Fully Authorized By The Kirby Estate
CELEBRATING THE LIFE & CAREER OF THE KING!
Issue #12, Oct. 1996
A 44-p age International Theme ISSUE Spotlighting Jack’s Influence Aro und The GLO BE! Two Rare 1970S
Kirby Interviews (One in English For the First Time)
John Byrne Interviewed! Transcript of the 1996 Kirby Tribute Panel at Comic Con International: San Diego , Featuring
Mark Evanier, Roger Stern & Marv Wolfman Around The World WIth Kirby:
Asia, Australia, South America, England, Italy, France & More! Unpublished Art including Captain America Pencils Befo re They Were Inked, And Much Mo re!!
1996 Eisner Awards Nominee For Best Comics-Related Publication
Captain America © Marvel Entertainment, Inc.
A Controversial Canadian Speaks:
$4.95 In The US
KIRBY
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A KIT & KABOODLE OF KAPTIVATING KIRBY KONSCIOUSNESS! ITEM! There’s a couple of Internet-related Kirby items you should make note of. First, the TJKC Web Site (put together by Rascally RANDY HOPPE) has moved! The new URL is: http://www.interactive.net/~thehop/kirby (it’s still got samples of art and articles from each issue of TJKC). Secondly, if you enjoy interesting discussions of all things Kirby, join the KIRBY MAILING LIST. Send e-mail to MATT GORE (who’s taken over the list from Chris Harper) at mhg@matthew.cumberland.org and ask him to put you on this FREE mailing list. Then prepare yourself for a daily deluge of e-mail; Kirby is a hot topic of discussion! ITEM! TJKC spent three wonderful days at the CHICAGO COMIC-CON this past June, hobnobbing with all the rabid Kirby fans in the midwest! Thanks for making us feel so welcome; we’ll sure try to attend again next year!
Pure Imagination’s The Complete Kirby Vol. 1 (a series reprinting all of Jack’s work from the beginning of his career) is ready to go to press, but 400 people must commit to buying a copy before it can be published. Only 150 people have so far, so there’s still a long way to go! Volume 1 includes Jack’s early work from Blue Bolt, Red Raven, Crash Comics, Jumbo Comics, plus other early comic book and comic strip work (some never published in the US), and a text feature to put it all in perspective. Vol. 1 will be a 164-page softcover in black-&-white with color cover for $25. If you’re willing to commit to purchasing a copy, write to Greg Theakston, Box 669902, Marietta, GA 30062 or e-mail him at: 75451.3472@compuserve.com and let him know. DO NOT SEND ANY MONEY NOW! You’ll be notified by mail when it’s published. ITEM! Speaking of conventions, this past July 4th weekend, TJKC was in San Diego, CA for the 1996 COMICCON INTERNATIONAL. The KIRBY TRIBUTE PANEL took place on Saturday (a transcript is in this issue), and we got to see lots of old and new friends (including Jack’s daughter LISA, granddaughter TRACY, and nephew ROBERT). DARK HORSE COMICS unveiled their new KIRBY PORTFOLIO (with the help of ROZ KIRBY), and we had our annual TJKC display of Kirby art. It was a real kick when they announced TJKC was nominated for BEST COMICS-RELATED PUBLICATION at the EISNER AWARDS (congratulations to THE COMICS JOURNAL, who won in our category). We enjoyed an afternoon at SDCC founder SHEL DORF’s house, and got to chat with MARK EVANIER, STEVE SHERMAN, STEVE RUDE, MIKE THIBODEAUX (who invited us to stay at his home in Los Angeles after the con - thanks, Mike!) and many others. And during our visit to the Kirby house, Roz kept us laughing with stories, like the time Jack was yelling at daughter Lisa for something, and Roz bonked him over the head with a frying pan! (“Not all that hard, but you could hear the ‘bong’,” she said.) We had a great time, and thanks to everyone for making us feel like family! ITEM! COMICS REVUE has just begun reprinting Jack’s SKY MASTERS daily strips, picking up where Pure Imagination’s volume left off. #124 is $5.95, and in stores now, or write to: PO Box 336, Mountain Home, TN 37684. ITEM! Rambunctious RICHARD KOLKMAN is hard at work on the updated Kirby Checklist, so this is your last chance to send in errors and omissions from the existing one from Blue Rose Press’ THE ART OF JACK KIRBY.
JOHN’S JUKEBOX American comedian Steven Wright came up with one of my favorite comedy lines: “It’s a small world, but I wouldn’t want to paint it.” And if you think about it, that’s exactly what Jack Kirby did all those years; he painted a swath of action and adventure, not just in America, but all across the world. Roughly 10% of TJKC subscribers are from outside the US (they discovered Jack through foreign reprints of his work and American imports), which underscores how widespread the Kirby appeal is. It transcends language barriers, and “speaks” to people on its own level. This really hit home to me when a man walked into our booth at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con and asked (in a French accent), “Are you zee gentleman who publishes zis magazine about Jack Kirby? I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoy eet!” It was none other than MOEBIUS himself! He went on to say how he’d been reading each issue, and what a fan he was of Jack’s work. It just goes to show what a small world it really is. So this issue, we’re on a journey to examine Jack’s influence around this “tiny” world of ours. And since Jack is so widely recognized around the globe as the co-creator (with Joe Simon) of Captain America, I couldn’t resist having most of the art in this issue feature Cap and Bucky (and let’s not forget that nefarious Nazi, the Red Skull!). Enjoy the trip! Long Live The King!
John Morrow, Editor • 502 Saint Mary’s St. • Raleigh, NC 27605 • (919) 833-8092 • FAX (919) 833-8023 e-mail: twomorrow@aol.com
ITEM! At this summer’s comic conventions, we got 560 more names on our petition to get Marvel Comics to give Jack a co-credit line. If you didn’t get to sign, write to: Mr. Terry Stewart, Marvel Comics, 387 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10016 and ask that Marvel put “Created by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby” on books they cocreated. (This is in conjunction with MARK MILLER’s ongoing letter-writing campaign. So write already!) ITEM! Gregarious GREG THEAKSTON reports that for Vol. 2 of his COMPLETE KIRBY reprint series, he still needs a copy of Famous Funnies #80. If you know where he can get it in any condition, call him at (770) 433-1468. ITEM! Bashful BARRY WINDSOR-SMITH (who inked the cover of this issue of TJKC for us) just published the first issue of his new monthly omnibus comic STORYTELLER at Dark Horse Comics. Barry’s a long-time Kirby fan, and STORYTELLER includes a series called YOUNG GODS which is dedicated to Jack, and inspired by Jack’s work on THOR and NEW GODS. Look for it in stores now! ITEM! Donations to the educational fund that was set up in Jack’s name shortly after his death can still be sent to: The Jack Kirby Educational Fund, Temple Etz Chaim, 1080 Janss Rd., Thousand Oaks, CA 91360.
