister Miracle #4 (Oct. 1971), a burning question is raised by Mark Gruenwald: “Kirby has been unleashed... there is a new wonder afoot... now, I sit back and wonder, knowing how closely writer and artist collaborate at Marvel, how many of the ideas behind the Lee/Kirby masterworks usually attributed to Lee came from the mind of his one-time partner?” Charles Hatfield added this in 1994: “Seeing Kirby as the main creative force behind Marvel puts his subsequent work in a new perspective. A coherent pattern of development emerges, in which the innovations of the early 1960s anticipate the innovations of the early 1970s.” In the Fall of 1964, two monster situation comedies debuted on television: The Addams Family and The Munsters. They were kindred spooks: two families, banded together for the uncommon good. When Batman smashed the TV ratings in January 1966, it elevated comics, and Kirby rose to the task. “I created the Inhumans because the competition was coming up in the field... when someone came up with one superhero, we would slap them with five.” —Jack Kirby (1969). A template of helpful, powerful outsiders was established. In Fantastic Four #46 (Jan. 1966), the full host of Inhumans was finally introduced. According to Kirby in 1969, “But then, Black Bolt

• Is Big Barda a warrior descendant of Sif? Sif first appeared in Journey into Mystery #102 (March 1964) and was later re-introduced in Thor #136 (Jan. 1967). When Barda emerged in Mister Miracle #4 (Oct. 1971), she was already somewhat familiar (even if her uniform is Egyptian). •T he same electric sign carnage inhabits the super-battles of the Thing in Fantastic Four #58 (Jan. 1967) and Orion vs. Kalibak in New Gods #8 (May 1972). Zap! •A nd Granny Gardenia in Thor #141 (June 1967) is a strong-willed, tough-talking old broad (who raises tough cookies). She’s a blueprint for Granny Goodness, who first appears in Mister Miracle #2 (June 1971)—not as lovable, but tough. The name Jacob means “Supplanter”—someone who replaces the old with the new. That was Jack Kirby! At Marvel, the rise of the techno-gods began quietly, with Cerebro in X-Men #7 (Sept. 1964). Slowly, almost imperceptibly, the stone and wood of Thor’s Asgard evolved into a godly technological marvel. Wooden sky ships were replaced by spaceships and their gleaming environs. They began to be populated by beings such as the Recorder, a scaled-down Watcher (without his powers). The Recorder was logical, methodical and passive—a

receiver of endless information (a template for Metron). No longer confined to the fire and ice pits of the old world, Thor braved worlds beyond worlds, beginning with his encounter with Ego, the Living Planet in Thor #132–133 (Sept.–Oct. 1966). Cosmic grandeur was filling the confines of the Marvel Universe. The New Gods concept art that Kirby developed (with inks by Don Heck and Frank Giacoia) from 1966 to 1968, was long in the making; according to Charles Hatfield: “The Fourth World does represent something ‘apart,’ in that Kirby saved up the idea behind the saga for some time, approaching it with uncharacteristic deliberation and a growing ambition.” It’s almost certain Kirby did not offer “The New Gods” or “The Secret City” to Marvel. According to Infantino and Lee:

The growing complexity of Marvel’s burgeoning cosmic entities was beginning to straddle the two sides of the techno-magical equation. •O rikal—what can be said, except: Wow! The fact that we know nothing about this being, suddenly among us in Thor #138–139 (March–April 1967), only adds to his legend. •T he Kree Supreme Intelligence appears in Fantastic

“These I want to do, but I won’t do them for Marvel.” —Jack Kirby (per Infantino, 1969) “Jack never offered the New Gods to Marvel before taking them to DC.” —Stan Lee (2001)

[previous page, bottom] While both shows may’ve influenced Jack’s Inhumans, The Addams Family’s Wednesday seems more likely to have influenced the look of the Demon’s Witchboy, whereas The Munsters’ Pat Priest (portraying their non-monstrous daughter Marilyn) was a source for Crystal. [left] The noninvolvement character archetype reoccurs in Jack’s work: The Recorder (from Thor #133, Oct. 1966), Jack’s Metron concept drawing, and the Watcher. [below] Orikal from Thor #138 (March 1967) seems a precursor to the Celestials from Jack’s later Eternals series.

[these pages] Unused 1980s Ruby-Spears animation concept, utilizing Jack’s wellused magician trope.

Four #65 (Aug. 1967)—a faux mental “source”—a dry run for the real thing. Earlier magicians like Diablo (FF #30, Sept. 1964) and the Miracle Man (FF #3, March 1962) could both have been based on mental and physical science. When Kirby launched his Fourth World at DC, his archetypes were firmly established. Metron (a documentarian) accompanied the hard shift into Kirby’s

realms of technological gods. And finally, thanks to the “X-Element,” Mother Box knows and fixes anything—anything that can be gained by tapping into the “Source.” In order to understand how the roots of the Fourth World dig deep into the fabric of Marvel, one must comprehend Kirby’s storytelling method of operation. In Jack Kirby Collector #58: Lee & Kirby: The Wonder Years, Mark Alexander writes, “In Kirby’s mind, everything was just one big story anyway; a story where everything is connected to everything else, where everything intersected and entwined, then drifted apart.” Charles Hatfield adds, “By creating a pantheon of rival superbeings, Kirby brought complex character relationships, mythic scale, and sustained, meaningful conflict to a genre that had all but lost the vital spark of innovation.” “The Fourth World, to me, was modern legendary.” —Jack Kirby (1993)

SPIRIT WORLDS In the stars above, ancient people saw patterns that brought order to the mysteries in the winter’s southern sky. They drew pictures in their mind’s eye. Three bright stars in a row form the belt of Orion, the Hunter. Three more represent the sword, and five are prominent in Orion’s form. Among these stars are Rigel and Betelgeuse. Rigel is one of the brightest stars (and where the Colonizers live: Thor #132, Sept. 1966). Trace along Orion’s belt southeast of the hunter, and you see Sirius, the Dog Star. Sirius is the brightest star in the sky, at magnitude 1.58. Comparatively, the Dog Star is close to the Milky Way galaxy. Look carefully: the ears on Orion’s helmet [by Kirby] remind us that he is the Dog of War. Sirius (part of the Canis Majoris constellation) is paired with a “companion white dwarf”—the first of its kind discovered to be of a density so great (for its size) that one cubic inch of it would weigh one ton on Earth. Its gravitational field affects Sirius, which is seventy times larger. Also, regarding Canis—take note of Dr. Canus (our favorite canine scientist) in Kamandi, the Last Boy on Earth. Alpha Canis Majoris is where we derive the annual term “Dog Days of Summer.” Ancient Egypt tugs 54

mightily at us. In the Fourth World, a “companion white dwarf” reminds us of Oberon, Mister Miracle’s righthand man—a small man with the heart of a giant. In William Shakespeare’s A Mid Summer Night’s Dream, Oberon (King of the Fairies) argues with his wife Titania over a changeling; a child surreptitiously switched with another. It is worth noting Egypt also had their own dwarf god, Bes—who also looked out for the welfare of children. Thus, the circle of inspiration closes upon Scott Free of New Genesis, Orion of Apokolips, and Oberon of Earth. Earlier, Kirby and Lee introduced Geirrodur (King of the Trolls) in Journey into Mystery #101 (Feb. 1964) and Thor #137 (Feb. 1967). Soon after, Sindri (King of the Dwarfs) first appeared in JIM #113 (April 1964) and #108 (Sept. 1964). The stars drive the Zodiac— do they control our destiny? “Horoscope Phenomenon Or Witch Queen Of Ancient Sumeria” was explored by Kirby in Weird Mystery Tales #1 (Aug. 1972), continuing his fascination with astrology. Over 55

AFRO-FUTURISM

the River Nile’s waters of creation gazed Ra’s “Eye of Horus” (the Eye of Ra)—this symbol appears on the “Souls” poster in Spirit World #1 (Fall 1971, left) along with other Egyptian imagery. Also: the “Warlock’s Eye” is wielded by Harokin in Thor #129–132 (June– Sept. 1966) and again, we are reminded of Prester John’s “Evil Eye” (FF #54) and Ramses’ eye weapon in Kirby’s 1966 villain concept art. The domain of pure magic in the Marvel Universe was mostly inhabited by Ditko and Lee’s Dr. Strange, but it also included the Impossible Man (FF #11) and the Infant Terrible (FF #24) as well as various seers and sorcerers of Asgard. In Kirby’s Fourth World, magic was replaced by technology (the appearance of magic). When speaking of visions in the skies that guide us, we must mention “Transylvane”—the miniature planet of impressionable, tiny people in Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #142–143 (Oct.–Nov. 1972, below). Kirby derived a lot of veiled inspiration from television programs he admired, such as The Prisoner (1968–1969) and Star Trek (1966–1969). The ABC-TV program The Outer Limits’ episode “Wolf 359” (Nov. 7, 1964, bottom right) features a miniature planet, engineered and held in captivity by its creator. (The episode’s title comes from the name of a real-life red dwarf star located in the Leo constellation.) Differing from the TV show, Tranylvane’s creator Dabney Donovan never appears during Kirby’s time on Jimmy Olsen (as a child, I was intrigued by Donovan’s non-appearance; he did appear later—by others). Kirby did not follow the rules. Donovan’s influence on the folks of Transylvane was significant—thank goodness for Oklahoma! (read the story). (One of the supporting cast members in Outer Limits’ “Wolf 359” was actor Dabney Coleman—could this have inspired the name Dabney Donovan, with perhaps a pinch of Disney’s 1959 film Darby O’Gill and the Little People? The name Dabney is not common in American entertainment—nor a Darby with dominion over “little people”—leprechauns excepted.)

Kirby and Lee introduced black supercharacters into Marvel’s mythos beginning with Gabriel Jones (on horn) in Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #1 (May 1963). An integrated combat unit was only the beginning. Keeping abreast of the Civil Rights wave of the mid-1960s, The Black Panther was introduced (as an antagonist) in Fantastic Four #52 (July 1966). King T’Challa was born out of an overdue sense of social responsibility by Marvel’s architects. “You know, there’s never been a black man in comics.” —Jack Kirby (1986) “I suddenly discovered that I had a lot of black readers. My first friend was black! And here I was ignoring them because I was associating with everybody else.” —Jack Kirby (1989) The pageantry in the Black Panther’s court is very similar to the pomp and ceremony the King of Ethiopia receives before Ramses in DeMille’s Ten Commandments (1956). The king of an African nation is elevated and respected as an ally of great value and importance. In the extension of T’Challa’s story, we find Egyptian locales, specifically in Fantastic Four #54 (Sept. 1966, above)—where, on the cover, the Torch flies through an Egyptian tomb (something that never occurs in the story).

In a nod to the old gods of Egypt [left], one of Kirby’s 1966 concept portraits is of a dark-skinned god provisionally known as [Black of New Genesis]. Was this handsome guy possibly derived from the Egyptian sun god Ra? Kirby’s black characters in the Fourth World are a mixed bag: The Newsboy Legion’s newest member was “Flipper Dipper” (aka “Flippa Dippa”)—an unflappable scuba diver who was a comedic foil. He was likely inspired by actor Cleavon Little’s stage character “Scuba Duba” (see LIFE, Nov. 17, 1967—as revealed in TJKC #59, page 90). In a more serious vein, both Vykin the Black (Forever People) and the Black Racer (harbinger of death) were both formidable opponents to their adversaries. Unfortunately, it was customary to label AfricanAmericans in American media with racial identifiers, and Kirby fell into the same trap with these two gods. Kirby was a product of his times. New Genesis was not Asgard (Norse); even so—why wasn’t Scott Free’s main squeeze called “Barda the White?” In contrast, Marvel’s black protagonists at this time were usually ghetto defenders, ex-veterans, or convicts—ripe to “bust out!” Thanks to Roy Thomas, scientist Bill Foster (Black Goliath) was a welcome exception in Avengers. In today’s still-evolving culture, we belong together—and Kirby was there decades before.

GENETIC ENGINEERING “[Mutations]... I was studying that kind of stuff all the time. I would spot it in the newspapers and science magazines.” —Jack Kirby (1989) During Kirby’s exploration of the genetic code, do you think he ever encountered the sugar “galactose”? It’s an interesting question (glucose and galactose combine to form lactose). Kirby’s journey into the double helix of DNA begins right after Watson and Crick’s discovery of the building blocks of life. In Alarming Tales #1’s (Sept. 1957) “The Cadmus Seed,” we encounter Dr. Googer’s “plant men”—an army of inexhaustible warriors—but that was just the beginning. While not exactly engineered, the mutations that create a future superhuman race were detailed in the book The Dawn of Magic in 1963 (Pauwels and Bergier). Remember, Kirby was a voracious learner (ie: reader); Chapter X in this book is titled “Some Reflections on the Mutants” where “Homo Superior” is very clearly spelled out. As far as ice powers, that may have been even too far out for Pauwels and Bergier; however, The Dawn of Magic may have led to Marvel’s X-Men, a team of

teen-aged superpowered outcasts. Also of note is “The Mutants and Me” in Tales of Suspense #6 (Nov. 1959), a prescient story with art by Joe Sinnott. Not counting the Thinker’s pseudo-life science in FF #15, and S.H.I.E.L.D.’s life model decoys, Kirby’s next step introduced DNA replication as an advanced idea mechanic—an alchemical army. Speaking of alchemy, DC’s Metamorpho (Brave and the Bold #57, Jan. 1965) pre-dates Kirby’s “Them” in Tales of Suspense #78 (June 1966). Grown in vats, Them’s replicated army appears to be endless. Captain America and Nick Fury go up against an unstoppable being who can transmute apparently any element (mostly lethal ones)! Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. dig a little deeper into AIM’s genetic ambitions in Strange Tales #146 (July 1966), where armies grow fully formed (again) in chemical vats. As agent Jasper Sitwell notes, “They grow like plants.” Since Steve Rogers drank the Super Soldier serum, the subject of armies grown to order straddled bio-engineering and militarism. “The Hive” of Queen Ula in “Tales of Asgard” in Journey into Mystery #124–125 (Jan.–Feb. 1966) and Thor #126 (March 1966) reveals Ula’s swarm—Kirby’s collective of domination and terror: Concepts that culminated in Kirby’s unpublished novel The Horde, where unstoppable masses of people swarm over the Earth (from what I hear). Mantis arises in the Fourth World; later, the Bug in New Gods; and much later, the Insectons in Captain Victory; all feeding off of humanity—and using Earth as their battleground, a much-replicated idea of Kirby’s (pun intended)! Genetics burst forward again in Thor #134–135 (Nov.–Dec. 1966) when the High Evolutionary creates advanced animal monsters by an accelerated DNA process. In Thor #136 (Jan. 1967), Jane Foster is pitted against the “Unknown”—a fourarmed terror, who is a direct precursor to the official FourArmed Terror (a DNAlien) in Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #137–138 (April–June 1971). When Reed Richards tracks the scientists who

[below] You’re not seeing double (quadruple?)—Jack utilized “four-arm” terrors in both 1967’s Thor #136, and 1971’s Jimmy Olsen #136. Also, the Crypto-Man in Thor #174 (March 1970) rises and threatens an underground Atomic Plant—like the FourArmed Terror later did in Jimmy Olsen #138 (June 1971).

