Fully Authorized By The Kirby Estate
$4.95 In The US
CELEBRATING THE LIFE & CAREER OF THE KING!
A 52-p age Theme ISSUE featuring The MightyTho r!!
Issue #14, Feb. 1997
An unpublished
Kirby Interview An Interview with Classic Kirby Inker
Chic Stone Journey Into Mystery #101 Befo re Inking The Evolution of
Thor & The Stone Men Walt Simonson on Manhunter, Tho r & Kirby Examining The
Real Norse Gods Pros & Cons of
Vince Colletta Linking Tho r To
The New Gods including Jack’s Tho r Pencils Befo re They Were Inked, And Much Mo re!! 1996 Eisner Awards Nominee For Best Comics-Related Publication
Thor © Marvel Entertainment, Inc.
Unpublished Art
KIRBY
COLLECTOR
BULLETINS
•
KIRBY
COLLECTOR
BULLETINS
•
KIRBY
COLLECTOR
BULLETINS
AN ASSEMBLAGE OF ANECDOTES ABOUT ASGARD’S ARTIST! ITEM! Internet addicts: The TJKC Site on the World Wide Web (maintained by Rascally RANDY HOPPE) has moved! The new URL is http://www.fantasty.com/kirby (the new location gives us more room to add graphics, sounds, and other cool Kirby stuff—but our TJKC e-mail address is still twomorrow@aol.com). And don’t forget about alt.comics.jack-kirby (the new Kirby Newsgroup), set up by Bodacious BOB HEER, which serves as a public forum for fans around the world to post questions and comments about Jack. Then there’s the JACK KIRBY MAILING LIST, which you can join by sending an e-mail request to Magnanimous MATT GORE at kirby-lrequest@matthew.cumberland.org (but be prepared to be inundated with e-mail—currently 30-40 messages daily—about Jack from Kirby fans around the world). Or try Charismatic CHRIS HARPER’s Jack Kirby Home Page, located at http://www.users.dircon.co.uk/~ampcon/. ITEM! Resilient R.C. HARVEY has just finished his new book THE ART OF THE COMIC BOOK. In it, he examines Jack’s work on the creation of the Marvel Universe and analyzes “Mother Delilah” from Boys’ Ranch, among others. It’s available for $25 from R.C. at 2701 Maplewood Drive, Champaign, IL 61821.
Pure Imagination’s The Complete Kirby Vol. 1 (a series reprinting all of Jack’s work from the beginning of his career) should be ready in April, but 50 more people must commit to buying a copy before it can be published. Volume 1 includes Jack’s early work from Blue Bolt, Red Raven, Crash Comics, Jumbo Comics, plus other early comic book and strip work (some never published in the US), and an updated version of the text feature from The Jack Kirby Treasury Vol. 1 is included. It will be a 164-page softcover in black-&-white with color cover for $25. If you can commit to buying a copy when it’s published, write to Greg Theakston, Box 669902, Marietta, GA 30066 or e-mail him at his NEW email address: 105420,1527@compuserve.com (apologies to folks who couldn’t reach him through his old address; we promise this one is working!). Be sure to include your mailing address. DO NOT SEND ANY MONEY NOW! You’ll be notified by mail when it’s published. Greg also needs copies of Jack’s Blue Beetle daily strips and other strip work; contact him if you have any for sale or trade. ITEM! COMICS REVUE is still reprinting Jack’s SKY MASTERS daily strips. #124 was the first issue to run them, and they’re up to #128. Look for the ad on page 51. ITEM! TJKC subscriber RICHARD KOLKMAN continues work on a preliminary version of the updated Kirby Checklist, which will be ready soon! When it’s done, we’ll post it on the Internet for free downloading, and send printed copies out at-cost to anyone who’d like to check it for final errors. Then we’ll compile all the final changes, make decisions on any “iffy” entries, and release the completed version on the ’Net and as an at-cost publication. Stay tuned for more details! ITEM! Keep sending letters to: Mr. Terry Stewart, Marvel Comics, 387 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10016 asking that Marvel put “Created by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby” on books they co-created. (This is in conjunction with MARK MILLER’s ongoing letter-writing campaign. So write already!)