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KIRBY COLLECTOR CHECKLIST These Issues Of TJKC Are Available – See Page 42 TJKC #1: This 16-page INTRODUCTORY ISSUE features rare Kirby posters, articles on a 1978 Kirby traveling display and the MARVELMANIA PORTFOLIO, Jack’s original OMAC concept sketch, an unused THOR page, and more! $2.50 ($2.70 Canada/Mexico, $3.70 outside N. America) TJKC #2: A 16-page GENERAL INTEREST issue with rare 1970s SANDMAN pages, a fan’s phone conversations with Jack, MARVELMANIA PORTFOLIO plates, unpublished FANTASTIC FOUR panels, a page of the Jack Ruby ESQUIRE story, other rare art, and more! $2.50 ($2.70 Canada/Mexico, $3.70 outside N. America) TJKC #3: A 16-page CAPTAIN AMERICA theme issue with a JOE SIMON interview, more MARVELMANIA plates, convention sketches, 1960s & 70s CAPTAIN AMERICA pages before they were inked, and more! $2.50 ($2.70 Canada/Mexico, $3.70 outside N. America) TJKC #4: A 16-page GENERAL INTEREST issue, with a MIKE ROYER interview, more MARVELMANIA plates, THOR pencil pages before being inked, unused ATLAS #1 cover pencils, Euro-Kirby fandom, and more! $2.50 ($2.70 Canada/Mexico, $3.70 outside N. America) TJKC #5: A 16-page GENERAL INTEREST issue featuring transcripts of Jack’s 1972 speech at VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY, unpublished FANTASTIC FOUR pencils, how Kirby used real people in his comics, essential Kirby collectibles, unpublished KOBRA pencils, and more! $2.50 ($2.70 Canada/Mexico, $3.70 outside N. America) TJKC #6: A 36-page FOURTH WORLD theme issue featuring interviews with MARK EVANIER and STEVE SHERMAN, more of our MIKE ROYER interview, the NEW GODS portfolio, the story behind HUNGER DOGS and Jack’s original ending to NEW GODS, and unpublished art, plus FOURTH WORLD pencils before being inked! $4.95 ($5.40 Canada/Mexico, $7.40 outside N. America) TJKC #7: A 36-page KID GANG theme issue with an unpublished 1987 interview with Kirby, overview of the S&K KID GANGS, plenty of unpublished art from BOYS’ RANCH, BOY EXPLORERS, JIMMY OLSEN, DINGBATS OF DANGER STREET, X-MEN, and more! $4.95 ($5.40 Canada/Mexico, $7.40 outside N. America) TJKC #8: (Our first full-color cover!) A 36-page all-star CONVENTION theme issue with transcripts from the KIRBY TRIBUTE PANEL at the ’95 SDCC (with JOE SINNOTT, MIKE ROYER, MARK EVANIER, and TONY ISABELLA), convention memories, essay by JIM STERANKO, CAPTAIN AMERICA pages before they were inked, convention sketches, and more! $4.95 ($5.40 Canada/Mexico, $7.40 outside N. America) TJKC #9: A 44-page FANTASTIC FOUR theme issue with everything you wanted to know about the FF! JOE SINNOTT interview, FF pencil pages before inking, the original version of FF #108, unpublished art, and more! $4.95 ($5.40 Canada/Mexico, $7.40 outside N. America) TJKC #10: A 44-page HUMOR theme issue! ROZ KIRBY interview, STEVE GERBER on DESTROYER DUCK, GOODY RICKELS, FIGHTING AMERICAN, plus JIMMY OLSEN and THOR pencil pages before inking, other unpublished art, and more! $4.95 ($5.40 Canada/Mexico, $7.40 outside N. America) TJKC #11: A 44-page HOLLYWOOD theme issue! STUNTMAN, THE BLACK HOLE, LORD OF LIGHT, THE PRISONER adaptation, Jack’s career in ANIMATION, NEW GODS vs. STAR WARS, unused movie ideas, lots of unpublished art, and more! New Kirby/Steranko and Kirby/Ordway covers. $4.95 ($5.40 Canada/Mexico, $7.40 outside N. America) TJKC POsTEr: Full-color, 17” x 23”, shipped in a sturdy mailing tube. See page 42 of this issue for a look at it, and to order. Price includes shipping. $7.00 ($8.00 Canada/Mexico, $10.00 outside N. America)
you know, they are proud, and I think if you did something like that, your mother also would store your stuff; that’s how mothers are! In my neighborhood, you know, they didn’t even know what an artist was; to be someone, you had to be a car mechanic, and so when I became an artist, people couldn’t understand, they thought I was mixed up in something illegal.
Wow-What An Interview! A rare Italian interview from the 1970s, translated by Fabio Paolo Barbieri Nessim Vaturi, an Italian fan, interviewed Jack Kirby during Jack’s trip to Lucca, Italy in 1976. Before taping started, Kirby told Vaturi he was particularly happy about this interview because his Italian fanzine was called WOW! COMICS—similar to one of Kirby’s own early titles. The interview was only published in Italian; the original is not available, so Fabio Paolo Barbieri re-translated it back into English. If anything sounds odd, remember; this is a translation of a translation.
NV: After Jumbo, what did you do? KIRBY: After Jumbo, I started to gravitate towards more stable and secure magazines, that were just then coming out; things like Atlas Comics, which later became Marvel. And then of course I did some things for DC, and some things for a man named Victor Fox. Victor Fox’s name might have come out if you interviewed any artist my age who worked in the first years of comics. He was a publisher, he published Weird Comics, and in general books with names like Weird, Pow, Hit. And there were publishers like “Busy” Arnold
NESSIM VATURI: You said earlier that early in your career you used to work for a book called WOW! JACK KIRBY: Yes, it was the first magazine I worked for. Jerry Siegel and Will Eisner used to publish it. They were my bosses back then, and those were the first years of comics, and WOW–What A Magazine was one of the first comic magazines. Many of the artists who worked in it went on to create great features of their own, as we were to see. People call this the Golden Age of comics – I mean the Forties. NV: Do you remember anyone? KIRBY: Yes, I remember all the people who were there. There was Eddie Herron, who created Captain Marvel, and Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. They worked for DC from the beginning, they came on the scene when everything had just been created and everyone ran around from one company to another. When Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster came along, they found their place at DC and stayed there. I was a nut... if another company offered me more, I went, so I leaped around like a fly; maybe this was a good thing after all, because it allowed me to work in different organizations, and meet different people. NV: After working for WOW, where did you go? KIRBY: I worked for Jumbo; I did a “part feature,” one of the first sorcery strips, called “The Diary of Dr. Hayward.” I’ve still got the book; my mother kept it. But I’m not a collector, a hobbyist or a specialist. I’m a doer; that’s what you can call me. I do things and then forget about them. But mothers,
In the mid-1960s, Jack had his personal Golden Age copies of Captain America #1 & 3-10 bound into a hardbound volume. For the occasion, he did four Cap-related pencil drawings and had them stitched into it; two inside the front cover, and two in back. All four are in this issue, and Barry Windsor-Smith was kind enough to ink this one for this issue’s cover.
