Jack Kirby Collector #44 by TwoMorrows Publishing

JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR FORTY-FOUR

IN THE US

$995

COMING SOON FROM TWOMORROWS! Prices Include US Postage. Outside the US, Add $2 Per Item Canada, $3 Per Item Surface, $7 Per Item Airmail

KIRBY UNLEASHED: (60 pgs.) New, completely remastered version of the scarce 1971 portfolio/biography, with 8 extra B&W and 8 extra color pages, including Jack’s color GODS posters. $24 US

TJKC #21: (68 pgs.) KIRBY, GIL KANE, & BRUCE TIMM intvs., FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE (LEE dialogue vs. KIRBY notes), SILVER STAR screenplay, TOPPS COMICS, unpublished art, more! $8 US

TJKC #30: (68 pgs.) ’80s WORK! Interviews with ALAN MOORE & Kirby Estate’s ROBERT KATZ, HUNGER DOGS, SUPER POWERS, SILVER STAR, ANIMATION work, more! $8 US

COLLECTED JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR, VOL. ONE: (240 pgs.) Reprints TJKC #1-9, plus over 30 pieces of NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHED KIRBY ART! $29 US

TJKC #22: (68 pgs.) VILLAINS! KIRBY, STEVE RUDE, & MIKE MIGNOLA interviews, FF #49 pencils, FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE, KOBRA, ATLAS MONSTERS! Kirby/Stevens cover. $8 US

TJKC #31: (84 pgs.) TABLOID FORMAT! Wraparound KIRBY/ ADAMS cover, KURT BUSIEK & LADRONN interviews, new MARK EVANIER column, favorite 2-PAGE SPREADS, 2001 Treasury, more! $13 US

COLLECTED JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR, VOL. TWO: (160 pgs.) Reprints TJKC #10-12, plus over 30 pieces of NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHED KIRBY ART! $22 US

TJKC #23: (68 pgs.) Interviews with KIRBY, DENNY O’NEIL & TRACY KIRBY, more FF #49 pencils, FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE, unused 10-page SOUL LOVE story, more! $8 US

TJKC #32: (84 pgs.) TABLOID! KIRBY interview, new MARK EVANIER column, plus Kirby’s Least Known Work: DAYS OF THE MOB #2, THE HORDE, BLACK HOLE, SOUL LOVE, PRISONER, more! $13 US

The KIRBY COLLECTOR (edited by JOHN MORROW) celebrates the life & career of the “King” of comics through interviews with Kirby & his contemporaries, feature articles, & rare & unseen Kirby artwork. Now in tabloid format, the magazine showcases Kirby’s art at even larger size.

COLLECTED JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR, VOL. THREE: (176 pgs.) Reprints TJKC #1315, plus over 30 pieces of NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHED KIRBY ART! $24 US

TJKC #24: (68 pgs.) BATTLES! KIRBY’S original art fight, JIM SHOOTER interview, NEW GODS #6 (“Glory Boat”) pencils, FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE, more! Kirby/ Mignola cover. $8 US

TJKC #33: (84 pgs.) TABLOID ALL-FANTASTIC FOUR issue! MARK EVANIER column, miniinterviews with everyone who worked on FF after Kirby, STAN LEE interview, 40 pgs. of FF PENCILS, more! $13 US

COLLECTED JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR, VOL. FOUR: (240 pgs.) Reprints TJKC #1619, plus over 30 pieces of NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHED KIRBY ART! $29 US

TJKC #25: (100 pgs.) SIMON & KIRBY! KIRBY, SIMON, & JOHN SEVERIN interviews, CAPTAIN AMERICA pencils, unused BOY EXPLORERS story, history of MAINLINE COMICS, more! $8 US

TJKC #34: (84 pgs.) TABLOID! JOE SIMON & CARMINE INFANTINO interviews, MARK EVANIER column, unknown 1950s concepts, CAPTAIN AMERICA pencils, KIRBY/ TOTH cover, more! $13 US

CAPTAIN VICTORY: GRAPHITE EDITION (52 pgs.) Kirby’s 1975 Graphic Novel in original pencil form. Unseen art, screenplay, more! Proceeds go to preserving the 5000-page Kirby Archives! $8 US