[bottom] A cover design rough for Jimmy Olsen #145 (Jan. 1972), likely submitted to DC’s New York offices for approval—and apparently rejected, as the published cover [bottom right], while penciled by Jack, was heavily inked by Murphy Anderson. (Is Superman using his X-ray vision to view the Newsboys?) Steve Rude faithfully finished the layout for DC’s recent Jimmy Olsen collection [below].

created HIM (they didn’t create Reed; they created HIM, oh boy)—Reed relies on “heat image detection” in Fantastic Four #66 (Sept. 1967) to find another helpless girl (Alicia) facing an “unknown.” This concept was later recycled in Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #133 (Oct. 1970) when Superman follows the thermal trail of the Whiz Wagon. Of all of Kirby’s wild concepts, I’ve always believed this one will be possible, hundreds of years from now. Jimmy Olsen (where was his signal watch, by the way?—zee-zee-zee) kept Kirby somewhat grounded in the Fourth World, but the twin genetic complexes strained incredulity. While delving into the world of superscience, Kirby created “The Project” (in the USA, under Metropolis) and “The Evil Factory” (in Scotland), with two distinct missions—like the dueling worlds of Apokolips and New Genesis, these scientists worked non-stop toward their goals. Kirby described “The Project” as “File 202—the breaking of the genetic code”—where the Hairies (DNAliens) emerge to follow their dreams, and to not fear death (Jimmy Olsen #135’s text page). The first DNAlien created was chronicled in “The Alien Thing” in Tales of the DNA Project (Jimmy Olsen #143), and that must have been during the World War II era, as the

automobile, military uniforms, and switchboard are from that era. It’s worth noting that the “Evil Factory” carries connotations of the term “Factory”—something Kirby escaped back in the dark streets of New York City. The rampant replications of the Evil Factory were achieved by Mokkari (née: Mercury) and Simyan—a hirsute fellow derived from Simeon (son of Jacob and Leah in The Old Testament: Genesis 29:33). Also, Kirby surely would have visited William Randolph Heart’s castle, the popular tourist site in nearby San Simeon, California. In a contemporaneous article, “Man into Superman,” TIME magazine detailed the DNA sciences in their April 9, 1971 issue. The zeitgeist was deepening. The Project introduces us to a DNAlien: Dubbilex. Obviously, he is named for Watson and Crick’s double helix construction of the DNA strands of life. Another question that remains—are the new Newsboy Legion natural sons, or DNAliens? Scrapper talks like he was raised in 1930s New York City. While their mothers are never mentioned, it is noted that the Golden Guardian replica is the first creation to be let out of the Project; this means the new Newsboy Legion is the product of natural birth, because brother, they’ve been out! Imagine “Tales of Mrs. Gabby”! One question that is never answered: the Scrapper Trooper—is he a product of the original Scrapper, or his son? There are many more questions left unanswered: Where are Jimmy Olsen clones #2-42? Were some of them evil? In Superman’s Girl Friend Lois Lane #111 (July 1971), the evil Justice League (created by the Evil Factory) features evil Green Lantern—how did they clone a working power ring for him? In a postscript, Kirby’s journey into life creation culminates in “The New Seed” in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1976–1977), one of Kirby’s final series. What’s possible?

What’s impossible? The basic belief of Judaism is love of learning, and Kirby taught us well.

THE MILITARY-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX “Power knows no prejudice! The savage wields it as well as the civilized man.” (Forever People #1, March 1971) Jack Kirby had a first-hand knowledge of the terrors and inhumanity of war. He landed on Omaha Beach (France) in August 1944, and with Patton’s 3rd Army moved inland and held Metz—a fortress city which, before Germany occupied it, had not been invaded since 451 AD (by Attila the Hun). Kirby was part of Operation “Overlord”—a name given to Kirby’s diminutive villain in Mister Miracle #2 (June 1971). Scott Free and Oberon had to mentally fight through both mud and fire, among other things. War is hell. When President Dwight Eisenhower gave his farewell speech on Jan. 17, 1961, he famously warned us of the emerging “MilitaryIndustrial Complex,” a voracious war machine fed by lucrative munitions contracts. The hot war in Vietnam amounted to automated slaughter—in full view of the American people on their nightly news. It was the Bob Hope Christmas TV special in 1964 that revealed actual combat troops in the audience—these were not “advisors.” The old guard, USA Republicans like Vice President Richard Nixon, represented the old militarism of “Pax-Americana”—an expansionism President Kennedy swore against. After President Nixon inherited the Vietnam War, he accelerated it by pounding Cambodia (April 30, 1970), and playing it down. Darkseid was about to enter the stage... “ I have this theory... most of the villains in Jack’s work [1968–1976] were on some level Richard Nixon [34th US President]. He hated Richard Nixon and he talked about Nixon a lot, and I think Nixon informed a lot of Jack’s work.” —Mark Evanier (2015) So, in Kirby’s mind, Nixon equals Darkseid. The villain concept art had changed in 1969 when Ramses was dropped, and Nixon was sworn-in as President. Darkseid’s helmeted appearance was foreshadowed by the Fourth Sleeper in Captain America #101–102 (May–June 1968). If something works, recycle it. (Did someone mention Star Wars?) Richard Nixon was Kennedy’s opponent in 1960, and accelerated the War after President Johnson did his early share. Kirby commented on the youth’s (Hairies’) replacement of old thinking, amid fear: “In the ‘now,’ in the shadow of the atomic silo, when Apokolips and New Genesis race neck and neck for the fate of man, the Hairies are being born.” (Jimmy Olsen #135 text page). Armaghetto was closing in on “Battlefield Earth.”

that ended the project in 1965. It was envisioned as some sort of interstellar ark—traveling at 50-80% the speed of light, the matter/ anti-matter engine was actually being planned by NASA! The critical time for Project Orion came at about the time of JFK’s election to the presidency in 1960. The over-arcing purpose of Project Orion was a massive, city-sized ark to deliver populations to Mars. At the end of The Hunger Dogs (1985), Highfather delivers Supertown into the cosmos—for another chance at life, to find another friendly shore. The promise of deliverance resonated with Kirby, a devout Hebrew. It was repeatedly reported that gamma bomb plasma was an undesired side-effect of atomic propulsion. Did this give birth to The Incredible Hulk #1 (May 1962)? Later in the 1960s, Kirby introduced the Orion missile in Tales to Astonish #81 (July 1966)—Boomerang is the baddie, with an unerring throwing ability, similar to Bombast, of Kirby’s “Secret City” concept art (1968). The Hebrews wanted deliverance. The Hunger Dogs looked to the heavens for escape—and got it.

THE HUNTER ON MARS Mars—the God of War! Orion—the Dog of War! From beside the star of Sirius, the Orion constellation beckons from the heavens. Jack Kirby, admittedly, was a voracious science-fiction reader. Thus: “My garage is filled with boxes and boxes of science-fiction books.” —Rosalind Kirby (1995). If Kirby had read Robert Heinlein’s stories “Blow-ups Happen” or “Solution Unsatisfactory,” he would have studied the risks of atomic-powered rocket propulsion. NASA was ahead of him. Orion the Hunter—was he destined for Mars? NASA’s Project Orion (1957–1965) was common public knowledge, as it was covered in the press and science magazines (which Kirby read). Though it was never built, the Orion Project explored the possibilities of atomic-powered flight (atomic fission)—it was problems with rapid acceleration (well, duh)

TWIN WORLDS The Watcher—front and center—warns of an interstellar war, right here, with Earth as its battleground. The Avengers #14 (March 1965) features a shift in perspective—to the concept of twin worlds at war (Kallusians vs. an un-named enemy space armada). The Watcher was first introduced in Fantastic Four #13 (April 1963). He was Marvel’s first “god”—he knew everything, and seemed to have a certain affinity for Earth. The original template for the Watcher appeared in Charlton’s Mysteries of Unexplored Worlds #18 (May 1960). The Watcher had a number of interesting non-Kirby “Tales of the Watcher” in Tales of Suspense #49–58 (Jan.– Oct. 1964). Like Metron, the Watcher trafficked both sides of the galactic street. Most of Kirby’s Atlas monsters were alien to Earth, and Dr. Droom met his share of extraterrestrial menaces in Amazing Adventures (1961). The Skrulls in Fantastic Four #2 (Jan. 1962) sealed the deal, and set the stage for more (FF #7, 11, 24, 37, and 48–50)! 59

“Jack had a concept [Ragnarok]—one that came to him while doing the “Tales of Asgard” back-ups at Marvel. He had the notion of two worlds at war—a notion that was born from pondering how readily people could become polarized in the world.” —Mark Evanier (2001) The bridge between Supertown and Earth is facilitated by the Boom Tube—Asgard appeared to have a more conventional “Rainbow Bridge” between Earth and Asgard. (How far do you have to walk?) In Spirit World #1 (Fall 1971), “The Children of the Flaming Wheel” seem to have established contact between worlds... the collages tell us it is so. New Genesis and Apokolips were at war—and we were caught in the middle. The concept of worlds at war first graced television screens with Star Trek’s “Balance of Terror” (Dec. 15, 1966), which featured the Federation vs. the Romulans. Kirby’s original ending/ poem for The Hunger Dogs (“An End To Power And Exodus From Eden”, 1985) includes the phrase “Balance of Terror” to round things out. By the time Star Wars arrived in 1977, interstellar war was old hat—but George Lucas made it new again!

Tube crashed through with great effect in Forever People #1 (March 1971). As far as ethereal travel—The Vision (1940– 1941) in Marvel Mystery Comics established him as such, and the Fourth Sleeper in Captain America continued in this vein. Traveling through solid rock, unimpeded, is quite an advantage to fear. In Forever People, Infinity Man continues this method of travel. He is Infinity Man, after all. The one, true pivot point between the Marvel and DC Universes [left] occurs between the final panel of Fantastic Four #102 (Sept. 1970) and the first panel of Forever People #1 (March 1971). “Speeding through the universe, thinking is the best way to travel.” —The Moody Blues (1968)

THE ANTI-LIFE EQUATION The Source represents the “Life Equation”—the Alpha and Omega of existence—and is encoded in New Genesis and Apokolips. Apocalypse comes from Greek for “revelations” (as in prophecy). That’s the end: Omega, and new life is Alpha: New Genesis. Kirby knew what he was creating before and after he left Marvel. In Fantastic Four #49 (April 1966), the Human Torch encounters “Un-Life”—a series of celestial barriers. One touch, and you perish! Kirby’s negation of life continues in the epic of Ego, the Living Planet in Thor #133 (Oct. 1966). Thor and the Recorder encounter “anti-bodies” in Ego’s bio-stream. Anti-biotics are defined as “antilife agents”— in support of an immune system, in defense of the host body. When the Silver Surfer first appeared in the classic “Galactus trilogy” in Fantastic Four #48–50 (March–May 1966), he was confined to Earth by a “barrier” erected by a vengeful Galactus. Years later, in the Fourth World, Infinity Man also experiences confinement within a “barrier.” When matter meets anti-matter, it spells instant annihilation. The Negative Zone in Fantastic Four #51 and #62 is such a place. Cancellation of matter (and existence) was also a concern in Fantastic Four Special #6 (Nov. 1968). Remember, this was also a theoretic component of the propulsion system of NASA’s Project Orion (1957–1965). Using the Cosmic Cube, the Red Skull was well on his way to conquering the galaxy. His super-stellar ambitions fell, with the determination of his enemy Captain America. It was a close call, in Tales of Suspense #81 (Sept. 1966). The imposition of mind control upon everyone in the universe is an intoxicating ambition. Darkseid, Darth Vader, they all reached for it... they all failed. It’s thought that the three (four?) beings who possessed the Anti-Life Equation were disparate “people”: Beautiful Dreamer, Sonny Sumo, and Billion-

THE JUNCTURE TO EVERYWHERE When your tenement walls border other dark rooms, it’s hard to fathom shifting to other worlds without stairs or ladders. For Jacob Kurtzberg, it was a leap of faith. “Some men see things as they are and ask ‘why,’ while I dream things that never were and ask ‘why not?’” —John F. Kennedy (1960) Kirby’s first reach into the next dimension occurred in Alarming Tales #1 (Sept. 1957). “The Fourth Dimension Is A Many Splattered Thing” and “Donnegan’s Daffy Chair” both explore the “elsewhere” and its consequences. “Hole In The Wall” graced Alarming Tales #2 (Nov. 1957) and may have inspired a Twilight Zone episode. The motif of a cylinder of crackling energy as a conduit for travel, first appears in Blue Bolt #5 (Oct. 1940)—an innovation with many more miles to go. Kirby revived his Starman Zero (1947) Sunday page concept in 1966 and recycled it for presentation to NBC-TV as Tiger 21. Its core premise was instantaneous transportation between minds and bodies through space—kind of an extrapolation on the theory of gravity. “Jack’s imagination is not just Earthbound. The universe is his to play with. Time and space bend under his will.” —Marv Wolfman (1970). The first intersection between universes at Marvel was Fantastic Four #51 (July 1966)—where the first “Space-Time” experiment (sub-space) was realized. The Negative Zone was finally, properly identified in Fantastic Four #61 (April 1967). Kirby was originally going to portray the Negative Zone entirely through collage—but when this was time-prohibitive, the concept was dropped. The collages continued, in other interesting ways at Marvel, and in Kirby’s Fourth World at DC. The Boom Tube initially appeared as a “Dimension Tunnel” in Thor #138 (March 1967, left). As Ulik and his co-horts traveled basically (in a “Boom Tube” without the boom), the Fourth World’s Boom 60

Dollar Bates (also, Glorious Godfrey?). The Anti-Life Equation was spelled-out many times in Kirby’s Fourth World epic. Kirby claimed that the only three people who knew how his truncated Fourth World was supposed to end, were himself, Roz, and Mark Evanier. Over the years, Mark has broadly hinted that at its core, it’s about “love triumphs over hate.” Kirby’s “Energy Glove” evolved into a lethal force. It began in Journey into Mystery #118 (July 1965) as Morduk’s “Crimson Hand”—a glove that compels truth from those who grasp it, just like Wonder Woman’s lasso. The next permutation of gloved power came in Thor #135 (Dec. 1966) when Tagar donned the “Cathode Gloves” for the confrontation with the ManBeast’s hordes. It’s not clear what these red gloves do, as they disappear very quickly, with no explanation. Finally, Darkseid unleashes his “Killing Gloves” in New Gods #7 (March 1972) to dispatch Avia and Izaya (Highfather survived). The hand of power was a durable concept, hands down. The only person who subjugated Kirby (with her charms) was a shapely Brooklyn girl named Rosalind Goldstein. ’Twas ever thus.