JOHN’S JUKEBOX I’ll admit it; I never liked Jack’s Thor. I tried—really I did. I even collected all the Kirby issues, but I couldn’t stand reading them because of Vince Colletta’s inking. I was used to Mike Royer’s sleek, true-to-Kirby inks, so I hated Colletta’s scratchy style! (I don’t think there’s ever been an inker in comics who provoked as much controversy as Colletta, which is why we’re presenting a “Point/Counterpoint” discussion of his work this issue.) I ended up taking my (mostly unread) Thor collection to a dealer in the late 1980s and selling it. Little did I know I’d end up publishing a Kirby ’zine one day, and would need them back! But after repurchasing all those issues at conventions last Summer, I sat down and read them straight through. I was amazed at the concepts I’d missed out on by my Colletta prejudice. And y’know what? After a few issues, ol’ Vinnie’s style sorta starting growing on me. Now don’t get me wrong; I still think Thor should’ve been inked by somebody else. But I’ve learned that no inker can really destroy Jack’s work, no matter how inappropriate I think their style is. His penciling is just too powerful to totally subdue. And thanks to Jack saving photocopies of his pencils—like ones in this issue—we can enjoy Jack’s Thor pencils in their original, uninked state. 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 P.S. Back issues of TJKC #8 and #9 are almost sold out. Order now; they won’t last long! ITEM! Oops! In last issue’s DICK AYERS interview, we listed the price for subscriptions to Dick’s new comic DR. WONDER ($15.95 for 6 issues, $19.95 outside the US), but we left out the address to order which is: Old Town Publishing, 33 Harrison Avenue, Franklin Square, NY 11010-3614. Our apologies to Dick and his fans. We highly recommend this book! ITEM! THE CARTOON ART MUSEUM in San Francisco is planning a retrospective on Jack’s career for the summer of 1998, focusing on at least four areas of his career: Golden Age, pre-Marvel non-superhero, Marvel Silver Age, and Jack’s DC creations. Since their permanent collection includes only a few Kirby pieces, they need to borrow the majority of the art for the show. The museum is fully insured and has a security system installed on the premises. So if you have Kirby art you’d be willing to loan them for the show, contact Steven M. Morger at (510)834-6600 or write him at Wendel, Rosen, Black & Dean, 1111 Broadway, 24th Floor, Oakland, CA 94607. His e-mail address is Smorger@Wendel.com. ITEM! On a personal note, a new favorite fanzine of ours is SECRET IDENTITY, published by TJKC subscriber and all-around nice guy, Jarring JEFF SMITH (no relation to that “Bone” guy!). The first two issues are currently available at $3.00 each ($5.00 for both), and feature a two-part interview with Swamp Thing and Tyrant artist, Snazzy STEVE BISSETTE, along with lots of other great articles. Write to Jeff at 4909 Courtside Dr #131, Irving, TX 75038. Try it; Odin would! ITEM! Do your good deed for the day—send a donation to the educational fund that was set up in Jack’s name, to benefit children in his community through his synagogue. The address is: The Jack Kirby Educational Fund, Temple Etz Chaim, 1080 Janss Rd., Thousand Oaks, CA 91360.
2
KIRBY COLLECTOR CHECKLIST These Issues Of TJKC Are Available – See Page 50 TJKC #1: This 16-page INTRODUCTORY ISSUE! 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, $3.70 elsewhere) TJKC #2: A 16-page GENERAL INTEREST issue! 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, $3.70 elsewhere) TJKC #3: A 16-page CAPTAIN AMERICA theme issue! JOE SIMON interview, more MARVELMANIA plates, convention sketches, 1960s & 70s CAPTAIN AMERICA pages before they were inked, and more! $2.50 ($2.70 Canada, $3.70 elsewhere) TJKC #4: A 16-page GENERAL INTEREST issue! 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, $3.70 elsewhere) TJKC #5: A 16-page GENERAL INTEREST issue! 