Issuu

JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR THIRTY-EIGHT

IN THE US

$995

NOW SHIPPING FROM TWOMORROWS! SUBSCRIBE TODAY! Number 11a, April-May 2003 • Hype and hullabaloo from the publisher determined to bring new life to comics fandom • Edited by Eric Nolen-Weathington

Coming Soon! Alter Ego #26 (July) Comic Book Artist #24 (Now!) CBA #25 (May, final issue) DRAW! #6 (May) Jack Kirby Collector #38 (Now!) Write Now! #4 (Now!) Captain Victory: Graphite (June) Modern Masters V1: Alan Davis (Now!) Beck & Schaffenberger: Sons of Thunder (June) Wertham Was Right! (June) Life & Art of Murphy Anderson (June) The Extraordinary Works of Alan Moore (July) Against The Grain: MAD Artist Wally Wood (September) Wally Wood Checklist (September)

CONTACTS:

John Morrow, publisher, JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR editor, and for subscriptions): twomorrow@aol.com Mike Manley, DRAW! editor: mike@actionplanet.com Roy Thomas, ALTER EGO editor: roydann@ntinet.com P.C. Hamerlinck, FCA editor: fca2001@yahoo.com Danny Fingeroth, WRITE NOW! editor: WriteNowDF@aol.com Jon B. Cooke, COMIC BOOK ARTIST editor: jonbcooke@aol.com Read excerpts from back issues and order from our secure online store at: www.twomorrows.com To get periodic e-mail updates of what’s new from TwoMorrows Publishing, sign up for our mailing list! http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ twomorrows

New Books Coming On Anderson, Evanier, Wood, & Moore! THE LIFE AND ART OF MURPHY ANDERSON Comics historian R.C. HARVEY has compiled a lavishly illustrated autobiographical memoir of the man whose style defined the DC look for a generation of fans! It covers his career from the mid-1940s to his glory days at DC Comics on SUPERMAN, HAWKMAN, ADAM STRANGE, SPECTRE, THE ATOMIC KNIGHTS and beyond! There’s coverage of his syndicated comic strip work (BUCK ROGERS) and educational comics (PS MAGAZINE), plus his recollections and stories about LOU FINE, WILL EISNER, CURT SWAN, GIL KANE, and others he worked with—and rare art from every phase of his career! 160-Page trade paperback, $22 postpaid in the US. SHIPS IN JUNE!

AGAINST THE GRAIN: MAD ARTIST WALLACE WOOD and the WALLY WOOD CHECKLIST The definitive book on one of comics' finest artists! Twenty years in the making, this biographical memoir of life at the Wood Studio by former associate BHOB STEWART traces Wood's life and career, and features many artists and writers who knew Wood personally, contributing articles and essays to make it a remarkable compendium of art, insights and critical commentary! From childhood drawings and early samples to nearly endless comics pages (many unpublished), this is the most stunning display of Wood art ever assembled! BILL PEARSON, executor of the Wood Estate, has contributed rare drawings directly from Wood's own files, while noted art collector ROGER HILL provides a wealth of obscure, previously unpublished Wood drawings and paintings. It’s a colossal 336-PAGE TRADE PAPERBACK with color section, and a LIMITED EDITION HARDCOVER (with 16 extra full-color pages, plus bonus B&W plates)! Softcover is $44 postpaid in the US, or $64 postpaid for the hardcover. We’re also releasing a separate 64-page WALLY WOOD CHECKLIST ($7 postpaid in the US), detailing Wood’s published work! SPECIAL BONUS: Preorder either version of AGAINST THE GRAIN by August 1 directly from TwoMorrows, and GET THE CHECKLIST ABSOLUTELY FREE! Both SHIP IN SEPTEMBER!

WERTHAM WAS RIGHT! Writer-historian MARK EVANIER is back with a second collection of POV COLUMNS, including many never-beforepublished on comic book history, creation and appreciation! Included in this volume are his definitive history of the FOX AND CROW comic book, tributes to artists COMIC BOOKEEARTIST #24: BOB KANE and GIL NDED FOR FR is NOT INTE KANE, Mark’s diatribe THE or you paidOF NATIONAL ERIAL, which criber,COMICS bs su int pr on comic book number- COPYRIGHTED MAT a sincere RE. If you’re his is ve ourLAMPOON! ing, and many more, NG ANYWHE website, you ha e this one. DOWNLOADI arge to download it at our lik nsCOVERS • NEW by GAHAN, WILSON & MARK BODÉ! tio capped off by an essay ca bli pu ch oducing torrentWILSON orGAHAN modest fee we • Interviews with and NatLamp art the vilon comics’ greatest s us to keep pr m some othe r website support allow fro ur NSENT, e yo CO fre — r R ks fo director MICHAEL GROSS! an it OU lain, DR. FREDRIC th UT wnloaded NE WITHO L.theIf mag's top contributors: IA DO ad you do ER 0% • Interviews with and art by AT If inste 10 M WERTHAM! This collection is profusely illustrated by award-winning GHTED s absolutely that it wa OUR COPYRI NEAL ADAMS, FRANK SPRINGER, SEAN KELLY, MAD cartoonistple (and collaborator of 20 years onIN GROO THE e know G OF asMark’s POST LEGALa new ILincluding SHARY FLENNEKIN, ED SUBITSKY, M.K. BROWN, : an s do WANDERER) SERGIO ARAGONÉS, cover! 200ld wa it ou d sh an at you whSHIPS . B.K. TAYLOR, MICHEL CHOu thinkLONDON, page trade paperback, in re the’sUS. IN JUNE! case, he at yoBOBBY thepostpaid e wh that’s$17 and se E, SU IS QUETTE, ALAN KUPPERBERG, L rchase a and many more! d pu G an IS DIGITA

ion digital vers a g in w ie v read If you’re n, PLEASE io t a c li b u p of this publisher! e h t m o r f this plea

d READ TH

IN E RIGHT TH

TH n atB.ou Go ahead an by JON COOKE • 132 pages) int editio THE1) EXTRAORDINARY WORKS to keep it, DO ase the pr(Edited it enough al u enjoy MOORE bsite, or purch your loc $9 US POSTPAID (Canada: $11, Elsewhere: If yoALAN at we r 2) OF or ou e) m fre r fro d of it ition fo