MIND OVER MATTER The archetypes of the “heavy thinkers” first appear in Strange Tales #141 (Feb. 1966, right). “Operation: Brain Blast” is even featured on the cover. The un-named ESP thinkers are precursors for Victor Lanza, Dave Lincoln, and Claudia Shane. Extra-sensory perception was at the root of this experiment. The “thinkers” were assets of the top secret ESP division of S.H.I.E.L.D. Strange Tales #143 (April 1966) expanded on this trio of individuals. They would re-appear later... ..in New Gods #1 (March 1971)! They’re back, with names this time (that they constantly repeat), adding a fourth: Harvey Lockman. At the heart of a thought procedure, they are caught between Apokolips and a hard place, until freed by Orion. They are clearly “types” to Kirby, and in a visual shorthand, are revived by him. Of all things, they join “O’Ryan’s Gang,” to battle Inter-Gang; more on that later. In Captain America #100 (April 1968; the premiere issue), King T’Challa subdues a platoon of Zemo’s storm troopers, with just the word of his authority. This is also the first time T’Challa’s name is revealed (page 19, panel 2; Wikipedia removes this information when added—why?). Sonny Sumo exhibits this power in Forever People #5 (Nov. 1971) when he incapacitates soldiers at a simple command: “Sleep!”—here’s two examples of the Anti-Life Equation in action. As creative as Kirby certainly was, when examining the precursors of the Fourth World, we find he endlessly recycled his own ideas—and why not? Comic books were disposable pamphlets for children, and sneered at by indifferent adults. But children are smart and have long memories. Jack Kirby was proud, and he knew he was creating quality

stories, characters, and concepts that would stand the test of time. Strangely, in mental matters, Kirby sometimes made bizarre claims, such as: “Recently, I had an experience with a neural brain tap and all you have to do is shake hands with a guy and he’s under hypnosis.” Kirby never lies—and to say this during his 1966 keynote speech at New York Comic Con, he clearly knew something more than the world we know. Part of me wishes he could have shaken Martin Goodman’s hand in this manner, instead of allowing himself to be patted on the head. Kirby’s real-life hypno-claim made it into his work: In Tales of Suspense #80 (Aug. 1966), the Red Skull boasts of a “Neuro Brain-Tap” that is planted by shaking hands with his henchman, Wolfgang. As far as telekinesis, Marvel Girl of the X-Men laid the groundwork for Dubbilex in Jimmy Olsen. Great minds think alike. This aspect of mental activity was rarely portrayed by Kirby—too magical? Then there is Mother Box. Like the Philosopher’s Stone and the Cosmic Cube before her, she re-arranges the building blocks of matter. Mother Box is clearly a technological device, but with abilities far in advance of our understanding. Orion’s dual-visage and the “techno-life” in New Gods #6 (Jan. 1972)—are they illusions, or reality? “The Psychic Bloodhound” in Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion #6 (Aug. 1972) reveals a level of acceptance for psychics—when they produce results. In Spirit World #1 (“Amazing Predictions”, page 9) we see Michel de Nostradamus remote view through time, and foretell calamity—as the shadow of the orient falls over the world? The same shadow is thrown by the Watcher

[below] 1966’s Strange Tales #141–143 [left] had three human “thinkers” rescued by Nick Fury from ESP experiments, who were visually identical to Victor Lanza, Dave Lincoln, and Claudia Shane (the eventual “O’Ryan’s Mob”) that Orion later rescued in New Gods #1 [March 1971, right].

[above] Jack’s layouts, and Mike Royer’s finished art, for the unpublished Spirit World #2 story that finally saw print in Forbidden Tales of Dark Mansion #6 (Aug. 1972).

in Avengers #14 (March 1965; page 20, panel 1). Later, Kirby’s unpublished novel The Horde reveals the same human terrors raised by Nostradamus.

FEAR & ANGER “Grimm” in German means “anger.” Hmmm... Benjamin J. Grimm—what does he represent? The anger to escape the Lower East Side? The one thing Stan Lee did not have, that Kirby did, was psychologic

overtones; Lee was fairly grounded (romance, etc.). We see the beginnings of Kirby’s terror when the Red Skull kills in his debut in Captain America Comics #1 (March 1941). Kirby was always pushing the limits. For example, the Kamara in Demon #4 (Dec. 1972) and a roomful of Russians killed by fear in Eternals #11 (May 1977) were hallmarks of this signature concept. Kirby’s wild psychologic overtone in Black Magic V1#1 (Nov. 1950), “Last Second Of Life”, is another excellent example. “I think anger will save your life. I think anger will give you a drive that will save your life or change it in some manner.” —Jack Kirby (1982) The concept of crowds driven mad with hate and paranoia began for Kirby in “The Hate Monger” (Fantastic Four #21, Dec. 1963). This was quickly recycled in Strange Tales #119 (April 1964): “The Rabble Rouser” was a pale imitation of his former associate (they shared the same vehicle). Fear was generated by Psycho Man in Fantastic Four Special #5 (Nov. 1967)—while his earlier incarnation (in pencil art) was “Psychon.” Regardless, these were emotion tyrants, on a rampage. In 1969, Kirby created collage art entitled “Faces Of Evil” [left]. The appearance of this mechanoid “fear merchant” appears to be a nascent DeSaad concept. Sidelined by DeSaad’s eventual depiction, it is a relic to be considered. But DeSaad did arrive—in style. Feeding off of the negative emotions of his victims, he is nurtured by agony. His first appearance in New Gods #1 (March 1971) informs us of his repellent nature. “Sadism” derives from the Marquis DeSade, a notorious historic figure. DeSaad unleashes a “Fear Generator” to unhinge the populace of a large city in New Gods #2 (May 1971), until Orion arrives to save the day. While Overlord uses fear as a weapon against Scott Free and Oberon in Mister Miracle #2 (June 1971), Dr. Bedlam inflicts a building full of maniacs against Mister Miracle in issue #3 (Aug. 1971)—which sets the stage for Glorious Godfrey, who bursts upon the scene in Forever People #3 (July 1971).

The name Godfrey means “God plus Peace.” Kirby’s preacher is sourced from two figures: radio entertainer Arthur Godfrey and evangelist Billy Graham. As a villain working for Darkseid, Godfrey utilizes slogans that could resonate today. Billy Graham was closely associated with Richard Nixon. He officiated at Nixon’s funeral in 1994. Billy Graham and President Nixon are also heard on Oval Office recordings denigrating Jews. Birds of a feather, flock together—and Kirby saw it. In a postscript, Kirby induced mass anger a final time in Captain America #193–200 (Jan.–Aug. 1976) in the classic “Madbomb” saga. Paranoia arrived on our doorstep, just in time for America’s bicentennial.

•D r. Baron von Evilstein attempts to transfer Jason Blood’s mind with a monster’s in Demon #11–12 (Aug.–Sept. 1973).

IDENTITY TRANSFERENCE

All things must pass—life ends with death, which makes life all the more special. To the slaves in ancient Egypt, the sentiment “death before bondage” was voiced in the classic 1956 film The Ten Commandments. The personage of death begins at Marvel, with Hela the Goddess of Death in Journey into Mystery #102 (March 1964), and later, she is the gateway to Valhalla in Thor #133 (Oct. 1966) and #150 (March 1968). Hela is a stunning gal you don’t want to meet. Harokin, in Thor #129–132 (June–Sept. 1966, below) rides the Dark Horse of Death to Valhalla—where he can enjoy an afterlife of endless combat. This was close to the Black Racer concept, later of the Fourth World— without the armor and the skis. Harokin pops up again in Thor #154 (July 1968)— still beckoning, still happy. Willie Walker, as the Black Racer, reminds the New Gods that they are on borrowed time. The Racer glides through New Gods #3 (July 1971) and #11 (Nov. 1972). The Black Racer was a force to be reckoned with— the Silver Surfer with a lethal edge. Death is the Black Racer! In the shadow of Valhalla, warriors of New Genesis (such as Seagrin in New Gods #4, Sept. 1971) go directly to “The Source” after their fighting days are done. All true warriors go to The Source. The more you look at the connections to mythology, you see Kirby’s facile mind at work, even beyond death. We’re told in Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #135 (Jan. 1971) that Hairies don’t fear death. This is a revolutionary statement—or, should we say, an evolutionary statement. All things must pass—in the insect world, death is a very ceremonial and organized event. The “All-Widow” dispatches the “Prime One” with little fanfare, as it is all pre-ordained, in New Gods #9 (July 1972). And Earth itself is destroyed—and reforms itself in the cataclysmic time-tale of “Toxl, The World Killer” in Weird Mystery Tales #2 (Oct. 1972). Of minor note, is the blade protruding from the back of Toxl’s victim (page 5, panel 4) missed by the Comics Code Authority. This grim tableau was originally intended for the unpublished Spirit World #2 (1972).

•O MAC uncovers an insidious plot to provide “New Bodies For Old” in OMAC #5 (June 1975). In a postscript, Kirby returned to the split personality (two faces) with his concept art for Janus/Gemini in Thundarr the Barbarian—the animated series by Ruby-Spears/ABC-TV. Kirby collectors can see how Kirby’s mind endlessly re-imagined these concepts to readers’ delight, for years.

DEATH

The loss of one’s soul—or indeed, a switch of identity—has been the purview of mad scientists in comics for decades. Kirby was no exception, and he did it well. Jacob Kurtzberg’s first take on this appeared in Jumbo Comics #3 (Nov. 1938). “The Diary Of Dr. Hayward” documents Dr. Hayward’s revival of Stuart Taylor’s soul through the body of Kromo (Hayward’s enemy). Another early, prominent case was a “super-switch”: Fighting American was born in Fighting American #1 (May 1954) when Nelson Flagg was transferred into the body of his deceased brother Johnny, creating an “agent of the future.” Victory is sacrifice! Was it because “intelligent gorilla” covers sold well for National/DC that Franz Radzik transfers his mind into a gorilla in “I Am The Gorilla Man” in Tales to Astonish #28 and 30 (Feb./ April 1962)? Spoiler alert: a one-way trip to the stars ends Radzik’s aspirations. Another foreshadowing of transference is when the environment (or others) inhabit a being, and becomes them. There are many instances: • Crusher Creel, with the help of Loki, becomes the Absorbing Man [alchemical transmutation] and fights Thor in Journey into Mystery #114–115 (March–April 1965). He famously returns in JIM #121– 123 (Oct.–Dec. 1965). • The Mimic (X-Men #19, April 1966) and the Super-Adaptoid (Tales of Suspense #82–84, Oct.-Dec. 1966) are both so similar in concept, they are patently the same. (“Adapty” also appeared in X-Men #29, Feb. 1967, and Avengers #45, Oct. 1967—both are non-Kirby; continuity is tribulation!) The original, unpublished story for Fantastic Four #102 (Sept. 1970) features a two-faced statue of Janus. Perhaps the psychological waters were getting too deep for Stan Lee, as it sat unfinished for 38 years until finished in Fantastic Four: The Lost Adventure in 2008. In New Gods, two visages—one normal, one scarred and savage— became the hallmark of Orion’s ongoing identity crisis. Spirit World #1’s “Lorca File: Re-Incarnation” details the twin, intertwined lives of Mary Beth Hadley and Miranda Velaqueza—a tortured relationship through time. The “Souls” poster has always been open to the interpretation of the viewer. Kirby was amazing. Dr. Bedlam, who appears in Mister Miracle #3 (Aug. 1971) and #11 (Dec. 1972), transfixes the reader—he inhabits a series of “Inanimates” to terrify his enemies. It was very similar to Noman’s method of operation in Tower’s T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents (1965–1969). And importantly, in the annals of the direct mind-switch, Kirby delivered four notable versions: • Kronin Krask attempts to make Thor his “mind-slave” in Thor #172 (Jan. 1970). Jane Foster even returns for the festivities. • “The Battle Of The Id” in Mister Miracle #8 (June 1972) does not actually switch minds, but is so thematically similar, the Lump deserves to be spotlighted here. 63

In a fury, the creatures of Apokolips worship a creed of destruction, as we are told on the opening page of New Gods #2 (May 1971). The cosmic story draws us in—regardless of the promise of death.

always conveyed the bonds between family as unbreakable. Between husband and wife (except in True Life Divorce), and father and son— no matter how frangible, it is the same, throughout our life-filled universe. Kirby often stated that Darkseid would not kill Orion in his Fourth World story. But back to Claudia Shane. A diamond symbolizes love, marriage, and fealty. In the 1960s and 1970s, the biggest commercial diamond dealer was Claude Shane—“the diamond people.” I listened to ’60s and ’70s radio, and I can tell you—Claude Shane’s ads blanketed the airwaves. Kirby would have heard them. Claude Shane is so close to Claudia Shane, it begs scrutiny. John F. Kennedy bought his wife’s wedding ring at VanCleef & Arpels (a 2.88 carat diamond ring with emeralds). Claude Shane trafficked in Brussels, Belgium—considered to be the “diamond capital of the world.” Claudia Shane was also one of the ESP “thinker” archetypes in Strange Tales #141 and #143. Jacqueline Bouvier’s last name is defined as a large, powerful breed of dog—from Belgium. It’s known Kirby was very well read— is it possible he saw photos of the “Atomium” (the main attraction) at the 1958 World’s Fair, held in Brussels? It was a 300-foot high sculpture—a 165 billion times enlarged iron crystal atom. (See Fantastic Four #75–76, June–July 1968, and #110, May 1971.) And finally, Robert Guffey sums up the events of Nov. 22, 1963 thusly: “Having grown up in the violent, mob-ridden streets of New York’s Lower East Side in the 1930s, it would be difficult to imagine that Kirby wouldn’t recognize all the earmarks of a gangland hit when he saw it and understand—at least on a subconscious level—what really happened in America that day.” Claudia Shane, like Dave Lincoln, represented two people caught up in events larger than themselves—and sorely tested. O’Ryan’s Gang, led by the Dog of War, was on a mission.