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, $3.70 elsewhere) TJKC #6: A 36-page FOURTH WORLD theme issue! Interviews with MARK EVANIER, STEVE SHERMAN and MIKE ROYER, story behind HUNGER DOGS and Jack’s original ending to NEW GODS, NEW GODS portfolio, unpublished art, and FOURTH WORLD pencils before inking! $4.95 ($5.40 Canada, $7.40 elsewhere) TJKC #7: A 36-page KID GANG theme issue! Unpublished interview with Kirby, overview of S&K KID GANGS, unpublished art from BOYS’ RANCH, BOY EXPLORERS, JIMMY OLSEN, DINGBATS, X-MEN, & more! $4.95 ($5.40 Canada, $7.40 elsewhere) TJKC #8: 36-page CONVENTION issue! ALMOST SOLD OUT! $4.95 ($5.40 Canada, $7.40 elsewhere) TJKC #9: 44-page FANTASTIC FOUR theme issue! ALMOST SOLD OUT! $4.95 ($5.40 Canada, $7.40 elsewhere) 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 pages before inking, unpublished art, and more! $4.95 ($5.40 Canada, $7.40 elsewhere) TJKC #11: A 44-page HOLLYWOOD theme issue! STUNTMAN, unused movie ideas, BLACK HOLE, LORD OF LIGHT, THE PRISONER adaptation, Jack’s career in ANIMATION, NEW GODS vs. STAR WARS, unpublished art, and more! New Kirby/Steranko and Kirby/Ordway covers. $4.95 ($5.40 Canada, $7.40 elsewhere) TJKC #12: A 44-page INTERNATIONAL theme issue! Two KIRBY interviews, JOHN BYRNE interview, Kirby around the world, SAN DIEGO CON ’96 Kirby Panel (with EVANIER, WOLFMAN & STERN), CAPT. AMERICA pencils before inking, and more! New Kirby/Windsor-Smith cover. $4.95 ($5.40 Canada, $7.40 elsewhere) TJKC #13: A 52-page SUPERNATURAL theme issue! An interview with Jack and Walter Gibson (creator of The Shadow), unpublished 7-page mystery story, DICK AYERS interview, features on THE DEMON, BLACK MAGIC, SPIRIT WORLD, ATLAS MONSTERS, published pages before they were inked, and more! New Kirby/Ayers and Kirby/Bissette covers. $4.95 ($5.40 Canada, $7.40 elsewhere) TJKC Poster: See pg. 50. $7 ($8 Canada, $10 elsewhere)
Issue #14 Contents: The Journey Cosmic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 (an overview of Jack’s Thor) “Real” Tales of Asgard . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 (a look at the ancient Norse legends) Evolution of Thor & the Stone Men . . . 10 (they didn’t start in 1962) Chic Stone Speaks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 (the classic Marvel inker interviewed) A Provenance of JIM Art . . . . . . . . . 16 (which pages still exist?) A Lesson In Kirby Magic . . . . . . . . . 17 (Jack and the NYPD) Jack Kirby: Prisoner of Gravity . . . . 18 (a ’92 Kirby TV interview transcribed) Some Observations on Thor . . . . . . 20 (Marvel’s answer to Superman?) Journey Into Mystery #101 Pencils . . . 22 (a key issue, before inks!) Ominous Prophesies . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 (how Thor connects to New Gods) Pros & Cons of Vince Colletta . . . . . 28 (fans’ views of a much-maligned inker) Kirby As Artistic Craftsman . . . . . . 30 (a study of Kirby’s Thor energy) The Gods & Jack Kirby . . . . . . . . . . . 33 (a Christian’s religious view of Thor) Walt Simonson Interviewed . . . . . . 34 New Gods For Old . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 (Jack learned from Thor’s mistakes) End Of An Era . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 (the original version of Thor #169) Now You’ve Done It, Kirby! . . . . . . . 47 (how JIM #117 affected a fan’s life) Collector Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
(upper left) What Thor’s hammer should’ve said(!), from Journey Into Mystery #83. (center) Artwork that Jack created to accompany his collage for the page 2-3 spread in Thor #161.
The Jack Kirby Collector, Vol. 4, No. 14, Feb. 1997. Published bi-monthly by and © 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 US, $5.40 Canada, $7.40 outside North America. Six-issue subscriptions: $24.00 US, $32.00 Canada and Mexico, $44.00 outside North America. First printing. All characters are © their respective companies. All artwork is © Jack Kirby unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter is © the respective authors. PRINTED IN CANADA.