TJKC #26: (72 pgs.) GODS! COLOR NEW GODS concept drawings, KIRBY & WALTER SIMONSON interviews, FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE, BIBLE INFLUENCES, THOR, MR. MIRACLE, more! $8 US

TJKC #35: (84 pgs.) TABLOID! GREAT ESCAPES with MISTER MIRACLE, comparing KIRBY & HOUDINI, Kirby Tribute Panel with EVANIER, EISNER, BUSCEMA, ROMITA, ROYER, & JOHNNY CARSON! $13 US

TJKC #20: (68 pgs.) KIRBY’S WOMEN! Interviews with KIRBY, DAVE STEVENS, & LISA KIRBY, unused 10-page story, romance comics, Jack’s original CAPTAIN VICTORY screenplay, more! $8 US

ALTER EGO #56 (FEB.)

BACK ISSUE #14 (JAN.)

DRAW! #12 (NOV.)

WRITE NOW! #11 (NOV.)

NEAL ADAMS cover, interviews with COCKRUM and GRELL go “Pro2Pro” on KYLE BAKER reveals his working methods, Superman creators SIEGEL & SHUSTER, the Legion, pencil art gallery by BUSCEMA, Machine Teen’s MIKE HAWTHORNE on Golden/Silver Age DC production guru BYRNE, MILLER, STARLIN, McFARLANE, his work, Making Perspective Work For JACK ADLER, NEAL ADAMS & TV icono- ROMITA JR., SIENKIEWICZ, looks at Hercules You by BLEVINS and MANLEY, Photoshop clast (& comics fan) HOWARD STERN on Unbound, Hex, Killraven, Kamandi, MARS, techniques with ALBERTO RUIZ, Adult Adler, art by CURT SWAN, WAYNE BORING, Planet of the Apes, art & interviews with Swim’s the VENTURE BROTHERS, and AL PLASTINO, plus FCA, MR. MONSTER, GARCÍA-LÓPEZ, KIRBY, WILLIAMSON, more! Edited by MIKE MANLEY. & more! Edited by ROY THOMAS. and more! Edited by MICHAEL EURY. (96-page magazine with color) $8 US (100-page magazine) $9 US (100-page magazine) $9 US

BENDIS, WAID, DAVID, DEMATTEIS, DeFALCO, O’NEIL, DIXON, ALONSO and 17 others tell PROFESSIONAL WRITING SECRETS, plus DeFALCO and FRENZ on working together and an all-new SPIDERGIRL cover by FRENZ and SAL BUSCEMA! Edited by DANNY FINGEROTH.

THE JACK KIRBY THE DARK AGE (JAN.) BRAVE & BOLD ART OF COLLECTOR #44 (NOV.) Documents the ’80s and ’90s era of comics, JIM APARO (DEC.)

TITANS COMPANION (NOV.)

from THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS and Focuses on KIRBY’S MYTHOLOGICAL CHARACTERS, including THE DEMON, WATCHMEN to the “polybagged premium” craze, the DEATH OF SUPERMAN, renegade THOR, ATLAS, ETERNALS, and others! Plus, a rare interview with KIRBY, MARK superheroes SPAWN, PITT, BLOODSHOT, EVANIER’S regular column, Kirby pencil art CYBERFORCE, & more! Interviews with galleries of THE DEMON and other classic TODD McFARLANE, DAVE GIBBONS, JIM LEE, KEVIN SMITH, ALEX ROSS, MIKE mythological characters, a never-reprinted MIGNOLA, ERIK LARSEN, J. O’BARR, BLACK MAGIC story, an interview with Kirby Award winner & family friend DAVID DAVID LAPHAM, JOE QUESADA, MIKE ALLRED and others, plus a color section! SCHWARTZ, new Kirby Demon cover inked by MATT WAGNER, & more! Edited Written by MARK VOGER, with photos by KATHY VOGELSONG. by JOHN MORROW. (168-page trade paperback) $24 US (84-page Tabloid) $13 US

(224-page trade paperback) $29 US

(80-page magazine) $8 US

TJKC #27: (72 pages) KIRBY INFLUENCE Part One! KIRBY and ALEX ROSS interviews, KIRBY FAMILY Roundtable, all-star lineup of pros discuss Kirby’s influence on them! Kirby / Timm cover. $8 US

TJKC #36: (84 pgs.) TABLOID ALL-THOR issue! MARK EVANIER column, SINNOTT & ROMITA JR. interviews, unseen KIRBY INTV., ART GALLERY, FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE, more! $13 US

