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Wikipedia

Jack Kirby

February 07, 2023

For other people named Jack Kirby, see Jack Kirby (disambiguation). Not to be confused with Jack Kilby or Josh Kirby.

Jack Kirby[1] (born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comic book artist, writer and editor, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He grew up in New York City and learned to draw cartoon figures by tracing characters from comic strips and editorial cartoons. He entered the nascent comics industry in the 1930s, drawing various comics features under different pen names, including Jack Curtiss, before ultimately settling on Jack Kirby. In 1940, he and writer-editor Joe Simon created the highly successful superhero character Captain America for Timely Comics, predecessor of Marvel Comics. During the 1940s, Kirby regularly teamed with Simon, creating numerous characters for that company and for National Comics Publications, later to become DC Comics.

Jack Kirby
Kirby in 1992
BornJacob Kurtzberg
(1917-08-28)August 28, 1917
New York City, U.S.
DiedFebruary 6, 1994(1994-02-06) (aged 76)
Thousand Oaks, California, U.S.
Pseudonym(s)
  • Jack Curtiss
  • Curt Davis
  • Lance Kirby
  • Ted Grey
  • Charles Nicholas
  • Fred Sande
  • Teddy
  • The King
Notable works
Awards
Spouse(s)
Roz Goldstein
​
(m. 1942)​
Children4

After serving in the European Theater in World War II, Kirby produced work for DC Comics, Harvey Comics, Hillman Periodicals and other publishers. At Crestwood Publications, he and Simon created the genre of romance comics and later founded their own short-lived comic company, Mainline Publications. Kirby was involved in Timely's 1950s iteration, Atlas Comics, which in the next decade became Marvel. There, in the 1960s, Kirby created many of the company's major characters, including the Fantastic Four, the Hulk, Ant-Man, Thor, Iron Man, the X-Men, the Silver Surfer and the Black Panther, among numerous others. Kirby's titles garnered high sales and critical acclaim, but in 1970, feeling he had been treated unfairly, largely in the realm of authorship credit and creators' rights, Kirby left the company for rival DC.

At DC, Kirby created his Fourth World saga which spanned several comics titles. While these series proved commercially unsuccessful and were canceled, the Fourth World's New Gods have continued as a significant part of the DC Universe. Kirby returned to Marvel briefly in the mid-to-late 1970s, then ventured into television animation and independent comics. In his later years, Kirby, who has been called "the William Blake of comics",[2] began receiving great recognition in the mainstream press for his career accomplishments, and in 1987 he was one of the three inaugural inductees of the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame. In 2017, Kirby was posthumously named a Disney Legend for his creations not only in the field of publishing, but also because those creations formed the basis for The Walt Disney Company's financially and critically successful media franchise, the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Kirby was married to Rosalind Goldstein in 1942. They had four children and remained married until his death from heart failure in 1994, at the age of 76. The Jack Kirby Awards and Jack Kirby Hall of Fame were named in his honor, and he is known as "The King" among comics fans for his many influential contributions to the medium.

Early life (1917–1935)

Jack Kirby was born Jacob Kurtzberg on August 28, 1917, at 147 Essex Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City, where he was raised.[3] His parents, Rose (Bernstein) and Benjamin Kurtzberg,[3] were Austrian-Jewish immigrants, and his father earned a living as a garment factory worker.[4] In his youth, Kirby desired to escape his neighborhood. He liked to draw, and sought out places he could learn more about art.[5] Essentially self-taught,[6] Kirby cited among his influences the comic strip artists Milton Caniff, Hal Foster, and Alex Raymond, as well as such editorial cartoonists as C.H. Sykes, "Ding" Darling, and Rollin Kirby.[6] He was rejected by the Educational Alliance because he drew "too fast with charcoal", according to Kirby. He later found an outlet for his skills by drawing cartoons for the newspaper of the Boys Brotherhood Republic, a "miniature city" on East 3rd Street where street kids ran their own government.[7]

At age 14, Kirby enrolled at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, leaving after a week. "I wasn't the kind of student that Pratt was looking for. They wanted people who would work on something forever. I didn't want to work on any project forever. I intended to get things done".[8]

Career

Entry into comics (1936–1940)

 
Captain America Comics #1 (cover-dated March 1941). Cover art by Kirby and Joe Simon.

Kirby joined the Lincoln Newspaper Syndicate in 1936, working there on newspaper comic strips and on single-panel advice cartoons such as Your Health Comes First!!! (under the pseudonym Jack Curtiss). He remained until late 1939, when he began working for the theatrical animation company Fleischer Studios as an inbetweener (an artist who fills in the action between major-movement frames) on Popeye cartoons at the same time in 1935. He left the studio before the Fleischer strike in 1937.[9] "I went from Lincoln to Fleischer," he recalled. "From Fleischer I had to get out in a hurry because I couldn't take that kind of thing," describing it as "a factory in a sense, like my father's factory. They were manufacturing pictures."[10]

Around that time, the American comic book industry was booming. Kirby began writing and drawing for the comic-book packager Eisner & Iger, one of a handful of firms creating comics on demand for publishers. Through that company, Kirby did what he remembered as his first comic book work, for Wild Boy Magazine.[11] This included such strips as the science fiction adventure "The Diary of Dr. Hayward" (under the pseudonym Curt Davis), the Western crimefighter feature "Wilton of the West" (as Fred Sande), the swashbuckler adventure "The Count of Monte Cristo" (again as Jack Curtiss), and the humor features "Abdul Jones" (as Ted Grey) and "Socko the Seadog" (as Teddy), all variously for Jumbo Comics and other Eisner-Iger clients.[12] He first used the surname Kirby as the pseudonymous Lance Kirby in two "Lone Rider" Western stories in Eastern Color Printing's Famous Funnies #63–64 (Oct.–Nov. 1939).[12] He ultimately settled on the pen name Jack Kirby because it reminded him of actor James Cagney. However, he took offense to those who suggested he changed his name in order to hide his Jewish heritage.[13]

Partnership with Joe Simon

Kirby moved on to comic-book publisher and newspaper syndicator Fox Feature Syndicate, earning a then-reasonable $15-a-week salary. He began to explore superhero narrative with the comic strip The Blue Beetle, published from January to March 1940, starring a character created by the pseudonymous Charles Nicholas, a house name that Kirby retained for the three-month-long strip. During this time, Kirby met and began collaborating with cartoonist and Fox editor Joe Simon, who in addition to his staff work continued to freelance. Simon recalled in 1988, "I loved Jack's work and the first time I saw it I couldn't believe what I was seeing. He asked if we could do some freelance work together. I was delighted and I took him over to my little office. We worked from the second issue of Blue Bolt through ... about 25 years."[14]

After leaving Fox and collaborating on the premiere issue of Fawcett Comics' Captain Marvel Adventures ([March] 1941),[15] the first solo title for the previously introduced superhero, and for which Kirby was told to mimic creator C.C. Beck's drawing style,[16] the duo were hired on staff at pulp magazine publisher Martin Goodman's Timely Comics (later to become Marvel Comics). There Simon and Kirby created the patriotic superhero Captain America in late 1940.[17] Simon, who became the company's editor, with Kirby as art director, said he negotiated with Goodman to give the duo 25 percent of the profits from the feature.[18] The first issue of Captain America Comics, released in early 1941,[19] sold out in days, and the second issue's print run was set at over a million copies. The title's success established the team as a notable creative force in the industry.[20] After the first issue was published, Simon asked Kirby to join the Timely staff as the company's art director.[21]

With the success of the Captain America character, Simon said he felt that Goodman was not paying the pair the promised percentage of profits, and so sought work for the two of them at National Comics Publications (later renamed DC Comics).[18] Kirby and Simon negotiated a deal that would pay them a combined $500 a week, as opposed to the $75 and $85 they respectively earned at Timely.[22] The pair feared Goodman would not pay them if he found they were moving to National, but many people knew of their plan, including Timely editorial assistant Stan Lee. When Goodman eventually discovered it, he told Simon and Kirby to leave after finishing work on Captain America Comics #10.[23] Kirby was bitterly convinced it was specifically Lee who betrayed them, ignoring Simon's willingness to give him the benefit of the doubt.[24]

Kirby and Simon spent their first weeks at National trying to devise new characters while the company sought how best to utilize the pair.[25] After a few failed editor-assigned ghosting assignments, National's Jack Liebowitz told them to "just do what you want". The pair then revamped the Sandman feature in Adventure Comics and created the superhero Manhunter.[26][27] In July 1942 they began the Boy Commandos feature. The ongoing "kid gang" series of the same name, launched later that same year, was the creative team's first National feature to graduate into its own title.[28] It sold over a million copies a month, becoming National's third best-selling title.[29] They scored a hit with the homefront kid-gang team, the Newsboy Legion, featuring in Star-Spangled Comics.[30] In 2010, DC Comics writer and executive Paul Levitz observed that "Like Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the creative team of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby was a mark of quality and a proven track record."[31]

World War II (1943–1945)

 
Kirby in the U.S. Army during World War II

With World War II underway, Liebowitz expected that Simon and Kirby would be drafted, so he asked the artists to create an inventory of material to be published in their absence. The pair hired writers, inkers, letterers, and colorists in order to create a year's worth of material.[29] Kirby was drafted into the U.S. Army on June 7, 1943.[32] After basic training at Camp Stewart, near Savannah, Georgia, he was assigned to Company F of the 11th Infantry Regiment. He landed on Omaha Beach in Normandy on August 23, 1944, 2+1⁄2 months after D-Day,[33] although Kirby's reminiscences would place his arrival just 10 days after.[32] Kirby recalled that a lieutenant, learning that comics artist Kirby was in his command, made him a scout who would advance into towns and draw reconnaissance maps and pictures, an extremely dangerous duty.[34]

Postwar career (1946–1955)

 
Young Romance #1 (Oct. 1947). Cover art by Kirby and Simon.

After the war, Simon arranged work for Kirby and himself at Harvey Comics,[35] where, through the early 1950s, the duo created such titles as the kid-gang adventure Boy Explorers Comics, the kid-gang Western Boys' Ranch, the superhero comic Stuntman, and, in vogue with the fad for 3-D movies, Captain 3-D. Simon and Kirby additionally freelanced for Hillman Periodicals (the crime-fiction comic Real Clue Crime) and for Crestwood Publications (Justice Traps the Guilty).[12]

The team found its greatest success in the postwar period by creating romance comics. Simon, inspired by Macfadden Publications' romantic-confession magazine True Story, transplanted the idea to comic books and with Kirby created a first-issue mock-up of Young Romance.[36] Showing it to Crestwood general manager Maurice Rosenfeld, Simon asked for 50% of the comic's profits. Crestwood publishers Teddy Epstein and Mike Bleier agreed,[36] stipulating that the creators would take no money up front.[37] Young Romance #1 (cover-date Oct. 1947) "became Jack and Joe's biggest hit in years".[38] The pioneering title sold a staggering 92% of its print run, inspiring Crestwood to increase the print run by the third issue to triple the initial number of copies.[39] Initially published bimonthly, Young Romance quickly became a monthly title and produced the spin-off Young Love—together the two titles sold two million copies per month, according to Simon[40]—later joined by Young Brides and In Love, the latter "featuring full-length romance stories".[39] Young Romance spawned dozens of imitators from publishers such as Timely, Fawcett, Quality, and Fox Feature Syndicate. Despite the glut, the Simon and Kirby romance titles continued to sell millions of copies a month.[38]

Bitter that Timely Comics' 1950s iteration, Atlas Comics, had relaunched Captain America in a new series in 1954, Kirby and Simon created Fighting American. Simon recalled, "We thought we'd show them how to do Captain America".[41] While the comic book initially portrayed the protagonist as an anti-Communist dramatic hero, Simon and Kirby turned the series into a superhero satire with the second issue, in the aftermath of the Army-McCarthy hearings and the public backlash against the Red-baiting U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy.[42]

After Simon (1956–1957)

At the urging of a Crestwood salesman, Kirby and Simon launched their own comics company, Mainline Publications,[42][43] securing a distribution deal with Leader News[44] in late 1953 or early 1954, subletting space from their friend Al Harvey's Harvey Publications at 1860 Broadway.[45] Mainline, which existed from 1954 to 1955, published four titles: the Western Bullseye: Western Scout; the war comic Foxhole because EC Comics and Atlas Comics were having success with war comics, but promoting theirs as being written and drawn by actual veterans; In Love because their earlier romance comic Young Love was still being widely imitated; and the crime comic Police Trap, which claimed to be based on genuine accounts by law-enforcement officials.[46] After the duo rearranged and republished artwork from an old Crestwood story in In Love, Crestwood refused to pay the team,[47] who sought an audit of Crestwood's finances. Upon review, the pair's attorneys stated the company owed them $130,000 for work done over the past seven years. Crestwood paid them $10,000 in addition to their recent delayed payments. The partnership between Kirby and Simon had become strained.[48] Simon left the industry for a career in advertising, while Kirby continued to freelance. "He wanted to do other things and I stuck with comics," Kirby recalled in 1971. "It was fine. There was no reason to continue the partnership and we parted friends."[49]

At this point in the mid-1950s, Kirby made a temporary return to the former Timely Comics, now known as Atlas Comics, the direct predecessor of Marvel Comics. Inker Frank Giacoia had approached editor-in-chief Stan Lee for work and suggested he could "get Kirby back here to pencil some stuff.[50] While freelancing for National Comics Publications, the future DC Comics, Kirby drew 20 stories for Atlas from 1956 to 1957: Beginning with the five-page "Mine Field" in Battleground #14 (Nov. 1956), Kirby penciled and in some cases inked (with his wife, Roz) and wrote stories of the Western hero Black Rider, the Fu Manchu-like Yellow Claw, and more.[12][51] But in 1957, distribution troubles caused the "Atlas implosion" that resulted in several series being dropped and no new material being assigned for many months. It would be the following year before Kirby returned to the nascent Marvel.

For DC around this time, Kirby co-created with writers Dick and Dave Wood the non-superpowered adventuring quartet the Challengers of the Unknown in Showcase #6 (Feb. 1957),[52] while contributing to such anthologies as House of Mystery.[12] During 30 months freelancing for DC, Kirby drew slightly more than 600 pages, which included 11 six-page Green Arrow stories in World's Finest Comics and Adventure Comics that, in a rarity, Kirby inked himself.[53] Kirby recast the archer as a science-fiction hero, moving him away from his Batman-formula roots, but in the process alienating Green Arrow co-creator Mort Weisinger.[54]

He began drawing Sky Masters of the Space Force, a newspaper comic strip, written by the Wood brothers and initially inked by the unrelated Wally Wood.[55] Kirby left National Comics Publications due largely to a contractual dispute in which editor Jack Schiff, who had been involved in getting Kirby and the Wood brothers the Sky Masters contract, claimed he was due royalties from Kirby's share of the strip's profits. Schiff successfully sued Kirby.[56] Some DC editors had criticized him over art details, such as not drawing "the shoelaces on a cavalryman's boots" and showing a Native American "mounting his horse from the wrong side."[57]

Marvel Comics in the Silver Age (1958–1970)

Several months later, after his split with DC, Kirby began freelancing regularly for Atlas despite harboring negative sentiments about Stan Lee (the cousin of Timely publisher Martin Goodman's wife), who Kirby believed had disclosed to Timely back in the 1940s that he and Simon were secretly working on a project for National.[58] Because of the poor page rates, Kirby would spend 12 to 14 hours daily at his drawing table at home, producing four to five pages of artwork a day.[59] His first published work at Atlas was the cover of and the seven-page story "I Discovered the Secret of the Flying Saucers" in Strange Worlds #1 (Dec. 1958). Initially with Christopher Rule as his regular inker, and later Dick Ayers, Kirby drew across all genres, from romance comics to war comics to crime comics to Western comics, but made his mark primarily with a series of supernatural-fantasy and science fiction stories featuring giant, drive-in movie-style monsters with names like Groot, the Thing from Planet X;[60] Grottu, King of the Insects;[61] and Fin Fang Foom for the company's many anthology series, such as Amazing Adventures, Strange Tales, Tales to Astonish, Tales of Suspense, and World of Fantasy.[12] His bizarre designs of powerful, unearthly creatures proved a hit with readers. Additionally, he freelanced for Archie Comics around this time, reuniting briefly with Joe Simon to help develop the series The Fly[62] and The Double Life of Private Strong.[63] Additionally, Kirby drew some issues of Classics Illustrated.[12]

It was at Marvel that Kirby hit his stride once again in superhero comics, beginning with The Fantastic Four #1 (Nov. 1961),[12][64] which some have observed shares many elements of Kirby's Challengers of the Unknown.[65] The landmark series became a hit that revolutionized the industry with its comparative naturalism and, eventually, a cosmic purview informed by Kirby's seemingly boundless imagination—one well-matched with the consciousness-expanding youth culture of the 1960s.[66][67] For almost a decade, Kirby provided Marvel's house style, creating many of the Marvel characters and designing their visual motifs. At the editor-in-chief's request, he often provided new-to-Marvel artists "breakdown" layouts, over which they would pencil in order to become acquainted with the Marvel look. As artist Gil Kane described:

Jack was the single most influential figure in the turnaround in Marvel's fortunes from the time he rejoined the company ... It wasn't merely that Jack conceived most of the characters that are being done, but ... Jack's point of view and philosophy of drawing became the governing philosophy of the entire publishing company and, beyond the publishing company, of the entire field ... [Marvel took] Jack and use[d] him as a primer. They would get artists ... and they taught them the ABCs, which amounted to learning Jack Kirby ... Jack was like the Holy Scripture and they simply had to follow him without deviation. That's what was told to me ... It was how they taught everyone to reconcile all those opposing attitudes to one single master point of view.[68]

Highlights of Kirby's tenure also include the Hulk, Thor, the X-Men and Magneto, Doctor Doom, Uatu the Watcher, Ego the Living Planet, the Inhumans[69][70] and their hidden city of Attilan, and the Black Panther,[71][72] comics' first black superhero, and his Afrofuturist nation, Wakanda.[73] Kirby initially was assigned to pencil the first Spider-Man story, but when he showed Lee the first six pages, Lee recalled, "I hated the way he was doing it! Not that he did it badly—it just wasn't the character I wanted; it was too heroic".[74]: 12  Lee then turned to Steve Ditko to draw the story that would appear in Amazing Fantasy #15, for which Kirby nonetheless penciled the cover.[75] Lee and Kirby gathered several of their newly created characters together into the team title The Avengers[76][77] and would bring back old characters from the 1940s such as the Sub-Mariner[78] and Captain America.[79] In later years, Lee and Kirby would contest who deserved credit for such creations as The Fantastic Four.[80]

 
Fantastic Four #72 (March 1968). Cover art by Kirby and Joe Sinnott, illustrating Kirby Krackle.

The story frequently cited as Lee and Kirby's finest achievement[81][82] is "The Galactus Trilogy" in Fantastic Four #48–50 (March–May 1966), chronicling the arrival of Galactus, a cosmic giant who wanted to devour the planet, and his herald, the Silver Surfer.[83][84] Fantastic Four #48 was chosen as #24 in the 100 Greatest Marvels of All Time poll of Marvel's readers in 2001. Editor Robert Greenberger wrote in his introduction to the story that "As the fourth year of the Fantastic Four came to a close, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby seemed to be only warming up. In retrospect, it was perhaps the most fertile period of any monthly title during the Marvel Age."[85] Comics historian Les Daniels noted that "[t]he mystical and metaphysical elements that took over the saga were perfectly suited to the tastes of young readers in the 1960s", and Lee soon discovered that the story was a favorite on college campuses.[86] Kirby continued to expand the medium's boundaries, devising photo-collage covers and interiors, developing new drawing techniques such as the method for depicting energy fields now known as "Kirby Krackle", and other experiments.[87]

In 1968 and 1969, Joe Simon was involved in litigation with Marvel Comics over the ownership of Captain America, initiated by Marvel after Simon registered the copyright renewal for Captain America in his own name. According to Simon, Kirby agreed to support the company in the litigation and, as part of a deal Kirby made with publisher Martin Goodman, signed over to Marvel any rights he might have had to the character.[88]

At this same time, Kirby grew increasingly dissatisfied with working at Marvel, for reasons Kirby biographer Mark Evanier has suggested include resentment over Lee's media prominence, a lack of full creative control, anger over breaches of perceived promises by publisher Martin Goodman, and frustration over Marvel's failure to credit him specifically for his story plotting and for his character creations and co-creations.[89] He began to both write and draw some secondary features for Marvel, such as "The Inhumans" in Amazing Adventures volume two,[90] as well as horror stories for the anthology title Chamber of Darkness, and received full credit for doing so; but in 1970, Kirby was presented with a contract that included unfavorable terms such as a prohibition against legal retaliation. When Kirby objected, the management refused to negotiate any contract changes, bluntly dismissing his contribution to Marvel's success since they considered Lee solely responsible.[91] Kirby, although he was earning $35,000 a year freelancing for the company[92] (adjusted for inflation, the equivalent of almost $234,000 in 2021),[93] subsequently left Marvel in 1970 for rival DC Comics, under editorial director Carmine Infantino.[94]

DC Comics and the Fourth World saga (1971–1975)

 
The New Gods#1 (March 1971) Cover art by Kirby and Don Heck.