3
The Journey Cosmic An overview of the Kirby run on Thor, by David Peñalosa
(#114-115), who turned into a rather ultimate supervillain who could absorb the elements of the Earth and Thor’s superpowers. Loki and Balder figured prominently in the story. When Loki brought Jane Foster to Asgard against her will, Odin became angered, not knowing whether to blame Thor or Loki. (One had to wonder, if Odin was so “all-knowing”, why didn’t he catch on that Thor was telling the truth and Loki was lying in these incidents? Oh well.) Odin called for a trial. “Trial of the Gods” (#116) had an awesome cover with Thor and Loki standing before Odin sitting on his throne. Inside, Jack drew fantastic scenes of the mythological lands of Asgard and beyond. The trial consisted of a challenging journey through terrifying terrain filled with all kinds of menaces, such as Yagg the Slayer. While Thor had his hands full, Loki convinced the Executioner and Enchantress to travel to Earth and kidnap Jane Foster. Balder had to rescue Jane in Thor’s stead. Loki, as mischievous as ever, used enchanted Norn Stones (on loan from the Norn Queen) to cheat during the trial, resulting in victory over Thor. Just as Loki beat Thor back to Asgard, he sent the enchanted stones
fter the Fantastic Four, the longest consistent run Jack Kirby ever did was Thor. To this day, Jack’s work on Thor remains one of the most inspired creations in the realm of comic books. Jack’s Thor premiered in Journey Into Mystery #83 (Aug. 1962), inked by Joe Sinnott. Early on we were introduced to the supporting cast of characters: Thor’s alter-ego, the lame Dr. Don Blake; his nurse Jane Foster; and some rather unusual folks: Thor’s step-brother, the evil Loki; his father Odin, the ruler of the Norse Gods; and a growing cast of other immortal Asgardians. Thor was a ground-breaking work. However, the title didn’t start out as much more than a typical Marvel superhero book, unique only in the above-mentioned supporting cast. Written in the classic Stan Lee soap-operatic style, many stories played off the fact that Don Blake and Jane Foster loved one another, but were afraid to tell each other. This tension served the storylines well until Thor’s adventures started taking on more magnificent dimensions. The early Kirby/Ayers artwork was certainly well done, but other artists like Don Heck and Joe Sinnott started doing the penciling chores, and Stan Lee gave the writing over to his brother Larry Leiber. The book floundered for awhile with weak stories and less-than-stunning art until the Kirby/Lee team permanently returned with #101 (Feb. 1964). The first clue to the coming greatness that would be associated with the magazine actually occurred with the introduction of Tales of Asgard in issue #97 (Oct. 1963). These five-page episodes in the back of the book began by retelling Norse myths, and gradually evolved to where Jack was spinning his own myths, with some stories spanning many issues. None of the stories took place on Earth. Sif, the goddess and future lover of Thor, first appeared in Tales of Asgard (JIM #102), Balder the Brave in issue #106, and The Warriors Three—Hogun the Grim, Fandral the Dashing and Volstagg the Voluminous—in issue #119. All these supporting characters soon began appearing in the modern-day Thor stories with greater frequency. Vince Colletta began inking Jack’s pencils with the Tales of Asgard back-up in Thor #106 and graduated to the lead feature with #116, staying for almost the entirety of Jack’s run. (I am one of those perhaps-rare people who enjoyed Colletta’s inks on Jack’s pencils, but don’t hold that against me.) Jack Kirby had been the workhorse of the new upstart company Marvel, drawing a record amount of stories, covers and layouts. The Kirby look was the Marvel look. In the mid-sixties when his monthly workload lightened to just the two full titles of Thor and Fantastic Four and the half-book length Captain America feature in Tales of Suspense, Jack’s creativity took a quantum leap. After spending over twenty years steadily working in the field, Jack reached an unprecedented level of creativity in which he plotted and drew stories that were seemingly never-ending, magnificent epics. The great Kirby explosion of creativity in Thor occurred roughly within a fifty-six issue run: #114 (March 1965) to #169 (October 1969). The first story (or sub-plot of the epic) featured the Absorbing Man A sign of great things to come: Early Tales of Asgard pencils from Journey Into Mystery #112. 4
A