The Jack Kirby Collector, Vol. 3, No. 12, Oct. 1996. Published bi-monthly by TwoMorrows Advertising, 502 Saint Mary’s St., Raleigh, NC 27605, USA. 919-833-8092. John Morrow, Editor. Pamela Morrow, Assistant Editor. Single issues: $4.95 each US, $5.40 Canada, $7.40 outside North America. Six-issue subscriptions: $24.00 US, $32.00 Canada and Mexico, and $44.00 outside North America. First printing. The initial printing of this issue was mailed the week of Oct. 21, 1996. All characters are © their respective companies. All artwork is © Jack Kirby unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter is © the respective authors.
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Kirby In The United Kingdom England
Spider-Man, so with little Kirby material). These comics stayed with the successfully tested format pioneered by Odhams, and so of course continued to rely heavily on Kirby material from the ’60s. For the Kirby collector, the majority of his material was reprinted by Marvel UK in their comics published in the ’70s. Since the mid-1980s, Marvel UK has abandoned reprints and concentrated on a line of new material; ie. DeathsHead, Motormouth, etc. There is no question Kirby’s art and scripting were influential on a whole generation of comic book artists, but his artistry helped create a whole industry in the UK. At least 75% of Marvel’s reprints were Kirby material. In the late ’60s Jack Kirby’s art raised the expectations of British comic book readers, who had, with few exceptions, been used to static, basic, almost minimalist artwork. The American reprints in the 1960s were the first comics to appeal to the adult reader, and so lay the groundwork for an adult interest in comic books. It was a combination of larger-than-life adventure, fantastic concepts, and characters
by Mark Cartwright
The phrase “comics are for kids” was never truer than in the United Kingdom. Despite a headstart over the US and the rest of the world in printing this form of entertainment, it was over a century later before an English publisher printed anything remotely aimed at adults. How was the prevailing adult derision towards comic books altered, permitting 2000 A.D. (featuring Judge Dredd) to be printed in 1977, and gain acceptance to the point where more issues of 2000 A.D. are now sold to adults than to children? The answer is just two words: Jack Kirby. Between 1874 and 1966, English comic books were solely aimed at children under twelve years of age; both their artwork and scripts were overly simplistic, lacking even the merest hints of controversy or adult themes. There were just two exceptions: The Dan Dare strip in the Eagle comic and reprints of the American comic Captain Marvel, both occurring in the 1950s. War, sport, and stories focusing on schoolchildren were the main themes; superheroes were virtually nonexistent. In 1966, Odhams, who published the weekly comic Wham, began including reprints of the Fantastic Four, drawn by Kirby. The artwork, even in black-&-white, was much more dynamic than anything seen in English comics and quickly became so popular that it was joined by sister publications Smash, Pow, Fantastic, and Terrific. By 1967, there was simply no room for homegrown English strips, and all of the above comics were featuring 100% Marvel reprints. Originally Wham had both Fantastic Four and Batman reprints, but such was the appeal of Kirby’s Marvel work that Batman was replaced by Thor, X-Men, Sgt. Fury, Nick Fury, Avengers, and Spider-Man. The best analogy to compare English comic strips of the ’60s to Kirby’s Marvel work would be the difference between Flash Gordon cinema serials in the 1930s and the Star Wars Trilogy. DC and Marvel comics were imported into the UK in the 1960s but were much more expensive than their British counterparts. American material became very popular once available in the cheaper British format. The style of English comics has always differed from American comics, in that they are published weekly on the cheapest paper, and apart from the cover and centerspread, are in black-&-white. English comics don’t focus on one character, but instead will have five or six different stories, each being five or six pages long. This often set up cliffhangers in American reprints that just didn’t exist. In response to the success of their material reprinted in an English format, Marvel set up “Marvel UK” and began their own reprints, with the first issue of The Mighty World of Marvel on October 7, 1972. It ran for 329 weekly issues until 1979, when it changed its name to Marvel Comic continuing from #330-352. It was revived again for 17 issues in 1983-84. In the 1970s and early 1980s, the line was expanded adding Daredevils (11 issues in 1983), Fury (25 issues in 1977, with Sgt. Fury reprints), and Spider-Man Comics Weekly (666 issues – really! – 1973-85, focusing on
Captains America and Britain, drawn in the mid-1970s.
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who used ordinary everyday language, even if it was with a strong US dialect. Moreover the children who read the Marvel reprints in the ’60s and ’70s were ready to accept the comic 2000 A.D.’s launch in 1977, with its heightened levels of action, and concepts of fantasy and science-fiction aimed at persons over 12. 2000 A.D. could not have survived and flourished without the acceptance of both adults and children. In turn 2000 A.D. was responsible for highly-regarded industry talent like Brian Bolland, Garth Ennis, Grant Morrison, Neil Gaiman, Alan Moore, and Dave Gibbons, who ironically all ended up at DC. Without Kirby’s material to pave the way, Bolland, Moore, etc. would have been turned away, or been forced to eke out a living writing or illustrating simplistic stories in England about children, for children. How do you track down these Kirby UK reprints? Well, the good news is they are very inexpensive; an average of 20 cents for the ’70s issues, and 50 cents for those from the ’60s. The bad news is that very few comics dealers in the UK stock them because of their low value; you are more likely to find them in secondhand book stores than recognized comics stores. Another comic book format unique to Great Britain along with the weekly comics are the Christmas Annuals: Hard-cover books released just before Christmas, collecting various strips found in a weekly comic. From the late-’60s through the mid-’80s, annuals reprinting Marvel and DC stories were published. Odhams published annuals carrying the logos of Smash, Fantastic, and other titles they published. During the 1970s and ’80s Marvel UK published annuals such as Marvel Superheroes Annual. Unlike the weeklies, they reprinted whole uninterrupted superhero stories, many by Kirby. They too are inexpensive—from $4 to $8 each—and can be found in much better condition due to their hardcovers. To find weekly comics and annuals, check the magazine Comics International, a British publication that has most of the comic book retailers in the UK advertising. Now that Marvel has abandoned the concept of their Marvel Masterworks books, these English reprints are the most affordable way of acquiring Kirby’s Marvel stories. His DC Fourth World series has unfortunately not been reprinted in England. Commercially since the late ’60s, Kirby’s American back issues, despite downturns in the value of his comics in the US during the late ’70s and ’80s, have consistently remained at the high end of values in Great Britain. Only Neal Adams and Barry Windsor-Smith can rival the longevity of the values placed on Kirby material in the United Kingdom. ✪
Scotland
A 1969 sketch that ran in “Infinity” fanzine.