Kirby spent nearly two years negotiating a deal to move to DC Comics,[95] where in late 1970 he signed a three-year contract with an option for two additional years.[96] He produced a series of interlinked titles under the blanket sobriquet "The Fourth World", which included a trilogy of new titles — New Gods, Mister Miracle, and The Forever People — as well as the extant Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen.[12][94][97] Kirby picked the latter book because the series was without a stable creative team and he did not want to cost anyone a job.[98][99]

The three books Kirby originated dealt with aspects of mythology he had previously touched upon in Thor. The New Gods would establish this new mythos, while in The Forever People Kirby would attempt to mythologize the lives of the young people he observed around him. The third book, Mister Miracle was more of a personal myth. The title character was an escape artist, which Mark Evanier suggests Kirby channeled his feelings of constraint into. Mister Miracle's wife was based in character on Kirby's wife Roz, and he even caricatured Stan Lee within the pages of the book as Funky Flashman, a depiction Lee found hurtful while Kirby tried to downplay the insult when confronted about it by Lee's protege, Roy Thomas, who was similarly insulted with Flashman's sidekick, Houseroy.[100][101]

The central villain of the Fourth World series, Darkseid, and some of the Fourth World concepts, appeared in Jimmy Olsen before the launch of the other Fourth World books, giving the new titles greater exposure to potential buyers. The Superman figures and Jimmy Olsen faces drawn by Kirby were redrawn by Al Plastino, and later by Murphy Anderson.[102][103] Les Daniels observed in 1995 that "Kirby's mix of slang and myth, science fiction and the Bible, made for a heady brew, but the scope of his vision has endured."[104] In 2007, comics writer Grant Morrison commented that "Kirby's dramas were staged across Jungian vistas of raw symbol and storm ... The Fourth World saga crackles with the voltage of Jack Kirby's boundless imagination let loose onto paper."[105]

In addition to his artistic efforts, Kirby proposed a variety of new formats for comics such as planning to collect his published Fourth World stories into square-bound books, a format that would later be called the trade paperback, which would eventually become standard practice in the industry. However, Infantino and company were not receptive and Kirby's proposals only went as far as producing the one-shot black-and-white magazines Spirit World and In the Days of the Mob in 1971.[106]

Kirby later produced other DC series such as OMAC,[107] Kamandi,[108] The Demon,[109] and Kobra,[110] and worked on such extant features as "The Losers" in Our Fighting Forces.[111] Together with former partner Joe Simon for one last time, he worked on a new incarnation of the Sandman.[12][112] Kirby produced three issues of the 1st Issue Special anthology series and created Atlas the Great,[113] a new Manhunter,[114] and the Dingbats of Danger Street.[115]

Kirby's production assistant of the time, Mark Evanier, recounted that DC's policies of the era were not in sync with Kirby's creative impulses, and that he was often forced to work on characters and projects he did not like.[103] Meanwhile, some artists at DC did not want Kirby there, as he threatened their positions in the company; they also had bad blood from previous competition with Marvel and legal problems with him. Since he was working from California, they were able to undermine his work through redesigns in the New York office.[116]

Return to Marvel (1976–1978)

At the comic book convention Marvelcon '75, in 1975, Stan Lee used a Fantastic Four panel discussion to announce that Kirby was returning to Marvel after having left in 1970 to work for DC Comics. Lee wrote in his monthly column, "Stan Lee's Soapbox", "I mentioned that I had a special announcement to make. As I started telling about Jack's return, to a totally incredulous audience, everyone's head started to snap around as Kirby himself came waltzin' down the aisle to join us on the rostrum! You can imagine how it felt clownin' around with the co-creator of most of Marvel's greatest strips once more."[117]

Back at Marvel, Kirby both wrote and drew the monthly Captain America series[118] as well as the Captain America's Bicentennial Battles one-shot in the oversized treasury format.[119] He created the series The Eternals,[120] which featured a race of inscrutable alien giants, the Celestials, whose behind-the-scenes intervention in primordial humanity would eventually become a core element of Marvel Universe continuity. He produced an adaptation and expansion of the film 2001: A Space Odyssey,[121] as well as an abortive attempt to do the same for the classic television series The Prisoner.[122] He wrote and drew Black Panther and drew numerous covers across the line.[12]

Kirby's other Marvel creations in this period include Machine Man[123] and Devil Dinosaur.[124] Kirby's final comics collaboration with Stan Lee, The Silver Surfer: The Ultimate Cosmic Experience, was published in 1978 as part of the Marvel Fireside Books series and is considered Marvel's first graphic novel.[125]

Film and animation (1979–1980)

Still dissatisfied with Marvel's treatment of him,[126] and with an offer of employment from Hanna-Barbera, aided by the fact that he lived close in the same city[127] Kirby left Marvel to work in animation. In that field for Ruby-Spears Productions he did designs for Turbo Teen, Thundarr the Barbarian and other animated series for television.[103] In addition to a superior pay to his comics work, Kirby enjoyed excellent relations with the staff, especially with the younger artists who typically credited him as their inspiration.[128] He worked on The New Fantastic Four animated series, reuniting him with scriptwriter Stan Lee and they kept their relations sufficiently cordial on a professional level.[129] He illustrated an adaptation of the Walt Disney movie The Black Hole for Walt Disney's Treasury of Classic Tales syndicated comic strip in 1979–80.[130]

In 1979, Kirby drew concept art for film producer Barry Geller's script treatment adapting Roger Zelazny's science fiction novel, Lord of Light, for which Geller had purchased the rights. In collaboration, Geller commissioned Kirby to draw set designs that would be used as architectural renderings for a Colorado theme park to be called Science Fiction Land; Geller announced his plans at a November press conference attended by Kirby, former American football star Rosey Grier, writer Ray Bradbury, and others. While the film did not come to fruition, Kirby's drawings were used for the CIA's "Canadian Caper", in which some members of the U.S. embassy in Tehran, Iran, who had avoided capture in the Iran hostage crisis, were able to escape the country posing as members of a movie location-scouting crew.[131]

Final years (1981–1994)

 
Topps Comics' Bombast #1 (April 1993). Cover art by Kirby.

In the early 1980s, Kirby and Pacific Comics, a new, non-newsstand comic-book publisher, made one of the industry's earliest deals for creator-owned series, resulting in Captain Victory and the Galactic Rangers,[132][133] and the six-issue miniseries Silver Star (later collected in hardcover format in 2007).[134][135][136] This, together with similar actions by other independent comics publishers as Eclipse Comics (where Kirby co-created the character Destroyer Duck in a benefit comic-book series published to help Steve Gerber fight a legal case against Marvel),[137] helped establish a precedent to end the monopoly of the work-for-hire system, wherein comics creators, even freelancers, had owned no rights to characters they created.[138]

In 1983 Richard Kyle commissioned Kirby to create a 10-page autobiographical strip, "Street Code", which became one of the last works published in Kirby's lifetime. It was published in 1990, in the second issue of Kyle's revival of Argosy.[139] Kirby continued to do periodic work for DC Comics during the 1980s, including a brief revival of his "Fourth World" saga in the 1984 and 1985 Super Powers miniseries[140] and the 1985 graphic novel The Hunger Dogs. DC executives Jenette Kahn and Paul Levitz had Kirby re-design the Fourth World characters for the Super Powers toyline as a way of entitling him to royalties for several of his DC creations.[141] In 1985, Kirby and Gil Kane helped to create the concept and designs for the Ruby-Spears animated television series The Centurions. A comic-book series based on the show was published by DC and a toy line produced by Kenner.[142]

In the twilight of his life, Kirby spent a great deal of time sparring with Marvel executives over the ownership rights of his original page boards. At Marvel, many of these pages owned by the company (due to outdated and legally dubious copyright claims) were given away as promotional gifts to Marvel clients or simply stolen from company warehouses.[143] After the passage of the Copyright Act of 1976, which greatly expanded artist copyright capabilities, comics publishers began to return original art to creators, but in Marvel's case only if they signed a release reaffirming Marvel's ownership of the copyright. In 1985, Marvel issued a release that demanded Kirby affirm that his art was created for hire, allowing Marvel to retain copyright in perpetuity, in addition to demanding that Kirby forego all future royalties. Marvel offered him 88 pages of his art (less than 1% of his total output) if he signed the agreement, but reserved the right to reclaim the art if Kirby violated the deal.[144] After Kirby publicly slammed Marvel, calling the company thugs and claiming they were arbitrarily holding his creations, Marvel finally returned (after two years of deliberations) approximately 1,900[145] or 2,100 pages of the estimated 10,000 to 13,000 Kirby drew for the company.[146][147]

For the producer Charles Band, Jack Kirby made concept art for the films Doctor Mortalis and Mindmaster, which would later be released as Doctor Mordrid (1992) and Mandroid (1993), respectively.[148] Doctor Mordrid began as a planned adaptation of the Marvel Comics character Dr. Strange, but Band's option expired.[149][150]

For Topps Comics, founded in 1993, Kirby retained ownership of characters used in multiple series of what the company dubbed "The Kirbyverse".[151] These titles were derived mainly from designs and concepts Kirby had kept in his files, some intended initially for the by-then-defunct Pacific Comics, and then licensed to Topps for what became the "Jack Kirby's Secret City Saga" mythos.[152] Phantom Force was the last comic book Kirby worked on before his death. The story was co-written by Kirby with Michael Thibodeaux and Richard French, based on an eight-page pitch for an unused Bruce Lee comic in 1978.[153] Issues #1 and 2 were published by Image Comics with various Image artists inking over Kirby's pencils. Issue #0 and issues #3-8 were published by Genesis West, with Kirby providing pencils for issues #0 and 4. Thibodeaux provided the art for the remaining issues of the series after Kirby died.[154]

Personal life and death

In the early 1940s, Kirby and his family moved to Brooklyn. There, Kirby met Rosalind "Roz" Goldstein, who lived in the same apartment building. The pair began dating soon afterward.[155] Kirby proposed to Goldstein on her 18th birthday, and the two became engaged.[156] They married on May 23, 1942.[157] The couple had four children together: Susan (b. December 6, 1945),[158] Neal (b. May 1948),[38] Barbara (b. November 1952),[159] and Lisa (b. September 1960).[158][160]

After being drafted into the U.S. Army and serving in the European Theater in World War II,[161] Kirby corresponded with his wife regularly by v-mail, with Roz sending daily letters while she worked in a lingerie shop and lived with her mother[162] at 2820 Brighton 7th Street in Brooklyn.[163] During the winter of 1944, Kirby suffered severe frostbite and was taken to a hospital in London for recovery. Doctors considered amputating Kirby's legs, which had turned black, but he eventually recovered and was able to walk again.[164] He returned to the United States in January 1945, assigned to Camp Butner in North Carolina, where he spent the last six months of his service as part of the motor pool. Kirby was honorably discharged as a private first class on July 20, 1945, having received a Combat Infantryman Badge, a European/African/Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with a bronze Battle Star.[165][166]

In 1949, Kirby bought a house for his family in Mineola, New York, on Long Island.[38] This would be the family's home for the next 20 years, with Kirby working out of a basement studio just 10 feet (3.0 m) wide, which the family referred to jocularly as "The Dungeon".[167] He moved the family to Southern California in early 1969, both to live in a drier climate for the sake of daughter Lisa's health, and to be closer to the Hollywood studios Kirby believed might provide work.[168]

In an interview, Kirby's granddaughter Jillian Kirby said Kirby was a "liberal Democrat".[169]

On February 6, 1994, Kirby died at age 76 of heart failure in his Thousand Oaks, California, home.[170] He was buried at Valley Oaks Memorial Park in Westlake Village, California.

Artistic style and achievements

Brent Staples wrote in the New York Times:

He created a new grammar of storytelling and a cinematic style of motion. Once-wooden characters cascaded from one frame to another—or even from page to page—threatening to fall right out of the book into the reader's lap. The force of punches thrown was visibly and explosively evident. Even at rest, a Kirby character pulsed with tension and energy in a way that makes movie versions of the same characters seem static by comparison.[171]

Jack Kirby has been referred to as the "superhero of style", his artwork described by John Carlin in Masters of American Comics as "deliberately primitive and bombastic",[172] and elsewhere has been compared to Cubist,[173] Futurist, Primitivist and outsider art.[174] His contributions to the comic book form, including the many characters he created or co-created and the many genres he worked on have led to him being referred to as the definitive comic book artist.[175] Given the number of places Kirby's artwork can now be found, the toys based on his designs, and the success of the movies based upon his work, Charles Hatfield and Ben Saunders declare him "one of the chief architects of the American imagination."[176] He was regarded as a hard working artist, and it has been calculated that he drew at least 20,318 pages of published art and a further 1,385 covers in his career. He published 1,158 pages in 1962 alone.[177] Kirby defined comics in two periods. His work in the early 1940s with Joe Simon on the Captain America strip, and then his superhero comics of the 1960s with Stan Lee at Marvel Comics and on his own at DC Comics.[178] Kirby also created stories in almost every genre of comics, from the autobiographical Street Code to the apocalyptic science fiction fantasy of Kamandi.[179]

Narrative approach to comics

Like many of his contemporaries, Kirby was hugely indebted to Milton Caniff, Hal Foster and Alex Raymond, who codified many of the tropes of narrative art in adventure comic strips. It has also been suggested that Kirby drew from Burne Hogarth, whose dynamic figure work may have informed the way Kirby drew figures; "his ferocious bounding, and grotesquely articulated figures seem directly descended from Hogarth's dynamically contorted forms."[180] His style drew on these influences, all major artists at the time Kirby was learning his craft, with Caniff, Foster and Raymond between them imparting to the sequential adventure comic strip a highly illustrative approach based on realizing the setting to a very high degree. Where Kirby diverged from these influences, and where his style impacted on the formation of comic book art, was in his move away from an illustrated approach to one that was more dynamic. Kirby's artistic style was one that captured energy and motion within the image, synergizing with the text and helping to serve the narrative. In contrast, successors to the illustrative approach, such as Gil Kane, found their work eventually reach an impasse. The art would illustrate, but in lacking movement caused the reader to contemplate the art as much as the written word. Later artists such as Bryan Hitch and Alex Ross combined the Kirby and Kane approaches, using highly realistic backgrounds contrasted with dynamic characters to create what became known as a widescreen approach to comics.[181]

Kirby's dynamism and energy served to push the reader through the story where an illustrative, detailed approach would cause the eye to linger.[182] His reduction of the presentation of a given scene down to one that represents the semblance of movement has led Kirby to be described as cinematic in his style.[183] Having worked at Fleischer Studios before coming to comics, Kirby had a grounding in animation techniques for producing motion. He also realized that comic books were not subject to the same constraints as the newspaper strip. While other comic book artists recreated the layouts that format used, Kirby swiftly utilized the space a whole comic book page created.[178] As Ron Goulart describes, "(h)e broke up the pages in new ways and introduced splash panels that stretched across two pages."[184] Kirby himself described the creation of his dynamic style as a reaction both to the cinema and to the urge to create and compete: "I found myself competing with the movie camera. I had to compete with the camera. I felt like John Henry ... I tore my characters out of the panels. I made them jump all over the page. I tried to make that cohesive so that it would be easier to read ... I had to get my characters in extreme positions, and in doing so I created an extreme style which was recognizable by everybody."[185]

Style

 
Fantastic Four #51 (June 1966) p. 14. Collage and pencilled figure by Jack Kirby, inks by Joe Sinnott, letters by Artie Simek, dialogue by Stan Lee, illustrating Kirby's use of collage

In the early 1940s Kirby would at times disregard panel borders. A character would be drawn in one panel, but their shoulder and arm would extend outside the border, into the gutter and sometimes on top of a nearby panel. A character may be punched out of one panel, feet being in the original panel and body in the next. Panels themselves would overlap, and Kirby would find new ways to arrange panels on a comic book page. His figures were depicted as lithe and graceful, although Kirby would place them thrusting from the page towards the reader.[186][174][187] The late 1940s and 1950s saw Kirby move away from superhero comics and, working with Joe Simon, try his hand at a number of genres. Kirby and Simon created the romance comics genre, and working in this as well as the war, Western and crime genres saw Kirby's style change. He left behind the diverse panel framing and layouts. The nature of these genres enabled him to channel the energy into the posing and blocking of characters, forcing the drama into the constraints of the panel.[174]

When Kirby and Stan Lee came together at Marvel Comics, his art developed again. His characters and representations became more abstract, less anatomically correct. He would place figures across three planes of a panel's depth to suggest three dimensions.[188] His backgrounds would be less detailed where he did not want the eye to be drawn.[189] His figures would move actively along diagonals,[188] and he utilized foreshortening to make a character appear to recede more deeply into the panel, so that they appeared to move towards the reader, off the page.[187][190][191] During the 1960s Kirby also developed a talent for creating collages, initially utilizing them within the pages of The Fantastic Four. He introduced the Negative Zone as a place within the Marvel Universe that would only be illustrated via collage. However, the reproduction within the published comics of the collages, coupled with the low page rate he was being paid and the time they took to develop saw their use discarded.[192] Kirby would later return to the use of collage in his Fourth World work at DC Comics. Here he used them most often in the pages of Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen.[193]

Kirby's style in the late 1960s was regarded so highly by Stan Lee that he instituted it as Marvel's house style. Lee would instruct other artists to draw more like Jack, and would also assign them books to work on using Kirby's breakdowns of the story so that they could more closely hew to Kirby's style.[194] Over time, Kirby's style has become so well known that imitations, homages and pastiche are referred to as Kirbyesque.[195][196][197][198]

Kirby Krackle, also referred to as Kirby Dots,[199] is Kirby's artistic convention of depicting the effect of energy. Within the drawing, a field of black, pseudo-fractal images is used to represent negative space around unspecified kinds of energy.[200][201] Kirby Krackles are typically used in illustrations of explosions, smoke, the blasts from ray guns, "cosmic" energy, and outer space phenomena.[202] The advanced technology Kirby drew, from the Afrofuturistic state of Wakanda through the Mother Boxes of the New Gods to the spaceships and design of the Celestials is gathered together under the collective term "Kirby Tech".[203][204] John Paul Leon has described it as "It's tech; it's mechanical even if it's alien, but it's drawn in such an organic way that you don't question it. It's just an extension of his world. I'm not sure who else you could say did that."[205] Kirby's depiction of technology is linked by Charles Hatfield to Leo Marx's idea of the technological sublime, specifically utilizing Edmund Burke's definition of the Sublime. Using this definition, Kirby's view and depiction of technology is that of it as something to be feared.[206]

Working method

 
Jack Kirby's detailed pencils for the splash page to The Demon #1 DC Comics (September 1972)

Unlike many of his contemporaries, Kirby did not use preliminary sketches, rough work or layouts. He would instead start with the blank board and draw the story onto the page from top to bottom, start to finish. Many artists, including Carmine Infantino, Gil Kane and Jim Steranko have remarked on the unusual nature of his method. Kirby would rarely erase while working; the art, and therefore the story, would flow from him almost fully formed.[207] Kirby's pencils had a reputation for being detailed, to the point that they were difficult to ink.[208][209] Will Eisner remembers even in the early years that Kirby's pencils were "tight".[210] Working for Eisner, Kirby initially inked with a pen, not confident enough in his ability to use the Japanese brushes Lou Fine and Eisner preferred.[211] By the time Kirby worked with Joe Simon, Kirby had taught himself to use a brush, and would on occasion ink over inked work where he felt it was needed.[212]

Due to the amount of work Kirby produced, it was rare for him to ink his own work. Instead the pencilled pages were sent on to an inker. Different inkers would therefore impact on the published version of Kirby's art, with Kirby himself noting that individual inkers were suited to different genres.[213] For a period during the 1950s, when work had dried up, it's been suggested by Harry Mendryk that Kirby inked himself.[214] By the late 1960s, Kirby preferred to pencil, feeling that "inking in itself is a separate kind of art."[213] Stan Lee recalls Kirby not really being too interested in who inked him: "I cared much more about who inked Kirby than Kirby did ... Kirby never seemed to care who inked him ... I think Kirby felt his style was so strong that it just didn't matter who inked him".[215] Chic Stone, an inker of Kirby's during the 1960s at Marvel, recalled "(T)he two best [inkers] for Jack were Mike Royer and Steve Rude. Both truly maintained the integrity of Jack's pencils."[216]

The size of the art board made a difference to Kirby's style. During the late 1960s the industry shrunk the size of the art board artists used. Prior to 1967, art boards were around 14 x 21 inches, being reproduced at 7 x 10 inches. After 1967 the size of the board shrunk to 10 x 15.[217] This affected the way Kirby drew. Gil Kane noted that "the amount of space around the figures became less and less ... The figures became bigger and bigger, and they couldn't be contained by a single panel or even a single page".[218] Professor Craig Fischer asserts Kirby at first "hated" the new size.[219] Fischer argues that it took Kirby around 18 months to negotiate a way of working at the smaller size. Initially he retreated to a less detailed, close up style, as seen in Fantastic Four #68. In adjusting to the new size, Kirby began utilizing depth to bring the pages to life, increasing his use of foreshortening.[219] By the time Kirby had moved to DC, he started to incorporate the use of two-page spreads into his art more. These spreads helped define the mood of the story, and came to define Kirby's late era work.[220]

Exhibitions and original art

Kirby's art has been exhibited as part of the Masters of American Comics joint exhibition by The Hammer Museum and Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles from November 2005 to March 2006.[221] In 2015 Charles Hatfield curated the "Comic Book Apocalypse" exhibition at the California State University, Northridge Art Galleries. The exhibition focused on Kirby's work from 1965 onward.[222] In 2018 "A Jack Kirby Odyssey" was organized by Tom Kraft. The exhibition displayed photocopies of unpublished Kirby pencils for stories intended for publication in the 2001: A Space Odyssey comic book adaptation series as well as reproductions of the published work.[223] In 1994 The Cartoon Art Trust organized an exhibition in London of Kirby art, "Jack Kirby: The King of Comic Books", in the wake of Kirby's death.[224] In 2010 Dan Nadel and Paul Gravett curated "Jack Kirby: The House That Jack Built", a retrospective of Kirby's career from 1942 to 1985. The exhibition was part of the Fumetto International Comics Festival held in Lucerne, Switzerland.[225]

Kirby's original art regularly sells at auction, with Heritage Auctions listing the cover of Tales of Suspense #84, inked by Frank Giacoia as realizing a price of $167,300 in a February 2014 auction.[226] A large portion of Kirby's art remains unaccounted for. Work created around World War II would have been reused or pulped due to paper shortages. DC Comics had a policy of destroying original art in the 1950s. Marvel Comics would also destroy art, up until 1960, when it stored artwork prior to a policy which saw art returned to the artist. In Kirby's case, it's reported he was returned roughly 2,100 pieces of the estimated 10,000 pages drawn. The whereabouts of these missing pages are unknown, although some do turn up for sale, provenance unknown.[227][228]