THE DIAMOND DOGS According to Mark Evanier, when Jack Kirby mentioned that the death of President Kennedy had a profound influence on his work, Mark’s “little eyebrows shot up”—and for good reason; for I believe the philosophy of Orion in the Fourth World is based upon JFK’s inspiration. John F. Kennedy was the youngest [at 43] and the 35th President of the USA. Kirby portrayed him in a cameo in Fantastic Four #17 (Aug. 1963). Jack Kirby was born in 1917—same as Jack Kennedy. Both men had mothers named Rosemary, and Kirby considered himself part of the new Sixties—a youthful start to a new decade. Not only was Kennedy nicknamed Jack, but his wife was “Jacqueline,” the feminine form of Jack. Mark Evanier and Robert Guffey first theorized that Kennedy inhabited a large portion of Kirby’s work—and he does. [Orion] is the hope of the hopeless—it was said about Moses, but it also applies to the hopeless of Armaghetto (and Earth). The days of the Mob were also the days of Ambassador Joseph P. Kennedy—running rum up the East Coast during prohibition. Simon & Kirby crime comics helped re-define the art form, and added their slant to an overly crowded field. Mobsters were featured in Fantastic Four #90–92 (Sept.–Nov. 1969) and were inspired by the Star Trek episode “A Piece of the Action” (Jan. 12, 1968). I’ll admit: seeing Kirk and Spock as mobsters was cool. Kirby covered organized crime in his adult magazine In the Days of The Mob #1 (Fall 1971). Two sons of America; two war veterans; two Democrats—one was a politician, and one was a comic book storyteller, both pulling hard on their oars to make America better. When Kirby was a young boy, he admired criminals and politicians: “That was my ambition, to be a crooked politician... if America gave anybody anything, it is ambition.” —Jack Kirby (1989). (Again, think Joseph P. Kennedy.) Despite having an affair with Judith Exner (mobster Sam Giancana’s girlfriend), President Kennedy appeared to be anti-Mob. In the Fourth World, “Inter-Gang” wields the street muscle on Earth for Darkseid. To counter this threat on the same level, Orion rounds up four earthlings to form “O’Ryan’s Gang.” Orion’s loyal coterie is devoted to crushing Inter-Gang. After JFK’s death, most Americans bought (and read) the book The Death of a President by William Manchester in 1967. Manchester describes Kennedy’s “Irish Mafia”—President Kennedy’s close circle of special assistants: Dave Powers, P. Kenneth O’Donnell, and Larry O’Brien. These three guys were as thick as thieves. Kennedy would ask his secretary Evelyn Lincoln, “Where is the Irish Mafia today?—I need to talk to them.” Dave Powers was in JFK’s Dallas motorcade, riding in the car behind Kennedy’s Lincoln Continental. Dave—Lincoln? [Lincoln was also a president who was assassinated in office on April 15, 1865.] Dave is one of the ESP “thinker” archetypes in Strange Tales #141 and #143 (Feb./April 1966), which brings us to Claudia Shane. Kirby invested thought into his characters’ names—even “Yafata’s Mustache,” (Fighting American #1, 1966) which is hilarious! Claudia Shane—the diamond gleam. If anyone were to be considered a symbol for Jacqueline Kennedy, I nominate Claudia. Kirby

VICTORY IS SACRIFICE “The end of summer terrified men. Winter lay ahead, and the fear of starvation. Watching the corn die and the bitter days grow short, they believed that they were being punished; over the years, a solution evolved—they would sacrifice their most cherished possession, their prince. It would be agony, but it would also be a sign of contrition, and after the execution of their mighty friend—he would ascend into heaven, to temper the wrath of the almighty and assure a green and abundant Spring.” (Death of a President; page 623) When Kennedy was felled in Dallas, Kirby’s worldview shifted while watching the events unfold in Dealy Plaza on November 22, 1963. According to Neal Kirby, “The first color television program I ever saw at home? The Kennedy assassination in Dallas reached me, there in ‘The Dungeon’ [Kirby’s studio], and in more ways than one, the world was no longer black-and-white.” The old world had, tragically, turned into the new. From Kansas to Oz—from Apokolips to New Genesis, a new seed was sown, in full, hideous color. Sacrifice is at the root of Kirby’s Fourth World. He knew what he was tapping into. In the Old Testament, Esau gives up his birthright to his scheming younger brother, Jacob (Genesis 25:2125). Jacob equals Jack, Esau equals Esak—at the conclusion of The Hunger Dogs, Esak surrenders his youthful life. Jack Kirby was a hard man—a kid from the streets. However, in a self-confessed act of cowardice, he sacrificed his pride, ego and much more financially— by not standing up more forcefully to the publishers of the comic book industry. After all, they grew wealthy on Kirby’s labors—he did not. Jack Kirby toiled at his drawing board for 50 years! Kirby sacrificed—and the victory of his sacrifices came to him in time. His 64

legacy as a creator and storyteller is now assured—he now receives credit for his work. His family was compensated. There are no more funky roadblocks depriving Kirby of the credit that is his due. In his lifetime, he gained a large measure of respect from fan adulation, and the return of a portion of his original art from Marvel in 1987. Captain Victory’s credo “Victory is Sacrifice,” I believe, is encoded in New Gods. Another of the archetypes from S.H.I.E.L.D.’s ESP division, is Victor Lanza. Victor is the befuddled, but brave insurance salesman who joins the others in “O’Ryan’s Gang.” Victor means victory. Lanza is German for Lancer. Lancer was the Secret Service’s code name for President Kennedy. Lancer was [a] sacrifice. “Lincoln, Lanza, and company are not pawns of the gods. Instead, they are man’s sense of awareness of awesome and volatile forces around him.” —Jack Kirby (1974) Finally—who is Harvey Lockman? A “lock” is the mechanism on a firearm that explodes the charge. He is Harvey Gunman. When the Warren Commission released their findings in September 1964 (at the same time “Millennium People” and New Gods were percolating), Kirby dove in: “I was given The Warren Report, which I read fully.” —Jack Kirby (Nov. 9, 1969). At 888 pages, it’s a lot to read. Perhaps there was an inspiration for “Harvey Gun(lock)man” somewhere in those pages? Scott Fresina explained the members of O’Ryan’s Gang to Jerry Boyd: “... Jack’s group of humans that aided Orion—Dave Lincoln, Claudia Shane, Victor Lanza, and Harvey Lockman—were the types of enraged citizens that pay attention to events around them.” (TJKC #46) I’m confident Kirby would also have read Death of a President by Manchester in 1967. Something fueled the sudden three-page saga of Jack Ruby in Esquire #402 (May 1967) by Berent/Kirby/Stone. (See TJKC #61) (Do take this with a grain of salt: President Kennedy’s Lincoln Continental, in 1963, was given the designation “SS 100 - X” by the Secret Service; it’s in Manchester’s book. Ask yourself: why did Kirby’s first story for National/DC in 1970 [Forever People #1, March 1971] have the job number “X-100”? “In Search Of A Dream”—the Fourth World begs speculative interpretation.)

THE FALL OF CAMELOT In Kennedy’s New Frontier, men seemed more efficient and brilliant, and the women more incredible and capable. It was a new beginn—er, Genesis. In relation to old Cold War thinking, the loss of President Kennedy was the loss of the country: “For a time, we felt the country was ours. Now its theirs again.” —Norman Mailer (1963) “Don’t let it be forgot—that once there was a spot, for one brief, shining moment—that was know as ‘Camelot.’ —Alan Jay Lerner Young heroes, against old odds. When the hope is pulled out from under you, you re-group and reformulate

[below] Big Bear does his part to fulfill the legend of King Arthur, in this pencil page from Forever People #7 (March 1972).

the narrative to fit the times ahead. “... .to shape or reshape [his] creations while their format is fluid.” —Jack Kirby (1972) The loss of Kennedy weighed heavily on Kirby—it drove his major creation, as he explained to Mark Evanier. Spirit World #1 (Fall 1971) captures this unease (and again, it intersects with ancient Egypt on page five). How much stock do we put in our origins? The name “Kirby” comes from northern England. It’s two old Norse words “Kirkja” and “Byr”—meaning: “Church and Settlement.” In the southwest of England, lies the county of Cornwall. It is here, that scholars have “chosen” as the site of the Castle Tintagel (the Roundtable) base of the legendary King Arthur. (Arthur was first mentioned in 800 AD by a historian named Nennius.) Arthur has never been exhumed—but what about his consort, Merlin? According to Demon #1–2 (Sept.–Oct. 1972), Merlin’s Castle Branek is located in Moldavia (Moldova) in eastern Europe. Of course, it’s silly to treat this as an authentic, historic locale; but in the margins of history, lies the truth of authorship. If Kirby equated “Camelot” with the story of his Fourth World, its cancellation must

have been disconcerting. When Carmine Infantino called Kirby to cancel his most personal of books, it closed the book on a legendary mythology. In Demon #1’s text page “A Time To Build”, Kirby talks about his Fourth World characters coming back, after a period of stasis—in the future. This turned out to be true—Darkseid and the New Gods are a large part of DC’s current universe. Check this out: If “Camelot” (Kennedy) is equated with (Orion) and the cancellation of the Fourth World, then its violent end in Demon #1 is especially noteworthy: “At a final sweep of Merlin’s hand, wondrous Camelot thundered, trembled, and departed from the pages of history.” Merlin’s “Eternity Book” is thusly sealed—until an opportune time in the future that it may be re-opened. “Like the war between New Genesis and Apokolips, the character’s potential becomes locked in the tapestry, sinking and emerging and kept in static balance...” —Jack Kirby (Demon #1, Sept. 1972). Kirby understood that Darkseid and company would, one day, take center stage in the DC universe. If Merlin’s body is ever exhumed—imagine he’s clutching the “Eternity Book,” and we know a fragment has been torn from that book: “Yarva Etrigan Daemonicus.” “In the final analysis, the Fourth World could be about a nation coming to grips with its own Jungian shadow, a shadow that first reared its insubstantial visage for many Americans the day the old gods died on November 22, 1963.” —Robert Guffey (2011)

SACRIFICE IS CONTINUITY

Merlin takes center-stage on this Demon #5 splash page (Jan. 1973).

The margins of history are written in by the few. We know Kirby wrote story notes in the margins of his Marvel stories, but what about the story notes Kirby wrote on the backs of his pages? “I would write out the whole story on the back of every page. I would write the dialogue on the back; a description of what was going on.” —Jack Kirby (1989) Margin notes could always be erased by the inkers, but what about the backs of the early Marvel original art pages? How much was created by Kirby? There are very few of these early pages in existence, so it’s hard to verify. Why was Atlas [Marvel] so close to shutting its doors until it exploded with success in the 1960s after Kirby and Ditko began “illustrating” stories? Often, in interviews, Kirby would make a verbal slip and refer to “my readers” when referring to the groovy Marvel comics loved by 1960s fandom. At Kirby’s end at Marvel (with no hope of a contract with new owner Cadence), he was “conned and cajoled” into creating (and scripting) the Inhumans (Amazing Adventures #1–4, Aug. 1970–Jan. 1971). Ask yourself—when was Jack Kirby ever reticent to create comic book stories? Creating amazing stories was not the problem— receiving credit and major compensation for them, that was the problem. When Kirby moved to DC, he had a voice. For the first time, the breadth of creation was his. It wasn’t until the ignominious cancellation of his Fourth World titles that his muse was interrupted. Kirby sacrificed his ego and his pride. America sacrificed its youthful leader—at the beginning of Winter, 1963. After the “Dog Days of Summer,” the Dog Star Sirius would rise in the night sky in ancient

Egypt, in the same place as the sun in the daytime. The Dog Star was an annual “watchdog” over the flooding of the Nile River, “the Waters of Creation.” President Kennedy was ripped away from us. Sacrificed. Jack Kirby turned tragedy into triumph (in his own way).

WORKS CITED: Asimov’s New Guide to Science by Isaac Asimov (Basic Books; 1984) Comic & Crypt #5 (Nov. 1971) “Comic & Crypt Interviews Jack Kirby and Carmine Infantino” (Sigal; fanzine) (R: CBA 1)

CONTINUITY IS TRIBULATION

Comics Interview #41 (1986) “Jack Kirby” (Kirby interview) (Fictioneer Books)

Who watches over us? It’s hard to escape the scrutiny of today’s technocracy. Kirby understood the power of total informational awareness. The power to buy and sell people as information—we know it today as social media: an addictive super-highway straight into the heart of the Anti-Life Equation. After all, Kirby fathered Cerebro, Watcher, Recorder, and Metron. In Tales of the Unexpected #12 (Aug. 1957), we follow the “All-Seeing Eye” around the world, as it puzzles its subjects. If Pharaoh could see what everyone was doing, and where they were doing it, he would have complete control over his slaves. But slaves have ways of finding other avenues to freedom. Some part the sea, some use time (until people find their better angels; ca. 1864). Each Pharaoh Kirby portrayed in his stories wielded some sort of visual device, or “Eye” (including Ramses in 1966). We’re all subject to the surveillance state; however, the informational machine is always confounded by human beings—because we’re far more creative than it is. The “machine” may believe it is better than the imperfect humans, but after all, who built who? Kirby was aware of the human power of touch and connectiveness—power a cold machine will never taste. Our living spirit surmounts the shackles of Anti-Life and the encroaching inhumanity of technologic rule. After the Fourth World, Kirby again utilized the “All-Seeing Eye” at least a couple of times:

Comics Journal, The #134 (Feb. 1990) “Jack Kirby” (Jack and Rosalind Kirby interview) (Fantagraphics) (R: CJL 1)

• OMAC #1–8 (Oct. 1974–Dec. 1975): Brother Eye—an orbiting marvel, keeping the peace for the Global Peace Agency. • “The Eye of the See-Eye-A” (1983): This was an undeveloped concept based on CIA robots that could tell friend from foe by looking at people (ie. facial recognition). As a complete aside, “Rage Rooms” have become a popular business model, and are rumored to have been invented in Japan in 2005. We know that Kirby created the concept in OMAC #1 (Oct. 1974)! A succession of Darkseid-ian developments have surrounded us: Wars/Patriot Act/cell phones/MicroMark [RFID]/rancor/social media/contact tracing... it goes on and on. Kirby was not a “know-it-all,” but he dreamed big, and we’re all the wiser for it. I loved the man. I never met him. The epic of the Fourth World informs us with stories of life, death, family, loyalty, morality, and the important questions of free will vs. ultimate oppression. Anti-Life is always on the march and will overtake us—unless we learn from Kirby’s timeless stories. “It’s the will to create that tells the truth.” —Jack Kirby (1986) H [Note: This Fourth World article did not contain the word “dystopia”— you’re welcome.]