downloa $12 al LEAGUE er.Surface, $16 Airmail). From WATCHMEN toleg THE OF EXTRAORDINARY the Digital Ed ad titles you to GENregular paid re h enrecognized (whic itebeen TLEMEN, ALAN MOORE has widely aseone of NOT SHARE have you as a webs to lov e’d TER and DO W . PU op M sh CO ok bo comics greatest pioneers, and this book tells his story, as the recluUR YO comic OM FR IT . sive British author 3) speaks andTE passionately about his ANYWHERE GALLY, erwise, DELE Othenthusiastically POST IT ERIAL ILLE IENDS OR life and work in an extensive series of interviews! Moore displaysOADING OUR MAT H FR e downloadfre IT WIT r NL fo W s ine DO az KEEP to his trademark wit and shares hisDO unique on the comics that our mag N’Tinsight y, e if you want te issue of all 4) Finall pleSWAMP one comon r you to decid have shaped his legendary career—from ferbeginnings e. We ofhis be sufficient fo gh to keep downloading ld for freof ou sh ich THING to the current success hisr we ownbsAMERICA’S BEST enou ite, wh at ou KHOURY uce. r publications ing(Kimota!) enjoy ou COMICS. Editor GEORGE has rare youassembled aterial we prod ase otheofrs.theIf author,pamost ying for the m pa purch by ny strips, scripts, artwork and photographs never m these our co pport closest and can absorb ns em, suMoore’s published before. It alsoth features collaborators elabdeep pockets, ze th do wi th wi ion — at or op corp from orating in comic strip form on their relationships with p” sh nt Moore, some gia “mom and po notSAM weekWe’reand NEIL GAIMAN, DAVE GIBBONS, KIETH topa KEVIN ny—literally a night and on com a small O'NEILL, away day and g love e vin W sla . rk s, BRIAN or wo losses. We’re nce creat e for all this g freela rely on ount of incom BOLLAND andam othof hard-workin mal ic shop owner, small ini m m co ty al et loc pr a ur e yo d th an of (DON’T CONs, us or b th ro ends, to make ourers! t rs, au don’ edito t any siness. Please THIS BOOK what we do, bu puFUSE n to stay in bu so will ensure there won’t be tio ca bli is A SIMILARLYing Do . ive ce income from th nsWITH re ation we ONE COMmpe TITLED amount of co to download. thisFROM ts like ING future produc nloaded at ABIOGENESIS PRESS only be dow ions should at ic IN MAY. Ours is bl pu s w TwoMorro more than just a omorrow .tw ww book—it’s wtribute the definitive autobiographical work on Moore, over two years in the making!) 208-page trade paperback with color section, $29 postpaid in the US. SHIPS IN JULY!

BACK ISSUE, the newest TwoMorrows mag, now debuts in October T H E U LT I M AT E C O M I C S E X P E R I E N C E ! (taking CBA's spot on our schedule)! It’ll be bi-monthly, edited by MICHAEL EURY (former editor and writer for DC and Dark Horse Comics, and author of our acclaimed CAPTAIN ACTION book, as well as our upcoming biography of DICK GIORDANO), and focuses on comics of the 1970s and ’80s in a way you’ve NEVER SEEN BEFORE! TM Stay tuned for more details on THE ULTIMATE COMICS EXPERIENCE! NOTE: All prices Include US Postage. Outside the US, Add $2 Per Item Canada, $3 Per Item Surface, $7 Per Item Airmail.

NEXT ISSUE: Kirby Fan Favorites!

All characters TM & © their respective holders.

Kirby In Graphite! CAPTAIN VICTORY: GRAPHITE EDITION presents Jack Kirby’s original 1975 Captain Victory graphic novel (before it was broken up for the Pacific Comics series), reproduced for the first time from Jack’s uninked pencils! NOT SOLD IN STORES! All proceeds from this 52-page book go to scanning and preserving the 4000+ page Kirby pencil xerox archives! $8 postpaid in the US. SHIPS IN JUNE! AVAILABLE BY MAIL ONLY!

JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR #37: HOW TO DRAW KIRBY-STYLE!

ALTER EGO #25: JACK COLE & PLASTIC MAN!

• Two NEVER-PUBLISHED COLOR KIRBY COVERS! • MIKE ROYER interview on how he inked Jack’s work! • HUGE GALLERY tracing the evolution of Jack’s style! • New column on OBSCURE KIRBY WORK! • Columnists MARK EVANIER & ADAM McGOVERN! • Special sections on Jack’s TECHNIQUE AND INFLUENCES! • Comparing STAN LEE’S WRITING TO JACK’S, & much more, including rare and unpublished art!

• JACK COLE remembered by ALEX TOTH, his brother DICK COLE and his colleagues at PLAYBOY! • CHRIS CLAREMONT on the X-MEN (Part 2), featuring still more never-seen art by DAVE COCKRUM! • ROY THOMAS on All-Star Squadron #1 with art by ORDWAY, BUCKLER, MOLDOFF, MESKIN, and more! • FCA with C.C. BECK, MARC SWAYZE, & CHAD GROTHKOPF—MICHAEL T. GILBERT—BILL SCHELLY—special surprise features—& MORE!!

(Edited by JOHN MORROW • 84 tabloid pages) Four-issue subscriptions: $36 Standard, $52 First Class (Canada: $60, Elsewhere: $64 Surface, $80 Airmail).

(Edited by ROY THOMAS • 108 pages) Twelve-issue subscriptions: $60 Standard, $96 First Class (Canada: $120, Elsewhere: $132 Surface, $180 Airmail). FOR SIX-ISSUE SUBS, JUST CUT THE PRICE IN HALF!

MODERN MASTERS VOL. ONE: ALAN DAVIS

DRAW! #5: THE HOW-TO MAG ON COMICS & CARTOONING!

First volume in a NEW BOOK SERIES devoted to the BEST OF TODAY'S COMICS ARTISTS looks at the work of a true modern master: ALAN DAVIS!