In October 1972 that all changed. On my way home from work I noticed a new comic on the newsagents counter (not the same newsagent – I never went back); it was called The Mighty World of Marvel. It contained The Hulk #1 (the first 10 pages), The Fantastic Four #1 (the first 13 pages) and the entire Spider-Man story from Amazing Fantasy #15. I bought it and never looked back; I was hooked again. Although this first issue was mostly black-&-white with green shading (yes, green shading), I no longer cared whether I was too old to read comics; I was happy. Over the next six years Marvel UK was able to reprint almost everything Kirby had done since Fantastic Four #1. I guess, like a lot of people, the ’60s happened for me in the early ’70s with Marvel UK reprinting all of the ’60s Marvel work. By the mid-1970s I had discovered fandom and somebody else in Inverness who, at my age, still collected comics; legitimate at last, I could come out of the closet. However, by the early 1980s I was becoming bored with comics; there was little from Kirby, and there was no one with that magic touch to sustain my interest. Then on Saturday, April 13th, 1996, while in Glasgow taking my son back to University, I was browsing through a comics shop when I discovered The Jack Kirby Collector #9. I was hooked, yet again. ✪
by Ray Owens
I was born in 1948 in Inverness, the capital of the Highlands of Scotland. My first encounter with American comics was in the late 1950s; the distribution was poor and erratic and my pocket money was very limited. Most comics were obtained by swapping with friends and were mostly cartoons, monsters or westerns, with the odd superhero title. The comics were produced mostly by DC, Dell and Gold Key with a few Atlas titles appearing from time to time. By the early- and mid-sixties, distribution began to improve and I had discovered Marvel comics, and in particular the Fantastic Four by Jack Kirby. The art just leapt out of the page; I was hooked. By 1968 and the Marvel explosion, I was collecting seriously—especially anything Kirby. Then it happened: I “grew up.” One Saturday when collecting my Fantastic and Terrific at my local newsagent, the woman serving me said in a loud voice in the middle of the busy shop, “These aren’t for you, are they? You’re surely too old to be reading comics.” I stopped, and in time threw out my entire collection. I certainly knew of no one else in Inverness reading comics at my age and I had not heard of fandom, so she must have been right; I was too old to read comics. 7
Jack Kirby Recalls Lucca, Italy DORF: Did they also show movies—as we do? KIRBY: Yes, they showed movies. They showed cartoons from Yugoslavia. They showed European cartoons. They showed the earliest Disney cartoons. I saw a Disney cartoon that I saw as a teenager back in ’33.
(This interview was part of an ongoing series called “The Fantasy Makers” conducted by Shel Dorf, and was originally presented in The Buyer’s Guide for Comic Fandom #213, December 16, 1977. Thanks to Shel and Carl Taylor for supplying copies of this interview, which is © Shel Dorf.) SHEL DORF: I understand last year you visited Lucca, Italy. What was your reason for going there? JACK KIRBY: Well, I was invited to go to Lucca as a part of the American representation at the Lucca Awards Festival. Roz and I went with a contingent of people who we had a great time with, and who we learned to admire because of their articulate comments, and they knew their craft. And, we felt that when we got there, that there would be people just like them. We had a great time.
DORF: Can you tell me a little bit about the ceremonies that included yourself? Did you have an interpreter to help you know what they were saying? KIRBY: Strangely enough, it was exactly like that. It was like the UN. They had a battery of interpreters in the boxes on the side of the theater. And, the professional cartoonists, the cartoonists who attended the thing and were in line for the awards, were seated in the front rows of the theater. We all had earphones. And our legs were caught in the wires, when I got up to get my award. I was kind of nodding, you know... I always nod during politicians’ speeches, and they had the mayor of Lucca on the podium, and somehow they called out my name, and Roz nudged me, and I did a Stan Laurel/Oliver Hardy bit, tripping on all of the wires.
DORF: This is the big event that the Italian Society of comics buffs put on once a year. How long does it last? KIRBY: Well, the event lasts a week, and it is held in an opera house which is really a unique facet of the thing because, you know me, I am a sensitive dramatic, and being in an opera house is a dramatic moment for me. I walk across all these tiers, all these boxes full with people, and it’s a thrill knowing that I am in that kind of a place, considering that I have never been inside an opera house.
DORF: What did they have to say about you, and your career? KIRBY: Well, they thought I had established some sort of a format which other artists have followed in comics. I believe my record stands for itself. And, somehow they found that my record had this particular value, and I got the award for that. My stuff has been printed in Italy, all these years. I mean as long as, say, Marvel, Atlas, or any other company had international distribution. They always had some feature that I did. It is a rather unique feeling to find out from these people themselves that you’re known by them, and they follow your stuff, and they respect you for the amount of work that you put into it.
DORF: This is typical of the Italians to treat cartoon art as one of the fine arts, isn’t it? KIRBY: Evidently, it is. I found it so. I found that the Italians are truly an international group, that they are international-minded. I know we had representatives from Mexico there, from Argentina, from Canada. There were people from North America and Europe, and I didn’t see any Asiatic representation in particular, but I am quite sure that they had people from all over the globe there. DORF: How many people were there, at the festivities? KIRBY: Well, the square was crowded, let me say that! They had sort of an astro-dome structure in the center of the Lucca square, and this astro-dome structure housed the dealers, people with unique things to sell, people who exhibited their drawings from many countries. I saw Spanish people there, and Italians, of course. There were Russians and Yugoslavs, it was really an interesting week for people who like comics.
A 1970s drawing of Cap and Bucky. 14
DORF: The Italians are passionate people... do you remember some of the accolades that they said about your work? I am interested in what they said about you because the Italian fans, for the last ten or fifteen years, have published beautiful reproductions of comic art, expensive-quality paper, beautiful inks, the very best treatment. So, they
were some who could not converse in English, and I used an interpreter, in that particular case. But on the whole, Roz and I enjoyed some delightful conversations. DORF: And, they gave you an award? Can you describe the award? KIRBY: Well, actually, there were two awards. There was a plaque which was presented to me by the mayor of Lucca, and it has the image of the opera house on it. It is a substantial award, in weight anyhow. I believe it is an etching of the opera house of Lucca which, of course, I am always going to remember because it was so colorful. The other award was a gold-plated statuette of the Yellow Kid, mounted on Italian marble. And, it has an inscription on the statuette itself which is in the dialogue of the Yellow Kid, which in turn, I believe, is supposed to be the first comic strip ever done. DORF: How many international artists received this award? KIRBY: I don’t exactly remember the number, but I know Jeff Jones was the other American who received the Yellow Kid Award. Dave Pascal, an American got a scroll commendation. There were a few Yellow Kid Awards. I couldn’t exactly name you the people who got them, but one was a Spaniard and the other was an Italian. DORF: This is the most coveted award the Italians give out? KIRBY: I believe so. The Mexicans got an award for animation and they were quite exuberant, and I wound up in their van... and, I had to tell them how much I love foreign work. And, of course, I had no trouble doing that because I do. I love people who work hard and are justly rewarded for whatever they do.
Pencils from CA #104, page 20. Stan’s note atop the page says to check for consistency on Cap’s neck, and the next issue box apparently said “Prisoner Of The Prankster” (it was later changed to “Batroc”).