Kirby's estate

Subsequent releases

 
Kirby in the 1980s

Lisa Kirby announced in early 2006 that she and co-writer Steve Robertson, with artist Mike Thibodeaux, planned to publish via the Marvel Comics Icon imprint a six-issue limited series, Jack Kirby's Galactic Bounty Hunters, featuring characters and concepts created by her father for Captain Victory.[160] The series, scripted by Lisa Kirby, Robertson, Thibodeaux, and Richard French, with pencil art by Jack Kirby and Thibodeaux, and inking by Scott Hanna and Karl Kesel primarily, ran an initial five issues (Sept. 2006–Jan. 2007) and then a later final issue (Sept. 2007).[229]

Marvel posthumously published a "lost" Kirby/Lee Fantastic Four story, Fantastic Four: The Lost Adventure (April 2008), with unused pages Kirby had originally drawn for a story that was partially published in Fantastic Four #108 (March 1971).[230][231]

In 2011, Dynamite Entertainment published Kirby: Genesis, an eight-issue miniseries by writer Kurt Busiek and artists Jack Herbert and Alex Ross, featuring Kirby-owned characters previously published by Pacific Comics and Topps Comics.[232][233]

Copyright dispute

On September 16, 2009,[234] Kirby's four children served notices of termination to The Walt Disney Studios, 20th Century Fox, Universal Pictures, Paramount Pictures, and Sony Pictures to attempt to gain control of various Silver Age Marvel characters.[235][236] Marvel sought to invalidate those claims.[237][238] In mid-March 2010 Kirby's children "sued Marvel to terminate copyrights and gain profits from [Kirby's] comic creations."[239] In July 2011, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York issued a summary judgment in favor of Marvel,[234][240] which was affirmed in August 2013 by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.[241] The Kirby children filed a petition on March 21, 2014, for a review of the case by the Supreme Court of the United States,[242][243] but a settlement was reached on September 26, 2014, and the family requested that the petition be dismissed.[244] While the settlement has left uncertain the legal right to works governed by the Copyright Act of 1909 created before the Copyright Act of 1976 came into force, the Kirby children's attorney, Marc Toberoff, said (in 2014) that the issue of creators' rights to reclaim the work done as independent contractors remains, and other potential claims have yet to become ripe.[245]

Legacy

 
 
  • Glen David Gold wrote in Masters of American Comics that, "Kirby elevates all of us into a realm where we fly among the beating wings of the immortal and the omnipotent, the gods and the monsters, so that we, dreamers all, can play host to the demons of creation, can become our own myths.[246]
  • Michael Chabon, in his afterword to his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, a fictional account of two early comics pioneers, wrote, "I want to acknowledge the deep debt I owe in this and everything else I've ever written to the work of the late Jack Kirby, the King of Comics."[247]
  • Director James Cameron said Kirby inspired the look of his film Aliens, calling it "not intentional in the sense I sat down and looked at all my favorite comics and studied them for this film, but, yeah, Kirby's work was definitely in my subconscious programming. The guy was a visionary. Absolutely. And he could draw machines like nobody's business. He was sort of like A. E. van Vogt and some of these other science-fiction writers who are able to create worlds that — even though we live in a science-fictionary world today — are still so far beyond what we're experiencing."[248]
  • Several Kirby images are among those on the "Marvel Super Heroes" set of commemorative stamps issued by the U.S. Postal Service on July 27, 2007.[249] Ten of the stamps are portraits of individual Marvel characters and the other 10 stamps depict individual Marvel comic book covers. According to the credits printed on the back of the pane, Kirby's artwork is featured on: Captain America, The Thing, Silver Surfer, The Amazing Spider-Man #1, The Incredible Hulk #1, Captain America #100, The X-Men #1, and The Fantastic Four #3.[171][249]
  • In the 1990s Superman: The Animated Series television show, police detective Dan Turpin was modeled on Kirby.[250]
  • In the 1998 episode "The Demon Within" of The New Batman Adventures, Klarion has Etrigan break into the Kirby Cake Company. Both characters were created by Kirby.
  • In 2002, jazz percussionist Gregg Bendian released a seven-track CD titled Requiem for Jack Kirby, inspired by Kirby's art and storytelling. Titles of the instrumental cuts include "Kirby's Fourth World", "New Gods", "The Mother Box", "Teaneck in the Marvel Age" and "Air Above Zenn-La".[251]
  • The Cartoon Network/Adult Swim series Minoriteam uses artwork as a homage to Jack Kirby (credited under Jack "The King" Kirby, who is thanked in the show's end credits).
  • Various comic-book and cartoon creators have done homages to Kirby. Examples include the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Mirage Comics series ("Kirby and the Warp Crystal" in Donatello #1, and its animated counterpart, "The King", from the 2003 cartoon series). The episode of Superman: The Animated Series entitled "Apokolips ... Now!, Part 2" was dedicated to his memory.[252][253]
  • As of June 2018, Hollywood films based on characters Kirby co-created have collectively earned nearly US$7.4 billion.[254] Kirby himself is a character portrayed by Luis Yagüe in the 2009 Spanish short film The King & the Worst, which is inspired by Kirby's service in World War II.[255] He is portrayed by Michael Parks in a brief appearance in the fact-based drama Argo (2012), about the Canadian Caper.[256]
  • A play based on Kirby's life, King Kirby, by Crystal Skillman and New York Times bestselling comics writer Fred Van Lente, was staged at Brooklyn's Brick Theater as part of its annual Comic Book Theater Festival. The play was a New York Times Critics' Pick selection and was funded by a widely publicized Kickstarter campaign.[257][258]
  • The 2016 novel I Hate the Internet frequently mentions Kirby as a "central personage" of the novel.[259]
  • To mark Jack Kirby's 100th birthday in 2017, DC Comics announced a series of one-shots involving characters that Kirby had created, including The Newsboy Legion and the Boy Commandos, Manhunter, Sandman, the New Gods, Darkseid, and ending with The Black Racer and Shilo Norman.[260]
  • In May 2004, in Fantastic Four issue #511 (written by Mark Waid and penciled by Mike Weiringo), Reed, Sue, and Johnny travel to Heaven to recover the soul of the deceased Ben Grimm. After passing a trial, they are allowed to meet God himself, who is depicted as Jack Kirby. God explains that he is seen by them as what he is to them, and that he considers the fact that they see him as Kirby to be an honor.
  • Alan Moore delivers his tribute to Jack Kirby in his next-to-last issue of the Supreme series, Supreme #62 (The Return #6) "New Jack City" (March 2000), illustrated by Rob Liefeld and, for the Kirbyesque part, Rick Veitch. In this story Supreme enters a realm of pure ideas where he meets a gigantic floating Jack Kirby head, smoking a cigar. "This gigantic entity explains to him that he used to be a flesh and blood artist but now he is entirely in the realm of ideas, which is much better because flesh and blood has its limitations because he can only do four or five pages a day tops, where now he exists purely in the world of ideas".[261]
  • The Disney California Adventure attraction Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: Breakout! is surrounded by markings on the ground that serve as a tribute to the Kirby Krackle.[262]

Filmography

  • Kirby guest starred in the episode "Bounty Hunter" of Starsky & Hutch as an Officer.
  • Kirby made an un-credited cameo appearance in the episode "No Escape" of The Incredible Hulk. He can be spotted in the hospital scene as a police sketch artist who is recreating, from the a witness's description, a picture of the man he claimed to have saved his life. Instead of resembling the live-action Hulk, this illustration is instantly recognizable as the Hulk as he appeared in the original comics.
  • Kirby appeared as himself in the episode "You Can't Win" of Bob.

Awards and honors

Jack Kirby received a great deal of recognition over the course of his career, including the 1967 Alley Award for Best Pencil Artist.[263] The following year he was runner-up behind Jim Steranko. His other Alley Awards were:

  • 1963: Favorite Short Story – "The Human Torch Meets Captain America", by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, Strange Tales #114[264]
  • 1964:[265]
    • Best Novel – "Captain America Joins the Avengers", by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, from The Avengers #4
    • Best New Strip or Book – "Captain America", by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, in Tales of Suspense
  • 1965: Best Short Story – "The Origin of the Red Skull", by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, Tales of Suspense #66[266]
  • 1966: Best Professional Work, Regular Short Feature – "Tales of Asgard" by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, in Thor[267]
  • 1967: Best Professional Work, Regular Short Feature – (tie) "Tales of Asgard" and "Tales of the Inhumans", both by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, in Thor[263]
  • 1968:[268]
    • Best Professional Work, Best Regular Short Feature – "Tales of the Inhumans", by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, in Thor
    • Best Professional Work, Hall of Fame – Fantastic Four, by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby; Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., by Jim Steranko[268]

Kirby won a Shazam Award for Special Achievement by an Individual in 1971 for his "Fourth World" series in Forever People, New Gods, Mister Miracle, and Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen.[269] He received an Inkpot Award in 1974[270] and was inducted into the Shazam Awards Hall of Fame in 1975.[271] In 1987 he was an inaugural inductee into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame.[272] He received the 1993 Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award at that year's Eisner Awards.[273]

His work was honored posthumously in 1998: The collection of his New Gods material, Jack Kirby's New Gods, edited by Bob Kahan, won both the Harvey Award for Best Domestic Reprint Project,[274] and the Eisner Award for Best Archival Collection/Project.[275] On July 14, 2017, Jack Kirby was named a Disney Legend for his part in the creation of numerous characters that would comprise Disney's Marvel Cinematic Universe.[276]

The Jack Kirby Awards and Jack Kirby Hall of Fame were named in his honor.[277][278][279] He was the posthumous recipient of the Bill Finger Award in 2017.[280]

With Will Eisner, Robert Crumb, Harvey Kurtzman, Gary Panter and Chris Ware, Kirby was among the artists honored in the exhibition "Masters of American Comics" at the Jewish Museum in New York City from September 16, 2006, to January 28, 2007.[281][282]

Asteroid 51985 Kirby, discovered September 22, 2001, was named in his honor.[283] A crater on Mercury, located near the north pole, was named in his honor in 2019.[284]

Bibliography

Main article: Jack Kirby bibliography

This is an abridged listing of Kirby's comics work (interior pencil art) for the two main comics publishers, DC Comics and Marvel Comics. For his work at DC it lists any title Kirby worked on for eight or more issues between 1970 and 1976. Of his Marvel Comics work, it lists any title Kirby worked on for eight or more issues between 1959 and 1978.