help of Loki, the Absorbing Man came back on the scene (#120-123). Thor (the butterfingers) dropped a Norn Stone in Southeast Asia (#120). Meanwhile, Dr. Blake’s medical practice showed signs of unraveling because of Thor’s long absence from New York City. Also in issue #120, the “new” Avengers made a cameo appearance when Thor looked them up for help. Thor got disgusted with the “youngsters” who made up this new line-up and quickly split. In #122, Absorbing Man was brought to Asgard by Loki, and Thor brought a reporter to the fabled realm. If things weren’t wild enough, a local “witch doctor” found the Norn Stone which Thor dropped back in #120 and took on North Vietnamese regular troops, whose officer Jack drew like a Japanese soldier from WWII. This superpowered witch doctor had a cool mask and became “The Demon” (#123-125). With the help of his tribe, the Demon started to conquer the surrounding tribes in his region. Odin, of course, overcame the Absorbing Man and Loki, sending them both off into the vastness of space. Whew! Hercules, Thor’s counterpart from Mount Olympus, first appeared in Journey Into Mystery Annual #1 (Summer 1965). He reappeared in issue JIM #124 (Jan. 1966), just as Thor was defeating the Demon, and stayed until #131. Things got off to a bad start between the two immortals as they fought over the attentions of Jane Foster. Thor’s dad had a habit of taking Thor’s powers away at inconvenient times. He did it again during his son’s fight with Hercules, causing goldilocks to be defeated. Thor was shamed by his defeat to the point where he didn’t want to be in the presence of Miss Foster. The name of the magazine changed from Journey Into Mystery to Thor with #126. Pluto, Greek god of the underworld, tricked Hercules (#127-130) into trading places with him. The only way out of Herc’s predicament was to get another to battle Pluto in his stead. Guess who he picked for this task? Thor had been breaking new ground for well over a year by now. Next, Jack moved off Earth, into outer space where his cosmic concepts could be done justice. In #131 Thor and Hercules concluded their long adventure, and a sub-plot involving the mysterious Tana Nile, which started brewing in a previous issue, began unfolding. Tana Nile was a Colonizer, a race from Rigel, a planet from the far reaches of the Universe. Their pursuit was to (what else?) colonize other planets throughout space. The Recorder was an interesting character who appeared at this time; a being manufactured by the Colonizers for the purpose of documenting. He and Thor traveled to Ego the Living Planet, having a very entertaining adventure. The Recorder said things like: “Observation! Here within the planet’s core, we are new foreign bodies as germs would be in the bloodstream of a human.” Here you had three different beings—Thor, Recorder and Ego—interacting together, and not one was an Earthling. While trekking through space (#134), the Colonizers, Recorder and Thor came into close proximity of Galactus the world eater. There was
Unused Thor page still in pencil, circa 1967. through a dimensional window to earth, so as to dispose of any evidence of his misdeeds. The next issue’s “Into the Blaze of Battle” (#117) saw things getting a bit more complicated as Jack’s plotting started to involve multiple storylines. Immortals in this issue’s cast included Loki, Odin, the Norn Queen, Balder, the Executioner, and the Enchantress. While searching for the Norn Stones in Southeast Asia, Thor managed to have a fight with the North Vietnamese Army. At the end of the story, the Vietnamese officer killed himself and fellow commies by blowing up the underground bunker headquarters. He “died like a man” in the end, a finale reminiscent of the Gargoyle’s demise in Hulk #1. The next menace to confront Thor while in Asia was the Destroyer (#118-119). The Destroyer was one of those classic Kirby creations, looking incredibly powerful. After the defeat of the Destroyer, with the 5
The Evolution Of Thor & The Stone Men by Richard Kolkman (with thanks to John Modica and Mark Evanier) o Marvelites, the origin and first appearance of Thor in Journey Into Mystery #83 (August 1962) is as familiar as the FF’s cosmic rocket hop. Feeble Don Blake discovers Thor’s hammer in the guise of an old stick. Upon striking the stick, he becomes Thor, god of thunder. With his hammer, Thor shatters a tree, commands the elements, and routs a rowdy band of Saturnian Stone Men from Earth. “Thor the Mighty! And the Stone Men from Saturn!” begins the saga of Thor and Asgard, which under Kirby’s pencil developed into a stunning cosmic masterpiece. Of course, the original concept for Thor can be found in many mythological texts; but Jack’s re-invention of Thor as a heroic figure in our popular culture can be traced back to DC’s Adventure Comics #75 (May 1942; reprinted in Forever People #6). The “first” Thor faces off against the Sandman and Sandy in Simon & Kirby’s “Villain from Valhalla” and follows basic precepts from the Norse legends. Thor has command of both his hammer (Mjolnir) and the elements. The appearance of this red-haired ruffian includes a winged helmet
T Journey Into Mystery #83; definitely NOT Thor’s first appearance.