DORF: Did you have time to see much of the city while you were there? KIRBY: Yes, Roz and I looked over Lucca, and it is an amazing old town, but also amazingly modern. The streets are narrow. There are no sidewalks. The automobiles chase you all over the place, and it is fun dodging them; however, the stores are well-stocked with modern goods. You can buy things of value there that you can get here. Of course, they have their own foreign stamp on them, but it is enjoyable to really go shopping there. I learned how to say things in Italian. I learned how to ask for soap.
DORF: Do they have good restaurants? KIRBY: Their restaurants are terrific. They have terrific restaurants, they have terrific food, and they have terrific personnel who serve you. It is a pleasure eating in any Italian dining place. I hope that many more Americans go there, and enjoy themselves as much as I did. If you manage to run across Jeff Jones, or Dave Pascal, you’ll probably get a lot more flowery adjectives about the Italian eating places.
must feel very deeply about the value of comic art. KIRBY: Well, they feel that my work is provocative, that it has a dramatic craftsmanship. And, I believe that it has affected them in the same way it has affected Americans. They love Captain America. They feel, somehow that they are a part of Captain America, just as the Americans do. I suppose if they had a Captain Italian, it would be the same image. The Frenchmen feel the same way about Captain America.
DORF: Did you look at the work of some of your Italian brothers in cartooning; did you get to meet some of the Italian artists? KIRBY: Yes, I did.
DORF: You find that you are speaking an international language. KIRBY: I have no difficulty talking with these people. Of course, there 15
Kirby Around The World Just how far does Jack’s influence stretch? Kirby fans around the globe tell us! (Editor’s note: The following are submissions sent in from Kirby fans around the world, discussing various aspects of collecting Jack’s work outside the US. Many of them don’t speak English as their primary language, but overall, everyone did a wonderful job of overcoming the language barrier. I’ve attempted to correct the occasional instances where broken English might have made it difficult to understand the author’s intent; please be assured that any alterations in meaning were unintentional.)
South America Argentina by Patricio Alberto Cocaro I am a 27 year old Kirby fan from Argentina, and I discovered Jack’s work when I was 6. I enjoyed reading Kamandi and Mister Miracle. The only comic books available in the ’70s here were Mexican editions of DC comics. Up to that time I believed that Jack Kirby only worked for DC Comics because his Marvel Comics work was beyond my reach and knowledge. I learned about Kirby’s work at Marvel in my adolescence when I got some Brazilian editions of Marvel comics, but I had to learn
Portuguese (here in the Pampas we speak Spanish). Then I knew about what I consider the most brilliant epoch in comic book history: The Marvel Universe in the ’60s. Today it’s easier to find any original edition either from Marvel or DC, and I found out that the Mexican translations I read in the ’70s were untrustworthy. Nowadays I still enjoy reading comic books but I don’t read them as often as I did when I was a boy. Comics are the most precious memory of my childhood and when I see my cousin walking along the streets of Buenos Aires searching for hard-to-get editions, my mind goes back to my “golden age,” and I feel as curious and happy with comics as I used to at age 6. ✪
Brazil by Wilson Costa de Souza Today in Brazil, we have many comics shops distributing almost everything published in the US and Europe. Marvel’s mutants rule and, as it appears in the US, comics are having a hard time surviving. And Jack’s standing very much parallels his position in the US. Here in Brazil, we have three kinds of comic book readers. First is the old timer, those very ancient guys who read Golden Age comics and know that Kirby, Simon, Siegel & Shuster, C.C. Beck, Kane and other creators were involved, and they revere these guys. When talking with them about Kirby, S&K Cap is the first subject that comes to mind, immediately followed by the Vision, Newsboy Legion and Young Allies.
A 1991 Spanish edition of Captain America’s origin from Tales of Suspense #63. (above) A Mexican reprint of Demon #2. 20
But they also remember him for Bullseye, Boys’ Ranch and Fighting American. Besides Will Eisner, Simon and Kirby are the Golden Age creators most respected here. The second group here, between 30 and 45 years old, started reading comics in the ’60s and were rudely awakened to the Marvel Age and Kirby by TV, of all things. In 1967, one of the most popular shows on TV was the “Super-Herois Shell”; those Marvel cartoons of the ’60s taken directly from the comics. Shell Oil used to promote the show, so if your dad had a car and stopped at a Shell station, he’d arrive home with a free issue of Captain Z (starring Captain America & Iron Man), Superxis (starring Namor and the Hulk) or Album Gigante (with the Mighty Thor), each with Kirby art. At the same time, small, independent publishers were printing Kirby’s pre-hero monsters and Atlas horror material, although Kirby’s Avengers, Human Torch, Ant-Man and others remained unknown here until the ’80s. In April ’69, both Spider-Man and Daredevil received their own magazines here, but not the Fantastic Four. Looking back today, it’s a huge anachronism when you consider that the comic that started the Marvel Age remained unknown here almost a decade later. By the end of 1971, almost all Marvel comics had disappeared from the newsstands. But in May ’72, a comic called O Homem de Aso (Man of Steel in English) presented stories originally from Jimmy Olsen. This series, more than any other, defined who Kirby was in the comics community. But although all of Kirby’s Jimmy Olsen was published, no New Gods, Forever People or Mister Miracle ever graced us, and it’s doubtful they will ever be printed here. At the time, a terrible recession hit, and only Superman and Batman comics were published. At the beginning of the ’80s, the publisher dropped out of comics. From 1975 to its end, the only Kirby comic they published was Kamandi #1, and then continuity was phased out to post-Kirby tales.