DC Comics

Marvel Comics

References

Citations

  1. ^ Video on YouTube
  2. ^ Morrison, Grant (July 23, 2011). "My Supergods from the Age of the Superhero". The Guardian. London, United Kingdom. from the original on February 24, 2012. Retrieved July 23, 2011.
  3. ^ a b Evanier, Mark; Sherman, Steve; et al. (March 20, 2008). "Jack Kirby Biography". Jack Kirby Museum & Research Center. from the original on September 17, 2013. Retrieved February 24, 2012.
  4. ^ Hamilton, Sue L. Jack Kirby. ABDO Group, 2006. ISBN 978-1-59928-298-5, p. 4
  5. ^ Jones 2004, pp. 195–196.
  6. ^ a b Evanier 2008, p. 34.
  7. ^ Jones 2004, p. 196.
  8. ^ "'I've Never Done Anything Halfheartedly'". The Comics Journal. Seattle, Washington: Fantagraphics Books (134). February 1990. Reprinted in George 2002, p. 22
  9. ^ [1] September 30, 2019, at the Wayback Machine at Cartoon Research.com.
  10. ^ Interview, The Comics Journal #134, reprinted in George 2002, p. 24
  11. ^ Interview, The Nostalgia Journal #30, November 1976, reprinted in George 2002, p. 3
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Jack Kirby April 13, 2019, at the Wayback Machine at the Grand Comics Database.
  13. ^ Jones 2004, p. 197.
  14. ^ "More Than Your Average Joe – Excerpts from Joe Simon's panels at the 1998 San Diego Comic-Con International". The Jack Kirby Collector. Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing (25). August 1999. from the original on November 30, 2010.
  15. ^ "GCD :: Issue :: 64 Pages of New Captain Marvel Adventures #[1]". comics.org. from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved February 5, 2022.
  16. ^ Mendryk, Harry (November 19, 2011). "In the Beginning, Chapter 10, Captain Marvel and Others". Archived from the original on May 29, 2018. Retrieved May 29, 2018.
  17. ^ DeFalco, Tom; Sanderson, Peter; Brevoort, Tom; Manning, Matthew (2008). "1940s". In Gilbert, Laura (ed.). Marvel Chronicle A Year by Year History. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 18. ISBN 978-0756641238. Simon and Kirby decided to create another hero who was their response to totalitarian tyranny abroad.
  18. ^ a b Ro 2004, p. 25.
  19. ^ Markstein, Don (2010). "Captain America". Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Retrieved April 9, 2012. Captain America was the first successful character published by the company that would become Marvel Comics to debut in his own comic. Captain America Comics #1 was dated March, 1941.
  20. ^ Jones 2004, p. 200.
  21. ^ Ro 2004, p. 21.
  22. ^ Ro 2004, p. 25-26.
  23. ^ Ro 2004, p. 27.
  24. ^ Van Lente & Dunlavey 2012, p. 49.
  25. ^ Ro 2004, p. 28.
  26. ^ Ro 2004, p. 30.
  27. ^ Wallace, Daniel; Cowsill, Allan (2010). "1940s". In Hannah, Dolan (ed.). DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 41. ISBN 978-0-7566-6742-9. Hot properties Joe Simon and Jack Kirby joined DC ... [and] after taking over the Sandman and Sandy, the Golden Boy feature in Adventure Comics #72, the writer and artist team turned their attentions to Manhunter with issue #73.
  28. ^ Wallace "1940s" in Dolan, p. 41 "The inaugural issue of Boy Commandos represented Joe Simon and Jack Kirby's first original title since they started at DC (though the characters had debuted earlier that year in Detective Comics #64.)"
  29. ^ a b Ro 2004, p. 32.
  30. ^ Wallace "1940s" in Dolan, p. 41 "Joe Simon and Jack Kirby took their talents to a second title with Star-Spangled Comics, tackling both the Guardian and the Newsboy Legion in issue #7."
  31. ^ Levitz, Paul (2010). "The Golden Age 1938–1956". 75 Years of DC Comics The Art of Modern Mythmaking. Cologne, Germany: Taschen. p. 131. ISBN 978-3-83651-981-6.
  32. ^ a b Ro 2004, p. 33.
  33. ^ Evanier 2008, p. 67.
  34. ^ Ro 2004, pp. 35.
  35. ^ Ro 2004, p. 45.
  36. ^ a b Simon, Joe, with Jim Simon. The Comic Book Makers (Crestwood/II, 1990) ISBN 978-1-887591-35-5; reissued (Vanguard Productions, 2003) ISBN 978-1-887591-35-5, pp. 123–125
  37. ^ Evanier 2008, p. 72.
  38. ^ a b c d Ro 2004, p. 46.
  39. ^ a b Howell, Richard (1988). "Introduction". Real Love: The Best of the Simon and Kirby Love Comics, 1940s–1950s. Forestville, California: Eclipse Books. ISBN 978-0-91303-563-4.
  40. ^ Simon, p. 125
  41. ^ Ro 2004, p. 52.
  42. ^ a b Ro 2004, p. 54.
  43. ^ Beerbohm, Robert Lee (August 1999). . The Jack Kirby Collector. Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing (25). Archived from the original on May 26, 2011. Retrieved March 26, 2008.
  44. ^ Theakston, Greg (1997). The Complete Jack Kirby. Pure Imagination Publishing, Inc. p. 29. ISBN 1-56685-006-1.
  45. ^ Simon, Joe; with Simon, Jim (1990). The Comic Book Makers. Crestwood/II Publications. p. 151. ISBN 978-1-887591-35-5. Reissued (Vanguard Productions, 2003) ISBN 978-1-887591-35-5. Page numbers refer to 1990 edition.
  46. ^ Mainline November 12, 2010, at the Wayback Machine at the Grand Comics Database.
  47. ^ Ro 2004, p. 55.
  48. ^ Ro 2004, p. 56.
  49. ^ "'I Created an Army of Characters, and Now My Connection with Them Is Lost". Evanston, Illinois: interview, The Great Electric Bird radio show, WNUR-FM, Northwestern University. May 14, 1971. Transcribed in The Nostalgia Journal (27) August 1976. Reprinted in George 2002, p. 16
  50. ^ Ro 2004, p. 60.
  51. ^ Kirby's 1956–57 Atlas work appeared in nine issues, plus three more published later after being held in inventory, per "Another Pre-Implosion Atlas Kirby". Jack Kirby Museum. November 3, 2007. Archived from the original on July 9, 2012. In roughly chronological order: Battleground #14 (Nov. 1956; 5 pp.), Astonishing #56 (Dec. 1956; 4 pp.), Strange Tales of the Unusual #7 (Dec. 1956; 4 pp.), Quick-Trigger Western #16 (Feb. 1957; 5 pp.), Yellow Claw #2–4 (Dec. 1956 – April 1957; 19 pp. each), Black Rider Rides Again #1, a.k.a. Black Rider vol. 2, #1 (Sept. 1957; 19 pp.), and Two Gun Western #12 (Sept. 1957; 5 pp.), plus the inventoried Gunsmoke Western #47 (July 1958; 4 pp.) and #51 (March 1959; 5 pp. plus cover) and Kid Colt Outlaw #86 (Sept. 1959; 5 pp.)
  52. ^ Irvine, Alex "1950s" in Dolan, p. 84: "Kirby's first solo project was a test run of a non-super hero adventure team called Challengers of the Unknown. Appearing for the first time in Showcase #6, the team would make a few more Showcase appearances before springing into their own title in May 1958."
  53. ^ Evanier, Mark (2001). "Introduction". The Green Arrow. New York, New York: DC Comics. All were inked by Jack with the aid of his dear spouse, Rosalind. She would trace his pencil work with a static pen line; he would then take a brush, put in all the shadows and bold areas and, where necessary, heavy-up the lines she'd laid down. (Jack hated inking and only did it because he needed the money. After departing DC this time, he almost never inked his own work again.)
  54. ^ Ro 2004, p. 61.
  55. ^ Evanier 2008, pp. 103–106 "The artwork was exquisite, in no small part because Dave Wood had the idea to hire Wally Wood (no relation) to handle the inking."
  56. ^ Evanier 2008, p. 109.
  57. ^ Ro 2004, p. 91.
  58. ^ Van Lente & Dunlavey 2012, pp. 46–49, 100.
  59. ^ Jones 2004, p. 282.
  60. ^ Christiansen, Jeff (March 10, 2011). "Groot". Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe. from the original on November 13, 2013.
  61. ^ Christiansen, Jeff (January 17, 2007). "Grottu". Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe. from the original on November 13, 2013.
  62. ^ Markstein, Don (2009). "The Fly". Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on August 14, 2014.
  63. ^ Markstein, Don (2007). "The Shield". Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on April 12, 2013.
  64. ^ DeFalco, Tom "1960s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 84: "It did not take long for editor Stan Lee to realize that The Fantastic Four was a hit ... the flurry of fan letters all pointed to the FF's explosive popularity."
  65. ^ "Challengers of the Unknown = Fantastic Four". The Great American Novel. from the original on May 11, 2021. Retrieved May 7, 2021.
  66. ^ Krensky, Stephen (2007). Comic Book Century: The History of American Comic Books. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Twenty-First Century Books. p. 59. ISBN 978-0-8225-6654-0. from the original on February 4, 2021. Retrieved November 12, 2020. Readers ... liked seeing Reed and Sue bicker, Johnny annoying everyone, and Ben being grumpy. ... Kirby's vivid illustrations created a whole new style for Marvel, where the imaginative art matched the colorful, loose style of the time.
  67. ^ Mercier, Sebastian T. (2008). "'Truth, Justice and the American Way: The Intersection of American Youth Culture and Superhero Narratives". Iowa Historical Review. University of Iowa. 1 (2): 37–38. doi:10.17077/2373-1842.1010. from the original on January 7, 2017. The liberalization of American culture allowed superhero comic books to challenge the assumptions behind 1950s censorship. ... Marvel was able to position themselves as a publishing maverick. Several of their new superheroes, including the Fantastic Four and the Amazing Spider-Man were able to reflect real-world sensibilities and problems. Other heroes such as the Invincible Iron Man and the Silver Surfer examined the political landscape of the 1960s. The close bonds shared with youth culture meant that superheroes had reasserted themselves into the American national consciousness.
  68. ^ Gil Kane, speaking at a forum on July 6, 1985, at the Dallas Fantasy Fair. As quoted in George 2002, p. 109
  69. ^ Cronin, Brian (September 18, 2010). "A Year of Cool Comics – Day 261". Comic Book Resources. from the original on November 23, 2010. Retrieved December 13, 2021.
  70. ^ DeFalco "1960s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 111: "The Inhumans, a lost race that diverged from humankind 25,000 years ago and became genetically enhanced."
  71. ^ Cronin, Brian (September 19, 2010). "A Year of Cool Comics – Day 262". Comic Book Resources. from the original on July 8, 2011. Retrieved December 13, 2021.
  72. ^ Parker, Ryan (February 15, 2018). "'Black Panther' Co-Creator Jack Kirby Would've Adored Film Phenomenon, Family Says". The Hollywood Reporter. from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved June 10, 2018.
  73. ^ DeFalco "1960s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 117: Stan Lee wanted to do his part by creating the first black super hero. Lee discussed his ideas with Jack Kirby and the result was seen in Fantastic Four #52.
  74. ^ Theakston, Greg (2002). The Steve Ditko Reader. Brooklyn, New York: Pure Imagination. ISBN 1-56685-011-8.
  75. ^ Manning, Matthew K.; Gilbert, Laura, ed. (2012). "1960s". Spider-Man Chronicle Celebrating 50 Years of Web-Slinging. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 15. ISBN 978-0756692360. Kirby had the honor of being the first ever penciler to take a swing at drawing Spider-Man. Though his illustrations for the pages of Amazing Fantasy #15 were eventually redrawn by Steve Ditko after Stan Lee decided that Kirby's Spidey wasn't quite youthful enough, the King nevertheless contributed the issue's historic cover. {{cite book}}: |first2= has generic name (help)
  76. ^ DeFalco "1960s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 94: "Filled with some wonderful visual action, The Avengers #1 has a very simple story: the Norse god Loki tricked the Hulk into going on a rampage ... The heroes eventually learned about Loki's involvement and united with the Hulk to form the Avengers."
  77. ^ Virtue, Graeme (August 28, 2017). "Captain America, X-Men, Iron Man, the Avengers ... Jack Kirby, king of comics". The Guardian. from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved June 10, 2018.
  78. ^ DeFalco "1960s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 86: "Stan Lee and Jack Kirby reintroduced one of Marvel's most popular Golden Age heroes – Namor, the Sub-Mariner."
  79. ^ DeFalco "1960s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 99: "'Captain America lives again!' announced the cover of The Avengers #4 ... Cap was back."
  80. ^ Batchelor, Bob (2017). Stan Lee : The Man Behind Marvel. Lanham, Maryland. p. 73. ISBN 978-1-4422-7781-6.
  81. ^ Hatfield, Charles (2004). "The Galactus Trilogy: An Appreciation". The Collected Jack Kirby Collector Volume 1. p. 211. ISBN 978-1893905009.
  82. ^ Thomas, Roy; Sanderson, Peter (2007). The Marvel Vault: A Museum-in-a-Book with Rare Collectibles from the World of Marvel. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Running Press. p. 93. ISBN 978-0762428441. Then came the issues of all issues, the instant legend, the trilogy of Fantastic Four (#48-50) that excited readers immediately christened 'the Galactus Trilogy', a designation still widely recognized four decades later.
  83. ^ Cronin, Brian (February 19, 2010). "A Year of Cool Comics – Day 50". Comic Book Resources. from the original on May 4, 2010. Retrieved December 13, 2021.
  84. ^ DeFalco "1960s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 115: "Stan Lee may have started the creative discussion that culminated in Galactus, but the inclusion of the Silver Surfer in Fantastic Four #48 was pure Jack Kirby. Kirby realized that a being like Galactus required an equally impressive herald."
  85. ^ Greenberger, Robert, ed. (December 2001). 100 Greatest Marvels of All Time. Marvel Comics. p. 26.
  86. ^ Daniels, Les (1991). Marvel: Five Fabulous Decades of the World's Greatest Comics. New York, New York: Harry N. Abrams. p. 128. ISBN 978-0-81093-821-2.
  87. ^ Foley, Shane (November 2001). "Kracklin' Kirby: Tracing the advent of Kirby Krackle". The Jack Kirby Collector (33). from the original on November 30, 2010.
  88. ^ Simon, p. 205
  89. ^ Evanier 2008, pp. 126–163.
  90. ^ Sanderson "1970s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 146: "As Marvel was expanding its line of comics, the company decided to introduce two new 'split' books ... Amazing Adventures and Astonishing Tales. Amazing Adventures contained a series about the genetically enhanced Inhumans and a series about intelligence agent the Black Widow."
  91. ^ Evanier 2008, p. 163.
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  94. ^ a b Van Lente & Dunlavey 2012, p. 115.
  95. ^ Ro 2004, p. 139.
  96. ^ Ro 2004, p. 143.
  97. ^ McAvennie, Michael "1970s" in Dolan, p. 145 "As the writer, artist, and editor of the Fourth World family of interlocking titles, each of which possessed its own distinct tone and theme, Jack Kirby cemented his legacy as a pioneer of grand-scale storytelling."
  98. ^ Evanier, Mark. "Afterword." Jack Kirby's Fourth World Omnibus; Volume 1, New York: DC Comics, 2007.
  99. ^ McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 141 "Since no ongoing creative team had been slated to Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen, "King of Comics" Jack Kirby made the title his DC launch point, and the writer/artist's indelible energy and ideas permeated every panel and word balloon of the comic."
  100. ^ Raphael, Jordan; Spurgeon, Tom (2004). Stan Lee and the Rise and Fall of the American Comic Book. Chicago Review Press. p. 218. ISBN 978-1-61374-292-1.
  101. ^ Evanier 2008, pp. 172–177.
  102. ^ Evanier, Mark (August 22, 2003). "Jack Kirby's Superman". POV Online. from the original on March 8, 2012. Retrieved April 22, 2012. Plastino drew new Superman figures and Olsen heads in roughly the same poses and positions, and these were pasted into the artwork.
  103. ^ a b c Kraft, David Anthony; Slifer, Roger (April 1983). "Mark Evanier". Comics Interview. No. 2. Fictioneer Books. pp. 23–34.
  104. ^ Daniels, Les (1995). "The Fourth World: New Gods on Newsprint". DC Comics: Sixty Years of the World's Favorite Comic Book Heroes. New York, New York: Bulfinch Press. p. 165. ISBN 0821220764.
  105. ^ Morrison, Grant (2007). "Introduction". Jack Kirby's Fourth World Omnibus Volume One. New York, New York: DC Comics. pp. 7–8. ISBN 978-1401213442.
  106. ^ McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 147: "Believing that new formats were necessary for the comics medium to continue evolving, Kirby oversaw the production of what was labeled his 'Speak-Out Series' of magazines: Spirit World and In the Days of the Mob ... Sadly, these unique magazines never found their desired audience."
  107. ^ McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 161 "In OMAC's first issue, editor/writer/artist Jack Kirby warned readers of "The World That's Coming!", a future world containing wild concepts that are almost frighteningly real today."
  108. ^ McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 153 "Kirby had already introduced a similar concept and characters in Alarming Tales #1 (1957) ... Coupling the premise with his unpublished "Kamandi of the Caves" newspaper strip, Kirby's Last Boy on Earth roamed a world that had been ravaged by the "Great Disaster" and taken over by talking animals."
  109. ^ McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 152 "While his "Fourth World" opus was winding down, Jack Kirby was busy conjuring his next creation, which emerged not from the furthest reaches of the galaxy but from the deepest pits of Hell. Etrigan was hardly the usual Kirby protagonist."
  110. ^ Kelly, Rob (August 2009). "Kobra". Back Issue!. Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing (35): 63. Maybe that's because Kobra was the creation of the legendary Jack 'King' Kirby, who wrote and penciled the first issue's story, 'Fangs of the Kobra!'
  111. ^ McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 161 "Jack Kirby also took on a group of established DC characters that had nothing to lose. The result was a year-long run of Our Fighting Forces tales that were action-packed, personal, and among the most beloved of World War II comics ever produced."
  112. ^ McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 158 "The legendary tandem of writer Joe Simon and artist/editor Jack Kirby reunited for a one-shot starring the Sandman ... Despite the issue's popularity, it would be Simon and Kirby's last collaboration."
  113. ^ McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 162: "Debuting with Atlas the Great, writer and artist Jack Kirby didn't shrug at the chance to put his spin on the well-known hero."
  114. ^ McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 164: "Though 1st Issue Special was primarily DC's forum to introduce new characters and storylines, editor Jack Kirby used the series as an opportunity to revamp the Manhunter, whom he and writer Joe Simon had made famous in the 1940s."
  115. ^ Abramowitz, Jack (April 2014). "1st Issue Special It Was No Showcase (But It Was Never Meant To Be)". Back Issue!. Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing (71): 40–47.
  116. ^ Ro 2004, chapters 12–13
  117. ^ Bullpen Bulletins: "The King is Back! 'Nuff Said!", in Marvel Comics cover-dated October 1975, including Fantastic Four #163
  118. ^ Sanderson "1970s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 175: "After an absence of half a decade, Jack Kirby returned to Marvel Comics as writer, penciller, and editor of the series he and Joe Simon created back in 1941."
  119. ^ Powers, Tom (December 2012). "Kirby Celebrating America's 200th Birthday: Captain America's Bicentennial Battles". Back Issue!. Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing (61): 46–49.
  120. ^ Sanderson "1970s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 175: "Jack Kirby's most important creation for Marvel during his return in the 1970s was his epic series The Eternals"
  121. ^ Sanderson "1970s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 180: "Marvel published its adaptation of director Stanley Kubrick and writer Arthur C. Clarke's classic science fiction film 2001: A Space Odyssey as an oversize Marvel Treasury Special."
  122. ^ Hatfield, Charles (July 1996). "Once Upon A Time: Kirby's Prisoner". The Jack Kirby Collector (11). from the original on November 14, 2010.
  123. ^ Sanderson "1970s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 185: "In [2001: A Space Odyssey] issue #8, cover dated July 1977, [Jack] Kirby introduced a robot whom he originally dubbed 'Mister Machine.' Marvel's 2001 series eventually came to an end but Kirby's robot protagonist went on to star in his own comic book series as Machine Man."
  124. ^ Sanderson "1970s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 185: "Jack Kirby's final major creation for Marvel Comics was perhaps his most unusual hero: an intelligent dinosaur resembling a Tyrannosaurus rex."
  125. ^ Sanderson "1970s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 187: "[In 1978], Simon & Schuster's Fireside Books published a paperback book titled The Silver Surfer by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby ... This book was later recognized as Marvel's first true graphic novel."
  126. ^ "Ploog & Kirby Quit Marvel over Contract Dispute", The Comics Journal #44, January 1979, p. 11.
  127. ^ Evanier, King of Comics, p. 189: "In 1978, an idea found him. It was an offer from the Hanna-Barbera cartoon studio in Hollywood."
  128. ^ Evanier. Kirby. pp. 189–191.
  129. ^ Fischer, Stuart (August 2014). "The Fantastic Four and Other Things: A Television History". Back Issue!. Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing (74): 30. Stan Lee was a consultant to this series, and Jack Kirby played a very important part in this show as an animator and helped design the show.
  130. ^ "Jack Kirby". Lambiek Comiclopedia. March 6, 2009. from the original on March 27, 2014.
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  132. ^ Catron, Michael (July 1981). "Kirby's Newest: Captain Victory". Amazing Heroes. Fantagraphics Books (2): 14.
  133. ^ Morrow, John (2004). "The Captain Victory Connection". The Collected Jack Kirby Collector Volume 1. Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing. p. 105. ISBN 978-1893905009. from the original on February 7, 2017. Retrieved July 19, 2016.
  134. ^ Larsen, Erik (February 18, 2007). "One Fan's Opinion: Issue #73". Comic Book Resources. from the original on January 13, 2010.
  135. ^ Kean, Benjamin Ong Pang (July 29, 2007). . Newsarama. Archived from the original on March 29, 2009.
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  137. ^ Markstein, Don (2006). "Destroyer Duck". Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on September 13, 2012. [T]he centerpiece of the issue was Gerber's own Destroyer Duck ... himself. The artist who worked with Gerber was the legendary Jack Kirby, who, as co-creator of The Fantastic Four, The Avengers, X-Men and many other cornerstones of Marvel's success, had issues of his own with the company.
  138. ^ George 2002, p. 73
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  140. ^ Manning, Matthew K. "1980s" in Dolan, p. 208: "In association with the toy company Kenner, DC released a line of toys called Super Powers ... DC soon debuted a five-issue Super Powers miniseries plotted by comic book legend Jack 'King' Kirby, scripted by Joey Cavalieri, and with pencils by Adrian Gonzales."
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  160. ^ a b Brady, Matt (April 20, 2006). . Newsarama. Archived from the original on September 15, 2009.
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  208. ^ Morrow, John, ed. (2004), "Walt Simonson Interviewed", The Collected Jack Kirby Collector, TwoMorrows Publishing, vol. 3, p. 112, ISBN 1893905020, ... it's so powerful in pencil, it's really hard to ink it and really retain the full flavour of the pencils. I think a lot of really good inkers have not been able to do that
  209. ^ Morrow, John, ed. (2004), "Chic Stone Speaks", The Collected Jack Kirby Collector, TwoMorrows Publishing, vol. 3, p. 90, ISBN 1893905020, I was totally awestruck by the magnificent penciling ... no one inker could improve on Jack's penciling
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  211. ^ Eisner 2001, p. 213.
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Bibliography

  • Carlin, John, ed. (2005). Masters of American comics : [this catalogue was published in conjunction with "Masters of American comics", an exhibition jointly organized by the Hammer Museum and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles] With contributions by Stanley Crouch (illustrated ed.). New Haven [u.a.]: Yale Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0-30011-317-4.
  • Eisner, Will (2001). Will Eisner's shop talk (1st ed.). Milwaukie, Or.: Dark Horse Comics. ISBN 978-1-56971-536-9.
  • Evanier, Mark (2008). Kirby: King of Comics. New York, New York: Abrams. ISBN 978-0-8109-9447-8.
  • George, Milo, ed. (2002). The Comics Journal Library, Volume One: Jack Kirby. Seattle, Washington: Fantagraphics Books. ISBN 978-1-56097-466-6.
  • Hatfield, Charles (2012). Hand of Fire: The Comics Art of Jack Kirby. University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 978-1-61703-178-6.
  • Hatfield, Charles; Saunders, Brian, eds. (September 2015). Comic Book Apocalypse: The Graphic World of Jack Kirby : [this catalogue was published in conjunction with "Comic Book Apocalypse: The Graphic World of Jack Kirby", an exhibition organized by California State University, Northridge, With contributions by various essayists]. Northridge, California: IDW Publishing & California State University, Northridge. ISBN 978-1-63140-542-6.
  • Jones, Gerard (2004). Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters, and the Birth of the Comic Book. Basic Books. ISBN 978-0-465-03657-8.
  • Ro, Ronin (2004). Tales to Astonish: Jack Kirby, Stan Lee and the American Comic Book Revolution. New York, \New York: Bloomsbury USA. ISBN 978-1-58234-345-7.
  • Van Lente, Fred; Dunlavey, Ryan (2012). The Comic Book History of Comics. San Diego, California: IDW. ISBN 978-1-61377-197-6.

Further reading

External links

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jack Kirby.
 
Wikiquote has quotations related to Jack Kirby.
  • The Jack Kirby Museum & Research Center
  • at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
  • Jack Kirby at IMDb
  • Jack Kirby at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
  • Jack Kirby at Find a Grave
  • Jack Kirby at Mike's Amazing World of Comics
  • Evanier, Mark. "The Jack F.A.Q." News From ME. from the original on July 2, 2014.
  • Mitchell, Elvis (August 27, 2003). "Jack Kirby Heroes Thrive in Comic Books and Film". The New York Times. from the original on June 16, 2013.
  • Christiansen, Jeff. "Creations of Jack Kirby". Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe. from the original on November 11, 2013.