• Interview and sketchbook by MIKE WIERINGO! • BRIAN BENDIS AND MIKE OEMING show how they create the series POWERS! • BRET BLEVINS shows how to draw great hands! • The illusion of depth in design, by PAUL RIVOCHE! • Must-have art books reviewed by TERRY BEATTY! • Plus reviews of the best art supplies, links and more!

s.com

WRITE NOW! #4: THE NEW MAG FOR WRITERS OF COMICS, ANIMATION, & SCI-FI Get practical advice and tips on writing from top pros on both sides of the desk, including: • HOWARD CHAYKIN on writing for comics & TV! • PAUL DINI on animated writing! • DENNY O'NEIL offers more tips for comics writers! • KURT BUSIEK shows how he scripts! • PLUS: FABIAN NICIEZA, DeFALCO & FRENZ, & more! (Edited by DANNY FINGEROTH • 84 pages) Four-issue subscriptions: $20 Standard, $32 First Class (Canada: $40, Elsewhere: $44 Surface, $60 Airmail).

• ALAN DAVIS’ most IN-DEPTH INTERVIEW TO DATE, including INFLUENCES, and his VIEWS ON GRAPHIC STORYTELLING! • DELUXE SKETCHBOOK SECTION, and huge gallery of rare and UNSEEN DAVIS ART! • Interviews with collaborators PAUL NEARY and MARK FARMER! (128-Page Trade Paperback) $17 US (Canada: $19, Elsewhere: $20 Surface, $24 Airmail).

(Edited by MIKE MANLEY • 88 pages w/color section) Four-issue subscriptions: $20 Standard, $32 First Class (Canada: $40, Elsewhere: $44 Surface, $60 Airmail). NOTE: Contains nudity for purposes of figure drawing. Intended for Mature Readers.

TwoMorrows. Bringing New Life To Comics Fandom. TwoMorrows Publishing • 1812 Park Drive • Raleigh, NC 27605 USA • 919-833-8092 • FAX: 919-833-8023 • e-mail: twomorrow@aol.com • www.twomorrows.com

Jack Kirby

(right) Burne Hogarth’s classic Dynamic Figure Drawing was a revelation to me as a budding teenage artist, but deep down I always wondered what a “how-to” book by Kirby would be like. Jack never produced such a book, and if he had, it’s a safe bet nobody would’ve bought it for the words anyway. So here’s my take on what the cover might’ve looked like.

DYNAMIC FIGURE DRAWING

C O P Y R I G H T S : Atlas, Big Barda, Boy Commandos, Challengers of the Unknown, Darkseid, Demon, Dingbats of Danger Street, Dr. Fate, Forager, Forever People, Green Lantern, Jimmy Olsen, Kamandi, Lightray, Losers, Mr. Miracle, Negative Man, New Gods, Newsboy Legion, OMAC, Orion, Promethea, Pyra, Spectre, Superman, Toxl the World Killer, Wonder Woman, Young Romance TM & ©2003 DC Comics • Black Bolt, Black Panther, Bucky, Capt. America, Crystal, Dr. Doom, Dr. Strange, Dragon Man, Enchantress, Fantastic Four, Galactus, Gorgon, Hercules, Hulk, Human Torch, Infant Terrible, Inhumans, Invisible Girl, Iron Man, Karnak, Liberty Legion, Magneto, Makarri, Medusa, Melter, Modok, Mr. Fantastic, Nick Fury, Rawhide Kid, Red Skull, Sgt. Fury, Silver Surfer, Spider-Man, Sub-Mariner, Super Skrull, Thing, Thor, Triton, Two-Gun Kid, Warlock TM & ©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc. • Enchantra, Silver Star, The Family, Capt. Glory, Capt. Victory, Satan's Six, Inky, Galaxy Green TM & ©2003 Jack Kirby Estate • Boys' Ranch, Police Trap TM & ©2003 Simon & Kirby • Thundarr TM & ©2003 Ruby-Spears Productions, Inc. • The Fly TM & ©2003 Archie Publications, Inc.

Spotlighting the artist of THE FOURTH WORLD TRILOGY and THE MARVEL UNIVERSE 84 pages of text & drawings A new approach to drawing the moving figure in deep space and foreshortening

Contents OPENING SHOT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 (be guest editor, and preserve the archives)

NEW COLUMN! KIRBY OBSCURA . . . .44 (Barry Forshaw on more obscure Kirby)

COLLECTOR COMMENTS . . . . . . . . . . .78 (letters on #35 which escaped us)

UNDER THE COVERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 (a quick look this time)

INNERVIEW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45 (spend an afternoon as Jack tells stories)

PARTING SHOT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .80 (don’t peek, now; we’d rather you wonder!)

THINKIN’ ’BOUT INKIN’ . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 (Joe Sinnott tells all)

TECHNIQUE SECTION: SQUIGGLES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62 KIRBIFYING YOUR ART . . . . . . . . . . . . .64 KIRBYTECH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .65 KRACKLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66 SWIPES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68 BURSTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70 EVOLUTION OF THE TORCH & THING . . .72 BUTTONS OF DOOM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .75

Front cover inks: DON HECK Front cover colors: JACK KIRBY Back cover inks/colors: JACK KIRBY

JACK F.A.Q.s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22 (Mark Evanier on Kirby misconceptions) KIRBY AS A GENRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30 (Adam McGovern goes far afield) GALLERY (GREATEST HITS) . . . . . . . . .32

Photocopies of Jack’s uninked pencils from published comics are reproduced here courtesy of the Kirby Estate, which has our thanks for their continued support.

The Jack Kirby Collector, Vol. 10, No. 38, Spring 2003. Published quarterly by & ©2003 TwoMorrows Publishing, 1812 Park Drive, Raleigh, NC 27605, USA. 919-833-8092. John Morrow, Editor. Pamela Morrow, Asst. Editor. Eric Nolen-Weathington, Production Assistant. Single issues: $13 postpaid ($15 Canada, $16 elsewhere). Four-issue subscriptions: $36.00 US, $60.00 Canada, $64.00 elsewhere. All characters are trademarks of their respective companies. All artwork is ©2003 Jack Kirby unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter is ©2003 the respective authors. First printing. PRINTED IN CANADA.

Thinkin’ ’bout inkin’

No Ordinary Joe:

Interviewed by Jim Amash

(next page, top) Recent photo of Joe Sinnott.

(Editor’s Note: Thanks to Joe Sinnott, Jim Amash, and TJKC readers for their patience in allowing me to delay this interview until this issue, where we can give it the full space it deserves. I’m confident this is the most thorough discussion of inking Joe’s ever had in print.)