Comics Journal, The #167 (April 1994) “Jack Kirby and the Pantheon Concept: The Beginnings of the Modern Superhero Myth” by Charles Hatfield (Fantagraphics) Comics Journal Library, The Vol. 1 (Jack Kirby); edited by Milo George (Fantagraphics; 2002) Dawn of Magic, The by Louis Pauwels and Jaques Bergier (Gibbs & Phillips; 1963) (note: later published in the 1968 Avon mass paperback as: The Morning of the Magicians) Death of a President, The (JFK) by William Manchester (Harper & Row; 1967) Demon, The #1 (Sept. 1972) “A Time To Build” by Jack Kirby (National/DC) Genetic Code, The by Isaac Asimov (Signet; 1962) Hand of Fire: The Comics Art of Jack Kirby by Charles Hatfield (University Press of Mississippi; 2012) Jack Kirby Checklist: Centennial Edition by Richard Kolkman and John Morrow, et al (TwoMorrows; 2018) Jack Kirby Collector, The #10 (April 1996) “Would You Like To See My Etchings?” (Rosalind Kirby interview) (TwoMorrows) Jack Kirby Collector, The #14 (Feb. 1997) “Jack Kirby: Prisoner Of Gravity” (Kirby interview; 1992) (TwoMorrows) Jack Kirby Collector, The #32 (July 2001) “Jack FAQs” by Mark Evanier // “The Original TeenAgent” by John Morrow (TwoMorrows) Jack Kirby Collector, The #33 (Nov. 2001) “Stan Lee Interview” // “The Final Family Reunion” by Mark Lerer (TwoMorrows) Jack Kirby Collector, The #36 (Sum 2002) “The Quest” by Mark Alexander (with a quote by Mark Evanier) (TwoMorrows) Jack Kirby Collector, The #39 (Fall 2003) “The Royal Attilans” by Mark Alexander (TwoMorrows) Jack Kirby Collector, The #42 (Spr 2005) “Speak The Language Of The ’70s” (Kirby interview; Nov. 9, 1969) (TwoMorrows) Jack Kirby Collector, The #43 (Sum 2005) “1966 Kirby Keynote Speech” (New York Comic Con; July 23, 1966) (TwoMorrows) Jack Kirby Collector, The #44 (Fall 2005) “Thor the Thunderer” by Will Murray (TwoMorrows) Jack Kirby Collector, The #46 (Sum 2006) “The Fourth World’s Source” by Kevin Ainsworth // “Jack FAQs” (JFK) by Mark Evanier // “Battleground Earth” by Jerry Boyd and Scott Fresina (TwoMorrows) Jack Kirby Collector, The #57 (Sum 2011) “The Onslaught of the New” by Shane Foley // “We All Live in Happyland” (JFK) by Robert Guffey (TwoMorrows)

Jack Kirby Collector, The #58: Lee & Kirby: The Wonder Years by Mark Alexander (TwoMorrows; Dec. 2011) Jack Kirby Collector, The #59 (Sum 2012) “Collector Comments” (Scuba Duba—from Andrew Weiss) (TwoMorrows) (See LIFE Nov. 17, 1967) Jack Kirby Collector, The #61 (Sum 2013) “Poetry in Motion” (JFK) by Kevin Ainsworth (TwoMorrows) Jack Kirby Collector, The #66 (Fall 2015) “Jack FAQs” by Mark Evanier // “1986 Jack Kirby Interview” (TwoMorrows) Jack Kirby Collector, The #75: Kirby & Lee: Stuf’ Said! by John Morrow (TwoMorrows; Nov. 2018) Jack Kirby Collector, The #76 (Spr 2019) “Growing Up Kirby” by Neal Kirby (2012) // “The ‘God’ Father & Sons” by Jerry Boyd // “Jack Kirby: Myth Maker” (Kirby interview; 1974) (TwoMorrows) Jack Kirby Quarterly, The #15 (2008) “Future Shock” by Tim Perkins (Quality Communications) Los Angeles Times, The (April 9, 2012) “Growing Up Kirby” by Neal Kirby (R: TJKC #76 // Marvel Legacy of Jack Kirby) (TwoMorrows) Marvel Comics: The Untold Story by Sean Howe (Harper Perennial; 2012) Mister Miracle #1 (April 1971) “A Visit with Jack Kirby” (1966) by Marvin Wolfman (National/DC) New Handbook of the Heavens by Bernhard, Bennett and Rice (Mentor; 1954) Nostalgia Journal #30–31 (Nov.–Dec. 1976) “Jack Kirby Interview: Parts 1–2” (1969) (R: CJL 1) (Fantagraphics) People’s Almanac, The by Wallechinsky and Wallace (Doubleday & Co.; 1975) San Diego Union and Evening Tribune (Oct. 28, 1959) “Atomic Rocket Engine Called Promising” San Diego Union and Evening Tribune (May 28, 1961) “Nuclear Rocket Project Speeded” San Diego Union and Evening Tribune (Jan. 8, 1965) “Orion Project Unwanted Child of Space Program” Science V149 #3680 (July 9, 1965) ”Death of a Project: (Research is Stopped on a System of Space Propulsion Which Broke All the Rules of the Political Game)” by Freeman J. Dyson Spirit, The #39 (Feb. 1983) “Shop Talk: Jack Kirby” (Kirby interview with Will Eisner) (Kitchen Sink) Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #133 (Oct. 1970) “Jack Kirby—Continued” by Jack Kirby (National/ DC) Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #135 (Jan. 1971) “The Hairies—Super Race—Or Man’s Second Chance” by Jack Kirby (National/DC) Tales to Astonish: Jack Kirby, Stan Lee, and the American Comic Book Revolution by Ronin Ro (Bloomsbury; 2004) Train of Thought #5 (Feb. 1971) “I Met Kirby: The Thing That Drew” (Kirby interview) (R: TJKC 17) (Towry; fanzine)

Eyedunno

Spot The Differences

o you know the “Spot the differences” game? You are given two very similar images and you must find all the, however subtle, differences between them.

by Dario Bressanini

the original cover as conceived by Kirby. The same cover was later reprinted in the US in the Marvel Masterworks series.

Avengers #1

Avengers #2

Below is Marvel’s house ad for The Avengers #2, and on the next page is the original cover (on the left) and the one reprinted in the Marvel Masterworks book (in the center). Can you spot the differences, apart from the different colors? In the Marvel Masterworks cover (center): 1) The giant green arrow pointing at Giant Man is slightly bigger. 2) The blue sign above Thor is bigger, and touches the green arrow. 3) The right edge of the right window is slightly displaced to the right. It is hard to see, but notice that the bricks touching the window’s edge are shorter. 4) Although all the characters are identical, there is an additional shadow for the

September 1963 was the cover date for issue #1 of The Avengers—cover and story art by Jack, of course. [above] Here on the left is its famous cover. Before going to print, Stan Lee ordered a small change in the cover art, as in countless other cases: he asked to hide part of Thor’s cape. The cover as originally drawn by Kirby was shown in an ad in Fantastic Four #18 [center]. Fantastic Four at the time was Marvel’s flagship publication, and ads were meant to alert the readers to new comics coming out. To me, Jack rendition of Thor’s cape seems better, showing its right side. Maybe Stan Lee wanted to leave some space around The Wasp? When I was a kid, I used to read Marvel comics translated in Italian, starting in 1971. A few decades later I started reading the reprints of the original comics, and occasionally I was puzzled looking at the cover art. Something seemed wrong—often there were small and sometimes subtle changes to the cover I had memorized, impressed in my mind by the countless times I reread those stories. At top right is the Italian print of the cover taken from my own collection. The Avengers in Italy did not have, at the time, their own book. Instead they were published as the second story of the book Il Mitico Thor (The Mighty Thor), a 48-page book with usually two fulllength stories and a short one, usually “Tales of Asgard.” For this reason, the covers were often printed as the internal pages. And the version they printed in the Italian comic book was 68

right leg of Giant-Man. When I noticed the differences, what bothered me more was the shadow. I admit it is a rather unimportant detail, but I asked myself if that shadow was really drawn by Kirby or not. A few times the Marvel Masterworks reprinted the original cover stat, photographed before the cover was modified. It happened, for example, for The X-Men #1. But why on Earth should Kirby draw the shadow only for the right leg and forget the other? Maybe he simply forgot; after all, he was overwhelmed with work. He produced 139 published pages, including many covers, with cover-date Nov. 1963! Maybe Kirby forgot to draw the other shadow and at the office, production manager Sol Brodsky erased it. However, there is another puzzling detail in both covers: look at the glasses in the two windows. They have different sizes, and the right window is wider than the left one. Why? I find Marvel Comics’ handling of the reprints of various Silver Age books particularly confusing. Sometimes they recolor both the interior and the cover differently than the original. But most annoyingly is when they use a cover different than the original, without any explanation. I do love to see in print alternate or even previously unpublished covers. There are spectacular covers by Jack Kirby that were rejected back then, that have been rediscovered and published only recently. But if a different cover is used, some explanation to the reader is expected. I couldn’t help but wonder: where did the Marvel Masterworks cover come from? Who penciled that shadow? Was it erased or was it added? Which one of the two covers has been drawn by Kirby and modified later? The surprising answer is that neither of them is the original unretouched cover that Jack Kirby gave to the offices at

Madison Avenue. Fortunately, we can look at the original cover, as conceived and drawn by Jack, in the ad published in The Uncanny X-Men #2 [top right]. Now let’s play the “Spot the differences” game with the ad cover against the original printed one [above left]. How many differences are you able to find? 1) The green arrow and blue sign above Giant-Man and Thor are the same as in the Masterworks reprint—bigger than they appeared in the original printed cover. 2) Not only the shadow of the right leg of Giant-Man is present, but there is also the shadow of the other leg and a part of the body! Kirby did not forget to draw it after all, but for some reason at the office, they decided to erase all the shadows and, rather oddly, when reproducing the Masterworks cover, someone decided to leave only one shadow. 3) In the right portion of the cover, instead of an empty yellow wall, there is a pipe and some bins. On top of the pipe there are lines (another wall?) that apparently have the wrong prospective. Kirby must have really been in a hurry, since that part of the background is not very refined. It was probably for this reason that someone decided to erase that portion and leave a clean wall. 4) The window is a single window instead of two, but Kirby forgot to draw the left border. The glass squares are all the same size. Someone added the left portion of the frame, divided the window in two different windows, added the top frame, and to show it, moved the green arrow and the blue sign upward a bit. The mystery of the shadow has been solved!

Avengers #4

The Avengers #4 is a seminal issue: Captain America is being brought to life 69

hand, it could well be that someone at Marvel ordered the changes to the modern versions. We’ll never know.

again. And while Marvel ran ads that were faithful to the printed issue’s final cover [top left], Strange Tales #119 had an ad [previous page] with some interesting changes. The most noticeable was the explosion box behind “Captain America Lives Again!”—and new text calling out this one as “The Real” Cap! (No doubt in response to The Acrobat previously pretending to be Cap in Strange Tales #114.) Other more subtle differences were also evident. Thor’s cape has been changed; furthermore, Cap’s wing on his head’s right side has also been altered. Yes, only on his right side! You can see this altered version in some modern reprints [above center], such as the one in Marvel Masterworks or the more recent digital version—but minus “The Real” and the explosion box. So we have no way to know what Kirby’s original cover was. Maybe it’s the recently used cover for the digital and Masterworks version, discovered in Marvel’s archive by an unnamed employee. On the other

Avengers #6

In Avengers #6 [below], the Avengers fight against Baron Zemo and a group of supervillains. Once again, the published cover [left] and the one in an ad [center] have small differences. Can you spot them? I can help you by showing the Italian edition published in the ’70s. For some reason, the Italian publisher always received the unchanged versions. Here it is at bottom right. I can spot at least three differences. In the original (unchanged) version: 1) There are additional lines to show Wasp’s trajectory 2) Black Knight’s cape has been reduced 3) Kirby forgot to put the crown on Zemo’s head!

The first issue of the series The Incredible Hulk has a cover date of May 1962, and Jack Kirby drew both the cover and the 23 interior pages. Astonishingly, Jack Kirby produced an astonishing 138 pages (covers included) with cover-date May 1962. Despite the enormous workload, Kirby produced a powerful cover with Bruce Banner transforming into a gray Hulk (he would be colored green starting with the next issue). Can you spot the differences between the published cover [center below] and the one in the ad of Fantastic Four #5 [below right]? Apart from the different color used on Bruce Banner’s shirt, for example, and the different emphasis given to Bruce Banner’s aura, the unretouched cover has distinct light rays coming from the left that are no longer present in the published cover. A more visible change is in Banner’s white coat: in the published cover, the back of the coat has been cut, probably to maintain some visual symmetry with the legs of both Banner and Hulk. I find particularly interesting to discover how the editorial office asked to modify Kirby’s covers, even for such minute details.

Avengers #7

Thor’s cape was again modified in The Avengers #7 [above]. Check the differences comparing the original printed cover on the left, and the ad in the center, published in Sgt. Fury #10. Several differences can be noticed: 1) In the ad, they forgot to paint Thor’s right leg. 2) In the final cover, they decided to paint in black all the rocks on the ground, but they are visible in the ad. 3) Again, Thor’s cape has been partially deleted.

The Incredible Hulk #1

A few months after the success of the Fantastic Four #1 (cover dated Nov. 1961), Stan Lee and Jack Kirby introduced the second hero of the Marvel universe: The Hulk.

[below] Utilitas zothecas fermentet bellus saburre. Perspicax syrtes spinosus circumgrediet ut

The original unretouched cover has never been used in all the numerous subsequent reprints of this milestone comic book, except in Stan Lee’s 1974 book Origins of Marvel Comics.