February 07, 2023
jack, kirby, other, people, named, disambiguation, confused, with, jack, kilby, josh, kirby, born, jacob, kurtzberg, august, 1917, february, 1994, american, comic, book, artist, writer, editor, widely, regarded, medium, major, innovators, most, prolific, influ. For other people named Jack Kirby see Jack Kirby disambiguation Not to be confused with Jack Kilby or Josh Kirby Jack Kirby 1 born Jacob Kurtzberg August 28 1917 February 6 1994 was an American comic book artist writer and editor widely regarded as one of the medium s major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators He grew up in New York City and learned to draw cartoon figures by tracing characters from comic strips and editorial cartoons He entered the nascent comics industry in the 1930s drawing various comics features under different pen names including Jack Curtiss before ultimately settling on Jack Kirby In 1940 he and writer editor Joe Simon created the highly successful superhero character Captain America for Timely Comics predecessor of Marvel Comics During the 1940s Kirby regularly teamed with Simon creating numerous characters for that company and for National Comics Publications later to become DC Comics Jack KirbyKirby in 1992BornJacob Kurtzberg 1917 08 28 August 28 1917New York City U S DiedFebruary 6 1994 1994 02 06 aged 76 Thousand Oaks California U S Pseudonym s Jack CurtissCurt DavisLance KirbyTed GreyCharles NicholasFred SandeTeddyThe KingNotable worksFantastic FourFourth WorldThorCaptain AmericaEternalsNew GodsBlack PantherAwardsAlley AwardShazam AwardInkpot AwardWill Eisner Hall of FameBill Finger AwardSpouse s Roz Goldstein m 1942 wbr Children4After serving in the European Theater in World War II Kirby produced work for DC Comics Harvey Comics Hillman Periodicals and other publishers At Crestwood Publications he and Simon created the genre of romance comics and later founded their own short lived comic company Mainline Publications Kirby was involved in Timely s 1950s iteration Atlas Comics which in the next decade became Marvel There in the 1960s Kirby created many of the company s major characters including the Fantastic Four the Hulk Ant Man Thor Iron Man the X Men the Silver Surfer and the Black Panther among numerous others Kirby s titles garnered high sales and critical acclaim but in 1970 feeling he had been treated unfairly largely in the realm of authorship credit and creators rights Kirby left the company for rival DC At DC Kirby created his Fourth World saga which spanned several comics titles While these series proved commercially unsuccessful and were canceled the Fourth World s New Gods have continued as a significant part of the DC Universe Kirby returned to Marvel briefly in the mid to late 1970s then ventured into television animation and independent comics In his later years Kirby who has been called the William Blake of comics 2 began receiving great recognition in the mainstream press for his career accomplishments and in 1987 he was one of the three inaugural inductees of the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame In 2017 Kirby was posthumously named a Disney Legend for his creations not only in the field of publishing but also because those creations formed the basis for The Walt Disney Company s financially and critically successful media franchise the Marvel Cinematic Universe Kirby was married to Rosalind Goldstein in 1942 They had four children and remained married until his death from heart failure in 1994 at the age of 76 The Jack Kirby Awards and Jack Kirby Hall of Fame were named in his honor and he is known as The King among comics fans for his many influential contributions to the medium Contents 1 Early life 1917 1935 2 Career 2 1 Entry into comics 1936 1940 2 2 Partnership with Joe Simon 2 2 1 World War II 1943 1945 2 2 2 Postwar career 1946 1955 2 3 After Simon 1956 1957 2 4 Marvel Comics in the Silver Age 1958 1970 2 5 DC Comics and the Fourth World saga 1971 1975 2 6 Return to Marvel 1976 1978 2 7 Film and animation 1979 1980 2 8 Final years 1981 1994 3 Personal life and death 4 Artistic style and achievements 4 1 Narrative approach to comics 4 2 Style 4 3 Working method 4 4 Exhibitions and original art 5 Kirby s estate 5 1 Subsequent releases 5 2 Copyright dispute 6 Legacy 7 Filmography 8 Awards and honors 9 Bibliography 9 1 DC Comics 9 2 Marvel Comics 10 References 10 1 Citations 10 2 Bibliography 11 Further reading 12 External linksEarly life 1917 1935 EditJack Kirby was born Jacob Kurtzberg on August 28 1917 at 147 Essex Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City where he was raised 3 His parents Rose Bernstein and Benjamin Kurtzberg 3 were Austrian Jewish immigrants and his father earned a living as a garment factory worker 4 In his youth Kirby desired to escape his neighborhood He liked to draw and sought out places he could learn more about art 5 Essentially self taught 6 Kirby cited among his influences the comic strip artists Milton Caniff Hal Foster and Alex Raymond as well as such editorial cartoonists as C H Sykes Ding Darling and Rollin Kirby 6 He was rejected by the Educational Alliance because he drew too fast with charcoal according to Kirby He later found an outlet for his skills by drawing cartoons for the newspaper of the Boys Brotherhood Republic a miniature city on East 3rd Street where street kids ran their own government 7 At age 14 Kirby enrolled at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn leaving after a week I wasn t the kind of student that Pratt was looking for They wanted people who would work on something forever I didn t want to work on any project forever I intended to get things done 8 Career EditEntry into comics 1936 1940 Edit Captain America Comics 1 cover dated March 1941 Cover art by Kirby and Joe Simon Kirby joined the Lincoln Newspaper Syndicate in 1936 working there on newspaper comic strips and on single panel advice cartoons such as Your Health Comes First under the pseudonym Jack Curtiss He remained until late 1939 when he began working for the theatrical animation company Fleischer Studios as an inbetweener an artist who fills in the action between major movement frames on Popeye cartoons at the same time in 1935 He left the studio before the Fleischer strike in 1937 9 I went from Lincoln to Fleischer he recalled From Fleischer I had to get out in a hurry because I couldn t take that kind of thing describing it as a factory in a sense like my father s factory They were manufacturing pictures 10 Around that time the American comic book industry was booming Kirby began writing and drawing for the comic book packager Eisner amp Iger one of a handful of firms creating comics on demand for publishers Through that company Kirby did what he remembered as his first comic book work for Wild Boy Magazine 11 This included such strips as the science fiction adventure The Diary of Dr Hayward under the pseudonym Curt Davis the Western crimefighter feature Wilton of the West as Fred Sande the swashbuckler adventure The Count of Monte Cristo again as Jack Curtiss and the humor features Abdul Jones as Ted Grey and Socko the Seadog as Teddy all variously for Jumbo Comics and other Eisner Iger clients 12 He first used the surname Kirby as the pseudonymous Lance Kirby in two Lone Rider Western stories in Eastern Color Printing s Famous Funnies 63 64 Oct Nov 1939 12 He ultimately settled on the pen name Jack Kirby because it reminded him of actor James Cagney However he took offense to those who suggested he changed his name in order to hide his Jewish heritage 13 Partnership with Joe Simon Edit Kirby moved on to comic book publisher and newspaper syndicator Fox Feature Syndicate earning a then reasonable 15 a week salary He began to explore superhero narrative with the comic strip The Blue Beetle published from January to March 1940 starring a character created by the pseudonymous Charles Nicholas a house name that Kirby retained for the three month long strip During this time Kirby met and began collaborating with cartoonist and Fox editor Joe Simon who in addition to his staff work continued to freelance Simon recalled in 1988 I loved Jack s work and the first time I saw it I couldn t believe what I was seeing He asked if we could do some freelance work together I was delighted and I took him over to my little office We worked from the second issue of Blue Bolt through about 25 years 14 After leaving Fox and collaborating on the premiere issue of Fawcett Comics Captain Marvel Adventures March 1941 15 the first solo title for the previously introduced superhero and for which Kirby was told to mimic creator C C Beck s drawing style 16 the duo were hired on staff at pulp magazine publisher Martin Goodman s Timely Comics later to become Marvel Comics There Simon and Kirby created the patriotic superhero Captain America in late 1940 17 Simon who became the company s editor with Kirby as art director said he negotiated with Goodman to give the duo 25 percent of the profits from the feature 18 The first issue of Captain America Comics released in early 1941 19 sold out in days and the second issue s print run was set at over a million copies The title s success established the team as a notable creative force in the industry 20 After the first issue was published Simon asked Kirby to join the Timely staff as the company s art director 21 With the success of the Captain America character Simon said he felt that Goodman was not paying the pair the promised percentage of profits and so sought work for the two of them at National Comics Publications later renamed DC Comics 18 Kirby and Simon negotiated a deal that would pay them a combined 500 a week as opposed to the 75 and 85 they respectively earned at Timely 22 The pair feared Goodman would not pay them if he found they were moving to National but many people knew of their plan including Timely editorial assistant Stan Lee When Goodman eventually discovered it he told Simon and Kirby to leave after finishing work on Captain America Comics 10 23 Kirby was bitterly convinced it was specifically Lee who betrayed them ignoring Simon s willingness to give him the benefit of the doubt 24 Kirby and Simon spent their first weeks at National trying to devise new characters while the company sought how best to utilize the pair 25 After a few failed editor assigned ghosting assignments National s Jack Liebowitz told them to just do what you want The pair then revamped the Sandman feature in Adventure Comics and created the superhero Manhunter 26 27 In July 1942 they began the Boy Commandos feature The ongoing kid gang series of the same name launched later that same year was the creative team s first National feature to graduate into its own title 28 It sold over a million copies a month becoming National s third best selling title 29 They scored a hit with the homefront kid gang team the Newsboy Legion featuring in Star Spangled Comics 30 In 2010 DC Comics writer and executive Paul Levitz observed that Like Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster the creative team of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby was a mark of quality and a proven track record 31 World War II 1943 1945 Edit Kirby in the U S Army during World War II With World War II underway Liebowitz expected that Simon and Kirby would be drafted so he asked the artists to create an inventory of material to be published in their absence The pair hired writers inkers letterers and colorists in order to create a year s worth of material 29 Kirby was drafted into the U S Army on June 7 1943 32 After basic training at Camp Stewart near Savannah Georgia he was assigned to Company F of the 11th Infantry Regiment He landed on Omaha Beach in Normandy on August 23 1944 2 1 2 months after D Day 33 although Kirby s reminiscences would place his arrival just 10 days after 32 Kirby recalled that a lieutenant learning that comics artist Kirby was in his command made him a scout who would advance into towns and draw reconnaissance maps and pictures an extremely dangerous duty 34 Postwar career 1946 1955 Edit Young Romance 1 Oct 1947 Cover art by Kirby and Simon After the war Simon arranged work for Kirby and himself at Harvey Comics 35 where through the early 1950s the duo created such titles as the kid gang adventure Boy Explorers Comics the kid gang Western Boys Ranch the superhero comic Stuntman and in vogue with the fad for 3 D movies Captain 3 D Simon and Kirby additionally freelanced for Hillman Periodicals the crime fiction comic Real Clue Crime and for Crestwood Publications Justice Traps the Guilty 12 The team found its greatest success in the postwar period by creating romance comics Simon inspired by Macfadden Publications romantic confession magazine True Story transplanted the idea to comic books and with Kirby created a first issue mock up of Young Romance 36 Showing it to Crestwood general manager Maurice Rosenfeld Simon asked for 50 of the comic s profits Crestwood publishers Teddy Epstein and Mike Bleier agreed 36 stipulating that the creators would take no money up front 37 Young Romance 1 cover date Oct 1947 became Jack and Joe s biggest hit in years 38 The pioneering title sold a staggering 92 of its print run inspiring Crestwood to increase the print run by the third issue to triple the initial number of copies 39 Initially published bimonthly Young Romance quickly became a monthly title and produced the spin off Young Love together the two titles sold two million copies per month according to Simon 40 later joined by Young Brides and In Love the latter featuring full length romance stories 39 Young Romance spawned dozens of imitators from publishers such as Timely Fawcett Quality and Fox Feature Syndicate Despite the glut the Simon and Kirby romance titles continued to sell millions of copies a month 38 Bitter that Timely Comics 1950s iteration Atlas Comics had relaunched Captain America in a new series in 1954 Kirby and Simon created Fighting American Simon recalled We thought we d show them how to do Captain America 41 While the comic book initially portrayed the protagonist as an anti Communist dramatic hero Simon and Kirby turned the series into a superhero satire with the second issue in the aftermath of the Army McCarthy hearings and the public backlash against the Red baiting U S Senator Joseph McCarthy 42 After Simon 1956 1957 Edit At the urging of a Crestwood salesman Kirby and Simon launched their own comics company Mainline Publications 42 43 securing a distribution deal with Leader News 44 in late 1953 or early 1954 subletting space from their friend Al Harvey s Harvey Publications at 1860 Broadway 45 Mainline which existed from 1954 to 1955 published four titles the Western Bullseye Western Scout the war comic Foxhole because EC Comics and Atlas Comics were having success with war comics but promoting theirs as being written and drawn by actual veterans In Love because their earlier romance comic Young Love was still being widely imitated and the crime comic Police Trap which claimed to be based on genuine accounts by law enforcement officials 46 After the duo rearranged and republished artwork from an old Crestwood story in In Love Crestwood refused to pay the team 47 who sought an audit of Crestwood s finances Upon review the pair s attorneys stated the company owed them 130 000 for work done over the past seven years Crestwood paid them 10 000 in addition to their recent delayed payments The partnership between Kirby and Simon had become strained 48 Simon left the industry for a career in advertising while Kirby continued to freelance He wanted to do other things and I stuck with comics Kirby recalled in 1971 It was fine There was no reason to continue the partnership and we parted friends 49 At this point in the mid 1950s Kirby made a temporary return to the former Timely Comics now known as Atlas Comics the direct predecessor of Marvel Comics Inker Frank Giacoia had approached editor in chief Stan Lee for work and suggested he could get Kirby back here to pencil some stuff 50 While freelancing for National Comics Publications the future DC Comics Kirby drew 20 stories for Atlas from 1956 to 1957 Beginning with the five page Mine Field in Battleground 14 Nov 1956 Kirby penciled and in some cases inked with his wife Roz and wrote stories of the Western hero Black Rider the Fu Manchu like Yellow Claw and more 12 51 But in 1957 distribution troubles caused the Atlas implosion that resulted in several series being dropped and no new material being assigned for many months It would be the following year before Kirby returned to the nascent Marvel For DC around this time Kirby co created with writers Dick and Dave Wood the non superpowered adventuring quartet the Challengers of the Unknown in Showcase 6 Feb 1957 52 while contributing to such anthologies as House of Mystery 12 During 30 months freelancing for DC Kirby drew slightly more than 600 pages which included 11 six page Green Arrow stories in World s Finest Comics and Adventure Comics that in a rarity Kirby inked himself 53 Kirby recast the archer as a science fiction hero moving him away from his Batman formula roots but in the process alienating Green Arrow co creator Mort Weisinger 54 He began drawing Sky Masters of the Space Force a newspaper comic strip written by the Wood brothers and initially inked by the unrelated Wally Wood 55 Kirby left National Comics Publications due largely to a contractual dispute in which editor Jack Schiff who had been involved in getting Kirby and the Wood brothers the Sky Masters contract claimed he was due royalties from Kirby s share of the strip s profits Schiff successfully sued Kirby 56 Some DC editors had criticized him over art details such as not drawing the shoelaces on a cavalryman s boots and showing a Native American mounting his horse from the wrong side 57 Marvel Comics in the Silver Age 1958 1970 Edit Several months later after his split with DC Kirby began freelancing regularly for Atlas despite harboring negative sentiments about Stan Lee the cousin of Timely publisher Martin Goodman s wife who Kirby believed had disclosed to Timely back in the 1940s that he and Simon were secretly working on a project for National 58 Because of the poor page rates Kirby would spend 12 to 14 hours daily at his drawing table at home producing four to five pages of artwork a day 59 His first published work at Atlas was the cover of and the seven page story I Discovered the Secret of the Flying Saucers in Strange Worlds 1 Dec 1958 Initially with Christopher Rule as his regular inker and later Dick Ayers Kirby drew across all genres from romance comics to war comics to crime comics to Western comics but made his mark primarily with a series of supernatural fantasy and science fiction stories featuring giant drive in movie style monsters with names like Groot the Thing from Planet X 60 Grottu King of the Insects 61 and Fin Fang Foom for the company s many anthology series such as Amazing Adventures Strange Tales Tales to Astonish Tales of Suspense and World of Fantasy 12 His bizarre designs of powerful unearthly creatures proved a hit with readers Additionally he freelanced for Archie Comics around this time reuniting briefly with Joe Simon to help develop the series The Fly 62 and The Double Life of Private Strong 63 Additionally Kirby drew some issues of Classics Illustrated 12 It was at Marvel that Kirby hit his stride once again in superhero comics beginning with The Fantastic Four 1 Nov 1961 12 64 which some have observed shares many elements of Kirby s Challengers of the Unknown 65 The landmark series became a hit that revolutionized the industry with its comparative naturalism and eventually a cosmic purview informed by Kirby s seemingly boundless imagination one well matched with the consciousness expanding youth culture of the 1960s 66 67 For almost a decade Kirby provided Marvel s house style creating many of the Marvel characters and designing their visual motifs At the editor in chief s request he often provided new to Marvel artists breakdown layouts over which they would pencil in order to become acquainted with the Marvel look As artist Gil Kane described Jack was the single most influential figure in the turnaround in Marvel s fortunes from the time he rejoined the company It wasn t merely that Jack conceived most of the characters that are being done but Jack s point of view and philosophy of drawing became the governing philosophy of the entire publishing company and beyond the publishing company of the entire field Marvel took Jack and use d him as a primer They would get artists and they taught them the ABCs which amounted to learning Jack Kirby Jack was like the Holy Scripture and they simply had to follow him without deviation That s what was told to me It was how they taught everyone to reconcile all those opposing attitudes to one single master point of view 68 Highlights of Kirby s tenure also include the Hulk Thor the X Men and Magneto Doctor Doom Uatu the Watcher Ego the Living Planet the Inhumans 69 70 and their hidden city of Attilan and the Black Panther 71 72 comics first black superhero and his Afrofuturist nation Wakanda 73 Kirby initially was assigned to pencil the first Spider Man story but when he showed Lee the first six pages Lee recalled I hated the way he was doing it Not that he did it badly it just wasn t the character I wanted it was too heroic 74 12 Lee then turned to Steve Ditko to draw the story that would appear in Amazing Fantasy 15 for which Kirby nonetheless penciled the cover 75 Lee and Kirby gathered several of their newly created characters together into the team title The Avengers 76 77 and would bring back old characters from the 1940s such as the Sub Mariner 78 and Captain America 79 In later years Lee and Kirby would contest who deserved credit for such creations as The Fantastic Four 80 Fantastic Four 72 March 1968 Cover art by Kirby and Joe Sinnott illustrating Kirby Krackle The story frequently cited as Lee and Kirby s finest achievement 81 82 is The Galactus Trilogy in Fantastic Four 48 50 March May 1966 chronicling the arrival of Galactus a cosmic giant who wanted to devour the planet and his herald the Silver Surfer 83 84 Fantastic Four 48 was chosen as 24 in the 100 Greatest Marvels of All Time poll of Marvel s readers in 2001 Editor Robert Greenberger wrote in his introduction to the story that As the fourth year of the Fantastic Four came to a close Stan Lee and Jack Kirby seemed to be only warming up In retrospect it was perhaps the most fertile period of any monthly title during the Marvel Age 85 Comics historian Les Daniels noted that t he mystical and metaphysical elements that took over the saga were perfectly suited to the tastes of young readers in the 1960s and Lee soon discovered that the story was a favorite on college campuses 86 Kirby continued to expand the medium s boundaries devising photo collage covers and interiors developing new drawing techniques such as the method for depicting energy fields now known as Kirby Krackle and other experiments 87 In 1968 and 1969 Joe Simon was involved in litigation with Marvel Comics over the ownership of Captain America initiated by Marvel after Simon registered the copyright renewal for Captain America in his own name According to Simon Kirby agreed to support the company in the litigation and as part of a deal Kirby made with publisher Martin Goodman signed over to Marvel any rights he might have had to the character 88 At this same time Kirby grew increasingly dissatisfied with working at Marvel for reasons Kirby biographer Mark Evanier has suggested include resentment over Lee s media prominence a lack of full creative control anger over breaches of perceived promises by publisher Martin Goodman and frustration over Marvel s failure to credit him specifically for his story plotting and for his character creations and co creations 89 He began to both write and draw some secondary features for Marvel such as The Inhumans in Amazing Adventures volume two 90 as well as horror stories for the anthology title Chamber of Darkness and received full credit for doing so but in 1970 Kirby was presented with a contract that included unfavorable terms such as a prohibition against legal retaliation When Kirby objected the management refused to negotiate any contract changes bluntly dismissing his contribution to Marvel s success since they considered Lee solely responsible 91 Kirby although he was earning 35 000 a year freelancing for the company 92 adjusted for inflation the equivalent of almost 234 000 in 2021 93 subsequently left Marvel in 1970 for rival DC Comics under editorial director Carmine Infantino 94 DC Comics and the Fourth World saga 1971 1975 Edit The New Gods 1 March 1971 Cover art by Kirby and Don Heck Kirby spent nearly two years negotiating a deal to move to DC Comics 95 where in late 1970 he signed a three year contract with an option for two additional years 96 He produced a series of interlinked titles under the blanket sobriquet The Fourth World which included a trilogy of new titles New Gods Mister Miracle and The Forever People as well as the extant Superman s Pal Jimmy Olsen 12 94 97 Kirby picked the latter book because the series was without a stable creative team and he did not want to cost anyone a job 98 99 The three books Kirby originated dealt with aspects of mythology he had previously touched upon in Thor The New Gods would establish this new mythos while in The Forever People Kirby would attempt to mythologize the lives of the young people he observed around him The third book Mister Miracle was more of a personal myth The title character was an escape artist which Mark Evanier suggests Kirby channeled his feelings of constraint into Mister Miracle s wife was based in character on Kirby s wife Roz and he even caricatured Stan Lee within the pages of the book as Funky Flashman a depiction Lee found hurtful while Kirby tried to downplay the insult when confronted about it by Lee s protege Roy Thomas who