THE JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR: You really have a three-phase career in inking Jack Kirby. By that, I mean you did a little bit of inking over his pencils in the early 1960s, before Jack’s style evolved into his more famous one. Then, of course, you were his inker on Fantastic Four during its best period, and did a short stint on Captain America in Tales Of Suspense, all during that “famous” period. Finally, you inked some covers and that Silver Surfer graphic novel in the 1970s, after Jack’s work had reached its peak. JOE SINNOTT: That’s all very true. Early on, I put a lot of my own style into the work, much more so than I did later on. I got slicker later on, and followed Jack’s pencil lines more, not adding or changing as much as I had previously. TJKC: When you first started inking Jack, did Stan say much to you? JOE: The first thing I inked over Jack was a western (“The Man From Fargo” in an issue of Kid Colt, Outlaw). A few times in the past, I’ve stated that “Pildorr” was the first story of Jack’s I inked, because that’s the first one that really stands out in my memory. I thought Pildorr was a prototype for the Thing. It was right at that point where Stan and Jack created the Fantastic Four. Before all this, I had always penciled and inked my own work, so inking another artist was a change. Stan didn’t give me any direction; he just wanted me to ink Jack. He was in a bind, needed an inker, and I was one of the guys he asked to ink Kirby. Evidently, Stan liked what I did right off the bat. The only comment he ever made, early on, was “I like what you’re doing. Keep it up. Whatever you do, don’t leave us!” I don’t remember if that was before Fantastic Four #5 or not. Of course, I wasn’t going to leave Stan, but I had outside work to do, too. I started the sixth issue of Fantastic Four, but dropped it after I inked a couple of panels because I wanted to do a sixty-five page story of the life of the Pope for Treasure Chest. Anyway, that was the only comment he ever made about my inks on Kirby. I never talked to Kirby during that time either; not by phone or by mail. The only time I met Jack was in 1975, at a convention in New York. We spent two days together there. I got the pages in the mail from Marvel, did them and sent them back in. I rarely ever went to the offices. In looking back at some of my pages over the years, I only saw a couple of times where the pages didn’t look quite like I

Mr. Sinnott Speaks had inked them. I’m thinking specifically about the cover of Fantastic Four #98 [previous page]. Jack had placed a shadow on the Thing’s left arm, and I followed it. I can see they took the shadow out, because I’d have never inked those rocks the way that they appear. The shadow also covered part of the left leg, the left side of the Thing’s chest and a little bit on the underside of the Thing’s right triceps. I have the original art to that cover and can see all the white paint over those areas and the corrections on top. The original drawing was better and those changes detracted from the drawing. I don’t know why they did that. Sometimes, they used to make other changes. For example, on this cover, if they had felt the Torch would have looked better flying in from the other side, they’d stat the pose and reposition it. They didn’t do that here, but when they did do it, I felt it usually wasn’t as good as what we had done. TJKC: We’ve already covered the early stuff for a future issue of Alter Ego [#26, shipping from TwoMorrows in July], but because that was the more famous period where you really evolved, we’ll focus our attention there.

Thing. I’d have added shadows behind Crystal and Johnny, too. That’s all it’d have needed. In those days, when we were getting the rates we were paid, we put as much into it as we had the time for. I had to get the work done in a certain amount of time in order to make a living. I had to do a minimum of three pages a day over Jack’s work. That was basically the reason I didn’t do more than I did. Look at Reed and Sue’s faces. It’s Kirby, but it also has my influence over it. The noses and hair are slightly different.

JOE: Sure. I do want to say that I was very impressed by FF #5. Doctor Doom was such a great character and that’s a very good story, too. My inking got better as I went along, too. TJKC: I agree. Of course, Jack’s figure work was different here, in comparison to what he did by the time you returned. JOE: I agree. The figures were thinner in the earlier days. You’re probably wondering about what I did in this early period. I always felt the backgrounds were very important and always gave them complete attention. Backgrounds are an integral part of the total composition. Jack’s backgrounds at this time were not as intricate as they became later on. Look at page six in Fantastic Four #88 [right]. You see the backgrounds? They’re simple, but effective. I added detail to the tree trunks, the grass and the dirt. Look just below Reed’s feet and you’ll see my trademark texture. It’s also behind Sue on the bottom right corner. It’s all incidental, but it adds an extra feeling to the page as a whole. You need to convince the reader that they are in that environment. This is a simple page, but very effective. Not much is happening action-wise, but the techniques carry the day. TJKC: True, but I notice that while you indicate some light sources in their clothes and in the tree trunks, you didn’t place any shadows beneath the characters. JOE: That’s true. You know, it’s funny, but I was just thinking about that. If I had inked this page now, or even a little later than I had, I’d have cast those shadows. I’d had a shadow from Reed’s feet, going back in the space. I’d have cast a shadow behind Reed, onto the 7

Mark evanier

Jack F.A.Q.s

A column answering Frequently Asked Questions about Kirby by Mark Evanier ll those monologue jokes were wrong: Al Gore never actually claimed to have invented the Internet; but if he had invented it, he’d deserve a large round of thanks from comic book fans. Our fandom and the World Wide Web were practically made for one another. I mean, we’re all over it. I can’t do a Google search on a non-comic topic without one of the first hits leading me to some site about comics... often, mine. Mine, in case you’ve never been there, is www.POVonline.com There—and all throughout cyberspace—you’ll find pieces about Jack Kirby, The Man and The Legend. Alas, I often find myself in the realm of Jack Kirby, The Myth. A rather startling number of untrue or semi-true “facts” have been promulgated about Kirby, and I thought this might be a dandy place to debunk the ones that warrant debunking, and to clarify the ones with some kernel of truth to them. I did a search of my hard disk archives... thousands upon thousands of messages I’ve downloaded since I obtained my first modem (this was back in the days of

2400 baud) and began connecting to computer bulletin boards. Many times, I responded to these urban and urbane legends but many times, I didn’t bother, or didn’t see them until it was way too late. Here’s a sampling: (next page) Jack may not have drawn the first Iron Man story, but he did design his initial armor, and did a pretty fair job of rendering his more modern attire on these pencils from the cover of Iron Man #92 (Oct. 1976). Iron Man, Melter TM & ©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.