Uncanny X-Men #1

The Uncanny X-Men #1 has been reprinted many times in many different formats, and Kirby’s cover is universally known: all the members of the newly formed teams are fighting against Magneto. Cyclops is firing his powerful energy ray, the Beast is attacking Magneto from above, while Angel is ready to fire a Bazooka and Iceman—well, is throwing snowballs, doing his best! But what is Jean “Marvel Girl” Grey doing? Nothing at all. Is she just looking at the others, waiting for them to defeat Magneto? How could Kirby, whose covers are always full of action, on the first issue devoted to a new superteam, draw a character doing nothing? As a matter of fact, Marvel Girl is doing something: She is using her telekinetic powers against Magneto. But how could the reader figure it out? Well, it turns out that the original cover drawn by Jack had a few details to let the reader guess that Marvel Girl was really using some kind of psychic superpower. The original Kirby cover can be seen in the ad section of Fantastic Four #19 (cover-date Oct. 1963), with slightly different colors. Bingo! Jack drew some lines originating from Marvel Girl’s head to hint at her telekinetic power. Later, as often happened, someone in the editorial office—maybe Stan Lee—decided to erase those lines and to move Marvel Girl upwards a bit to occupy the now empty space. There are other details of the original cover that have been changed, not considering the different colors used. In the unretouched cover: 1) “In the sensational Fantastic Four style!” is surrounded by a circle 2) There is an almost straight line (maybe the horizon line), slightly declining on the right, behind Marvel Girl and The Beast 3) More importantly, the front of Angel’s right wing is smaller Very likely it was not Kirby himself that modified the cover, since he was always extremely busy, and such minor changes could be dealt directly in the offices at Madison Avenue. Also, probably Jack was unaware of the changes made after he sent the cover. I admit that I prefer the cover as Kirby conceived it, and I find the new Angel’s right wing unbalanced with respect to the left wing. To my knowledge the only place the original unretouched Kirby cover has been reprinted is the book Son of Origins of Marvel Comics, authored by Stan Lee and published in 1975. H 72

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Captain America—23” x 29” 1941 Captain America—14” x 23”

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CAREER COMPARISON hroughout a career spanning several decades, Jack Kirby maintained a level of high quality. Even though his style evolved and changed, the dynamism of his figures and his brilliant compositional abilities remained consistent. For example, this 1941 Captain America #5 cover 1 is an fairly early usage of a combination of dynamic figure drawing and composition. Kirby’s work here is a bit primitive and cartoon-like, but underneath there is still a solid understanding of anatomy. He is also using somewhat realistic shading and has a clear grasp of the concept of light sources. Cap’s lithe and muscular figure dominates the page as he runs forward and down towards the Ringmaster and his minions. The shape and trajectory of his shield mirrors that of the Wheel of Death, and

the sweep of that shape brings the eye to the sinister clown midget and the branding iron-wielding fiend with the swastika armband. The figures of the man in bondage and the bald knife holder behind him bring the reader’s eye back to Cap and Bucky, as Kirby is using the circular composition that he found to be so effective. In 1954, still working with Joe Simon, Kirby brought us Fighting American. 2 On this page from the second issue, more than a dozen years after the first image, Kirby’s style is noticeably more realistic, both in its use of anatomy and shading. His use of the figure in space is much more adventurous at this point, as he has the body of the Fighting American moving contrapuntally. Notice that there is a slight difference between the torque of the rib barrel and that of the head and legs of this figure. The left arm is moving forward in forced perspective, while the right arm is stretching up and back. Kirby is using the orthogonal lines of the wall to accentuate the hero’s diagonal trajectory. In this instance, the artist uses the title lettering to bring attention to the figure, beginning with his right arm, while the left arm brings our focus to the man firing the machine gun. That character’s knee points to the figures on the table and then back again to Fighting American. Two years later, Kirby was working for the company that, 73

Kirby’s nearly boundless imagination could accomplish. During this groundbreaking period, Joe Sinnott’s vivid inking would enable the King to reach new heights of expression. As embellisher, Sinnott resolved to faithfully render the King’s complex tableaus, and as a result, Kirby began to expand on his sense of massive and majestic architecture. 5 In this small panel, Kirby brings us a wondrous scene of speed and explosive power as the Silver Surfer plows through a row of buildings. The spotted blacks in the rendered masonry give an amazing sense of the solidity of the shattered stone. Although again the panel is only one of many on that page, one can again envision it as a single potent image blown up to any size. In 1970, Kirby left Marvel and moved to DC Comics, first taking over Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen. During his time at Marvel, Kirby had been delving deeper into the depiction of hyper-advanced technology. 6 On this spectacular double-page spread from issue #133, we see one of the King’s more elaborate pieces of machinery, the Whiz Wagon. It would be wonderful to have been present when Kirby designed this remarkable car. Did he lay out the basic structure first or did

thanks to his prodigious efforts, would shortly become Marvel Comics. In Strange Tales #83 (April 1961), he proved that when it came to kinetic composition, size did not matter. 3 In this relatively small panel, the King presented us with a phantasmagoric spectacle of airborne dragons besieging the Great Wall of China. This panoramic scene could easily have worked as a single- or even a doublepage splash. At this point, perhaps because the subject matter is predominantly the depiction of monsters, the artist is going for the contrast of mass and scale, and is using techniques like forced perspective to emphasize those things. Here we see the massive looming dragon’s mouth on the left practically rearing out of the page, contrasted with the creature on the right who is further away. When Marvel Comics exploded on the scene with the Fantastic Four, Kirby’s stories and artwork began to deal with deeper issues related to man’s place in the cosmos. The artist’s work would emphasize grandeur, using scale and mass even more, as well as techniques such as “Kirby Krackle” and the depiction of staggering bursts of energy. 4 On this page from FF #49, we see the extraordinary explosion of power from the godlike Galactus that only someone with

5 he begin by drawing a specific part? Did he design the room first, and when did he decide on the placement of the figures? As viewers, we first see the upper left corner of the room, and then Jimmy Olsen. His extended right arm brings us to the diagonal rectangular wing mounted on the rear that helps to visually anchor the complex composition of the car in three-dimensional panel space. The curvature of the vehicle brings the eye around to the Newsboy Legion figures: Tommy, pointing up at Gabby who is sitting on a tire (that shape accentuates the circular composition); then to Scrapper who is pointing in the direction of Flippa Dippa. The curved shape that Flippa is resting his flipper on brings our eye back to Olsen. In 1978, after leaving DC and returning to Marvel, Kirby brought us Devil Dinosaur, a creation that met with mixed reactions. Regardless of one’s opinion of that series, I doubt if anyone would disagree that this two-page spread from issue #4 is a stunning piece of artwork. 7 The power and dynamism of this page is obvious. It is a vivid hallucinogenic tableau that explodes in the subconscious like a primordial archetype of ancestral terror. Although largely repre-

sentational, the drawing is also abstract in its use of shape and design, which is true of much of Kirby’s later work. With its liberal use of the eye motif, the picture is surreal more than realistic. The eyes are looking out at us, but they also serve as windows into the inner mind-scape. This page has been singled out for another reason. During an interview with Glen David Gold, comic creator Will Eisner made a somewhat dismissive comment about Kirby. The words are Gold’s: “Eisner mentioned he was uncomfortable calling Kirby someone with heavy artistic intent. I paraphrase, but Eisner felt Jack was mostly concerned with hitting his page count, telling good stories, and keeping his family fed, not pursuing some aesthetic ideal. To seek that motive in Kirby’s work was, he suggested, misguided. I happened to be holding the original artwork to the Devil Dinosaur #4 double-splash, which

I turned around and showed Eisner—who took a moment, and said something uncharacteristic: ‘Okay, I might be wrong.’” — Glen David Gold, Masters of American Comics, 2005 [reprinted in TJKC #50] It is interesting to me that someone like Eisner would have such an opinion about Kirby, but equally interesting is that this one powerful image could change his mind so quickly. There are many notions about what the nature of true art is. Critics and historians with elitist agendas concoct most of these notions. Authorities such as those might be unlikely to call Kirby’s work “fine art.” As an artist myself, I would not hesitate to do so. Nor would I hesitate to suggest that Kirby had understood and internalized the nature of what fine art was from the first moment that he picked up a pencil to draw. H

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C o l l e c t o r

The JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR magazine (edited by JOHN MORROW) celebrates the life and career of the “King” of comics through INTERVIEWS WITH KIRBY and his contemporaries, FEATURE ARTICLES, RARE AND UNSEEN KIRBY ART, plus regular columns by MARK EVANIER and others, and KIRBY’S UNINKED PENCILS NS from the 1960s-1980s EDITIOABLE IL (from photocopies AVA NLY preserved in the KIRBY ARCHIVES). Now in FULLFOR O 5.99 COLOR, it showcases Kirby’s art even better! $1.99-$

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KIRBY COLLECTOR #77

FATHERS & SONS! Odin/Thor, Zeus/ Hercules, Darkseid/Orion, Captain America/ Bucky, and other dysfunctional relationships, unpublished 1994 interview with GIL KANE eulogizing Kirby, tributes from Jack’s creative “sons” in comics (MUMY, PALMIOTTI, QUESADA, VALENTINO, McFARLANE, GAIMAN, & MILLER), MARK EVANIER, 2018 Kirby Tribute Panel, Kirby pencil art gallery, and more!

MONSTERS & BUGS! Jack’s monster-movie influences in The Demon, Forever People, Black Magic, Fantastic Four, Jimmy Olsen, and Atlas monster stories; Kirby’s work with “B” horror film producer CHARLES BAND; interview with “The Goon” creator ERIC POWELL; Kirby’s use of insect characters (especially as villains); MARK EVANIER and our other regular columnists, Golden Age Kirby story, and a Kirby pencil art gallery!

(100-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $10.95 (Digital Edition) $5.99

KIRBY COLLECTOR #82

KIRBY COLLECTOR #83

KIRBY COLLECTOR #78

SILVER ANNIVERSARY ISSUE! How Kirby kickstarted the Silver Age and revamped Golden Age characters for the 1960s, the Silver Surfer’s influence, pivotal decisions (good and bad) Jack made throughout his comics career, Kirby pencil art gallery, MARK EVANIER and our regular columnists, a classic 1950s story, KIRBY/STEVE RUDE cover (and deluxe silver sleeve) and more! (84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $10.95 (DELUXE EDITION w/ silver sleeve) $12.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99

KIRBY COLLECTOR #84

See “THE BIG PICTURE” of how Kirby fits into the grand scheme of things! His creations’ lasting legacy, how his work fights illiteracy, a RARE KIRBY INTERVIEW, inconsistencies in his 1960s MARVEL WORK, editorial changes in his comics, big concepts in OMAC, best DOUBLE-PAGE SPREADS, MARK EVANIER’s 2019 Kirby Tribute Panel, PENCIL ART GALLERY, and a new cover based on OMAC #1!

“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!

“THE MANY WORLDS OF JACK KIRBY!” From Sub-Atomica to outer space, visit Kirby’s work from World War II, the Fourth World, and hidden worlds of Subterranea, Wakanda, Olympia, Lemuria, Atlantis, the Microverse, and others! Plus, a 2021 Kirby panel, featuring JONATHAN ROSS, NEIL GAIMAN, & MARK EVANIER, a Kirby pencil art gallery from MACHINE MAN, 2001, DEVIL DINOSAUR, & more!

FAMOUS FIRSTS! How JACK KIRBY was a pioneer in all areas of comics: Romance Comics genre, Kid Gangs, double-page spreads, Black heroes, new formats, superhero satire, and others! With MARK EVANIER and our regular columnists, plus a gallery of Jack’s pencil art from CAPTAIN AMERICA, JIMMY OLSEN, CAPTAIN VICTORY, DESTROYER DUCK, BLACK PANTHER, and more!

STEVE SHERMAN TRIBUTE! Kirby family members, friends, comics creators, and the entertainment industry salute Jack’s assistant (and puppeteer on Men in Black, Pee Wee’s Playhouse, and others). MARK EVANIER and Steve recall assisting Kirby, Steve discusses Jack’s Speak-Out Series, Kirby memorabilia from his collection, an interview with wife DIANA MERCER, and Steve’s unseen 1974 KIRBY/ROYER cover!

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More About Jack Kirby:

KIRBY COLLECTOR #85

KIRBY: ANIMATED! How JACK KIRBY and his concepts leaped from celluloid, to paper, and back again! From his 1930s start on Popeye and Betty Boop and his work being used on the 1960s Marvel Super-Heroes show, to Fantastic Four (1967 and 1978), Super Friends/Super Powers, Scooby-Doo, Thundarr the Barbarian, and Ruby-Spears. Plus EVAN DORKIN on his abandoned Kamandi cartoon series, and more! (84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $10.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99

ALTER EGO #179

Celebrating the 61st Anniversary of FANTASTIC FOUR #1—’cause we kinda blew right past its 60th—plus a sagacious salute to STAN LEE’s 100th birthday, with never-before-seen highlights—and to FF #1 and #2 inker GEORGE KLEIN! Spotlight on Sub-Mariner in the Bowery in FF #4—plus sensational secrets behind FF #1 and #3! Also: FCA, MICHAEL T. GILBERT, a JACK KIRBY cover, and more! NOW SHIPPING! (84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $10.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99

CBA BULLPEN

Collects all seven issues of JON B. COOKE’s little-seen fanzine, published just after the original COMIC BOOK ARTIST ended its TwoMorrows run in 2003. Interviews with GEORGE TUSKA, FRED HEMBECK, TERRY BEATTY, and FRANK BOLLE, an all-star tribute to JACK ABEL, a new feature on JACK KIRBY’s unknown 1960 baseball card art, and a 16-page full-color section! NOW SHIPPING! (176-page TRADE PAPERBACK with COLOR) $24.95 • (Digital Edition) $8.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-105-9

BACK ISSUE #131

THE KIRBY LEGACY AT DC! Explores Jack Kirby’s post-Fourth World Bronze Age DC characters! Demon, Kamandi, OMAC, Sandman, and Kirby’s Odd Jobs (Atlas, Manhunter, and more). Plus: the SIMON & KIRBY Reunion That Wasn’t! Featuring BISSETTE, BYRNE, CONWAY, GIBBONS, GOLDEN, GRANT, RUCKA, SEMEIKS, THOMAS, TIMM, WAGNER, and more. Demon cover by KIRBY and MIKE ROYER! NOW SHIPPING! (84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $9.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99

Jack Kirby Books ER EISN RD AWAINEE! NOM

OLD GODS & NEW

For its 80th issue, the JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR presents a double-sized 50th anniversary celebration of Kirby’s magnum opus! This companion to that “FOURTH WORLD” series (NEW GODS, FOREVER PEOPLE, MISTER MIRACLE, and JIMMY OLSEN) looks back at JACK KIRBY’s own words, as well as those of assistants MARK EVANIER and STEVE SHERMAN, inker MIKE ROYER, and publisher CARMINE INFANTINO, to determine how it came about, where it was going, and how Kirby would’ve ended it before it was prematurely cancelled by DC Comics! It also examines Kirby’s use of gods in THOR and other strips prior to the Fourth World, how they influenced his DC epic, and affected later series like THE ETERNALS and CAPTAIN VICTORY. With an overview of hundreds of Kirby’s creations like BIG BARDA, BOOM TUBES and GRANNY GOODNESS, and postKirby uses of his concepts, no Fourth World fan will want to miss it! Compiled, researched, and edited by JOHN MORROW, with contributions by JON B. COOKE. (160-page FULL-COLOR paperback) $26.95 (Digital Edition) $12.99 • ISBN: 978-1-60549-098-4 • NOW SHIPPING!