was similarly insulted with Flashman s sidekick Houseroy 100 101 The central villain of the Fourth World series Darkseid and some of the Fourth World concepts appeared in Jimmy Olsen before the launch of the other Fourth World books giving the new titles greater exposure to potential buyers The Superman figures and Jimmy Olsen faces drawn by Kirby were redrawn by Al Plastino and later by Murphy Anderson 102 103 Les Daniels observed in 1995 that Kirby s mix of slang and myth science fiction and the Bible made for a heady brew but the scope of his vision has endured 104 In 2007 comics writer Grant Morrison commented that Kirby s dramas were staged across Jungian vistas of raw symbol and storm The Fourth World saga crackles with the voltage of Jack Kirby s boundless imagination let loose onto paper 105 In addition to his artistic efforts Kirby proposed a variety of new formats for comics such as planning to collect his published Fourth World stories into square bound books a format that would later be called the trade paperback which would eventually become standard practice in the industry However Infantino and company were not receptive and Kirby s proposals only went as far as producing the one shot black and white magazines Spirit World and In the Days of the Mob in 1971 106 Kirby later produced other DC series such as OMAC 107 Kamandi 108 The Demon 109 and Kobra 110 and worked on such extant features as The Losers in Our Fighting Forces 111 Together with former partner Joe Simon for one last time he worked on a new incarnation of the Sandman 12 112 Kirby produced three issues of the 1st Issue Special anthology series and created Atlas the Great 113 a new Manhunter 114 and the Dingbats of Danger Street 115 Kirby s production assistant of the time Mark Evanier recounted that DC s policies of the era were not in sync with Kirby s creative impulses and that he was often forced to work on characters and projects he did not like 103 Meanwhile some artists at DC did not want Kirby there as he threatened their positions in the company they also had bad blood from previous competition with Marvel and legal problems with him Since he was working from California they were able to undermine his work through redesigns in the New York office 116 Return to Marvel 1976 1978 Edit At the comic book convention Marvelcon 75 in 1975 Stan Lee used a Fantastic Four panel discussion to announce that Kirby was returning to Marvel after having left in 1970 to work for DC Comics Lee wrote in his monthly column Stan Lee s Soapbox I mentioned that I had a special announcement to make As I started telling about Jack s return to a totally incredulous audience everyone s head started to snap around as Kirby himself came waltzin down the aisle to join us on the rostrum You can imagine how it felt clownin around with the co creator of most of Marvel s greatest strips once more 117 Back at Marvel Kirby both wrote and drew the monthly Captain America series 118 as well as the Captain America s Bicentennial Battles one shot in the oversized treasury format 119 He created the series The Eternals 120 which featured a race of inscrutable alien giants the Celestials whose behind the scenes intervention in primordial humanity would eventually become a core element of Marvel Universe continuity He produced an adaptation and expansion of the film 2001 A Space Odyssey 121 as well as an abortive attempt to do the same for the classic television series The Prisoner 122 He wrote and drew Black Panther and drew numerous covers across the line 12 Kirby s other Marvel creations in this period include Machine Man 123 and Devil Dinosaur 124 Kirby s final comics collaboration with Stan Lee The Silver Surfer The Ultimate Cosmic Experience was published in 1978 as part of the Marvel Fireside Books series and is considered Marvel s first graphic novel 125 Film and animation 1979 1980 Edit Still dissatisfied with Marvel s treatment of him 126 and with an offer of employment from Hanna Barbera aided by the fact that he lived close in the same city 127 Kirby left Marvel to work in animation In that field for Ruby Spears Productions he did designs for Turbo Teen Thundarr the Barbarian and other animated series for television 103 In addition to a superior pay to his comics work Kirby enjoyed excellent relations with the staff especially with the younger artists who typically credited him as their inspiration 128 He worked on The New Fantastic Four animated series reuniting him with scriptwriter Stan Lee and they kept their relations sufficiently cordial on a professional level 129 He illustrated an adaptation of the Walt Disney movie The Black Hole for Walt Disney s Treasury of Classic Tales syndicated comic strip in 1979 80 130 In 1979 Kirby drew concept art for film producer Barry Geller s script treatment adapting Roger Zelazny s science fiction novel Lord of Light for which Geller had purchased the rights In collaboration Geller commissioned Kirby to draw set designs that would be used as architectural renderings for a Colorado theme park to be called Science Fiction Land Geller announced his plans at a November press conference attended by Kirby former American football star Rosey Grier writer Ray Bradbury and others While the film did not come to fruition Kirby s drawings were used for the CIA s Canadian Caper in which some members of the U S embassy in Tehran Iran who had avoided capture in the Iran hostage crisis were able to escape the country posing as members of a movie location scouting crew 131 Final years 1981 1994 Edit Topps Comics Bombast 1 April 1993 Cover art by Kirby In the early 1980s Kirby and Pacific Comics a new non newsstand comic book publisher made one of the industry s earliest deals for creator owned series resulting in Captain Victory and the Galactic Rangers 132 133 and the six issue miniseries Silver Star later collected in hardcover format in 2007 134 135 136 This together with similar actions by other independent comics publishers as Eclipse Comics where Kirby co created the character Destroyer Duck in a benefit comic book series published to help Steve Gerber fight a legal case against Marvel 137 helped establish a precedent to end the monopoly of the work for hire system wherein comics creators even freelancers had owned no rights to characters they created 138 In 1983 Richard Kyle commissioned Kirby to create a 10 page autobiographical strip Street Code which became one of the last works published in Kirby s lifetime It was published in 1990 in the second issue of Kyle s revival of Argosy 139 Kirby continued to do periodic work for DC Comics during the 1980s including a brief revival of his Fourth World saga in the 1984 and 1985 Super Powers miniseries 140 and the 1985 graphic novel The Hunger Dogs DC executives Jenette Kahn and Paul Levitz had Kirby re design the Fourth World characters for the Super Powers toyline as a way of entitling him to royalties for several of his DC creations 141 In 1985 Kirby and Gil Kane helped to create the concept and designs for the Ruby Spears animated television series The Centurions A comic book series based on the show was published by DC and a toy line produced by Kenner 142 In the twilight of his life Kirby spent a great deal of time sparring with Marvel executives over the ownership rights of his original page boards At Marvel many of these pages owned by the company due to outdated and legally dubious copyright claims were given away as promotional gifts to Marvel clients or simply stolen from company warehouses 143 After the passage of the Copyright Act of 1976 which greatly expanded artist copyright capabilities comics publishers began to return original art to creators but in Marvel s case only if they signed a release reaffirming Marvel s ownership of the copyright In 1985 Marvel issued a release that demanded Kirby affirm that his art was created for hire allowing Marvel to retain copyright in perpetuity in addition to demanding that Kirby forego all future royalties Marvel offered him 88 pages of his art less than 1 of his total output if he signed the agreement but reserved the right to reclaim the art if Kirby violated the deal 144 After Kirby publicly slammed Marvel calling the company thugs and claiming they were arbitrarily holding his creations Marvel finally returned after two years of deliberations approximately 1 900 145 or 2 100 pages of the estimated 10 000 to 13 000 Kirby drew for the company 146 147 For the producer Charles Band Jack Kirby made concept art for the films Doctor Mortalis and Mindmaster which would later be released as Doctor Mordrid 1992 and Mandroid 1993 respectively 148 Doctor Mordrid began as a planned adaptation of the Marvel Comics character Dr Strange but Band s option expired 149 150 For Topps Comics founded in 1993 Kirby retained ownership of characters used in multiple series of what the company dubbed The Kirbyverse 151 These titles were derived mainly from designs and concepts Kirby had kept in his files some intended initially for the by then defunct Pacific Comics and then licensed to Topps for what became the Jack Kirby s Secret City Saga mythos 152 Phantom Force was the last comic book Kirby worked on before his death The story was co written by Kirby with Michael Thibodeaux and Richard French based on an eight page pitch for an unused Bruce Lee comic in 1978 153 Issues 1 and 2 were published by Image Comics with various Image artists inking over Kirby s pencils Issue 0 and issues 3 8 were published by Genesis West with Kirby providing pencils for issues 0 and 4 Thibodeaux provided the art for the remaining issues of the series after Kirby died 154 Personal life and death EditIn the early 1940s Kirby and his family moved to Brooklyn There Kirby met Rosalind Roz Goldstein who lived in the same apartment building The pair began dating soon afterward 155 Kirby proposed to Goldstein on her 18th birthday and the two became engaged 156 They married on May 23 1942 157 The couple had four children together Susan b December 6 1945 158 Neal b May 1948 38 Barbara b November 1952 159 and Lisa b September 1960 158 160 After being drafted into the U S Army and serving in the European Theater in World War II 161 Kirby corresponded with his wife regularly by v mail with Roz sending daily letters while she worked in a lingerie shop and lived with her mother 162 at 2820 Brighton 7th Street in Brooklyn 163 During the winter of 1944 Kirby suffered severe frostbite and was taken to a hospital in London for recovery Doctors considered amputating Kirby s legs which had turned black but he eventually recovered and was able to walk again 164 He returned to the United States in January 1945 assigned to Camp Butner in North Carolina where he spent the last six months of his service as part of the motor pool Kirby was honorably discharged as a private first class on July 20 1945 having received a Combat Infantryman Badge a European African Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with a bronze Battle Star 165 166 In 1949 Kirby bought a house for his family in Mineola New York on Long Island 38 This would be the family s home for the next 20 years with Kirby working out of a basement studio just 10 feet 3 0 m wide which the family referred to jocularly as The Dungeon 167 He moved the family to Southern California in early 1969 both to live in a drier climate for the sake of daughter Lisa s health and to be closer to the Hollywood studios Kirby believed might provide work 168 In an interview Kirby s granddaughter Jillian Kirby said Kirby was a liberal Democrat 169 On February 6 1994 Kirby died at age 76 of heart failure in his Thousand Oaks California home 170 He was buried at Valley Oaks Memorial Park in Westlake Village California Artistic style and achievements EditBrent Staples wrote in the New York Times He created a new grammar of storytelling and a cinematic style of motion Once wooden characters cascaded from one frame to another or even from page to page threatening to fall right out of the book into the reader s lap The force of punches thrown was visibly and explosively evident Even at rest a Kirby character pulsed with tension and energy in a way that makes movie versions of the same characters seem static by comparison 171 Jack Kirby has been referred to as the superhero of style his artwork described by John Carlin in Masters of American Comics as deliberately primitive and bombastic 172 and elsewhere has been compared to Cubist 173 Futurist Primitivist and outsider art 174 His contributions to the comic book form including the many characters he created or co created and the many genres he worked on have led to him being referred to as the definitive comic book artist 175 Given the number of places Kirby s artwork can now be found the toys based on his designs and the success of the movies based upon his work Charles Hatfield and Ben Saunders declare him one of the chief architects of the American imagination 176 He was regarded as a hard working artist and it has been calculated that he drew at least 20 318 pages of published art and a further 1 385 covers in his career He published 1 158 pages in 1962 alone 177 Kirby defined comics in two periods His work in the early 1940s with Joe Simon on the Captain America strip and then his superhero comics of the 1960s with Stan Lee at Marvel Comics and on his own at DC Comics 178 Kirby also created stories in almost every genre of comics from the autobiographical Street Code to the apocalyptic science fiction fantasy of Kamandi 179 Narrative approach to comics Edit Like many of his contemporaries Kirby was hugely indebted to Milton Caniff Hal Foster and Alex Raymond who codified many of the tropes of narrative art in adventure comic strips It has also been suggested that Kirby drew from Burne Hogarth whose dynamic figure work may have informed the way Kirby drew figures his ferocious bounding and grotesquely articulated figures seem directly descended from Hogarth s dynamically contorted forms 180 His style drew on these influences all major artists at the time Kirby was learning his craft with Caniff Foster and Raymond between them imparting to the sequential adventure comic strip a highly illustrative approach based on realizing the setting to a very high degree Where Kirby diverged from these influences and where his style impacted on the formation of comic book art was in his move away from an illustrated approach to one that was more dynamic Kirby s artistic style was one that captured energy and motion within the image synergizing with the text and helping to serve the narrative In contrast successors to the illustrative approach such as Gil Kane found their work eventually reach an impasse The art would illustrate but in lacking movement caused the reader to contemplate the art as much as the written word Later artists such as Bryan Hitch and Alex Ross combined the Kirby and Kane approaches using highly realistic backgrounds contrasted with dynamic characters to create what became known as a widescreen approach to comics 181 Kirby s dynamism and energy served to push the reader through the story where an illustrative detailed approach would cause the eye to linger 182 His reduction of the presentation of a given scene down to one that represents the semblance of movement has led Kirby to be described as cinematic in his style 183 Having worked at Fleischer Studios before coming to comics Kirby had a grounding in animation techniques for producing motion He also realized that comic books were not subject to the same constraints as the newspaper strip While other comic book artists recreated the layouts that format used Kirby swiftly utilized the space a whole comic book page created 178 As Ron Goulart describes h e broke up the pages in new ways and introduced splash panels that stretched across two pages 184 Kirby himself described the creation of his dynamic style as a reaction both to the cinema and to the urge to create and compete I found myself competing with the movie camera I had to compete with the camera I felt like John Henry I tore my characters out of the panels I made them jump all over the page I tried to make that cohesive so that it would be easier to read I had to get my characters in extreme positions and in doing so I created an extreme style which was recognizable by everybody 185 Style Edit Fantastic Four 51 June 1966 p 14 Collage and pencilled figure by Jack Kirby inks by Joe Sinnott letters by Artie Simek dialogue by Stan Lee illustrating Kirby s use of collage In the early 1940s Kirby would at times disregard panel borders A character would be drawn in one panel but their shoulder and arm would extend outside the border into the gutter and sometimes on top of a nearby panel A character may be punched out of one panel feet being in the original panel and body in the next Panels themselves would overlap and Kirby would find new ways to arrange panels on a comic book page His figures were depicted as lithe and graceful although Kirby would place them thrusting from the page towards the reader 186 174 187 The late 1940s and 1950s saw Kirby move away from superhero comics and working with Joe Simon try his hand at a number of genres Kirby and Simon created the romance comics genre and working in this as well as the war Western and crime genres saw Kirby s style change He left behind the diverse panel framing and layouts The nature of these genres enabled him to channel the energy into the posing and blocking of characters forcing the drama into the constraints of the panel 174 When Kirby and Stan Lee came together at Marvel Comics his art developed again His characters and representations became more abstract less anatomically correct He would place figures across three planes of a panel s depth to suggest three dimensions 188 His backgrounds would be less detailed where he did not want the eye to be drawn 189 His figures would move actively along diagonals 188 and he utilized foreshortening to make a character appear to recede more deeply into the panel so that they appeared to move towards the reader off the page 187 190 191 During the 1960s Kirby also developed a talent for creating collages initially utilizing them within the pages of The Fantastic Four He introduced the Negative Zone as a place within the Marvel Universe that would only be illustrated via collage However the reproduction within the published comics of the collages coupled with the low page rate he was being paid and the time they took to develop saw their use discarded 192 Kirby would later return to the use of collage in his Fourth World work at DC Comics Here he used them most often in the pages of Superman s Pal Jimmy Olsen 193 Kirby s style in the late 1960s was regarded so highly by Stan Lee that he instituted it as Marvel s house style Lee would instruct other artists to draw more like Jack and would also assign them books to work on using Kirby s breakdowns of the story so that they could more closely hew to Kirby s style 194 Over time Kirby s style has become so well known that imitations homages and pastiche are referred to as Kirbyesque 195 196 197 198 Kirby Krackle also referred to as Kirby Dots 199 is Kirby s artistic convention of depicting the effect of energy Within the drawing a field of black pseudo fractal images is used to represent negative space around unspecified kinds of energy 200 201 Kirby Krackles are typically used in illustrations of explosions smoke the blasts from ray guns cosmic energy and outer space phenomena 202 The advanced technology Kirby drew from the Afrofuturistic state of Wakanda through the Mother Boxes of the New Gods to the spaceships and design of the Celestials is gathered together under the collective term Kirby Tech 203 204 John Paul Leon has described it as It s tech it s mechanical even if it s alien but it s drawn in such an organic way that you don t question it It s just an extension of his world I m not sure who else you could say did that 205 Kirby s depiction of technology is linked by Charles Hatfield to Leo Marx s idea of the technological sublime specifically utilizing Edmund Burke s definition of the Sublime Using this definition Kirby s view and depiction of technology is that of it as something to be feared 206 Working method Edit Jack Kirby s detailed pencils for the splash page to The Demon 1 DC Comics September 1972 Unlike many of his contemporaries Kirby did not use preliminary sketches rough work or layouts He would instead start with the blank board and draw the story onto the page from top to bottom start to finish Many artists including Carmine Infantino Gil Kane and Jim Steranko have remarked on the unusual nature of his method Kirby would rarely erase while working the art and therefore the story would flow from him almost fully formed 207 Kirby s pencils had a reputation for being detailed to the point that they were difficult to ink 208 209 Will Eisner remembers even in the early years that Kirby s pencils were tight 210 Working for Eisner Kirby initially inked with a pen not confident enough in his ability to use the Japanese brushes Lou Fine and Eisner preferred 211 By the time Kirby worked with Joe Simon Kirby had taught himself to use a brush and would on occasion ink over inked work where he felt it was needed 212 Due to the amount of work Kirby produced it was rare for him to ink his own work Instead the pencilled pages were sent on to an inker Different inkers would therefore impact on the published version of Kirby s art with Kirby himself noting that individual inkers were suited to different genres 213 For a period during the 1950s when work had dried up it s been suggested by Harry Mendryk that Kirby inked himself 214 By the late 1960s Kirby preferred to pencil feeling that inking in itself is a separate kind of art 213 Stan Lee recalls Kirby not really being too interested in who inked him I cared much more about who inked Kirby than Kirby did Kirby never seemed to care who inked him I think Kirby felt his style was so strong that it just didn t matter who inked him 215 Chic Stone an inker of Kirby s during the 1960s at Marvel recalled T he two best inkers for Jack were Mike Royer and Steve Rude Both truly maintained the integrity of Jack s pencils 216 The size of the art board made a difference to Kirby s style During the late 1960s the industry shrunk the size of the art board artists used Prior to 1967 art boards were around 14 x 21 inches being reproduced at 7 x 10 inches After 1967 the size of the board shrunk to 10 x 15 217 This affected the way Kirby drew Gil Kane noted that the amount of space around the figures became less and less The figures became bigger and bigger and they couldn t be contained by a single panel or even a single page 218 Professor Craig Fischer asserts Kirby at first hated the new size 219 Fischer argues that it took Kirby around 18 months to negotiate a way of working at the smaller size Initially he retreated to a less detailed close up style as seen in Fantastic Four 68 In adjusting to the new size Kirby began utilizing depth to bring the pages to life increasing his use of foreshortening 219 By the time Kirby had moved to DC he started to incorporate the use of two page spreads into his art more These spreads helped define the mood of the story and came to define Kirby s late era work 220 Exhibitions and original art Edit Kirby s art has been exhibited as part of the Masters of American Comics joint exhibition by The Hammer Museum and Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles from November 2005 to March 2006 221 In 2015 Charles Hatfield curated the Comic Book Apocalypse exhibition at the California State University Northridge Art Galleries The exhibition focused on Kirby s work from 1965 onward 222 In 2018 A Jack Kirby Odyssey was organized by Tom Kraft The exhibition displayed photocopies of unpublished Kirby pencils for stories intended for publication in the 2001 A Space Odyssey comic book adaptation series as well as reproductions of the published work 223 In 1994 The Cartoon Art Trust organized an exhibition in London of Kirby art Jack Kirby The King of Comic Books in the wake of Kirby s death 224 In 2010 Dan Nadel and Paul Gravett curated Jack Kirby The House That Jack Built a retrospective of Kirby s career from 1942 to 1985 The exhibition was part of the Fumetto International Comics Festival held in Lucerne Switzerland 225 Kirby s original art regularly sells at auction with Heritage Auctions listing the cover of Tales of Suspense 84 inked by Frank Giacoia as realizing a price of 167 300 in a February 2014 auction 226 A large portion of Kirby s art remains unaccounted for Work created around World War II would have been reused or pulped due to paper shortages DC Comics had a policy of destroying original art in the 1950s Marvel Comics would also destroy art up until 1960 when it stored artwork prior to a policy which saw art returned to the artist In Kirby s case it s reported he was returned roughly 2 100 pieces of the estimated 10 000 pages drawn The whereabouts of these missing pages are unknown although some do turn up for sale provenance unknown 227 228 Kirby s estate EditSubsequent releases Edit Kirby in the 1980s Lisa Kirby announced in early 2006 that she and co writer Steve Robertson with artist Mike Thibodeaux planned to publish via the Marvel Comics Icon imprint a six issue limited series Jack Kirby s Galactic Bounty Hunters featuring characters and concepts created by her father for Captain Victory 160 The series scripted by Lisa Kirby Robertson Thibodeaux and Richard French with pencil art by Jack Kirby and Thibodeaux and inking by Scott Hanna and Karl Kesel primarily ran an initial five issues Sept 2006 Jan 2007 and then a later final issue Sept 2007 229 Marvel posthumously published a lost Kirby Lee Fantastic Four story Fantastic Four The Lost Adventure April 2008 with unused pages Kirby had originally drawn for a story that was partially published in Fantastic Four 108 March 1971 230 231 In 2011 Dynamite Entertainment published Kirby Genesis