Commandos In Valhalla by Rich Morrissey n “The Shadow of Valhalla”, the third and last story in Boy Commandos #7 (Summer 1944), the Commandos are assigned to search the old Asgard Castle in Norway for Nazi equipment. They find not only the war material but the Nazis themselves, and in the ensuing battle Brooklyn is knocked out. He awakens to find an immense figure in Viking garb standing over him. It’s Thor, depicted in his traditional manner with red hair and a long beard, and he brings the combatants before the throne of his father Odin (who
I
looks much as he later would at Marvel, with a long white beard and two functioning eyes). The Nazis claim that the gods should be on the side of their sometime-worshipper Hitler, although Thor comments that “Valhalla is the Norse heaven... not German!” Still, Odin agrees to have the men from the future settle the matter by one-on-one combat. The Commandos naturally choose their adult leader Rip Carter as their champion, and Rip wins despite the Nazis’ attempt to cheat. Odin grants the Commandos “fair passage back to the world of life”, and banishes the Nazis “to the world of darkness”, to which Thor dispatches them with his hammer. Odin has a feast brought for Rip and the boys, and Thor sends them through a wall he says will provide a passage to a ship and food... upon which Brooklyn wakes up to find himself surrounded by his comrades, and the Nazis dead. They conclude it was all Brooklyn’s dream, and besides, they have more serious things to think about; the explosion sealed the exits to the castle, and their ship is departing without them. In desperation, Brooklyn gets them to push on the wall Thor had shown him... and it opens, leading to an ancient Viking ship stocked with nonperishable provisions! Rip insists it was all coincidence, but Brooklyn still isn’t sure: “Well, ya at least gotta admit dat even when I sleep, I’m lookin’ out for de interests of da Commandos!” A classic sequence providing another early example of Kirby’s work on Thor? Sadly, no. Close scrutiny proves it to be the work of writer Don Cameron and 10
artist Louis Cazeneuve, both of whom worked regularly on the series after Kirby had joined the war effort. Even so, the story is signed by Simon & Kirby (not all BC stories were), perhaps indicating that their studio had at least something to do with it... very possibly it was indeed Jack Kirby—whose interest in Thor is well documented—who provided the plot. In any case, the story makes an observation sorely needed in World War II or in any day—that heroic gods like Thor and Odin would ultimately be on the side of justice and fair play, and against a society built on hatred and the strong bullying the weak, as was Nazi Germany. Later in The Invaders, Roy Thomas had Thor confront the battle between American ideals and his German worshippers, once again coming to the same conclusion. It was an understandable and fitting extrapolation on Thomas’ part of the Marvel god as developed by Jack Kirby... but as with so much in comics, the King himself had already— personally or by proxy—come to the identical conclusion.
and strapped boots. Thor’s invincible hammer smashes open a bank vault and destroys a police car. Thor turns out to be “Fairy Tales” Fenton, a metallurgy professor/robber whose invisible bullet-proof suit and electronically charged hammer are ultimately no match for the Sandman and Sandy. Adventure Comics #75 wasn’t the first time Simon and Kirby attempted to fuse mythology into comics; Blue Bolt and Red Raven had mythological ties. Mercury made his one and only appearance in Red Raven #1 and Hurricane (a backup in the first two issues of Captain America) was mentioned to be Thor’s son. But it isn’t until more than 15 years later that Kirby (sans Simon) revisits the Thor concept in DC’s Tales of the Unexpected #16 (August 1957, reprinted in DC Special #4, Sept. 1969). “The Magic Hammer”was likely written by Jack, and features a horn-helmeted Thor, the genuine god of thunder. Even though mere mortals can lift Thor’s hammer, it is still a conduit for great power when impacted. The hammer shatters a tree in an impressive show of force, and seems capable of bursting open yet another Panel from The Unexpected #16 bank vault. The hammer is virtually identical to the familiar Marvel version. A diminutive proto-Loki appears here as a sneaky hammer thief. Thor, bearded and caped, has strapped leggings, a large sword and circular designs on his chest.
Splash page from Adventure Comics #75, Jack’s earliest use of the Thor concept.