“Jack Kirby sued Marvel Comics.” False. Though Jack occasionally threatened to sue Marvel— often in response to someone there threatening him—at no time did he ever file a suit or come particularly close to it. The one time he was seriously considering it, he met with a few lawyers and decided that neither his health nor wallet could withstand a lawsuit that might have taken ten years and cost a fortune. “When Martin Goodman (owner of Marvel Comics) sold the company to Perfect Film and Chemical Corporation, Kirby and some of the other artists soaked Goodman for big bucks to sign releases on the characters they’d worked on so he could complete the sale.” False. This story was circulated during Jack’s infamous battle with Marvel Comics over the return of his original artwork. A Marvel editor was quoted in some sources as spreading it, and claiming Stan Lee had told him that. Stan told me he absolutely

never said or heard of such a thing, and the editor in question recently claimed to me he’d either been misquoted or misinformed—I’m not sure which. Whatever, he no longer believes it, and there is no evidence in Kirby’s files of any such soaking and apparently none in Marvel’s, either. “Jack conceived The New Gods while he was doing Thor at Marvel. He wanted to build to a big epic in the Thor comic and do ‘Ragnarok’ and kill off Thor, Odin, Loki and all the rest. Then he would have launched New Gods in its place. Stan Lee vetoed the idea.” Mostly false. Jack did come up with the concept for New Gods while at Marvel but he never had any intention of doing it there. At the time, he had become convinced that Marvel was reneging on various promises to him of financial participation in characters he’d co-created. He therefore was not about to give them another idea unless there was a significant change in the way they did business. That did not happen so, as you can see, his last few years at Marvel were not as rich with new characters. Ideas were forever coming to him but he was saving them to offer DC or any other potential publisher that might emerge. “Jack Kirby designed Spider-Man’s costume.” False. Steve Ditko designed the distinctive costume we all know and love. Jack did claim to have presented the idea to Stan Lee of doing a hero named Spiderman (no hyphen) who walked on walls and had other spider-themed powers— a claim which Stan vociferously denies. But for all the things Jack did well, he was not great at being interviewed. He occasionally got carried away or confused. There was one interview where, without realizing what he was saying, he said he’d created Superman. Needless to say, he never really believed that but somehow, that’s what came out of his mouth. This kind of thing most often occurred when the topic veered near an instance where Jack felt he’d been undercredited and undercompensated, and Spider-Man was such a case. In at least one such conversation, he misspoke and claimed he’d designed the costume for the final version of Spider-Man. I’m guessing the gaffe had something to do with the fact that he did pencil the cover of Amazing Fantasy #15 with the first appearance of that costume. There were a number of cases where Jack designed a character on a cover, and then Don Heck or Dick Ayers or someone else drew the interior story, following his design. In this case, however, the cover was drawn after Stan had rejected one drawn wholly by Ditko. Jack knew that. And he also knew what it was like to have someone else claim credit for your ideas. So he very much regretted the error. “Jack Kirby was art director of Marvel in the Sixties.” False. Jack was apparently listed as such in an article in either Writer’s Digest or some similar magazine in the Sixties. A few reporters, penning stories about the phenomenon that was

Marvel also referred to him that way. In fact, he never had any sort of staff or office position during that period, and Stan Lee held the title of art director along with that of editor. (Some of the artists who worked for Marvel then have since referred to Sol Brodsky as the art director. Brodsky certainly filled many of the functions that one normally associates with that title, but if he ever actually held it, it was only for a brief time.) “Jack Kirby turned down an offer to be Stan’s co-editor or some other editorial position.”

Somewhat false. Jack maintained that he never received any sort of formal proposal, and that the few casual discussions of a staff job were—in his words—“...lousy offers to take the train into town every day to do more work for less money.” I have no idea what the terms were, or how seriously they were tendered, but that’s what Jack believed. My guess is that if Jack had demanded such a position, he would have gotten it, though it might well have been a lousy offer to take the train into town every day, etc; but I also think they’d have done everything in their power to talk him out of it.

Jack would not have been suited to any sort of art director position and it would have been a colossal waste of what he did best. “Jack laid out the first Iron Man story and the first Daredevil story.” False both times. The first Iron Man story was wholly drawn by Don Heck. The first Daredevil story was drawn mainly by Bill Everett. Steve Ditko and Sol Brodsky completed the inking, mostly by filling in backgrounds. Kirby aided Everett in some undetermined manner, though he definitely did not do full breakdowns. These falsehoods, I had a hand in spreading back in the early Seventies. At the time, Jack claimed to have laid out those stories and I repeated his claim in print—though not before checking with Heck who said, in effect, “Oh, yeah. I remember that. Jack did the layouts.” We all later realized he was mistaken. Soon after, I met Everett and found him to be equally confused. He initially confirmed it and then, when I told him I didn’t think it looked like Kirby layouts, he said, “Oh, I guess it wasn’t.” The confusion in these cases is, I think, understandable. Heck and Everett both did do work over Jack’s layouts; just not on those stories. Both also believed that Jack had contributed to the plots of those debut appearances—recollections that do not match those of Stan Lee. (Larry Lieber did the script for the first Iron Man story from a plot that Stan gave him.) Also, in both cases, Jack had already drawn the covers of those issues and done some amount of design work. He came up with the initial look of Iron Man’s armor and he seems to have participated in the design of Daredevil’s first costume. My suspicion, after interviewing both Kirby and Everett on the topic and getting only vague remembrances from each, is that Jack worked up a costume and Everett modified it—to what extent, we’ll probably never know. Everett did tell me that Jack had come up with the idea of Daredevil’s billy club. One of the things you have to keep in mind when researching this kind of thing, or evaluating conflicting accounts, is that you’re often dealing with people who have or had truly rotten memories. Jack’s was sporadic, at least when he felt he was speaking to the world on a convention panel or for an interview. He was a lot better in private conversations, especially with people he trusted. Stan almost brags about how poor his memory is, and Bill Everett had what we now politely term “alcohol-related problems” at the time of Daredevil #1. Further muddying up the 23

Gallery

Kirby's Greatest Hits! F

eel the pain! This issue, we pull no punches with an art gallery of pencils featuring some of Kirby’s most memorable zaps, hits, and explosions! Some are from hits (like Kamandi), some from misses (my affectionate favorite Dingbats of Danger Street), but all are packed with the power and velocity that are synonymous with Jack Kirby. Here’s the guide:

Page 32: Cover pencils to Marvel Double Feature #18 (Oct. 1976). That has to sting! Page 33: Page 5 to Atlas #1 (published in First Issue Special #1, April 1975), showing pure brute strength Kirby-style. Page 34: Page 18 from the never-published Dingbats of Danger Street #3 (1974). You can feel Jack flashing back to his days of fighting in gangs on the streets of New York (as seen in his autobiographical story “Street Code”). Page 35: Action-packed page 5 pencils from Our Fighting Forces #151 (Oct. 1974). This was Jack’s first Losers story, and no doubt this page is reminiscent of many of the WWII situations he found himself in. Page 36: The Bug dukes it out with lots of typical Kirby weaponry on page 17 from New Gods #10 (Aug. 1972). Page 37: Demon #2, page 7 (Oct. 1972). Check out the motion and momentum taking place on this page! Page 38: Page 10 from the story “Toxl The World Killer,” meant for Spirit World #2, and finally published in Weird Mystery Tales #2 (Oct. 1972). That last panel is so simple, yet so powerful. Page 39: Jack has a little fun at the Man of Steel’s expense in Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #147, page 10 (March 1972). Pages 40-41: Two-page spread from Captain America Annual #3 (1976), featuring a bug-ugly alien getting his comeuppance. Page 42: Now that’s a punch! OMAC #6, page 5 (July 1975). Page 43: Kamandi #1, page 8 (Oct. 1972); more muted action due to poor little Kamandi being outclassed, but still one of the most memorable pages in the issue. Did you notice there were several page fives here? I guess the story flow in Jack’s mind, at least at DC in the 1970s, tended to call for a big BANG around page 5. Let’s hear it for mindless violence the Kirby way!

Obscura

Barry Forshaw

Want inexpensive reprints of this issue’s selections? As the name implies, DC’s Young Romance #1 Millennium Edition was released in 2000, so should be easily found in back issue bins. It’s a much less expensive alternative to purchasing the original 1947 edition. ©2003 DC Comics

Adventures of the Fly #2’s cover features a pretty blatant swipe from Captain America #7, if copying yourself can be considered swiping. To date, “Marco’s Eyes” was reprinted in the 1979 Archie’s Super-Hero Special #1, and “The Master of Junk-RiLa” was reprinted in Blue Ribbon Comics, Vol. 2, #1 (Nov. 1983). Fly ©1959 Archie Publications Captain America TM & ©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.

A new regular column focusing on Kirby’s least known work, by Barry Forshaw

here is much argument about which book inaugurated the Silver Age of Comics. Was it the revamped Schwartz/Kanigher/Infantino Flash? The “J’onn J’onzz” back-up features? There are even those who make claims for the first solo outing for Superman’s girl friend, Lois Lane. Similarly, which was the first real horror title? Avon’s Eerie? Or the longer-running Richard Hughes/ACG winner, Adventures into the Unknown? But there is absolutely no argument about which was the first comic to create the much-condescended-to romance genre. And Jack Kirby, most famous for his massively thewed super-heroes, is one of the unlikely midwives. Having said that, such a distinction is something of a poisoned chalice. While Simon & Kirby’s Young Romance for Prize spawned a million imitations, it also gave rise to a genre which (page for page) produced more terrible art and writing than just about any other branch of comics you might name. Not so, needless to say, where Simon & Kirby were concerned. It is, in fact, a shame that only the basic concept of banal love and romance scenarios was lifted by the many imitators, as there are levels of sophistication and invention found in some of the stories and art in the first issue of Young Romance that was quickly to vanish from the genre (the aforementioned Richard Hughes came up with the odd off-the-wall tale in ACG’s shot at the genre, Confessions of the Lovelorn, but most issues of that mag were as worthless as anything in the genre). Of course, the only real reason to pick up DC’s handsome reprints (in their Millennium Edition series) of this groundbreaking book is for Kirby’s appearances. Fans who only know his work post-Fantastic Four may need to apply themselves, but the effort is worthwhile. A pedestrian Kirby cover (adorned with the come-on tagline ‘Designed for more adult readers of comics’, promising carnal pleasures that never materialize) heads up a brace of very different stories. “I Was A PickUp” has some solid art by Kirby looking very much like his contemporaneous work for Black Magic. The usual sense of design is always paramount, and the burst of action on page 8 shows the dynamism that informed his Captain America work of a few years earlier. The story, though, is nothing to write home about; neither is that of the second tale, an uninteresting piece illustrated by Bill Draut. The next piece, “Misguided Heart,” has a conventional romance narrative (the heroine has to choose between a man who is perfect for her and one who, though handsome, is obviously unsuited... yawn), but is enlivened by Kirby’s imaginative work. Another Bill Draut tale, “The Plight of the Suspicious Bride” (awful titles are par for the course in romance comics), has the rather macabre device of being seen from inside

the skull of the protagonist, but the final piece, “Young Hearts Sing a Summer Love Song,” delivers some fine Kirby art, with the elegance that he lost interest in as the Marvel age beckoned. Now don’t for a second think that Young Romance represents Kirby at his best: at most, this is of academic interest (unless you’re someone who is turned on by the very notion of romance), but for anyone interested in the artist (and if you’re reading this, that’s you), it’s certainly worth dipping into. Much more interesting Kirby fare may be found in the second issue of The Fly (Archie, 1959), although (like all Simon & Kirby productions of the period) it’s a bit of a pick-and-mix affair, with several artists pitching in; but as these craftsmen are of the order of Kirby and Al Williamson, who cares? The cover actually has more of Joe Simon’s input than most of the team’s collaborations: The Fly swings towards a malevolent leprechaun, who is riding a building-smashing robot. This tale, “Tim O’Casey’s Wrecking Crew,” revives the sinister leprechaun figure from Black Magic’s “Nasty Little Man,” and is satisfyingly whimsical (although why a leprechaun should use such a high-tech menace as a robot crew is never explained), but the tale is a mélange of different artists’ work: the splash panel is a lively Kirby piece, but the story itself is drawn by Paul Reinman in his usual pleasant (if unexceptional) style. The second piece, “One of Our Skyscrapers Is Missing,” is a smooth Al Williamson job, but (after a nice two-page strip promoting the concurrent The Double Life of Private Strong) the King triumphantly blazes in with “Marco’s Eyes,” set off with one of his beloved two-page spreads. The Fly dodges machine gun fusillades as he shrugs off the rays from the massive, distended eyes of a villainous hypnotist on a hoarding; in the meantime, hypnotized crowds struggle toward the poster, proffering jewels and money (Kirby’s double-page spreads are always value for money). For the rest of the issue, Kirby erases the contributions of his fellow artists with some dynamic, brilliantly designed storytelling, including another splendidly over-the top villain, The Junk Man. The only problem with reading these few Fly issues (as with his equally brief stint on Private Strong/The Shield and Race for the Moon) is how little of this wonderful stuff there is. Kirby’s gadabout career trajectory often meant that artistic gems were presented to us all too briefly before being consigned to lesser talents. If you’re a real Kirby enthusiast, you owe it to yourself to seek out his late Fifties work—it’s often more individual than his later Marvel work, and that’s saying something! ★

