A Last-Minute Happy Birthday to Jack Kirby 0

[glendgold]

I could recognize Jack Kirby art before any other artist, and then I could distinguish among Kirby's inkers long before I could even tell John and Sal Buscema's pencilling apart. He co-created Captain America and had him sock Hitler in the jaw a year before the US joined the war. He created the Boy Commandos, the Sandman, then the entire genre of romance comics. (Weirdlly, right before then, he killed Nazis. Like: lots of Nazis. Then romance comics. Weird, right?) Then he co-created the Marvel universe, then he gave DC 40 years of source material, and oh yeah, he did one of the first creator-owned comics. And then there's the artwork. You might not like it (but if not, that the hell are you doing reading so deeply into this paragraph?) but if you do comics, you sort of have to reckon with it, reject it or embrace it, but learn from it.

Anyway - Happy 104th, Jack.

 

 

 

Edited August 29, 2021 by glendgold

[Eelco]

Great short summary Glen! Love the photo!

[mtlevy1]

Agree - great photo, but wow that Thor 171 cover is amazing!

Here is my Kirby celebration art - Kirby cover with Everett inks also
(No Thor but he wrote this story)

[The Voord]

That's a terrific photo of Jack and Roz.  Don't think I've seen that one before.  HB, Jack!  

[lb jefferies]

Happy Birthday, Jack!

[glendgold]

On 8/30/2021 at 8:13 AM, lb jefferies said:

Happy Birthday, Jack!

it's funny - I remember reading this comic as a kid and thinking 'Oh, he's doing the extraneous splashes thing again' because I was an insufficiently_thoughtful_person. This is such a fantastic piece of work - so concrete, and yet every individual line comes off as almost abstract. Look at all the crazy textures and patterns that go into making up a couple of bust shots. Really cool.

[grapeape]

Kirby’s amazing legacy is beyond comprehension fully. Even if you don’t like Kirby’s art (blasphemy) his influence is undeniably infused in our comic DNA.

For me no one else brings power and magic to the comic page like our man Kirby. He is the greatest and I think the final hammer on his FF cover coming up will be a nice reminder for those who have trouble appreciating greatness without dollar signs attached for validation 😢 

K I R B Y 

 

Edited September 4, 2021 by grapeape

[drdroom]

I'll throw in my two bits, in celebration of one of Jack's signature characteristics: his unquenchable desire to keep going, to find out what else is out there.

[glendgold]

On 9/5/2021 at 9:52 PM, drdroom said:

I'll throw in my two bits, in celebration of one of Jack's signature characteristics: his unquenchable desire to keep going, to find out what else is out there.

I mean it's no color guide, but still...

[grapeape]

[rexinnih]

Happy Belated B-Day King Kirby!