Origins Of The Stone Men Thor wasn’t the only concept that got reused in JIM #83. The Stone Men from Saturn evolved as well, appearing in no less than four stories before their run-in with the god of thunder. While still working for DC, Jack introduced the Stone Men in House of Mystery #85 (April 1959, reprinted in DC Special #11). “The Stone Sentinels of Giant Island” features a band of South Pacific explorers who discover animated Stone Sentinels (buried up to their necks) from another planet. The explorers mention Easter Island twice, and decipher alien hieroglyphics to defeat the Sentinels. An April 1959 comic would probably have had a production date from around October or November of the The Stone Men from JIM #83. previous year. An intriguing bit of fact from September 1958 is the publication of the best-selling book “Aku-Aku: The Secret of Easter Island” by Thor Heyerdahl. (A quick history lesson: Easter Island was discovered on Easter day in 1722 in the South Pacific by Dutch seaman Jakob Roggeven. It is famous for its
Marvel’s first Stone Men from Tales to Astonish #5. Was Kirby getting back at DC editor Jack Schiff by reusing the Stone Men idea?
Panel from Tales Of Suspense #28. These Stone Men got around! (left) Jack’s first take on the Stone Men idea, from DC’s House Of Mystery #85. 11
Journey Into Mystery #101: The Pencils! by John Morrow, with thanks to Danny Serafin and Dick Ayers ourney Into Mystery #101 is a landmark issue: It signaled the return of the Lee/Kirby team to the book after a string of less-than-breathtaking issues. But few examples of Jack’s Marvel pencils exist from that period. So imagine my surprise when I received a package in the mail, and found pristine stats of Jack’s entire 13-page story pencils from that issue! Subscriber Danny Serafin had gotten the stats from Dick Ayers, who had discovered them in his files. Dick isn’t sure why he had stats from this particular issue, since George (Roussos) Bell inked JIM #101. But we thank both these gentlemen for sharing this historic find with us. Despite the throwaway nature of the Tomorrow Man villain, this issue has a lot going for it. The Avengers make a cameo appearance, and we get early appearances by Loki, Heimdall, and Odin. Starting with the next issue (#102), Chic Stone took over inking for an extended run, so these pages also give us the chance to see the quality of pencils Chic was working on at this early stage in Marvel’s history, when he inked so many key issues. The handwriting on the splash page is Stan Lee’s, but unfortunately, the few margin notes were cropped to the point of being illegible (they don’t appear to be in Jack’s handwriting, but it’s hard to be sure with so little showing). But the pencils are pure Kirby, so sit back and enjoy this rare glimpse of early pencils by the man who helped put Marvel on the map.
J
Here’s the first of nine pages of pencils from Jack’s 13-page story in Journey Into Mystery #101. We’ll try to run the remaining pages in a future issue. 22
23
Walt Simonson Interviewed Interviewed by Jon B. Cooke, transcribed by John Morrow Somewhere after that I ran across Thor #118, the first issue of the Destroyer. I read it, and at the end of that issue Thor is half-buried in this diamond-hard floor, and this bolt of pure energy is blasting at him from the Destroyer. He’s imminently doomed. And of course I couldn’t find the next issue. As it so happened, JIM #120 and #121 happened to be on sale at the same time; they hadn’t taken #120 off the stand. I must’ve biked back there two or three times to read them. It was a ten-mile round trip! (laughter) That was where I began reading Marvel comics; with Thor, and with Stan and Jack’s work on the book.
Walt Simonson’s career has included a number of projects with connections to Jack Kirby. His first big break in comics was on the Manhunter strip in Detective Comics #437-443, written by Archie Goodwin. He solidified his position as a fan favorite on Thor in the 1980s, and his current work includes covers for DC’s Jack Kirby’s Fourth World. This interview was conducted by telephone on December 16, 1996. THE JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR: Did you read Kirby as a kid? WALTER SIMONSON: My grandmother lived in a small Iowa town above a drug store. In the store, I can remember finding one of the Atlas horror comics; it had “The Glob”, a wonderful story about a giant stone statue, and some poor guy who gets suckered into painting it with all this muddy, giant thick Jack Kirby paint that resembled Paste-Pot Pete’s paste. (laughter) He was instructed to paint the statue and leave before midnight. Of course he painted the statue and got stuck in an earthquake or something equally ridiculous, (laughter) and at midnight the statue came alive. He was the advance forward of an alien race; weren’t they all? (laughter) I think the guy managed to douse it in turpentine, and the paint thinned, and the creature’s powers went away just in time. I didn’t buy it, but I remember reading it in the store a number of times, and I’ve since obtained a copy. I remember being struck by it, partly because it was so “rough and ready” compared to the comics I was used to seeing, and partly because the coloring was so rough. That was the first Kirby job I saw that made enough of an impression that I remember it.