Inner View

An Afternoon With Jack (and a lifetime of memories) Written and transcribed by Jerry Boyd

(above) The flyer that announced Jack’s appearance, and (right) Jack with fan Jordan Neri, Jr. (center) Patriotic house ad by Carl Burgos and Kirby, from Marvel Mystery #19 (May 1941). (below) Kirby art from the 1978 San Diego Con program book. Human Torch, Capt. America TM & ©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc. Capt. Glory, San Diego art TM & ©2003 Jack Kirby Estate.

was Captain America. [laughter]

The flyers announcing the impending comics store visit of Jack Kirby had been circulating in our area for about a month. The news seemed almost too good to be true. The King, whose convention appearances had by then been largely limited to San Diego, was actually coming to our area— Palo Alto, California! Palo Alto’s a beautiful little place, though certainly not as large or as internationally-known as the isle of Manhattan, Chicago, San Diego, or even Stanford University (which it borders), so we fans of sequential art felt especially lucky/ honored/blessed that Jack was coming to our little neck of the woods. Kirby was on tour to promote The Art of Jack Kirby. With him would be his lovely wife Rosalind and the book’s author, Ray Wyman, Jr. Customers who regularly patronized the store were told the ground rules: Mr. Kirby and Mr. Wyman would first talk about the book. Pre-signed copies would then be sold. The King would then be available for as many questions and comments as the remaining time allowed. He wouldn’t be signing anything during the two-hour stop but he and Roz would graciously take books with them, autograph them, and mail them back to the store within a reasonable period of time. The store managers put it as delicately as they could: Kirby was not in the best of health. He just wasn’t up to signing stacks of comics anymore (and you know there would’ve been plenty). He had “good days” and “bad days.” (Having lost my grandparents in the two years prior to this 1993 meeting, I completely understood. Still, to my comic-collecting buddies and me, this was unsettling news. This giant’s work was filled with power and vitality. How could the man not be the same?) Still, the good news was that he was coming and he’d still sign our treasures, albeit sometime later. About thirty or so fans greeted our king, queen, and Mr. Wyman on a beautiful Spring Sunday. Jack shared war stories, answered questions on all subjects, smiled and posed for snapshots, displayed a packed portfolio of stunning originals (which was open for perusal during his entire talk), and charmed us to the collective core of our hearts. The following is a transcription of fans’ questions and comments, with Kirby’s responses and observations that came from taped recordings made that day. (Since it’s nigh-unto impossible to be in the company of such a talented man without the experience dredging up memories of great comics and fun-filled times, I beg the readers’ indulgence as I share a few of the great moments Jack gave me.) In addition, I included a few Kirbyrelated comments from a few professionals. Enjoy!

FAN: Wasn’t that a little dangerous, though? [more laughter] KIRBY: [chuckling] It was. I had these Nazis waiting for me up on Broadway. I came to deliver my work. I used to think like Captain America. I was stupid, I thought I was a hero. These eight guys— Nazis—were after me, and I’m delivering my work to Marvel. “Well, we’re going to beat the crap out of you and we’ll wait for you downstairs.” So I said, “Alright, we can go down there. Don’t go away. Wait for me, I’ll be right down.” I used to think that way, y’know. They would’ve smeared the heck out of me; but when I came down they weren’t there; but they used to have big meetings... Madison Square Garden. Thousands of ’em. Seig Heil. [Jack, caught up in the memory of the moment, sadly throws his right arm up in a mock Nazi salute.] Roosevelt took care of all of ’em. He drafted them. [laughs] They sent ’em down South to basic training, and the Southerners beat the crap out of them. They turned them into Americans. [laughter] So, uh... those were very turbulent things... and everybody gave me a hard time.

FAN: Is Doctor Doom your favorite villain or Darkseid? KIRBY: No... I liked all the characters. In fact, I

FAN: Must’ve been also an audience there because of the attractive graphics. KIRBY: Well, all the guys liked girls. [laughs] We got a very good

FAN: I think my favorite cover of yours was Fantastic Four #100. That one really gripped me. KIRBY: That was a great exercise. I really loved ’em [the FF]. [Someone directs Jack’s attention to a romance comic page in his portfolio.] I used to pass these newspaper stands and I never paid any notice to them because they were just a familiar thing. All they had on the newsstands were these pulps—love, love, love, love, love. [laughs] So you see it every day and you don’t think about it, and suddenly I felt, gee, there are no love comics. There are love magazines. So Joe Simon and I were the first ones to do this type of thing. FAN: So they created profits? KIRBY: Very good. They sold very well.

Technique

The Evolution of the Human by Will Murray ne of the most fascinating aspects of Jack Kirby’s Fantastic Four is the evolution of the Thing over the course of the series’ early years. He goes from a shapeless brown blob to the chiseled rocky heroic Thing we know and love. This is an amazing example of how one artist can take a crude character conception and transform it into something unique and wonderful. I was as surprised as anyone when I saw in The Jack Kirby Collector #33 that Kirby had been drawing the rocky Thing as early as FF #15 (pencils shown below)— and crestfallen. I’ve long been a big fan of the “cobblestone” version of Ben Grimm as inked by Dick Ayers. The natural evolution of the 1961-66 Thing turns out to be really a tug of war between penciler and inker. Curious, I began paging backwards in search of a clue to the earliest hints of a rocky pure Kirby Thing. I found one in an expected place, and thereby made an equally unexpected discovery. Although not as granite-like as he later became, Ben Grimm’s face on the cover of FF #7 (left) shows clearly that Kirby was moving in this direction during the book’s first year. This discovery made me look at the cover to #8 more closely than I ever had. I’d always assumed this to be an Ayers ink job. On closer inspection, it clearly wasn’t; but who? It wasn’t Sinnott, or Ditko, or any of the usual suspects. Examining Sue Storm’s face, I was somehow reminded of Roz Kirby. Then it hit me: Jack Kirby himself inked this cover! You can even see a little of Jack’s face in Reed’s. I gave Mark Evanier a quick call, and he subsequently concurred with my supposition. Now I can’t pretend to intuit why or when Jack moved towards the quintessential Thing, but I can theorize. First, the creation of the Hulk might have prompted Jack to look for ways to more strongly differentiate the looks of Marvel’s two colorful man-monsters—especially if they were ever to meet, which they later did numerous times. Secondly, FF #8 follows by only a month Thor’s debut in Journey Into Mystery #83, in which the