KIRBY & LEE: STUF’ SAID

This EXPANDED SECOND EDITION of JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR #75 includes minor corrections, and 16 NEW PAGES of “Stuf’ Said” by the creators of the Marvel Universe! This first-of-its-kind examination, completed just days before STAN LEE’s passing, looks back at KIRBY & LEE’s own words, in chronological order, from fanzine, magazine, radio, and television interviews, to paint the most comprehensive and enlightening picture of their relationship ever done—why it succeeded, where it deteriorated, and when it eventually failed. Also here are recollections from STEVE DITKO, WALLACE WOOD, JOHN ROMITA SR., and more Marvel Bullpen stalwarts who worked with them both. Compiled, researched, and edited by publisher JOHN MORROW. (176-page FULL-COLOR trade paperback) $26.95 • (Digital Edition) $12.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-094-6

JACK KIRBY’s

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DINGBAT LOVE

In cooperation with DC COMICS, TwoMorrows compiles a tempestuous trio of never-seen 1970s Kirby projects! These are the final complete, unpublished Jack ER Kirby stories in existence, presented here for the first time! Included are: Two EISN RD AWAINEE! unused DINGBATS OF DANGER STREET tales (Kirby’s final Kid Gang group, M NO inked by MIKE ROYER and D. BRUCE BERRY, and newly colored for this book)! TRUE-LIFE DIVORCE, the abandoned newsstand magazine that was too hot for its time (reproduced from Jack’s pencil art—and as a bonus, we’ve commissioned MIKE ROYER to ink one of the stories)! And SOUL LOVE, the unseen ’70s romance book so funky, even a jive turkey will dig the unretouched inks by VINCE COLLETTA and TONY DeZUNIGA. PLUS: There’s Kirby historian JOHN MORROW’s in-depth examination of why these projects got left back, concept art and uninked pencils from DINGBATS, and a Foreword and Introduction by ’70s Kirby assistants MARK EVANIER and STEVE SHERMAN! (176-page FULL-COLOR HARDCOVER) $43.95 • (Digital Edition) $14.99 • ISBN: 978-1-60549-091-5

JACK KIRBY CHECKLIST: CENTENNIAL EDITION

COLLECTED KIRBY COLLECTOR VOL. 7

Reprints JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR #27-30, plus new art!

This final, fully-updated, definitive edition clocks in at DOUBLE the length of the 2008 “Gold Edition,” in a new 270page LIMITED EDITION HARDCOVER (only 1000 copies) listing every release up to Jack’s 100th birthday! Detailed listings of all of Kirby’s published work, reprints, magazines, books, foreign editions, newspaper strips, fine art and collages, fanzines, essays, interviews, portfolios, posters, radio and TV appearances, and even Jack’s unpublished work!

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[At the time I’m prepping this issue, #85 just shipped, so it’s still too soon for many comments on it to come in. But don’t limit yourself to new issues only—if you’ve got a mind to write about anything from any TJKC issue, fire away, and keep the Kirby confab flowing:] Regarding issue #83: “Don’t Get Mad, Get Even” by John Morrow was an outstanding article on Kirby’s motivations. And “Cosmic Kirby and the God Concept” by Will Murray was wonderfully enlightening on Kirby’s philosophical aspects concerning his storytelling process. Thanks for continuing to plumb the seemingly endless depths of Kirby’s creativity and accomplishments. Dennis Cripps, Tacoma, WA Many thanks for another excellent issue of TJKC [#84]! It was a fitting tribute to the late Steve Sherman and heart-warming to read so many reminiscences from friends and colleagues alike. Obviously, we fans had no inkling of the amount of help and support that both he and Mark Evanier were giving to Jack back in the turbulent ’70s. What is evident is that DC had acquired one of the most prolific writers and artists in the industry and BLEW IT! Even an eleven-year-old kid could have told them that to expect Kirby to draw like Curt Swan was ludicrous! Why employ someone and then restrict them from utilizing their full capabilities? The original page 11 from KING KOBRA #1 (shown on page 21) is a good example of such criticism. Here we had the finished pencils, plus inks by D. Bruce Berry. Yet, before publication, DC saw fit to have artist Pablo Marcos redraw most of the Kirby heads. No disrespect to Mr. Marcos, but his style of drawing completely contradicts the amount of good work that Jack had put into that book. The end result is nothing more than a shambolic mess! P. Savage, Hants, UNITED KINGDOM Though this was a well-deserved Steve Sherman tribute [#84], I don’t feel in any way shortchanged on Kirby content. There was plenty. It was like an insider’s look at working with and being a friend of Jack. Thought it was great. Steve was a lifelong friend to Jack and even beyond that. He was there for the funeral. He remained a friend to Roz. For years, he was a convention panelist and engaged in Internet discussions (including mere weeks before his passing). Steve obviously liked Jack’s work and admired him personally. I’d think Jack must’ve been proud of Steve’s post-1975 career.

He didn’t imitate Jack’s previous accomplishments but excelled in something else; gaining and using talents more

individual and personal. Liked, in your interview with his wife, Diana, where she revealed falling in love with him by letter, prior to meeting, indicating he had a strong, admirable personality. She revealed he like being married. If so, she should be comforted that she gave him nearly twenty-three years of great happiness. I remember his suggestion and credit in KAMANDI #29. A novel twist. I enjoyed it because it was treated as a legend, and not the real hero in a gratuitous cameo. It left both premises intact. Plus, this way, no redrawn Superman faces. The shots of the revised Superman ads and Kobra alterations, here, were bad enough. Even before Jack’s arrival, DC’s lack of faith and support for new titles was pretty awful. Look at the massive cancellations in the late ’60s. A fearful, loss-cutting approach rather than any sort of editorial commitment. SHOWCASE, and later, FIRST ISSUE SPECIAL were sink-orswim. If the company has no faith, why should the reader? Or the creators? Without support, why should they think long-term? Certainly, with IN THE DAYS OF THE MOB and SPIRIT WORLD downgraded in format and cancelled prior to sales figures, how is that, in any way, encouraging to be innovative or to think ahead? Steve, in noting Jack’s disdain for deathimagery covers, said, “Well, Jack really hated the ones where somebody would be holding the superhero like this and they’re draped in their arms, dead.” Still, what about THOR #127? Was

that done reluctantly? I’d always wondered why the Toys for Tots poster featured the roster of Spider-Man, Cap and Thor. Seems, based on the photo, it was because they had actors wearing those particular costumes. Otherwise, they might’ve substituted the Hulk for Thor, as in the roster of the three 1966 Aurora model kits. You displayed two of Jack’s convention chalk talk drawings (1970 and 1977). Has anyone ever made a complete list? Did Jack do prior drawings in New York, too? And was his last one Captain Victory in 1983? Mark and Steve’s July ’70 visit to New York and meetings with the various giants in the field, back then, sounds amazing. Too bad they neglected to bring a camera crew. Of course, Super 8 film won’t play on my VCR. Finally, even with a magnifying glass, I couldn’t read the light, crumpled note from Barry Windsor-Smith. Can you please print a retyped legible version in an upcoming issue, or must I get Lasik surgery? (and now Joe’s comments on #85:)

This might be the most different issue of TJKC yet; one not primarily predicated on his comic book work. Easily, it was the one with the most images and drawings I’d not previously seen. Most were at least interesting, but came with a significant catch: while providing a visual identity, admirers have no solid foundation for which to judge them. No conception of how Jack—or the writers—would have developed them as characters. Super-serious or comedic? How would they relate to one another? What kind of personalities would they have? And he was just imagining visual presentation pieces; some assigned to him, others he initiated. Tremendous options, but no precise, indepth details. Based on his comics work, I’m sure Jack could have casually told us possibilities inherent in the characters. He might have known or been able to muse on the matter. But just seeing them, now, after the fact, with him long gone, we’ve no way to know or understand all the potential. Additionally, as these characters were intended for cartoons or toys, he might have had the burden to keep them simple or aimed at younger viewers. That’s why I was sad to read that Joe Ruby thought about, but never initiated, a cartoon that was all Kirby themes and visuals. The ’90s Ruby-Spears alumni interviews were all terrific! Definitely a wide-ranging history of those days as it applies to Jack, which is so rarely Glen Gold noticed: On this original art from page 15 of Strange Tales covered. One common element is that the #114 (Nov. 1963), under this fifth panel, Stan asks, “Jack, where is studio people all seemed in awe of Jack’s C.A.’s shield?” It looks like someone (Ayers?) drew the shield in. Hey, creativity; his imagination and productivity. it had been a while... Another is they liked him personally and enjoyed interacting with him. I’m sure 78

after the often-poor treatment and lack of respect shown him in the comics industry, it was a welcome change. It allowed him to escape the frustration; to deal with people who were appreciative. Plus, better pay and benefits. Loved your two hilarious unseen photos of Jack. One with his old ’30s pal Popeye. The other rocking out on guitar; something I definitely wasn’t expecting. Both showed he was a good sport and had a nice sense of humor. Still disagree with Steve Gerber that the Kirby/Ditko pairing in comics was awful. In fact, just the opposite. It was often wonderful; the best of both styles. In many pre-hero stories, the teaming was amazing. Same for HULK #2; so atmospheric and moody. Even FF #13—which may be what he commented on, originally—was a highlight. Gerber may not have liked the teaming. I sure did. I’ve enjoyed some FF stories with the Torch absent or underutilized, but never much cared for the ’78 FF cartoon. Why? Herbie! I know, thanks to STAR WARS, funny robots were popular. But I just didn’t think he was, in any way, amusing. He changed the team dynamic. I’d rather just have had the three remaining members. Appreciated your Kirby storyboards of the FF. Though not as refined, still a kick to see Kirby pencils of the team. Laughed at how terse, yet informative, your coverage of the ’66 Marvel Superheroes cartoon was. One page! Jack, inadvertently, was also a contributor to an Iron Man and a Sub-Mariner episode. In Iron Man, they used Jack’s wind tunnel catastrophe from TALES OF SUSPENSE #43 as prelude to the Jack Frost story. In Sub-Mariner, strangely enough, they repurposed FF #6 and the third FF ANNUAL (minus the FF) to include Sub-Mariner, Dr. Doom, the X-Men, and no end of rampaging villains. Even with the crude animation, if you can call it that, I loved the show as a kid. It looked just like the published stories and, at that point, I’d not read many. Plus, great music and voices. It was like getting a free comic book after school. The cover image—the Thing, unaware, sitting on Red Skull’s bomb—was funny in that, of all the heroes to attack, why one that the villain didn’t know? It gets funnier in that on the cover to ALTER EGO #170, the Red Skull and Thing are also present, though he was attacking Jack there. Of course, inexplicably misdirected hostility had already been established. In Here’s a tentative list of upcoming themes, so start thinking, and get to writing! SEND US YOUR THEME IDEAS! • THE KIRBY COLLECTORS—Readers’ stories about what it means to them to be Kirby collectors—from their craziest original art and comics deals, to getting tattoos, Kirby inspired man-caves, and their Holy Grails of collecting!

AVENGERS #3, when Jack teamed Sub-Mariner and the Hulk, they didn’t fight the FF—though both had a grudge against them—but instead, the Avengers, whom Namor at that point had never met! Finally, amused to see how well Jack, as a cartoonist, could do Scooby Doo and Shaggy. It prompted a disillusioning memory. In July 1980, Stan was here, in Phoenix, speaking at a convention. An audience member asked him if and when Jack Kirby would be returning to Marvel. Stan said Jack was in animation; that a producer would tell him, “Jack, draw me a Scooby!” Then and now, I thought that was awful. The implication being Jack was bossed around and told to do something juvenile or nonimaginative. Better to have noted it on a non-insulting level and state, truthfully, Jack has left comics for the animation field. Period. Plus, ironically enough, a year or two later, the SPIDERMAN cartoon debuted with a “cute” dog (Ms. Lyon) there, too. So much for dismissive remarks. Joe Frank, Scottsdale, AZ I was reading the latest TJKC article on Cap throwing his shield during the Simon & Kirby issues and I remembered another instance where his shield was thrown. It was issue #10, on page 4, in the story titled “Captain America and the Spy Ambush.” But hold the phone, John. I just read further, and lo and behold, another instance of Cap throwing his shield in issue #10! It happens in the first panel on page 39 of the story, “Captain America and the Phantom Hound.” And I have found two more examples of Cap throwing his shield during Simon & Kirby’s original ten issues: Once in issue #6 and again in issue #9! It’s interesting to me that Cap throwing his shield was something S&K worked into their stories more and more as they went along. [Examples shown above.] Ahh, John. It looks like Glen Gold’s statement, “He (Cap) throws it (his shield) once, issue #4, ‘The Fake Money Fiends,’ but it doesn’t seem to have been a thing he relied on then” just doesn’t hold up. Marty Erhart, Austin, TX (I’m stunned I didn’t spot these when I was laying out Glen’s article. I thought I did a thorough review of all the stories in my Captain America—The Classic Years collection, though apparently I really dropped the ball—errr, shield! But as you’ll see on the previous page, I’m in good company: Jack did as well!) • WHAT IFs?—If things had been different, how would Jack’s career and output have changed? Take a fanciful trip through alternate timelines and see for yourself! • CONSPIRACIES—From Odin’s constant overthrow in the comics, to DC’s cancellation of the Fourth World and Jack’s art battle with Marvel, we’ll look for intrigue and subterfuge throughout Kirby’s life and career!

#86 Credits:

John Morrow, Editor/Designer/ Proofreader/Art Curator/etc. THANKS TO OUR CONTRIBUTORS: Dick Ayers • Dario Bressanini Mark Buckingham • Norris Burroughs John Buscema • Will Eisner Mark Evanier • Chris Fama Shane Foley • Barry Forshaw Glen Gold • Chuck Greaves Chrissie Harper • Dean Haspiel Don Heck • Rand Hoppe Carmine Infantino • Gil Kane Tom King • Jeremy Kirby Sean Kleefeld • Richard Kolkman Tom Kraft • Claire Langdown Stan Lee • Larry Lieber Will Murray • Jerry Ordway John Romita Sr. • David Schwartz Kevin Shaw • Joe Simon Walter Simonson • Joe Sinnott John K. Snyder III • Dave Stevens William Stout • Paul Watry Barry Windsor-Smith • Tom Ziuko and The Jack Kirby Museum (www.kirbymuseum.org) If we forgot anyone, let us know!

Contribute!

The Jack Kirby Collector is put together with submissions from Jack’s fans around the world. We don’t pay for submissions, but if we print art or articles you submit, we’ll send you a free copy of the issue it appears in. Submit art & articles by mail, or e-mail to: twomorrow@aol.com

NEXT ISSUE: LAW & ORDER! Kirby’s lawmen, from the Newsboy Legion’s Jim Harper and “Terrible” Turpin, to Western gunfighters, and even future policemen like OMAC and Captain Victory! Also: how a Marvel cop led to the creation of Funky Flashman! Justice Traps The Guilty and Headline Comics! Plus Mark Evanier moderating 2022’s Kirby Tribute Panel (with Sin City’s Frank Miller). MACHLAN cover inks. TJKC #87 ships Summer 2023!