Finally, the third group of readers here are the ones who started reading from 1980 onwards. The publisher had to win them over with good art and stories, so they began with Marvel reprints in 1980, publishing all of Kirby’s Captain America that hadn’t seen print before. Other Kirby works were published sparsely, whenever continuity demanded it. Then, in 1985, after acquiring the rights to publish a comic starring Superman, they decided Jack’s DNAliens saga would be included. But this new printing was disappointing, to put it mildly. Many of Kirby’s panels disappeared, and those beautiful collages were eradicated and sometimes changed to being unrecognizable. The less said about this the better, as the 67 pages of Jimmy Olsen #136-138 were reduced to 45 pages—a dreadful package. From time to time, Kirby work from Marvel or DC pops up. But publishing costs being what they are here, much of his latter work— from Captain Victory to Silver Star—remains unknown to the fans at large. A few weeks ago, Phantom Force #1 hit the stands, and there is word that a small publishing outfit is planning to re-present all of Jack’s Green Arrow tales. Who knows? Perhaps this new generation of Brazilian readers can also know what Jack was all about. ✪
The original 1972 Brazilian translation of Jimmy Olsen #136 (right), and the 1985 version (above). The later version was translated by a doctor who tried to educate readers on the full meaning of DNA, human cells, etc., obliterating Jack’s collage in the process. 21
Third Annual Kirby Tribute Panel featuring Mark Evanier, Marv Wolfman, Roger Stern, and David Spurlock, and held on July 6, 1996 at the 1996 Comic-Con International: San Diego Transcribed by John Morrow EVANIER: Good afternoon. My name’s Mark Evanier, and I’m pleased as it were. This gentleman is currently publishing a number of comics to have this opportunity to remind you all about what Jack Kirby himself featuring his work and the work of others, and has become a meant to us. This is the 14th Jack Kirby tribute panel I’ve hosted at very fine artist in his own right. This is J. David Spurlock. (applause) conventions, and the third here. When we started this, people said to I want to start by asking our traditional question here. We’ll start me, “How many of these are you going to do?” And the answer is, with you, Roger. What was the first Jack Kirby comic book you we’re going to do them until we say everything people want to say remember that made an impact on you? about Jack. Which means we’re never going to stop doing them. We’ll STERN: Boy, that would probably have been Adventure Comics, one of do them at every convention, every place they’ll let me as long as I’m Jack’s early Green Arrow stories. I started reading the Superman comics alive and possibly in front of a microphone. I don’t know if I have to because I saw him on TV. The thing about Action and Adventure and tell anybody who showed up for this why we’re doing these panels. Detective and World’s Finest is they had extra features in the back, like But just in case there’s one person in the room who’s unaware, this Green Arrow and Aquaman and Congorilla. A lot of good artists convention would not be here, this industry would not be here, if not worked on Green Arrow over the years, but one day I picked up the for Jack Kirby. Amidst all the commerce and hustle that goes on at new issue, and I’m going, “Wow, this is really different!” It’s incredithese conventions, we think it’s important to take a few minutes and ble, dynamic, with shadows and things. Really exciting, and occasionremember Jack and his contributions to the field. ally, there’d be something really strange in it; like here’s Green Arrow I’ve gotta tell you that people throughout the entire convention and Speedy, and they’re riding a 60 foot giant arrow through a rift in have been constantly coming up to me, asking me questions about space into another science-fiction realm. Well, they never did that Jack, and going by John Morrow’s booth buying The Jack Kirby before! (laughter) It was sorta weird, but the way it was drawn, you Collector. The interest in Jack’s work continues to grow and grow. I’ve believed every bit of it. invited up here a couple You believed there was of people who worked a 100-foot tall alien with Jack or knew Jack, named Xeen Arrow, to talk about him. Let who was the Green me introduce to you, on Arrow of another the far end of this panel, dimension. One of the a gentleman who’s been stories was what I writing for DC and thought at the time was Marvel for a long time. a retelling of the origin He’s worked on a lot of of Green Arrow, but it the strips Jack started, actually was a totally almost all... well, new origin for Green nobody’s worked on Arrow, which has more almost all the strips Jack or less been adopted started, this is matheover the years. It was matically impossible. really greatly exciting. But he’s done a very fine Of course, there were job of keeping the spirit no credits on the stoalive. As you all have ries, so I had no idea seen occasionally, peowhy Green Arrow ple kind of trace and (l to r) Marv Wolfman, David Spurlock, Mark Evanier, and Roger Stern. looked different. But I imitate and steal. Jack sure liked it! Within a was never wild about that, but he was always very flattered when couple of years, I was starting to realize there were different people someone took his work and extended it and gave new angles to it. who did this. It wasn’t the same guy who did all the stories, there This gentleman has done a very fine job of keeping, most recently, the were different styles. Guardian, the Newsboy Legion, and the DNAliens material in the My hometown paper, inept and inadequate as it was, had a comics Superman book. This is Roger Stern, ladies and gentlemen. (applause) section with maybe two or three strips. It was like, Pricilla’s Pop. Capt. Next is someone who’s known Jack a long time. Marv will tell Easy was there, and always some third strip that was there for awhile. you stories probably of going to the Kirby household, in what year? One day, the third strip that was there for awhile was Sky Masters Of WOLFMAN: Aww, who could remember, it’s so long ago? Since I was The Space Force. And I went, “Oh, this is the guy who does Green thirteen. Arrow! His name is Kirby Wood!” (laughter) Then I always looked for Kirby Wood’s stuff, and it appeared in odd places like Archie Comics’ EVANIER: Marv has also done an amazing number of books that Jack Adventures Of The Fly, and Double Life Of Private Strong. I could never started, and a number of other books he didn’t start but which were figure out why the main character’s secret identity was the name of extensions of his work. He was the Editor-In-Chief of Marvel Comics the book, but it was exciting. Within a few years, I discovered it was for about an hour-and-a-half. (laughter) Anyway, this is Marv ‘Jack Kirby.’ And I looked for his stories wherever I could find them. Wolfman, ladies and gentlemen. (applause) As you all know, Jack had a lot of fans whose work he encourEVANIER: I would not have thought that Green Arrow would’ve been a aged, who later became professionals, and who carried on the torch lot of people’s first Kirby work, but I guess it was. Marv, same question. 26
A bunch of Kirby characters done for a fan in the early 1970s, including the Green Hornet & Kato!
WOLFMAN: Same answer. (laughter) Ahh...!
seen. And all the same type of material that Roger was talking about.
EVANIER: Thank you. David? (laughter)
EVANIER: David? Same question.