(above) The Golden Age Human Torch by Carl Burgos (throwing the fireball), and Kirby’s (or Brodsky’s) version from the cover of FF #3. (below) Jack’s Torch from FF #1. (bottom, center) Kirby Thing sketch for Jerry Bails, dated July 20, 1962. Characters TM & ©2003 Marvel Characters, Inc.

Thunder God battles the Stone Men from Saturn. In this Sinnott-inked origin, the Stone Men display Thing-like plates. In a recap in the next issue, Ayers renders them as the Cobblestone Men from Saturn—further proof of Ayers’ smoothing of the Kirby Thing. This is pure speculation, but I wonder if Kirby borrowed the Stone Men’s more rugged look for his evolving Thing, who had more of a dinosaur or crocodile skin in his earliest appearances. To give credit where credit is due, the pile-of-rocks Thing treatment ultimately debuted thanks to George Roussos, who first inked him that way on to cover to FF #18 (left), the first Super-Skrull story. In the next issue, Roussos took over as story inker and the reign of the rocky Thing truly began. In our fascination with Ben Grimm’s evolution, it’s easy to forget that Johnny Storm also transmuted. As Kirby drew him in Fantastic Four #1, the Human Torch was an uncontrolled mass of furious flames in the rough semblance of a man. He looked nothing like the Timely Human Torch, and he was a far cry from the sleek Torch Kirby would later make famous. He might as well have been dubbed the Human Bonfire. Now I don’t know the reasons for this reinterpretation of the Torch. The simplest explanation was the Jack Kirby wanted to present his own take on the time-honored character; but there is evidence that this was not a Kirby idea, but Stan Lee’s approach. Script pages to Fantastic Four #1 reprinted in TJKC #33 clearly quote Lee as admonishing Kirby not to have his Torch throw fireballs or burn anyone because of Comics Code objections. This is why in the first few issues the Torch merely uses his flaming presence to frighten off various monsters and villains. I can only speculate if Lee wanted to avoid any resemblance to the old Torch, or if Kirby preferred to place his own stamp on the new version. If anything, Kirby’s Torch looked more fiery and dangerous than the more restrained Torch of old. Perhaps Lee was copying the formula of the updatings of the Flash and Green Lantern over at DC. Same name, similar powers, but a new look. If the plan was to drop a new version of Captain America into the FF, this strategy would make sense; but how many ways are there to draw a flaming human being? Thus, for the first two issues of Fantastic Four, Johnny Storm is clearly a Jack Kirby Torch. In his way, the Torch is as crude and misshapen a monster as the early Thing. In fact, Kirby clearly reached into his personal bag of tricks to create his Torch. Specifically, he based him on the fiery alien from Strange Tales #76 (Aug. 1960, shown above) called Dragoom, the Flaming Invader. With the issue #3, the Miracle Man

n Torch & the Thing

story, suddenly there is a new improved Kirby Human Torch—or is there? Readers got their first glimpse of the revised Torch on the cover of FF #3 (previous page, top). The rest of the FF boasted new uniforms and improved likenesses. Even the Thing was looking less ugly. So naturally the Torch followed suit. However, the figures of the new Torch in the story itself have always bothered me. They don’t look very Kirbyesque. I’ve always

ascribed this oddity to the new FF inker, Sol Brodsky. His style is more suited to inking Millie the Model, but I’ve always enjoyed his brief fling at inking Kirby on the FF; probably because the first issue I ever bought was his last, #4. The Torch who appears in FF #3 is fundamentally modeled after the original Carl Burgos Human Torch (shown on previous page, top left, throwing a fireball). He is a well-defined human form burning so red-hot that his features are a blur. Contrasting his core mass is a nimbus of yellow flame. I could speculate that Kirby felt constrained in following Burgos’ much tamer conception of a man of flame and produced a weaker image. How else would you explain a noticeable and uncharacteristic lack of raw Kirby power in the Torch poses that litter this issue? As an example, the first panel of page 21, showing the Human Torch seemingly doing a fiery dance as he’s talking to

Reed and Ben (shown below). I can’t imagine Kirby penciling such a ridiculous pose—unless he meant to show the Torch landing, and the figure was incorrectly inked. Further down on the page, the Torch again bursts into flame and flares off after the Miracle Man’s stolen atomic tank. Suddenly, the Torch of the past two issues is back. He’s a fiery human comet virtually indistinguishable from his furious contrail. This is an important characteristic of the original Kirby Torch. He is depicted as a continuous spear of flame. There is no discernable demarcation between his fiery body and the flames dragging behind it. While studying these anomalies, I began wondering if Kirby hadn’t originally drawn his version of the Torch in this issue, only to have Brodsky superimpose the Burgos version over it during the inking stage. Evidence exists to support this theory. There are key differences between the Kirby Torch on the cover of #3, and the one inhabiting that issue. On the cover, the Torch has distinctive features. For the first time you can clearly see the suggestion of eyes, nose and mouth, something no prior version of the Human Torch ever displayed. Inasmuch as a cover is usually drawn after the story, this could be explained by Kirby further revising his

(above) Movie poster for the 1961 B-movie Hand of Death. Compare this to the Thing in his trenchcoat from FF #1 (above left) or this FF #15 pin-up (below) and decide if Jack was inspired by this film! Thanks to Steve Bissette for the movie tip! (left) When FF #24 came out, Don Glut mailed a copy to Marvel requesting Jack autograph it. He received this pencil drawing in the mail with his autographed copy, so this piece was done in late 1963 or 1964.