TJKC: Did you finally start buying them? (laughter) WALTER: I did eventually. After three or four trips back to the store, I said, “This is really stupid! (laughter) Spend the twelve cents and buy
TJKC: How’d you get interested in comics? WALTER: It was kind of a gradual process. In college I found a Marvel comic lying around. It was a Mighty Thor, the issue where the Grey Gargoyle returns (#113), inked by Chic Stone. It’s the one where he’s turning back into Thor, revealing his identity to Jane Foster, except Odin is so P.O.’ed, he robs him of his powers. He can’t turn into Thor, and Jane thinks she’s got this lunatic for a boyfriend. “Thor shall live again for thirty seconds! Make each one count!” Words that are burned into my brain! (laughter) I can’t remember the stuff I wrote last week; I can remember the stuff Stan and Jack did thirty years ago. (laughter) But I’d never seen a comic like that before. There was one where the opening splash was Thor and a bunch of the vikings and his dad on a flying viking ship, and they went off to fight some giants. There’s a couple of pages of just a big battle. The caption said, “We promised Jack Kirby we’d do a couple of battle scenes to start with, so here they are, no extra charge”, or something like that. I remember it because it’s the first time I came across the mention of Jack’s name. I remember wondering if Jack Kirby were some fan, some kid who’d written in and said, “Gee, I love to see a couple of pages of a fight scene.” (laughter) (left) Walter generously inked this pencil drawing for our back cover. Jack originally drew this piece and traded it to fan-artist Carl Taylor for one of his drawings, to encourage Carl to produce large pieces for art galleries.
Simonson breakdowns from Thor #380 (later finished by Sal Buscema). 35
End Of An Era by John Morrow t’s common knowledge now that Jack was pretty unhappy at Marvel in the late 1960s, and the next few pages may give us a better idea of what he was going through at the time. On this page, you’ll see a variety of pencil pages that for one reason or another didn’t make it into Thor. Mark Evanier told me that Jack reached a point in the late 1960s where, if he drew a really spectacular full-page splash, he would sometimes set it aside to keep or sell at conventions; really nice pages could bring as much on the budding original art market as Marvel was paying him per page. (Don’t forget, Jack wasn’t getting his originals back from Marvel in the 1960s.) All these pages ended up being printed in the Marvelmania Portfolio (see TJKC #2-4), but margin notes weren’t included, so it’s difficult to tell what issue Jack may have originally intended them for. But the pages with Galactus on them were obviously meant for some issue(s) of Thor from #160-169, and the Karnilla/Loki page was apparently meant for #167. On the next few pages are unused pencils that look to have been omitted from Thor #169, which featured Galactus’ origin. Considering Jack co-created Galactus in Fantastic Four, it’s understandable that he’d want some input into his origin. It’s unclear whether or not Jack had an entirely different origin drawn for #169 (or if he avoided an origin story altogether), but there sure are a lot of rejected pages with Galactus on them, leading me to believe that #169 was the victim of major editorial tampering. (Some of the Marvelmania Portfolio plates may also be from #169.) (In Thor #168, Stan Lee announced in his Soapbox column that Marvel was doing away with continued stories and sub-plots, so some of the Warriors Three pages may have been scrapped for that reason.) One thing about #169 is clear; Jack was forced to change the ending of it. The original page 20 shows that Jack planned for Galactus to head back to Earth and heroically battle the Thermal Man side-by-side with Thor. Perhaps Stan Lee felt this wasn’t in keeping with Galactus’ persona as he envisioned it, and insisted Jack change the ending. Whatever the case, it appears #169 took the wind out of Jack’s sails, and he gave a pretty half-hearted effort from Thor #170 until he left Marvel a few months later. It truly marked the end of an era for Marvel, Thor, and Kirby.
I
(above) Thor #167 unused page, presented here with margin notes. (below) Other unused Thor pages that made it into the Marvelmania Portfolio.
42
43 (above) Unused Thor #169, page 10, previously unpublished. (right) Unused Thor #169, page 11. This page was shown in TJKC #1, without backgrounds! Jack may have added them after the page was rejected, to increase its sales value.