WOLFMAN: At what may have been the first of the Kirby tributes, in Oakland right after Jack passed away, I was one of the four speakers. Mark was the moderator as always. All I did was talk about the memories I had as a kid growing up. The first one I said was “a giant arrow comes down on earth.” And you could see half the audience, who were within ten years of my age group, all going, “Yeah.” Images like that. You didn’t know who the artists were. I may have seen books earlier, because my time-sense could be wrong. I don’t know if the Green Arrow stuff came out before Challengers or what, but those are the images that I can recall; giant hands coming out of cupboards, the most bizarre up-angles onto the Fantastic Four buildings, when you don’t even know who the people are who are doing it, you just know how wonderful the art is. The perspective is being shown from angles no other artist would draw, and makes it more dynamic. The detail work was unbelievable, and these weren’t comics that were staid little pictures that nobody did anything in. The characters could be standing stark still, and there was a dynamism to the figure work, and an intensity to the way they were drawn, even though they’re standing still, that just goes, “Wow! This is incredible!” Green Arrow was probably the first time that I fully recognized an individual artist who was affecting my way of thinking about things. That just blew my mind away in ways that I’d never seen before. Again, I may have seen Jack’s stuff earlier. I’m sure I saw some of the western material, which I later bought whole collections of. And I’m sure I saw a lot of the previous stuff, but Green Arrow was probably the one where most specifically I was aware of this artist as being different from all the other artists I had
SPURLOCK: I don’t remember precisely what may have been the first, but the ones that affected me were a little bit later on. I’m a kid. It was Avengers #1 and #5, and still to this day I remember copying the cover of Avengers #1, and #1 and #5 always hold something special to me. First of all, the team-up, the team thing with the Avengers overall. Getting all these super guys together seemed real interesting. They were all pretty much Kirby characters, which just added more magic to it. #5 was The Lava Men. For some reason, it just seemed to capture being a kid to me. Things I did as a kid, running around, adventures we’d make up. EVANIER: In the time since we started this panel, about 50 more people have come into this room, so we have enough here for a proper ovation. Ladies and gentlemen, I’d like you to meet Roz Kirby. (applause, standing ovation) WOLFMAN: Let me say right here, a lot of people here probably got up in honor of Jack to applaud Roz. I got up because of Roz. When I was going to Jack and Roz’ house at the age of thirteen, and just being in awe of watching Jack draw on the board, Roz would take me and Len Wein—who joined me on these little treks—upstairs and made sure we had sandwiches, made sure we had milk, made sure we had whatever we wanted. It was like, “You don’t have to do this.” “No, you have to eat. You want to join us for dinner.” (laughter) I stand up for her 100%; a wonderful person. (applause) EVANIER: I think it was even more than that, Marv. Because I think 27
Le Roi Des Comics A French publishing history of the Fantastic One, by Nicolas Waldmann t is an unmistakable fact: Jack Kirby is the cornerstone of comicdom as we know it today. He is the pioneer and inspiration to all modern artists. From space opera to horror, from mythology to technology, from war to magic, Jack has graced every field of reality and imagination. Over the last few decades, the adventures of Jack’s heroes have dazzled millions of readers around the world. As far as France is concerned, some of Jack’s most famous characters such as the X-Men and the FF introduced French readers to modern style superheroes. However, a few truths should be known about France. Jack Kirby remains mostly known in France for his creations at Marvel and DC Comics. Apart from a few scattered Challengers of the Unknown stories published in the very early 1970s in Aventures Fiction (a pocket-sized publication), and a late compilation of the early adventures of the Sandman, very few of the characters created by Kirby before the 1960s ever reached the French public. Kirby gained eternal recognition following the 1973 release of the first graphic novel of the FF (known in France as Les Fantastiques). The limited availability of US comic books in France at that time, combined with the tailoring of FF stories to French publishing standards (roughly Graphic Novel format) contributed to the large popularity of Kirby in the 1970s (though most fans probably did not know
I
Jack makes his point at the 14th San Diego Comic-Con, in this cameo appearance in Stan Drake & Leonard Starr’s comic “Kelly Green,” which was translated into French in 1987. Also in this sequence were SDCC founder Shel Dorf, Will Eisner, and the late Burne Hogarth. the artist’s name). During the second half of the ’70s, black-&-white pocket-size publications featured adventures of Kirby heroes that did not make it to the pages of Strange, such as The Demon, Kamandi and Thor. However, due to the small size of each issue, stories had to be reformatted to fit the pages. Pocket-sized magazines also published later Kirby stories left out by Strange such as 2001 and Devil Dinosaur. The irregular publishing schedule in France across various magazines of different sizes made it very difficult to collect and follow the exact chronology of stories, especially Thor, which was featured in no particular order in at least three different formats over a period of 10 years. Apart from a scattered one-shot adaptation of Captain Victory and a few issues of Silver Star, Kirby disappeared from the French comics scene during the mid-’80s. It is interesting to note, however, that France is one of the countries where a collected version of Kirby’s Black Hole adaptation was published in the early ’80s. His name, however, was not even mentioned in the book. Another significant landmark of the period was the release of the November 1987 issue of Les Cahiers de la Bande Dessinée, almost fully devoted to the life and work of Jack Kirby. The cover, however, featured Captain America illustrated by John Romita! During the ’80s, the growth in the number of comics retail outlets, mostly in Paris, contributed to the emergence of a French market for comic books. However, interest in Kirby stories remained low and Kirby books were mainly sought after by collectors. As for today, although new Kirby collectors can mostly be found among readers with sufficient exposure to the comic book medium, regular homage paid to Jack by most artists has led readers to find out about the man whose inspiration can be felt in every shining armor of Image Comics and behind Marvel’s and DC’s yearly cosmic dramas. These new readers may also be driven by the curiosity to learn more about the man who, after all, is at the origin of most of the popular superheroes of today. Also, news of the death of a famous artist always attracts purchasers for various reasons ranging from curiosity to speculation. Finally, reasonable selling prices and the availability of most of the ’70s Kirby books are also an important factor of the renewed interest in Jack’s work. If, according to a French philosopher, eternal life is to be found in the memories and stories left and told by future generations to another, then there is no doubt that Jack is going to be around for a long time—in fact, probably as long as people are interested in stories about real life, wonderful and noble heroes, once inspired to a man who was just earning his living. ✪
Kirby’s French series published in pocket-size editions sometimes had backgrounds added and extended to accommodate the different format (like this page from Kamandi #6). If you’ve ever wondered what went on in Jack’s backgrounds beyond the panel borders, here’s your chance to find out! 40
Wars on a big screen, either! The point is that many of us “old folks” take things for granted. Jack Kirby’s career covered six decades and produced thousands of pages. TJKC serves as more than just a review forum. It’s a library of words and pictures that can be enjoyed by seasoned fans as well as inform curious new ones. If not here, then where can this information be found? Rich Vitone, Chicago, IL
Collector Comments Send your letters to: The Jack Kirby Collector c/o TwoMorrows • 502 Saint Mary’s St • Raleigh, NC 27605 or E-mail to: twomorrow@aol.com Thanks for your patience while we took a month off between issues; we needed it to read the flood of letters we got regarding Steve Rude’s letter in TJKC #11! To say that Steve struck a nerve with some fans would be a major understatement:
(As an long-time Kirby fan, I can relate to Steve’s attitude; after all, who among us doesn’t enjoy learning previously unknown facts about Jack? While I don’t think he meant his comments to be taken as harshly as some folks did, Rich sums up exactly how I see TJKC: As an ongoing tribute to Jack that will hopefully expose more people to his genius.Thanks to everyone who wrote expressing their support of our current mix of retrospective articles, behind-the-scenes features and interviews, which looks to be the format we’ll be sticking with for the foreseeable future. But don’t worry: We’ll keep digging for more Kirby “secrets” and run them every chance we get.)