Fall 2023 (TJKC #88):

THE COLLECTORS!

With an amazing wraparound Kirby cover!

TwoMorrows 2023 www.twomorrows.com • store@twomorrows.com

THE BEST OF SIMON & KIRBY’S

MAINLINE COMICS

by JOE SIMON & JACK KIRBY Introduction by JOHN MORROW

In 1954, industry legends JOE SIMON and JACK KIRBY founded MAINLINE PUBLICATIONS to publish their own comics during that turbulent era in comics history. The four titles—BULLSEYE, FOXHOLE, POLICE TRAP, and IN LOVE—looked to build off their reputation as hit makers in the Western, War, Crime, and Romance genres, but the 1950s backlash against comics killed any chance at success, and Mainline closed its doors just two years later. For the first time, TwoMorrows Publishing is compiling the best of Simon & Kirby’s Mainline comics work, including all of the stories with S&K art, as well as key tales with contributions by MORT MESKIN and others. After the company’s dissolution, their partnership ended with Simon leaving comics for advertising, and Kirby taking unused Mainline concepts to both DC and Marvel. This collection bridges the gap between Simon & Kirby’s peak with their 1950s romance comics, and the lows that led to Kirby’s resurgence with CHALLENGERS OF THE UNKNOWN and the early MARVEL UNIVERSE. With loving art restoration by CHRIS FAMA, and an historical overview by JOHN MORROW to put it all into perspective, the BEST OF SIMON & KIRBY’S MAINLINE COMICS presents some of the final, and finest, work Joe and Jack ever produced. SHIPS SUMMER 2023! (256-page COLOR HARDCOVER) $49.95 • (Digital Edition) $15.99 • ISBN: 978-1-60549-118-9

DESTROYER DUCK GRAPHITE EDITION

by JACK KIRBY & STEVE GERBER Introduction by MARK EVANIER

In the 1980s, writer STEVE GERBER was embroiled in a lawsuit against MARVEL COMICS over ownership of his creation HOWARD THE DUCK. To raise funds for legal fees, Gerber asked JACK KIRBY to contribute to a benefit comic titled DESTROYER DUCK. Without hesitation, Kirby (who was in his own dispute with Marvel at the time) donated his services for the first issue, and the duo took aim at their former employer in an outrageous five-issue run. With biting satire and guns blazing, Duke “Destroyer” Duck battled the thinly veiled Godcorp (whose infamous credo was “Grab it all! Own it all! Drain it all!”), its evil leader Ned Packer and the (literally) spineless Booster Cogburn, Medea (a parody of Daredevil’s Elektra), and more! Now, all five Gerber/Kirby issues are collected—but relettered and reproduced from JACK’S UNBRIDLED, UNINKED PENCIL ART! Also included are select examples of ALFREDO ALCALA’s unique inking style over Kirby on the original issues, Gerber’s script pages, an historical Introduction by MARK EVANIER (co-editor of the original 1980s issues), and an Afterword by BUZZ DIXON (who continued the series after Gerber)! Discover all the hidden jabs you missed when DESTROYER DUCK was first published, and experience page after page of Kirby’s raw pencil art! SHIPS SPRING 2023! (128-page COLOR HARDCOVER) $31.95 • (Digital Edition) $13.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-117-2

ALTER EGO COLLECTORS’ ITEM CLASSICS

By overwhelming demand, editor ROY THOMAS has compiled all the material on the founders of the Marvel Bullpen from three SOLD-OUT ALTER EGO ISSUES—plus OVER 30 NEW PAGES OF CONTENT! There’s the STEVE DITKO ISSUE (#160 with a rare ’60s Ditko interview by RICHARD HOWELL, biographical notes by NICK CAPUTO, and Ditko tributes)! The STAN LEE ISSUE (#161 with ROY THOMAS on his 50+ year relationship with Stan, art by KIRBY, DITKO, MANEELY, EVERETT, SEVERIN, ROMITA, plus tributes from pros and fans)! And the JACK KIRBY ISSUE (#170 with WILL MURRAY on Kirby’s contributions to Iron Man’s creation, Jack’s Captain Marvel/Mr. Scarlet Fawcett work, Kirby in 1960s fanzines, plus STAN LEE and ROY THOMAS on Jack)! Whether you missed these issues, or can’t live without the extensive NEW MATERIAL on DITKO, LEE, and KIRBY, it’s sure to be an AMAZING, ASTONISHING, FANTASTIC tribute to the main men who made Marvel! NOW SHIPPING! (256-page COLOR SOFTCOVER) $35.95 • (Digital Edition) $15.99 • ISBN: 978-1-60549-116-5

CLIFFHANGER!

CINEMATIC SUPERHEROES OF THE SERIALS: 1941–1952 by CHRISTOPHER IRVING

Hold on tight as historian CHRISTOPHER IRVING explores the origins of the first on-screen superheroes and the comic creators and film-makers who brought them to life. CLIFFHANGER! touches on the early days of the film serial, to its explosion as a juvenile medium of the 1930s and ‘40s. See how the creation of characters like SUPERMAN, CAPTAIN AMERICA, SPY SMASHER, and CAPTAIN MARVEL dovetailed with the early film adaptations. Along the way, you’ll meet the stuntmen, directors (SPENCER BENNETT, WILLIAM WITNEY, producer SAM KATZMAN), comic book creators (SIEGEL & SHUSTER, SIMON & KIRBY, BOB KANE, C.C. BECK, FRANK FRAZETTA, WILL EISNER), and actors (BUSTER CRABBE, GEORGE REEVES, LORNA GRAY, KANE RICHMOND, KIRK ALYN, DAVE O’BRIEN) who brought them to the silver screen—and how that resonates with today’s cinematic superhero universe. SHIPS SUMMER 2023! (160-page COLOR HARDCOVER) $39.95 • (Digital Edition) $15.99 • ISBN: 978-1-60549-119-6

BRITMANIA

by MARK VOGER

Remember when long-haired British rock ’n’ rollers made teenage girls swoon — and their parents go crazy? BRITMANIA plunges into the period when suddenly, America went wild for All Things British. This profusely illustrated full-color hardback, subtitled “The British Invasion of the Sixties in Pop Culture,” explores the movies (A HARD DAY’S NIGHT, HAVING A WILD WEEKEND), TV (THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW, MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR), collectibles (TOYS, GAMES, TRADING CARDS, LUNCH BOXES), comics (real-life Brits in the DC and MARVEL UNIVERSES) and, of course, the music! Written and designed by MARK VOGER (MONSTER MASH, GROOVY, HOLLY JOLLY), BRITMANIA features interviews with members of THE BEATLES, THE ROLLING STONES, THE WHO, THE KINKS, HERMAN’S HERMITS, THE YARDBIRDS, THE ANIMALS, THE HOLLIES & more. It’s a gas, gas, gas! (192-page COLOR HARDCOVER) $43.95 • (Digital Edition) $15.99 • ISBN: 978-1-60549-115-8 • NOW SHIPPING!

GROOVY also by MARK VOGER

From Woodstock, “The Banana Splits,” and “Sgt. Pepper” to “H.R. Pufnstuf,” Altamont, and “The Partridge Family,” GROOVY is a far-out trip to the era of lava lamps and love beads. This profusely illustrated hardcover book, in psychedelic color, features interviews with icons of grooviness such as PETER MAX, BRIAN WILSON, PETER FONDA, MELANIE, DAVID CASSIDY, members of the JEFFERSON AIRPLANE, CREAM, THE DOORS, THE COWSILLS and VANILLA FUDGE; and cast members of groovy TV shows like “The Monkees,” “Laugh-In” and “The Brady Bunch.” Revisit the era’s rock festivals, movies, art, comics and cartoons in this color-saturated pop-culture history! (192-page COLOR HARDCOVER) $39.95 • (Digital Edition) $13.99 • ISBN: 978-1-60549-080-9

CHARLTON COMPANION

TEAM-UP COMPANION OUR ARTISTS AT WAR AMERICAN TV COMICS (1940s-1980s)

THE LIFE & ART OF

DAVE COCKRUM

JON B. COOKE’s all-new history of the notorious all-in-one comics company, from the 1940s to the ’70s, with GIORDANO, DITKO, STATON, BYRNE and more!

MICHAEL EURY examines team-up comic books of the Silver and Bronze Ages of Comics in a lushly illustrated selection of informative essays, special features, and trivia-loaded issue-by-issue indexes!

Examines US War comics from EC, DC COMICS, WARREN PUBLISHING, CHARLTON, and more! Featuring KURTZMAN, SEVERIN, DAVIS, WOOD, KUBERT, GLANZMAN, KIRBY, and others!

History of over 300 TV shows and 2000+ comic book adaptations, from well-known series (STAR TREK, PARTRIDGE FAMILY, THE MUNSTERS) to lesser-known shows.

GLEN CADIGAN’s bio of the artist who redesigned the Legion of Super-Heroes and introduced X-Men characters Storm, Nightcrawler, Colossus, and Logan!

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REED CRANDALL

Illustrator of the Comics

MIKE GRELL

LIFE IS DRAWING WITHOUT AN ERASER

JOHN SEVERIN

HERO-A-GO-GO!

Documents the life and career of the master Golden Age artist of Captain Marvel Jr. and other classic characters! (160-page COLOR HARDCOVER) $39.95 (Digital Edition) $14.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-090-8

History of Crandall’s life and career, from Golden Age Quality Comics, to Warren war and horror, Flash Gordon, and beyond!

Career-spanning tribute to the Legion of Super-Heroes & Warlord comics art legend!

Biography of the EC, MARVEL and MAD mainstay, co-creator of American Eagle, and 40+ year CRACKED magazine contributor.

Looks at comics' 1960s CAMP AGE, when spies liked their wars cold and their women warm, and TV's Batman shook a mean cape!

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ALTER EGO #183

BACK ISSUE #142

BACK ISSUE #143

Golden/Silver/Bronze Age artist IRV NOVICK (Shield, Steel Sterling, Batman, The Flash, and DC war stories) is immortalized by JOHN COATES and DEWEY CASSELL. Interviews with Irv and family members, tributes by DENNY O’NEIL, MARK EVANIER, and PAUL LEVITZ, Irv’s involvement with painter ROY LICHTENSTEIN (who used Novick’s work in his paintings), Mr. Monster, FCA, and more!

SUPER ISSUE! Superboy’s Bronze Age adventures, and interviews with GERARD CHRISTOPHER and STACY HAIDUK of the Superboy live-action TV series. Plus: Super Goof, Super Richie (Rich), Super-Dagwood, Super Mario Bros., Frank Thorne’s Far Out Green Super Cool, NICK MEGLIN and JACK DAVIS’ Superfan, and more! Featuring a Superboy and Krypto cover by DAVE COCKRUM! Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

A special tribute issue to NEAL ADAMS (1941–2022), celebrating his Bronze Age DC Comics contributions! In-depth Batman and Superman interviews, ‘Green Lantern/Green Arrow’—Fifty Years Later, Neal Adams—Under the Radar, Continuity Associates, a ‘Rough Stuff’ pencil art gallery, Power Records, and more! Re-presenting Adams’ iconic cover art to BATMAN #227. (Plus: See ALTER EGO #181!)

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BACK ISSUE #144

COMIC BOOK CREATOR #30

KIRBY COLLECTOR #87

RETROFAN #27

BRICKJOURNAL #79

BRONZE AGE SAVAGE LANDS, starring Ka-Zar in the 1970s! Plus: Turok—Dinosaur Hunter, DON GLUT’s Dagar and Tragg, Annihilus and the Negative Zone, Planet of Vampires, Pat Mills’s Flesh (from 2000AD), and WALTER SIMONSON and MIKE MIGNOLA’s Wolverine: The Jungle Adventure. With CONWAY, GULACY, HAMA, NICIEZA, SEARS, THOMAS, and more! JOHN BUSCEMA cover!

Canadian comic book artist, illustrator, and graphic novelist MICHAEL CHO in a career-spanning interview and art gallery, a 1974 look at JACK ADLER and the DC Comics production department’s process of reprinting Golden Age material, color newspaper tabloid THE FUNNY PAGES examined in depth by its editor RON BARRETT, plus CBC’s usual columns and features, including HEMBECK! Edited by JON B. COOKE.

LAW & ORDER! Kirby’s lawmen from the Newsboy Legion’s Jim Harper and “Terrible” Turpin, to Western gunfighters, and even future policemen like OMAC and Captain Victory! Also: how a Marvel cop led to the creation of Funky Flashman! Justice Traps The Guilty and Headline Comics! Plus MARK EVANIER moderating 2022’s Kirby Tribute Panel (with Sin City’s FRANK MILLER). MACHLAN cover inks.

Interview with Captain Kangaroo BOB KEESHAN, The ROCKFORD FILES, teen monster movies, the Kung Fu and BRUCE LEE crazes, JACK KIRBY’s comedy comics, DON DRYSDALE’s TV drop-ins, outrageous toys, Challenge of the Super Friends, and more fun, fab features! Featuring columns by ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, and MARK VOGER! Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

Create Brick Art with builders ANDREAS LELANDER and JACK ENGLAND! Learn how to build mosaics and sculptures with DEEP SHEN and some of the best Lego builders around the world! Plus: AFOLs by cartoonist GREG HYLAND, step-by step “You Can Build It” instructions by CHRISTOPHER DECK, BrickNerd’s DIY Fan Art, Minifigure Customization with JARED K. BURKS, and more!

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ALTER EGO #182

An FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America) special, behind a breathtaking JERRY ORDWAY cover! Features on Uncle Marvel and the Fawcett Family by P.C. HAMERLINCK, ACG artist KENNETH LANDAU (Commander Battle and The Atomic Sub), and writer LEE GOLDSMITH (Golden Age Green Lantern, Flash, and others). Plus Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt by MICHAEL T. GILBERT, and more!

PRINTED IN CHINA

ALTER EGO #181

Special NEAL ADAMS ISSUE, featuring in-depth interviews with Neal by HOWARD CHAYKIN, BRYAN STROUD, and RICHARD ARNDT. Also: a “lost” ADAMS BRAVE & THE BOLD COVER with Batman and Green Arrow, and unseen Adams art and artifacts. Plus FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America), MICHAEL T. GILBERT in Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt, and more! Edited by ROY THOMAS. (Plus: See BACK ISSUE #143!)