an eight issue miniseries by writer Kurt Busiek and artists Jack Herbert and Alex Ross featuring Kirby owned characters previously published by Pacific Comics and Topps Comics 232 233 Copyright dispute Edit On September 16 2009 234 Kirby s four children served notices of termination to The Walt Disney Studios 20th Century Fox Universal Pictures Paramount Pictures and Sony Pictures to attempt to gain control of various Silver Age Marvel characters 235 236 Marvel sought to invalidate those claims 237 238 In mid March 2010 Kirby s children sued Marvel to terminate copyrights and gain profits from Kirby s comic creations 239 In July 2011 the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York issued a summary judgment in favor of Marvel 234 240 which was affirmed in August 2013 by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit 241 The Kirby children filed a petition on March 21 2014 for a review of the case by the Supreme Court of the United States 242 243 but a settlement was reached on September 26 2014 and the family requested that the petition be dismissed 244 While the settlement has left uncertain the legal right to works governed by the Copyright Act of 1909 created before the Copyright Act of 1976 came into force the Kirby children s attorney Marc Toberoff said in 2014 that the issue of creators rights to reclaim the work done as independent contractors remains and other potential claims have yet to become ripe 245 Legacy Edit Glen David Gold wrote in Masters of American Comics that Kirby elevates all of us into a realm where we fly among the beating wings of the immortal and the omnipotent the gods and the monsters so that we dreamers all can play host to the demons of creation can become our own myths 246 Michael Chabon in his afterword to his Pulitzer Prize winning novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier amp Clay a fictional account of two early comics pioneers wrote I want to acknowledge the deep debt I owe in this and everything else I ve ever written to the work of the late Jack Kirby the King of Comics 247 Director James Cameron said Kirby inspired the look of his film Aliens calling it not intentional in the sense I sat down and looked at all my favorite comics and studied them for this film but yeah Kirby s work was definitely in my subconscious programming The guy was a visionary Absolutely And he could draw machines like nobody s business He was sort of like A E van Vogt and some of these other science fiction writers who are able to create worlds that even though we live in a science fictionary world today are still so far beyond what we re experiencing 248 Several Kirby images are among those on the Marvel Super Heroes set of commemorative stamps issued by the U S Postal Service on July 27 2007 249 Ten of the stamps are portraits of individual Marvel characters and the other 10 stamps depict individual Marvel comic book covers According to the credits printed on the back of the pane Kirby s artwork is featured on Captain America The Thing Silver Surfer The Amazing Spider Man 1 The Incredible Hulk 1 Captain America 100 The X Men 1 and The Fantastic Four 3 171 249 In the 1990s Superman The Animated Series television show police detective Dan Turpin was modeled on Kirby 250 In the 1998 episode The Demon Within of The New Batman Adventures Klarion has Etrigan break into the Kirby Cake Company Both characters were created by Kirby In 2002 jazz percussionist Gregg Bendian released a seven track CD titled Requiem for Jack Kirby inspired by Kirby s art and storytelling Titles of the instrumental cuts include Kirby s Fourth World New Gods The Mother Box Teaneck in the Marvel Age and Air Above Zenn La 251 The Cartoon Network Adult Swim series Minoriteam uses artwork as a homage to Jack Kirby credited under Jack The King Kirby who is thanked in the show s end credits Various comic book and cartoon creators have done homages to Kirby Examples include the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Mirage Comics series Kirby and the Warp Crystal in Donatello 1 and its animated counterpart The King from the 2003 cartoon series The episode of Superman The Animated Series entitled Apokolips Now Part 2 was dedicated to his memory 252 253 As of June 2018 Hollywood films based on characters Kirby co created have collectively earned nearly US 7 4 billion 254 Kirby himself is a character portrayed by Luis Yague in the 2009 Spanish short film The King amp the Worst which is inspired by Kirby s service in World War II 255 He is portrayed by Michael Parks in a brief appearance in the fact based drama Argo 2012 about the Canadian Caper 256 A play based on Kirby s life King Kirby by Crystal Skillman and New York Times bestselling comics writer Fred Van Lente was staged at Brooklyn s Brick Theater as part of its annual Comic Book Theater Festival The play was a New York Times Critics Pick selection and was funded by a widely publicized Kickstarter campaign 257 258 The 2016 novel I Hate the Internet frequently mentions Kirby as a central personage of the novel 259 To mark Jack Kirby s 100th birthday in 2017 DC Comics announced a series of one shots involving characters that Kirby had created including The Newsboy Legion and the Boy Commandos Manhunter Sandman the New Gods Darkseid and ending with The Black Racer and Shilo Norman 260 In May 2004 in Fantastic Four issue 511 written by Mark Waid and penciled by Mike Weiringo Reed Sue and Johnny travel to Heaven to recover the soul of the deceased Ben Grimm After passing a trial they are allowed to meet God himself who is depicted as Jack Kirby God explains that he is seen by them as what he is to them and that he considers the fact that they see him as Kirby to be an honor Alan Moore delivers his tribute to Jack Kirby in his next to last issue of the Supreme series Supreme 62 The Return 6 New Jack City March 2000 illustrated by Rob Liefeld and for the Kirbyesque part Rick Veitch In this story Supreme enters a realm of pure ideas where he meets a gigantic floating Jack Kirby head smoking a cigar This gigantic entity explains to him that he used to be a flesh and blood artist but now he is entirely in the realm of ideas which is much better because flesh and blood has its limitations because he can only do four or five pages a day tops where now he exists purely in the world of ideas 261 The Disney California Adventure attraction Guardians of the Galaxy Mission Breakout is surrounded by markings on the ground that serve as a tribute to the Kirby Krackle 262 Filmography EditKirby guest starred in the episode Bounty Hunter of Starsky amp Hutch as an Officer Kirby made an un credited cameo appearance in the episode No Escape of The Incredible Hulk He can be spotted in the hospital scene as a police sketch artist who is recreating from the a witness s description a picture of the man he claimed to have saved his life Instead of resembling the live action Hulk this illustration is instantly recognizable as the Hulk as he appeared in the original comics Kirby appeared as himself in the episode You Can t Win of Bob Awards and honors EditJack Kirby received a great deal of recognition over the course of his career including the 1967 Alley Award for Best Pencil Artist 263 The following year he was runner up behind Jim Steranko His other Alley Awards were 1963 Favorite Short Story The Human Torch Meets Captain America by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby Strange Tales 114 264 1964 265 Best Novel Captain America Joins the Avengers by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby from The Avengers 4 Best New Strip or Book Captain America by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in Tales of Suspense 1965 Best Short Story The Origin of the Red Skull by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby Tales of Suspense 66 266 1966 Best Professional Work Regular Short Feature Tales of Asgard by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in Thor 267 1967 Best Professional Work Regular Short Feature tie Tales of Asgard and Tales of the Inhumans both by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in Thor 263 1968 268 Best Professional Work Best Regular Short Feature Tales of the Inhumans by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in Thor Best Professional Work Hall of Fame Fantastic Four by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby Nick Fury Agent of S H I E L D by Jim Steranko 268 Kirby won a Shazam Award for Special Achievement by an Individual in 1971 for his Fourth World series in Forever People New Gods Mister Miracle and Superman s Pal Jimmy Olsen 269 He received an Inkpot Award in 1974 270 and was inducted into the Shazam Awards Hall of Fame in 1975 271 In 1987 he was an inaugural inductee into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame 272 He received the 1993 Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award at that year s Eisner Awards 273 His work was honored posthumously in 1998 The collection of his New Gods material Jack Kirby s New Gods edited by Bob Kahan won both the Harvey Award for Best Domestic Reprint Project 274 and the Eisner Award for Best Archival Collection Project 275 On July 14 2017 Jack Kirby was named a Disney Legend for his part in the creation of numerous characters that would comprise Disney s Marvel Cinematic Universe 276 The Jack Kirby Awards and Jack Kirby Hall of Fame were named in his honor 277 278 279 He was the posthumous recipient of the Bill Finger Award in 2017 280 With Will Eisner Robert Crumb Harvey Kurtzman Gary Panter and Chris Ware Kirby was among the artists honored in the exhibition Masters of American Comics at the Jewish Museum in New York City from September 16 2006 to January 28 2007 281 282 Asteroid 51985 Kirby discovered September 22 2001 was named in his honor 283 A crater on Mercury located near the north pole was named in his honor in 2019 284 Bibliography EditMain article Jack Kirby bibliography This is an abridged listing of Kirby s comics work interior pencil art for the two main comics publishers DC Comics and Marvel Comics For his work at DC it lists any title Kirby worked on for eight or more issues between 1970 and 1976 Of his Marvel Comics work it lists any title Kirby worked on for eight or more issues between 1959 and 1978 DC Comics Edit Demon 1 16 1972 1974 Forever People 1 11 1971 1972 Kamandi The Last Boy on Earth 1 40 1972 1976 Mister Miracle 1 18 1971 1974 New Gods 1 11 1971 1972 O M A C 1 8 1974 1975 Our Fighting Forces The Losers 151 162 1974 1975 Superman s Pal Jimmy Olsen 133 139 141 148 1970 1972 Marvel Comics Edit Amazing Adventures 1 4 Inhumans 1970 Avengers 1 8 full pencils 14 17 layouts only pencils by Don Heck 1963 1965 Black Panther 1 12 1977 1978 Captain America 100 109 112 1968 1969 193 214 Annual 3 4 1976 1977 Devil Dinosaur 1 9 1978 Eternals 1 19 Annual 1 1976 1978 Fantastic Four 1 102 108 Annual 1 6 1961 1971 Incredible Hulk 1 5 1962 1963 Journey into Mystery 51 52 54 82 1959 1962 Thor 83 89 93 97 125 Annual 1 1962 1966 Machine Man 1 9 1978 Silver Surfer 18 1970 Strange Tales 67 70 72 100 1959 1962 Human Torch 101 105 108 109 114 120 Annual 2 1962 1964 Nick Fury 135 141 142 full pencils 136 140 143 153 layouts only pencils by John Severin Jim Steranko and others 1965 1967 Tales of Suspense 2 4 7 35 1959 1962 Iron Man 41 43 1963 Captain America 59 68 78 86 92 99 full pencils 69 75 77 layouts only 1964 1968 Tales to Astonish 1 5 34 Ant Man 35 40 44 49 51 1962 1964 The Incredible Hulk 68 72 full pencils 73 84 layouts only pencils by Bill Everett and others 1965 1966 Sub Mariner 82 1966 Thor 126 177 179 Annual 2 1966 1970 2001 A Space Odyssey 1 10 1976 1977 X Men 1 11 full pencils 12 17 layouts only pencils by Alex Toth and Werner Roth 1963 1965 References EditCitations Edit Video on YouTube Morrison Grant July 23 2011 My Supergods from the Age of the Superhero The Guardian London United Kingdom Archived from the original on February 24 2012 Retrieved July 23 2011 a b Evanier Mark Sherman Steve et al March 20 2008 Jack Kirby Biography Jack Kirby Museum amp Research Center Archived from the original on September 17 2013 Retrieved February 24 2012 Hamilton Sue L Jack Kirby ABDO Group 2006 ISBN 978 1 59928 298 5 p 4 Jones 2004 pp 195 196 a b Evanier 2008 p 34 Jones 2004 p 196 I ve Never Done Anything Halfheartedly The Comics Journal Seattle Washington Fantagraphics Books 134 February 1990 Reprinted in George 2002 p 22 1 Archived September 30 2019 at the Wayback Machine at Cartoon Research com Interview The Comics Journal 134 reprinted in George 2002 p 24 Interview The Nostalgia Journal 30 November 1976 reprinted in George 2002 p 3 a b c d e f g h i j k Jack Kirby Archived April 13 2019 at the Wayback Machine at the Grand Comics Database Jones 2004 p 197 More Than Your Average Joe Excerpts from Joe Simon s panels at the 1998 San Diego Comic Con International The Jack Kirby Collector Raleigh North Carolina TwoMorrows Publishing 25 August 1999 Archived from the original on November 30 2010 GCD Issue 64 Pages of New Captain Marvel Adventures 1 comics org Archived from the original on June 12 2018 Retrieved February 5 2022 Mendryk Harry November 19 2011 In the Beginning Chapter 10 Captain Marvel and Others Archived from the original on May 29 2018 Retrieved May 29 2018 DeFalco Tom Sanderson Peter Brevoort Tom Manning Matthew 2008 1940s In Gilbert Laura ed Marvel Chronicle A Year by Year History London United Kingdom Dorling Kindersley p 18 ISBN 978 0756641238 Simon and Kirby decided to create another hero who was their response to totalitarian tyranny abroad a b Ro 2004 p 25 Markstein Don 2010 Captain America Don Markstein s Toonopedia Retrieved April 9 2012 Captain America was the first successful character published by the company that would become Marvel Comics to debut in his own comic Captain America Comics 1 was dated March 1941 Jones 2004 p 200 Ro 2004 p 21 Ro 2004 p 25 26 Ro 2004 p 27 Van Lente amp Dunlavey 2012 p 49 Ro 2004 p 28 Ro 2004 p 30 Wallace Daniel Cowsill Allan 2010 1940s In Hannah Dolan ed DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle London United Kingdom Dorling Kindersley p 41 ISBN 978 0 7566 6742 9 Hot properties Joe Simon and Jack Kirby joined DC and after taking over the Sandman and Sandy the Golden Boy feature in Adventure Comics 72 the writer and artist team turned their attentions to Manhunter with issue 73 Wallace 1940s in Dolan p 41 The inaugural issue of Boy Commandos represented Joe Simon and Jack Kirby s first original title since they started at DC though the characters had debuted earlier that year in Detective Comics 64 a b Ro 2004 p 32 Wallace 1940s in Dolan p 41 Joe Simon and Jack Kirby took their talents to a second title with Star Spangled Comics tackling both the Guardian and the Newsboy Legion in issue 7 Levitz Paul 2010 The Golden Age 1938 1956 75 Years of DC Comics The Art of Modern Mythmaking Cologne Germany Taschen p 131 ISBN 978 3 83651 981 6 a b Ro 2004 p 33 Evanier 2008 p 67 Ro 2004 pp 35 Ro 2004 p 45 a b Simon Joe with Jim Simon The Comic Book Makers Crestwood II 1990 ISBN 978 1 887591 35 5 reissued Vanguard Productions 2003 ISBN 978 1 887591 35 5 pp 123 125 Evanier 2008 p 72 a b c d Ro 2004 p 46 a b Howell Richard 1988 Introduction Real Love The Best of the Simon and Kirby Love Comics 1940s 1950s Forestville California Eclipse Books ISBN 978 0 91303 563 4 Simon p 125 Ro 2004 p 52 a b Ro 2004 p 54 Beerbohm Robert Lee August 1999 The Mainline Story The Jack Kirby Collector Raleigh North Carolina TwoMorrows Publishing 25 Archived from the original on May 26 2011 Retrieved March 26 2008 Theakston Greg 1997 The Complete Jack Kirby Pure Imagination Publishing Inc p 29 ISBN 1 56685 006 1 Simon Joe with Simon Jim 1990 The Comic Book Makers Crestwood II Publications p 151 ISBN 978 1 887591 35 5 Reissued Vanguard Productions 2003 ISBN 978 1 887591 35 5 Page numbers refer to 1990 edition Mainline Archived November 12 2010 at the Wayback Machine at the Grand Comics Database Ro 2004 p 55 Ro 2004 p 56 I Created an Army of Characters and Now My Connection with Them Is Lost Evanston Illinois interview The Great Electric Bird radio show WNUR FM Northwestern University May 14 1971 Transcribed in The Nostalgia Journal 27 August 1976 Reprinted in George 2002 p 16 Ro 2004 p 60 Kirby s 1956 57 Atlas work appeared in nine issues plus three more published later after being held in inventory per Another Pre Implosion Atlas Kirby Jack Kirby Museum November 3 2007 Archived from the original on July 9 2012 In roughly chronological order Battleground 14 Nov 1956 5 pp Astonishing 56 Dec 1956 4 pp Strange Tales of the Unusual 7 Dec 1956 4 pp Quick Trigger Western 16 Feb 1957 5 pp Yellow Claw 2 4 Dec 1956 April 1957 19 pp each Black Rider Rides Again 1 a k a Black Rider vol 2 1 Sept 1957 19 pp and Two Gun Western 12 Sept 1957 5 pp plus the inventoried Gunsmoke Western 47 July 1958 4 pp and 51 March 1959 5 pp plus cover and Kid Colt Outlaw 86 Sept 1959 5 pp Irvine Alex 1950s in Dolan p 84 Kirby s first solo project was a test run of a non super hero adventure team called Challengers of the Unknown Appearing for the first time in Showcase 6 the team would make a few more Showcase appearances before springing into their own title in May 1958 Evanier Mark 2001 Introduction The Green Arrow New York New York DC Comics All were inked by Jack with the aid of his dear spouse Rosalind She would trace his pencil work with a static pen line he would then take a brush put in all the shadows and bold areas and where necessary heavy up the lines she d laid down Jack hated inking and only did it because he needed the money After departing DC this time he almost never inked his own work again Ro 2004 p 61 Evanier 2008 pp 103 106 The artwork was exquisite in no small part because Dave Wood had the idea to hire Wally Wood no relation to handle the inking Evanier 2008 p 109 Ro 2004 p 91 Van Lente amp Dunlavey 2012 pp 46 49 100 Jones 2004 p 282 Christiansen Jeff March 10 2011 Groot Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe Archived from the original on November 13 2013 Christiansen Jeff January 17 2007 Grottu Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe Archived from the original on November 13 2013 Markstein Don 2009 The Fly Don Markstein s Toonopedia Archived from the original on August 14 2014 Markstein Don 2007 The Shield Don Markstein s Toonopedia Archived from the original on April 12 2013 DeFalco Tom 1960s in Gilbert 2008 p 84 It did not take long for editor Stan Lee to realize that The Fantastic Four was a hit the flurry of fan letters all pointed to the FF s explosive popularity Challengers of the Unknown Fantastic Four The Great American Novel Archived from the original on May 11 2021 Retrieved May 7 2021 Krensky Stephen 2007 Comic Book Century The History of American Comic Books Minneapolis Minnesota Twenty First Century Books p 59 ISBN 978 0 8225 6654 0 Archived from the original on February 4 2021 Retrieved November 12 2020 Readers liked seeing Reed and Sue bicker Johnny annoying everyone and Ben being grumpy Kirby s vivid illustrations created a whole new style for Marvel where the imaginative art matched the colorful loose style of the time Mercier Sebastian T 2008 Truth Justice and the American Way The Intersection of American Youth Culture and Superhero Narratives Iowa Historical Review University of Iowa 1 2 37 38 doi 10 17077 2373 1842 1010 Archived from the original on January 7 2017 The liberalization of American culture allowed superhero comic books to challenge the assumptions behind 1950s censorship Marvel was able to position themselves as a publishing maverick Several of their new superheroes including the Fantastic Four and the Amazing Spider Man were able to reflect real world sensibilities and problems Other heroes such as the Invincible Iron Man and the Silver Surfer examined the political landscape of the 1960s The close bonds shared with youth culture meant that superheroes had reasserted themselves into the American national consciousness Gil Kane speaking at a forum on July 6 1985 at the Dallas Fantasy Fair As quoted in George 2002 p 109 Cronin Brian September 18 2010 A Year of Cool Comics Day 261 Comic Book Resources Archived from the original on November 23 2010 Retrieved December 13 2021 DeFalco 1960s in Gilbert 2008 p 111 The Inhumans a lost race that diverged from humankind 25 000 years ago and became genetically enhanced Cronin Brian September 19 2010 A Year of Cool Comics Day 262 Comic Book Resources Archived from the original on July 8 2011 Retrieved December 13 2021 Parker Ryan February 15 2018 Black Panther Co Creator Jack Kirby Would ve Adored Film Phenomenon Family Says The Hollywood Reporter Archived from the original on June 12 2018 Retrieved June 10 2018 DeFalco 1960s in Gilbert 2008 p 117 Stan Lee wanted to do his part by creating the first black super hero Lee discussed his ideas with Jack Kirby and the result was seen in Fantastic Four 52 Theakston Greg 2002 The Steve Ditko Reader Brooklyn New York Pure Imagination ISBN 1 56685 011 8 Manning Matthew K Gilbert Laura ed 2012 1960s Spider Man Chronicle Celebrating 50 Years of Web Slinging London United Kingdom Dorling Kindersley p 15 ISBN 978 0756692360 Kirby had the honor of being the first ever penciler to take a swing at drawing Spider Man Though his illustrations for the pages of Amazing Fantasy 15 were eventually redrawn by Steve Ditko after Stan Lee decided that Kirby s Spidey wasn t quite youthful enough the King nevertheless contributed the issue s historic cover a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a first2 has generic name help DeFalco 1960s in Gilbert 2008 p 94 Filled with some wonderful visual action The Avengers 1 has a very simple story the Norse god Loki tricked the Hulk into going on a rampage The heroes eventually learned about Loki s involvement and united with the Hulk to form the Avengers Virtue Graeme August 28 2017 Captain America X Men Iron Man the Avengers Jack Kirby king of comics The Guardian Archived from the original on June 12 2018 Retrieved June 10 2018 DeFalco 1960s in Gilbert 2008 p 86 Stan Lee and Jack Kirby reintroduced one of Marvel s most popular Golden Age heroes Namor the Sub Mariner DeFalco 1960s in Gilbert 2008 p 99 Captain America lives again announced the cover of The Avengers 4 Cap was back Batchelor Bob 2017 Stan Lee The Man Behind Marvel Lanham Maryland p 73 ISBN 978 1 4422 7781 6 Hatfield Charles 2004 The Galactus Trilogy An Appreciation The Collected Jack Kirby CollectorVolume 1 p 211 ISBN 978 1893905009 Thomas Roy Sanderson Peter 2007 The Marvel Vault A Museum in a Book with Rare Collectibles from the World of Marvel Philadelphia Pennsylvania Running Press p 93 ISBN 978 0762428441 Then came the issues of all issues the instant legend the trilogy of Fantastic Four 48 50 that excited readers immediately christened the Galactus Trilogy a designation still widely recognized four decades later Cronin Brian February 19 2010 A Year of Cool Comics Day 50 Comic Book Resources Archived from the original on May 4 2010 Retrieved December 13 2021 DeFalco 1960s in Gilbert 2008 p 115 Stan Lee may have started the creative discussion that culminated in Galactus but the inclusion of the Silver Surfer in Fantastic Four 48 was pure Jack Kirby Kirby realized that a being like Galactus required an equally impressive herald Greenberger Robert ed December 2001 100 Greatest Marvels of All Time Marvel Comics p 26 Daniels Les 1991 Marvel Five Fabulous Decades of the World s Greatest Comics New York New York Harry N Abrams p 128 ISBN 978 0 81093 821 2 Foley Shane November 2001 Kracklin Kirby Tracing the advent of Kirby Krackle The Jack Kirby Collector 33 Archived from the original on November 30 2010 Simon p 205 Evanier 2008 pp 126 163 Sanderson 1970s in Gilbert 2008 p 146 As Marvel was expanding its line of comics the company decided to introduce two new split books Amazing Adventures and Astonishing Tales Amazing Adventures contained a series about the genetically enhanced Inhumans and a series about intelligence agent the Black Widow Evanier 2008 p 163 Braun Saul May 2 1971 Shazam Here Comes Captain Relevant The New York Times Magazine Archived from the original on June 12 2018 Retrieved January 18 2012 Inflation Calculator Determines Change in Dollar and Rates over Time Archived from the original on July 23 2008 Retrieved January 20 2021 a b Van Lente amp Dunlavey 2012 p 115 Ro 2004 p 139 Ro 2004 p 143 McAvennie Michael 1970s in Dolan p 145 As the writer artist and editor of the Fourth World family of interlocking titles each of which possessed its own distinct tone and theme Jack Kirby cemented his legacy as a pioneer of grand scale storytelling Evanier Mark Afterword Jack Kirby s Fourth World Omnibus Volume 1 New York DC Comics 2007 McAvennie 1970s in Dolan p 141 Since no ongoing creative team had been slated to Superman s Pal Jimmy Olsen King of Comics Jack Kirby made the title his DC launch point and the writer artist s indelible energy and ideas permeated every panel and word balloon of the comic Raphael Jordan Spurgeon Tom 2004 Stan Lee and the Rise and Fall of the American Comic Book Chicago Review Press p 218 ISBN 978 1 61374 292 1 Evanier 2008 pp 172 177 Evanier Mark August 22 2003 Jack Kirby s Superman POV Online Archived from the original on March 8 2012 Retrieved April 22 2012 Plastino drew new Superman figures and Olsen heads in roughly the same poses and positions and these were pasted into the artwork a b c Kraft David Anthony Slifer Roger April 1983 Mark Evanier Comics Interview No 2 Fictioneer Books pp 23 34 Daniels Les 1995 The Fourth World New Gods on Newsprint DC Comics Sixty Years of the World s Favorite Comic Book Heroes New York New York Bulfinch Press p 165 ISBN 0821220764 Morrison Grant 2007 Introduction Jack Kirby s Fourth World Omnibus Volume One New York New York DC Comics pp 7 8 ISBN 978 1401213442 McAvennie 1970s in Dolan p 147 Believing that new formats were necessary for the comics medium to continue evolving Kirby oversaw the production of what