RSS Posted March 13, 2008 Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 The months before my 13th birthday began what was to become a lifelong love affair with one man's work. I had heard the name Jack Kirby before but never actually knew of his impact. After all, it was always said that Stan Lee created everything at Marvel. But it was Todd McFarlane's name that sold me on Satan's Six #1. It wasn't Todd's art that sold me; he inked Kirby's cover. When I bought that issue, I had no idea what was in store for me. That was the year I became a fan of Jack Kirby. It was also the year he passed away. The above is from: http://www.earth-2.net/columns/reddick/the-king-and-i-01 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Posted March 13, 2008 Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 That. Was. AWESOME. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Missy Posted March 13, 2008 Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 Great piece, Des! Knowing your love for Kirby, I can't wait to read more of these heartfelt entries. Whereas before I would blow Kirby's work off for "being too simple," recently I've come to appreciate his style. And I think your new series is going to help said newfound appreciation grow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dread Posted March 13, 2008 Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 Wow...thanks guys. Nice to wake up to praise. I was actually a little unsure about this one. It's been so long since I've written about comics that I didn't know if this was going to be interesting at all. I didn't want to start with this series either but the opportunity to check them all out dropped into my lap from a small green man with a wooden cane in a burlap robe (or a thirty year old bear, you choose :laugh: ). Next will be a single issue of Kirby's. Which one? You think I'm going to tell you? Wotta revoltin' development! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Posted March 13, 2008 Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 I can tell you know when I realized that Kirby was comics' unending fountain of asskickery; obviously I knew he was instrumental in the creation of the Marvel universe, but it wasn't until I was in college, and had gotten my hands on a copy of one of the DC Archive Editions for All-Star Comics, that I really understood what set him apart. (Great series. Wish I still had it.) The way All-Star was set up (for those of you who might not be aware) is that the Justice Society was more of a framework; every member would have his own eight page solo story, and they were all tied together by a tenous framing story ("We've got to find Doctor Crotchpunch! Hawkman, you cover Asia! Hourman, you take South America! Johnny Thunder, try not to break anything! Dr. Mid-Nite, you can handle Australia!" and so on. Then we'd get eight pages of whatever Hawkman got up to in Asia, etc.), and each story was drawn by the artist who handled the strip in the character's main anthology book. At the time, art tended to be not so great, especially after America entered the war, when most of the main artists went overseas and the comics tended to be drawn by sixteen-year-old kids. Anyway, in one particular issue, Hourman had to leap from one rooftop to another. He looked frozen in mid-air, with a few motion lines behind him to indicate that he was jumping. This was not unusual for the time. In another story, the Sandman also had to jump from one rooftop to another. This was when he was in his purple-and-gold togs, and the artists were the team of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. Here, the Sandman reached out with one hand to catch the next roof, while his leg pushed off from the roof behind him. It was dynamic, it was exciting, and the Sandman looked like a real, well-proportioned athlete who would have no trouble kicking your ass up and down the street. This was just one example in a story filled with them. Kirby absolutely blew everyone else out of the water, and drew what was really the only exciting story in that book. And this was in 1942, a full twenty years before Kirby would go on to his best stuff. Great, great stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dread Posted March 13, 2008 Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 Totally. I'm in the process of accruing some Simon/Kirby as we speak. Some of Kirby's most dynamic stuff was that romance and western era. Mine have all disappeared unfortunately. I had a buch of reprints from the seventies that are now in somebody's trunk crossing the border...I'll get them. I swear it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dread Posted March 13, 2008 Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 I should add that I have in mind what I'll be covering in the future but will certainly take requests. I'm more hoping to do single issues and shorter storylines of Kirby's rather than say The Fourth World, or Fantastic Four. It will be easier to dissect and even better when I can triangulate what I feel for certain works and stuff. Triangulate? Whuh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Missy Posted March 13, 2008 Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 Fantastic Four #48-50, the original Galactus story. Also, FF #51: "This Man... This Monster!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dread Posted March 13, 2008 Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 Fantastic Four #48-50, the original Galactus story. Also, FF #51: "This Man... This Monster!" Get. Out. Of. My. HEAD!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Posted March 14, 2008 Report Share Posted March 14, 2008 Early Thor, Journey Into Mystery era stuff. Kirby laid out some seriously trippy stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dread Posted March 14, 2008 Report Share Posted March 14, 2008 Early Thor, Journey Into Mystery era stuff. Kirby laid out some seriously trippy stuff. In the works...a little down the line but in the works nonetheless. I'm going to try and break up a lot of the Marvel stuff. It will be difficult. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Posted March 14, 2008 Report Share Posted March 14, 2008 Early Thor, Journey Into Mystery era stuff. Kirby laid out some seriously trippy stuff. In the works...a little down the line but in the works nonetheless. I'm going to try and break up a lot of the Marvel stuff. It will be difficult. I can see where that will be a problem. Marvel, New Gods, Marvel, New Gods, Marvel... Jimmy Olsen!... New Gods, Marvel... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dread Posted March 14, 2008 Report Share Posted March 14, 2008 Early Thor, Journey Into Mystery era stuff. Kirby laid out some seriously trippy stuff. In the works...a little down the line but in the works nonetheless. I'm going to try and break up a lot of the Marvel stuff. It will be difficult. I can see where that will be a problem. Marvel, New Gods, Marvel, New Gods, Marvel... Jimmy Olsen!... New Gods, Marvel... Ha! Yeah...Jimmy Olsen is even in the New Gods books. Which is why I said I'd be covering stuff in his legacy. Look for a review of Jenkins and Lee's Inhumans sometime in the future as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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