Please continue publishing information that may bore Steve Rude to tears. It can only draw in younger fans just discovering a true comics giant. Mike Roberts, Bixby, OK I, for one, enjoy the mix of known/unknown Kirby info you’ve been putting together. Sure, there are lots of us who know lots of things about Jack and his work, but there’s at least as many, if not more, folks out there who don’t! It works, don’t fix it! I also like the fact that you’re not hung up on only using unpublished art! The majority of it is not Kirby’s best (perhaps why it was unpublished in the first place). Since your purpose is to spread the word about why Jack is “King of the Comics,” why not showcase his best stuff? Tom Morehouse, Garfield, NJ
Jim Steranko’s article about inking reminds me of some things Jack (and Roz) had to say about it. I’m with Jim as far as preferring Jack’s own inking on his pencils. When Mike Thibodeaux was inking Jack and I helped fill in blacks, we loved Jack’s old ’50s inking so much, we used to leave some lines in the blacks for the color to show through (as Steranko describes, and did himself on the Stuntman piece). But Jack himself didn’t like the practice anymore (during the early 1980s), and told us he wanted all the blacks to be solid black. He felt the open spaces for color made the artwork look dated. About Wally Wood, Roz said, “He makes Jack look like real art!” Both Jack and Roz thought highly of him. Jack had mixed feelings about Vince Colletta. He felt Vince was fine, but he said that Colletta employed “a regular factory” of helpers who didn’t always stick to the highest standards. I made the mistake of criticizing George Bell’s inking to Jack. He responded, “Inky Roussos? You don’t like Inky’s stuff? I thought he did fine!” Turns out “George Bell” was a pseudonym for George Roussos, an old hat at comics work and at inking Jack in particular in the ’40s and ’50s. Armed with that knowledge, and looking back over the FFs and Sgt. Furys he inked, it does look like early Kirby! Looking at issue #11, I have one complaint: The size of some of the reproductions. I would rather have seen the Lord Of Light drawings as double-page spreads, perhaps in a series of issues. Oh well, you could always still do it! Steve Robertson, Simi Valley, CA
Let me go on record as disagreeing sharply with Steve Rude’s dismissal of the articles in TJKC as “boring” and “uninformative.” Steve’s complaint assumes that “we all know” the stuff in the articles already, but I’m not so sure about that. We may think we know, or may know it one way, but the richness of Kirby’s work invites more than one way of understanding, more than one avenue of interpretation. I don’t think most of the retrospective articles are aimed at neophytes; I think they’re aimed at seasoned readers, to get us thinking about familiar subjects in new, not-so-familiar ways. The goal, it seems to me, is to nudge us out of our accustomed, complacent ways of looking at Kirby’s work, and into entertaining fresh views on the subject. This kind of re-thinking is valuable even when the object of attention is some familiar Marvel or DC superhero book—in fact, it’s especially helpful with such books (e.g., Fantastic Four), because most often they have been viewed through the filters of “official” corporate history, rather than seen as aspects of Kirby’s whole career. Certainly your FF issue provided such a welcome reassessment of its subject: The articles by Darcy Sullivan and Richard Kyle, for instance, helped me see the FF in new and illuminating ways. Yes, TJKC is a reverent, frankly celebratory ’zine, the kind you want to goggle at and savor like a good comic—but it is also a resource for future scholars of Kirby’s work. It’s that added dimension, the critical dimension, which makes TJKC more than just a nostalgia ’zine. TJKC is essential reading for comics scholars as well as a tasty, attractive package. Steve’s comics work shows a keen understanding of Kirby’s craft, but I think there are other, equally valid ways to show an understanding and appreciation of Kirby. Since Kirby was an original thinker as well as a great cartoonist, there’s ample room for essays which place his various works (both famous and obscure) within the context of his personal vision. Kirby’s ideas and preoccupations, no less than his awesome artwork, reward patient critical effort. TJKC has achieved a happy balance of gosh-wow enthusiasm and strong scholarship, and I for one would hate to lose this rare combination. Charles Hatfield, Storrs, CT
(Thanks for the comments on inkers, Steve. And you may yet see those Lord Of Light drawings at large size—how’s that for an ominous mention of things to come?!) DINGBATS ALERT! In Adventures of Superman #521 (March 1995) there was a very fun cameo of the Dingbats of Danger Street. Now I have created “The Dingbats of Danger Street Admiration Society,” a non-profit, unofficial fan club dedicated to Jack, the Dingbats, and all those wonderful Kid Gangs! Anyone can join just by sending 50¢ and a 6" x 9" SASE for their cool-as-cool membership kit. Jim Beard, 6625 Wickford Sq. #28, Sylvania, OH 43560 (Speaking of clubs, does anybody out there have a copy of ComicScope #1, a fanzine which was published by a group called the International Comic Club in East Point, Georgia around 1972? It was supposed to have an interview with Jack in it, and two articles about his Fourth World series. Please send photocopies if you have it!) NEXT ISH: It’s monsters, magic, and mystery in our special Supernatural Theme Issue! #13 is a lucky number as we spotlight Jack’s work on spooky subjects, starting off with a new interview with (and cover inks by) DICK AYERS, inker of Jack’s pre-hero monster books! We’ll also feature a 1975 interview featuring Jack and Walter Gibson (creator of The Shadow)! Plus there’ll be special features on The Demon, The Hulk, Atlas Monsters, Black Magic, Simon & Kirby’s Golden Age Vision, Spirit World, and a section on costumes that Jack designed for various characters over the years (showing some original concept sketches that will surprise you!). And throughout, we’ll display pencils from Jack’s books BEFORE they were inked, show plenty of unpublished art from the Kirby archives and private collections, and more. We’ll see you in sixty! Until then; be afraid. Be VERY afraid!!
I’ve got to object to part of Steve Rude’s letter in TJKC #11. His description of most of the articles as being “boring, uninformative... and a colossal waste of time...” is at least selfish and at most short-sighted. He is, after all, an artist, so of course he would prefer visuals over text. But, does he seriously think that everyone knows everything about Jack and his output? I’ve been collecting comics since 1962, selling them to make my living since ’76, and I learn something in every issue of TJKC. Steve should ask around at cons and see for himself just how low the level of knowledge of comics history is among kids. There are smart teens who have never heard of Will Eisner or Al Williamson, and who wouldn’t know the difference between pages by Steve Ditko and Wally Wood. These same kids have never seen Flynn’s Robin Hood, or Casablanca, or Touch of Evil, or The Wild Bunch. Some have never seen Star
COPYRIGHTS: Capt. America, Red Skull, Capt. Britain, Baron Zemo, Galactus, Ant-Man, Hulk, Bucky, Dr. Doom, Thor, Loki, Iron Man, Wasp, Sharon Carter/Agent 13, Nick Fury, Steve Rogers, Machine Man, Silver Surfer, Crystal, Human Torch, Lockjaw, Rick Jones, Yellow Claw, Black Rider, Jimmy Woo, Toro, Sub-Mariner, Union Jack, Invisible Girl, Thing, Dr. Strange, Spider-Man, Mr. Fantastic, Fantastic Four, Angel, Watcher, Eternals, Deviants, Black Panther, Ikaris © Marvel Entertainment Group • Mr. Miracle, Granny Goodness, Orion, Mark Moonrider, Jimmy Olsen, Big Barda, Boy Commandos, Superman, Demon, Batman, Sandman, Sandy, Guardians, Brooklyn, Kamandi, Challengers of the Unknown, Green Arrow, Speedy, Manhunter, Oberon, New Gods, Blue Beetle © DC Comics, Inc. • Capt. Victory and the Galactic Rangers © Jack Kirby • Uncle Giveaway, Bullseye, Fighting American, Speedboy, Yuscha Liffso, Sawdoff © Joe Simon & Jack Kirby • Young Gods © Barry Windsor-Smith • Kelly Green © Stan Drake & Leonard Starr • Green Hornet and Kato © The Green Hornet • Link Thorne, Airboy © Hillman Periodicals • Shield/Private Strong, The Fly © Archie Publications, Inc. • Capt. 3-D © Harvey Publications, Inc.
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