was labeled his Speak Out Series of magazines Spirit World and In the Days of the Mob Sadly these unique magazines never found their desired audience McAvennie 1970s in Dolan p 161 In OMAC s first issue editor writer artist Jack Kirby warned readers of The World That s Coming a future world containing wild concepts that are almost frighteningly real today McAvennie 1970s in Dolan p 153 Kirby had already introduced a similar concept and characters in Alarming Tales 1 1957 Coupling the premise with his unpublished Kamandi of the Caves newspaper strip Kirby s Last Boy on Earth roamed a world that had been ravaged by the Great Disaster and taken over by talking animals McAvennie 1970s in Dolan p 152 While his Fourth World opus was winding down Jack Kirby was busy conjuring his next creation which emerged not from the furthest reaches of the galaxy but from the deepest pits of Hell Etrigan was hardly the usual Kirby protagonist Kelly Rob August 2009 Kobra Back Issue Raleigh North Carolina TwoMorrows Publishing 35 63 Maybe that s because Kobra was the creation of the legendary Jack King Kirby who wrote and penciled the first issue s story Fangs of the Kobra McAvennie 1970s in Dolan p 161 Jack Kirby also took on a group of established DC characters that had nothing to lose The result was a year long run of Our Fighting Forces tales that were action packed personal and among the most beloved of World War II comics ever produced McAvennie 1970s in Dolan p 158 The legendary tandem of writer Joe Simon and artist editor Jack Kirby reunited for a one shot starring the Sandman Despite the issue s popularity it would be Simon and Kirby s last collaboration McAvennie 1970s in Dolan p 162 Debuting with Atlas the Great writer and artist Jack Kirby didn t shrug at the chance to put his spin on the well known hero McAvennie 1970s in Dolan p 164 Though 1st Issue Special was primarily DC s forum to introduce new characters and storylines editor Jack Kirby used the series as an opportunity to revamp the Manhunter whom he and writer Joe Simon had made famous in the 1940s Abramowitz Jack April 2014 1st Issue Special It Was No Showcase But It Was Never Meant To Be Back Issue Raleigh North Carolina TwoMorrows Publishing 71 40 47 Ro 2004 chapters 12 13 Bullpen Bulletins The King is Back Nuff Said in Marvel Comics cover dated October 1975 including Fantastic Four 163 Sanderson 1970s in Gilbert 2008 p 175 After an absence of half a decade Jack Kirby returned to Marvel Comics as writer penciller and editor of the series he and Joe Simon created back in 1941 Powers Tom December 2012 Kirby Celebrating America s 200th Birthday Captain America s Bicentennial Battles Back Issue Raleigh North Carolina TwoMorrows Publishing 61 46 49 Sanderson 1970s in Gilbert 2008 p 175 Jack Kirby s most important creation for Marvel during his return in the 1970s was his epic series The Eternals Sanderson 1970s in Gilbert 2008 p 180 Marvel published its adaptation of director Stanley Kubrick and writer Arthur C Clarke s classic science fiction film 2001 A Space Odyssey as an oversize Marvel Treasury Special Hatfield Charles July 1996 Once Upon A Time Kirby s Prisoner The Jack Kirby Collector 11 Archived from the original on November 14 2010 Sanderson 1970s in Gilbert 2008 p 185 In 2001 A Space Odyssey issue 8 cover dated July 1977 Jack Kirby introduced a robot whom he originally dubbed Mister Machine Marvel s 2001 series eventually came to an end but Kirby s robot protagonist went on to star in his own comic book series as Machine Man Sanderson 1970s in Gilbert 2008 p 185 Jack Kirby s final major creation for Marvel Comics was perhaps his most unusual hero an intelligent dinosaur resembling a Tyrannosaurus rex Sanderson 1970s in Gilbert 2008 p 187 In 1978 Simon amp Schuster s Fireside Books published a paperback book titled The Silver Surfer by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby This book was later recognized as Marvel s first true graphic novel Ploog amp Kirby Quit Marvel over Contract Dispute The Comics Journal 44 January 1979 p 11 Evanier King of Comics p 189 In 1978 an idea found him It was an offer from the Hanna Barbera cartoon studio in Hollywood Evanier Kirby pp 189 191 Fischer Stuart August 2014 The Fantastic Four and Other Things A Television History Back Issue Raleigh North Carolina TwoMorrows Publishing 74 30 Stan Lee was a consultant to this series and Jack Kirby played a very important part in this show as an animator and helped design the show Jack Kirby Lambiek Comiclopedia March 6 2009 Archived from the original on March 27 2014 Bearman Joshuah April 24 2007 How the CIA Used a Fake Sci Fi Flick to Rescue Americans from Tehran Wired 15 5 Archived from the original on August 23 2010 Catron Michael July 1981 Kirby s Newest Captain Victory Amazing Heroes Fantagraphics Books 2 14 Morrow John 2004 The Captain Victory Connection The Collected Jack Kirby CollectorVolume 1 Raleigh North Carolina TwoMorrows Publishing p 105 ISBN 978 1893905009 Archived from the original on February 7 2017 Retrieved July 19 2016 Larsen Erik February 18 2007 One Fan s Opinion Issue 73 Comic Book Resources Archived from the original on January 13 2010 Kean Benjamin Ong Pang July 29 2007 SDCC 07 Erik Larsen Eric Stephenson on Image s Kirby Plans Newsarama Archived from the original on March 29 2009 Kean Benjamin Ong Pang May 2 2007 The Current Image Erik Larsen on Jack Kirby s Silver Star Newsarama Archived from the original on March 29 2009 Markstein Don 2006 Destroyer Duck Don Markstein s Toonopedia Archived from the original on September 13 2012 T he centerpiece of the issue was Gerber s own Destroyer Duck himself The artist who worked with Gerber was the legendary Jack Kirby who as co creator of The Fantastic Four The Avengers X Men and many other cornerstones of Marvel s success had issues of his own with the company George 2002 p 73 Morrow John ed February 19 2004 Collected Jack Kirby Collector TwoMorrows Publishing p 129 ISBN 1893905004 Manning Matthew K 1980s in Dolan p 208 In association with the toy company Kenner DC released a line of toys called Super Powers DC soon debuted a five issue Super Powers miniseries plotted by comic book legend Jack King Kirby scripted by Joey Cavalieri and with pencils by Adrian Gonzales Cronin Brian January 17 2014 Comic Book Legends Revealed 454 Comic Book Resources Archived from the original on April 9 2014 Power Xtreme Everything you didn t know about Centurions Syfy Wire December 4 2019 Retrieved December 4 2019 Van Lente amp Dunlavey 2012 p 157 Van Lente amp Dunlavey 2012 pp 157 160 Dean Michael December 29 2002 Kirby and Goliath The Fight for Jack Kirby s Marvel Artwork The Comics Journal Archived from the original on July 31 2013 Retrieved October 31 2013 Gold Glen April 1998 The Stolen Art The Jack Kirby Collector 19 Archived from the original on December 23 2010 Retrieved January 12 2012 Marvel Returns Art to Kirby Adams The Comics Journal Seattle Washington Fantagraphics Books 116 15 July 1987 Collected Jack Kirby Collector p 113 at Google Books Pauls J B The Rewind Doctor Mordrid Living Myth Magazine Archived from the original on July 17 2014 Retrieved May 9 2014 Fischer Dennis 2011 Science Fiction Film Directors 1895 1998 Jefferson North Carolina McFarland amp Company p 88 ISBN 978 0 78648 505 5 Archived from the original on February 4 2021 Retrieved November 12 2020 Evanier 2008 p 207 Jon B Cooke 2006 Twilight at Topps The Collected Jack Kirby CollectorVolume 5 Raleigh North Carolina TwoMorrows Publishing pp 149 153 ISBN 978 1 893905 57 3 Morrow John 2004 The Collected Jack Kirby Collector Volume 3 Raleigh North Carolina TwoMorrows Publishing ISBN 978 1 89390 502 3 Archived from the original on February 6 2021 Retrieved November 12 2020 Jack Kirby checklist Gold ed Raleigh N C TwoMorrows Pub 2008 pp 57 8 ISBN 978 1605490052 Ro 2004 p 14 Ro 2004 p 16 Evanier 2008 p 57 a b Morrow John April 1996 Roz Kirby Interview Excerpts The Jack Kirby Collector Raleigh North Carolina TwoMorrows Publishing 10 Archived from the original on November 3 2013 Theakston Greg 1991 The Jack Kirby Treasury Volume Two Forestville California Eclipse Books p 39 ISBN 978 1 56060 134 0 a b Brady Matt April 20 2006 Lisa Kirby Mike Thibodeaux amp Tom Brevoort on Galactic Bounty Hunters Newsarama Archived from the original on September 15 2009 Ro 2004 chapter 3 Ro 2004 p 40 World War II V mail letter from Kirby to Rosalind in George 2002 p 117 Ro 2004 pp 40 41 Evanier 2008 p 69 Ro 2004 p 42 Kirby Neal April 9 2012 Growing Up Kirby The Marvel memories of Jack Kirby s son Los Angeles Times Archived from the original on October 27 2013 Retrieved December 28 2012 Evanier 2008 pp 157 160 unnumbered drove Jack to distraction and from there to Southern California In early 1969 the Kirbys moved west The main reason was daughter Lisa s asthma and her need to live in a drier climate than in New York State But Jack had another reason Kirby had hopes that being close to Hollywood might bring hm entry to the movie business Film seemed like the next logical outlet for his creativity Beard Jim August 25 2015 Jack Kirby Week Kirby4Heroes Marvel Comics Archived from the original on July 23 2017 Retrieved July 23 2017 Jack Kirby 76 Created Comic Book Superheroes The New York Times February 8 1994 Archived from the original on July 1 2014 Retrieved March 4 2010 a b Staples Brent August 26 2007 Jack Kirby a Comic Book Genius Is Finally Remembered The New York Times Archived from the original on August 17 2014 Carlin 2005 p 101 Hatfield amp Saunders 2015 pp 119 123 a b c Hatfield amp Saunders 2015 p 11 Carlin 2005 p 261 Hatfield amp Saunders 2015 p 9 1993 Jack Kirby The Hardest Working Man in Comics by Steve Pastis The Jack Kirby Museum and Research Center April 28 2018 Archived from the original on May 30 2018 Retrieved May 31 2018 a b Harvey R C April 1994 What Jack Kirby Did The Comics Journal 167 ISSN 0194 7869 Reprinted in George 2002 p 61 73 Hatfield 2012 pp 6 7 Hatfield 2012 p 61 Hatfield 2012 pp 63 65 Hatfield 2012 pp 65 67 Hatfield Charles 2005 Alternative comics an emerging literature 1st ed Jackson Miss University Press of Mississippi p 54 ISBN 1578067197 Goulart Ron 1986 The great comic book artists 1st ed New York St Martin s Press p 56 ISBN 0312345577 Eisner 2001 p 211 Hatfield 2012 pp 24 25 69 73 a b Harvey Robert C 1996 The art of the comic book an aesthetic history Jackson University Press of Mississippi p 33 ISBN 0878057587 a b Hatfield 2005 pp 54 55 Fischer Craig November 21 2011 Kirby Attention Paid The Comics Journal Fantagraphics Press Archived from the original on June 12 2018 Retrieved May 31 2018 Feiffer Jules 2003 The great comic book heroes 1st Fantagraphics Books ed Seattle Wash Fantagraphics Books p 59 ISBN 978 1 56097 501 4 Muscles stretched magically foreshortened shockingly Morrow John ed 2004 Conversations With Jack Kirby The Collected Jack Kirby Collector TwoMorrows Publishing vol 3 p 40 ISBN 1893905020 Evanier 2008 p 171 Hatfield amp Saunders 2015 pp 89 99 Hatfield 2012 p 9 Generally Speaking The Comics Journal 107 37 April 1986 ISSN 0194 7869 Sabin Roger 2001 Comics comix amp graphic novels Repr ed London Phaidon pp 110 134 amp 150 ISBN 978 0 71483 993 6 interviews by Roy Thomas amp Jim Amash introduction by Stan Lee 2007 John Romita and all that jazz Raleigh N C TwoMorrows Pub p 155 ISBN 978 1893905757 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link The Rick Veitch Interview The Comics Journal Fantagraphics Press May 24 2013 Archived from the original on August 25 2013 Retrieved May 31 2018 Originally published in The Comics Journal 175 March 1995 Crowder Craig 2010 Kirby Jack In Booker M Keith ed Encyclopedia of Comic Books and Graphic Novels Santa Barbara CA ABC CLIO p 353 Foley Shane November 2001 Kracklin Kirby Tracing the advent of Kirby Krackle Jack Kirby Collector No 33 Archived from the original on November 30 2010 Retrieved April 30 2015 Mendryk Harry September 3 2011 Evolution of Kirby Krackle Jack Kirby Museum Simon and Kirby Archived from the original on June 4 2012 Retrieved April 30 2015 Duncan Randy Smith Matthew J 2010 Icons of the American Comic Book From Captain America to Wonder Woman From Captain America to Wonder Woman Santa Barbara CA ABC CLIO p 353 ISBN 978 0 31335 747 3 Archived from the original on June 17 2016 Retrieved May 31 2018 Nama Adilifu 2011 Super Black American Pop Culture and Black Superheroes University of Texas Press p 48 ISBN 978 0 29274 252 9 Duncan Randy editors Matthew J Smith 2013 Icons of the American comic book from Captain America to Wonder Woman Santa Barbara Calif Greenwood p 368 ISBN 978 0313399237 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a last2 has generic name help ed by John Morrow and Jon B Cooke 2017 Kirby100 100 Top Creators Celebrate Jack Kirby s Greatest Work TwoMorrows Publishing p 184 ISBN 978 1605490786 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a author1 has generic name help Hatfield 2012 pp 144 171 Hatfield 2012 p 58 Morrow John ed 2004 Walt Simonson Interviewed The Collected Jack Kirby Collector TwoMorrows Publishing vol 3 p 112 ISBN 1893905020 it s so powerful in pencil it s really hard to ink it and really retain the full flavour of the pencils I think a lot of really good inkers have not been able to do that Morrow John ed 2004 Chic Stone Speaks The Collected Jack Kirby Collector TwoMorrows Publishing vol 3 p 90 ISBN 1893905020 I was totally awestruck by the magnificent penciling no one inker could improve on Jack s penciling Eisner 2001 p 199 Eisner 2001 p 213 Eisner 2001 p 209 a b Interview The Nostalgia Journal 30 1 November 1976 December 1976 reprinted in George 2002 p 10 Mendryk Harry April 7 2007 Jack Kirby s Austere Inking Chapter 1 Introduction Jack Kirby Museum amp Research Center Archived from the original on June 12 2018 Retrieved May 30 2018 Thomas Roy ed 2017 The Retrospective Stan Lee Alter Ego TwoMorrows Publishing 150 13 Morrow p 90 Hatfield amp Saunders 2015 pp 36 37 Hatfield amp Saunders 2015 p 28 a b Hatfield amp Saunders 2015 p 37 Hatfield amp Saunders 2015 pp 149 157 Masters of American Comics The Hammer Museum Archived from the original on June 9 2018 Retrieved May 31 2018 Comic Book Apocalypse The Graphic World of Jack Kirby California State University Northridge July 2015 Archived from the original on March 30 2017 Retrieved May 31 2018 Take A Jack Kirby Odyssey in NYC May 11 13 Jack Kirby Museum amp Research Center April 19 2018 Archived from the original on June 12 2018 Retrieved May 31 2018 Morrow John ed February 19 2004 Collected Jack Kirby Collector TwoMorrows Publishing p 67 ISBN 1893905004 Jack Kirby The House That Jack Built Paul Gravett Archived from the original on July 23 2018 Retrieved May 31 2018 Jack Kirby Heritage Auctions Archived from the original on June 12 2018 Retrieved May 31 2018 Gold Glen April 1998 The Stolen Art Jack Kirby Collector no 19 archived from the original on August 1 2018 retrieved May 31 2018 Hatfield 2012 p 79 Jack Kirby s Galactic Bounty Hunters Archived July 25 2015 at the Wayback Machine at the Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators Schedeen Jesse February 13 2008 Fantastic Four The Lost Adventure 1 Review IGN Archived from the original on August 2 2014 Fantastic Four The Lost Adventure at the Unofficial Handbook of Marvel Comics Creators Archived from the original on June 1 2016 Biggers Cliff July 2010 Kirby Genesis A Testament to the King s Talent Comic Shop News No 1206 Alex Ross amp Kurt Busiek Team For Dynamite s Kirby Genesis Dynamite Entertainment press release via Newsarama July 12 2010 Archived from the original on June 29 2011 a b Marvel Worldwide Inc Marvel Characters Inc and MVL Rights LLC against Lisa R Kirby Barbara J Kirby Neal L Kirby and Susan M Kirby 777 F Supp 2d 720 S D N Y 2011 Fritz Ben September 21 2009 Heirs File Claims to Marvel Heroes Los Angeles Times Archived from the original on May 18 2010 Kit Borys and Matthew Belloni September 21 2009 Kirby Heirs Seeking Bigger Chunk of Marvel Universe The Hollywood Reporter Archived from the original on November 2 2012 Retrieved March 15 2010 Melrose Kevin January 8 2010 Marvel Sues to Invalidate Copyright Claims by Jack Kirby s Heirs Robot 6 Comic Book Resources Archived from the original on January 14 2010 Marvel Sues for Rights to Superheroes Associated Press via The Hollywood Reporter January 8 2010 Archived from the original on January 31 2011 Gardner Eriq December 21 2010 It s on Kirby estate sues Marvel copyrights to Iron Man Spider Man at stake The Hollywood Reporter Archived from the original on November 2 2012 Retrieved March 15 2010 Finke Nikki July 28 2011 Marvel Wins Summary Judgments In Jack Kirby Estate Rights Lawsuits Deadline Hollywood Archived from the original on October 9 2011 Marvel Characters Inc v Kirby 726 F 3d 119 2d Cir 2013 Patten Dominic April 2 2014 Marvel amp Disney Rights Case For Supreme Court To Decide Says Jack Kirby Estate Deadline Hollywood Archived from the original on April 5 2014 Kirby v Marvel Characters Inc SCOTUSblog Archived from the original on July 27 2014 Retrieved July 27 2014 Patten Dominic September 26 2014 Marvel amp Jack Kirby Heirs Settle Legal Battle Ahead Of Supreme Court Showdown Deadline Hollywood Archived from the original on September 26 2014 Frankel Alison September 29 2014 Marvel settlement with Kirby leaves freelancers rights in doubt Reuters Archived from the original on October 6 2014 Carlin 2005 p 267 Lalumiere Claude January 2001 Where There Is Icing book review JanuaryMagazine com Archived from the original on November 25 2010 Lovece Frank February 26 1987 Aliens Arrives on Video this Week United Media newspaper syndicate Archived from the original on August 21 2014 Retrieved May 29 2013 a b Postal Service Previews 2007 Commemorative Stamp Program October 25 2006 press release USPS com October 25 2006 Archived from the original on May 8 2009 Retrieved August 10 2010 Bruce Timm in Khoury George Khoury Pedro III October 1998 Bruce Timm Interviewed Jack Kirby Collector No 21 TwoMorrows Publishing Archived from the original on March 3 2016 Berkwits Jeff January 28 2002 Requiem for Jack Kirby Gregg Bendian sketches memorable musical scenes from Jack Kirby s legendary comic book images Science Fiction Weekly SciFi com Archived from the original on February 11 2003 Eury Michael 2006 The Krypton Companion Raleigh North Carolina TwoMorrows Publishing pp 226 227 ISBN 978 1893905610 Fogel Rich and Timm Bruce writers Riba Dan director February 14 1998 Apokolips Now Part 2 Superman The Animated Series Season 2 Episode 39 The WB Marvel Comics Box Office Mojo Archived from the original on July 14 2019 Retrieved June 9 2018 Excludes movies starring Blade Daredevil Deadpool Doctor Strange Elektra Ghost Rider Guardians of the Galaxy Howard the Duck the Punisher and Wolverine solo The King amp the Worst YouTube Archived from the original on July 29 2013 Retrieved September 22 2012 Ebert Roger Toronto 4 And the Winner Is RogerEbert com Archived from the original on July 8 2014 Retrieved September 22 2012 Webster Andy June 22 2014 The Amazing Adventures of Pencil Man The New York Times Archived from the original on January 26 2021 Retrieved November 27 2014 Lente Fred Van Skillman Crystal July 31 2014 King Kirby A Play by Crystal Skillman and Fred Van Lente ISBN 978 1 49928 849 0 Jarett Kobek 2016 I Hate the Internet A Useful Novel First ed Los Angeles California ISBN 978 0 99642 180 5 OCLC 923555197 DC Unveils its Kirby One Shot Creators ICv2 May 23 2017 Archived from the original on June 9 2018 Retrieved June 9 2018 DThe Supreme Writer Alan Moore Interviewed by George Khoury From Jack Kirby Collector 30 Archived from the original on January 12 2010 Retrieved January 10 2021 Mack Mike May 5 2021 Countdown to Avengers Campus The Kirby Krackle laughingplace com Retrieved April 1 2022 a b 1967 Alley Awards Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac Archived from the original on July 25 2014 Retrieved August 10 2010 1963 Alley Awards Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac Archived from the original on July 25 2014 Retrieved August 10 2010 1964 Alley Awards Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac Archived from the original on July 25 2014 Retrieved August 10 2010 1965 Alley Awards Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac Archived from the original on July 10 2014 Retrieved August 10 2010 1966 Alley Awards Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac Archived from the original on July 25 2014 Retrieved August 10 2010 a b 1968 Alley Awards Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac Archived from the original on July 25 2014 Retrieved August 10 2010 Mark Hanerfeld originally listed Nick Fury Agent of S H I E L D as the winner but then discovered he had counted separately votes for Fantastic Four by Jack Kirby 42 votes Fantastic Four by Stan Lee and Fantastic Four by Jack Kirby amp Stan Lee which would have given Fantastic Four a total of more than 45 votes and thus the victory 1971 Academy of Comic Book Arts Awards Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac Archived from the original on June 27 2008 Retrieved August 10 2010 Inkpot Award Winners Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac Archived from the original on July 9 2012 1974 Academy of Comic Book Arts Awards Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac Archived from the original on June 27 2008 Retrieved August 10 2010 Will Eisner Comic Industry Award Summary of Winners Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac Archived from the original on August 12 2014 Retrieved August 10 2010 The Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award San Diego Comic Con International 2014 Archived from the original on July 1 2014 Retrieved August 16 2014 1998 Harvey Award Nominees and Winners Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac Archived from the original on August 12 2014 Retrieved August 10 2010 1998 Will Eisner Comic Industry Award Nominees Hahn Library Comic Book Awards Almanac Archived from the original on September 21 2013 Retrieved August 10 2010 McMillan Graeme July 16 2017 Jack Kirby to Be Named Disney Legend at D23 Expo in July The Hollywood Reporter Archived from the original on November 16 2017 Retrieved July 16 2017 Olbrich Dave December 17 2008 The End of the Jack Kirby Comics Industry Awards A Lesson in Honesty Funny Book Fanatic Dave Olbrich official blog Archived from the original on June 24 2013 Retrieved August 22 2015 Eisner Awards History Archived August 19 2018 at the Wayback Machine San Diego Comic Con International official website Accessed May 3 2013 Newswatch Kirby Awards End In Controversy The Comics Journal 122 June 1988 pp 19 20 Bill Finger Award Recipients Comics Continuum Archived from the original on July 18 2019 Retrieved February 21 2020 Exhibitions Masters of American Comics The Jewish Museum Archived from the original on May 11 2011 Retrieved August 10 2010 Kimmelman Michael October 13 2006 See You in the Funny Papers art review The New York Times Archived from the original on September 6 2012 51985 Kirby 2001 SA116 International Astronomical Union Minor Planet Center n d Archived from the original on February 6 2018 Retrieved February 6 2018 Additional on February 6 2018 Kirby Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature NASA Archived from the original on October 11 2019 Retrieved May 24 2020 Bibliography Edit Carlin John ed 2005 Masters of American comics this catalogue was published in conjunction with Masters of American comics an exhibition jointly organized by the Hammer Museum and the Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles With contributions by Stanley Crouch illustrated ed New Haven u a Yale Univ Press ISBN 978 0 30011 317 4 Eisner Will 2001 Will Eisner s shop talk 1st ed Milwaukie Or Dark Horse Comics ISBN 978 1 56971 536 9 Evanier Mark 2008 Kirby King of Comics New York New York Abrams ISBN 978 0 8109 9447 8 George Milo ed 2002 The Comics Journal Library Volume One Jack Kirby Seattle Washington Fantagraphics Books ISBN 978 1 56097 466 6 Hatfield Charles 2012 Hand of Fire The Comics Art of Jack Kirby University Press of Mississippi ISBN 978 1 61703 178 6 Hatfield Charles Saunders Brian eds September 2015 Comic Book Apocalypse The Graphic World of Jack Kirby this catalogue was published in conjunction with Comic Book Apocalypse The Graphic World of Jack Kirby an exhibition organized by California State University Northridge With contributions by various essayists Northridge California IDW Publishing amp California State University Northridge ISBN 978 1 63140 542 6 Jones Gerard 2004 Men of Tomorrow Geeks Gangsters and the Birth of the Comic Book Basic Books ISBN 978 0 465 03657 8 Ro Ronin 2004 Tales to Astonish Jack Kirby Stan Lee and the American Comic Book Revolution New York New York Bloomsbury USA ISBN 978 1 58234 345 7 Van Lente Fred Dunlavey Ryan 2012 The Comic Book History of Comics San Diego California IDW ISBN 978 1 61377 197 6 Further reading EditWyman Ray 1993 The Art of Jack Kirby Blue Rose Press Inc ISBN 0 9634467 1 1 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jack Kirby Wikiquote has quotations related to Jack Kirby United States portal Biography portal Comics portalThe Jack Kirby Museum amp Research Center Jack Kirby at the Comic Book DB archived from the original Jack Kirby at IMDb Jack Kirby at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database Jack Kirby at Find a Grave Jack Kirby at Mike s Amazing World of Comics Evanier Mark The Jack F A Q News From ME Archived from the original on July 2 2014 Mitchell Elvis August 27 2003 Jack Kirby Heroes Thrive in Comic Books and Film The New York Times Archived from the original on June 16 2013 Christiansen Jeff Creations of Jack Kirby Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe Archived from the original on November 11 2013 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Jack Kirby amp oldid 1136171379, wikipedia, 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