A career-spanning biography of the A comprehensive history of the NEW TEEN definitive Batman artist, from his start at TITANS, with interviews and rare art by CHARLTON COMICS to his heyday at DC MARV WOLFMAN, GEORGE PÉREZ, JOSÉ COMICS and beyond, with rare and LUIS GARCÍA-LÓPEZ, LEN WEIN, & others, UNSEEN APARO ART, and written by a Silver Age section with NEAL ADAMS, SCOTT BEATTY (writer of Batman and The NICK CARDY, DICK GIORDANO, & more, DC Comics Encyclopedia) with ERIC plus CHRIS CLAREMONT and WALTER NOLEN-WEATHINGTON (editor/designer SIMONSON on the X-MEN/TEEN TITANS of the Modern Masters book series), and crossover, TOM GRUMMETT, PHIL JIMENEZ an introduction by artist ALAN DAVIS! & TERRY DODSON on their ’90s Titans work, a new cover by JIMENEZ, & intro by (128-page trade paperback) $20 US GEOFF JOHNS! Written by GLEN CADIGAN.

SUBSCRIPTIONS: THE JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR: Four tabloid issues in the US: $36 Standard, $52 First Class (Canada: $60, Elsewhere: $64 Surface, $80 Airmail). TJKC #37: (84 pgs.) TABLOID HOW TO DRAW THE KIRBY WAY issue! MARK EVANIER column, MIKE ROYER on inking, KIRBY interview, ART GALLERY, analysis of Kirby’s art techniques, more! $13 US

TJKC #38: (84 pgs.) TABLOID KIRBY: STORYTELLER! MARK EVANIER column, JOE SINNOTT on inking, SWIPES, talks with JACK DAVIS, PAUL GULACY, HERNANDEZ BROS., ART GALLERY, more! $13 US

TJKC #39: (84 pgs.) TABLOID FAN FAVORITES! EVANIER column, INHUMANS, HULK, SILVER SURFER, tribute panel with ROMITA, AYERS, LEVITZ, McFARLANE, TRIMPE, ART GALLERY, more! $13 US

TJKC #40: (84 pgs.) TABLOID “WORLD THAT’S COMING!” EVANIER column, KAMANDI, OMAC, tribute panel with CHABON, PINI, GOLDBERG, BUSCEMA, LIEBER, LEE, ART GALLERY, more! $13 US

TJKC #41: (84 pgs.) TABLOID! 1970s MARVEL, including Jack’s last year on FF, EVANIER column, GIORDANO interview, tribute panel with GIBBONS, RUDE, SIMONSON, RYAN, ART GALLERY, more! $13 US

TJKC #42: (84 pgs.) TABLOID! Spotlights Kirby at ’70s DC Comics, from Jimmy Olsen to Spirit World! Huge Kirby pencil art gallery, covers inked by KEVIN NOWLAN & MURPHY ANDERSON! $13 US

TJKC #43: (84 pgs.) TABLOID! Kirby Award winners STEVE & GARY SHERMAN intv., 1966 KIRBY intv., Kirby pencils vs. Sinnott inks from TALES OF SUSPENSE #93, Kirby cover inked by SINNOTT! $13 US

TJKC SUBSCRIPTIONS! 4 tabloid issues: $36 Standard, $52 First Class (Canada: $60, Elsewhere: $64 Surface, $80 Airmail).

BACK ISSUE!: Six issues in the US: $30 Standard, $48 First Class (Canada: $60, Elsewhere: $66 Surface, $90 Airmail). DRAW! or WRITE NOW!: Four issues in the US: $20 Standard, $32 First Class (Canada: $40, Elsewhere: $44 Surface, $60 Airmail). ALTER EGO: Twelve issues in the US: $60 Standard, $96 First Class (Canada: $120, Elsewhere: $132 Surface, $180 Airmail). NOTE: IF YOU PREFER A SIX-ISSUE ALTER EGO SUBSCRIPTION, JUST CUT THE PRICE IN HALF!

TwoMorrows. Bringing New Life To Comics Fandom. TwoMorrows Publishing • 10407 Bedfordtown Dr. • Raleigh, NC 27614 • 919/449-0344 • FAX 919/449-0327 • e-mail: twomorrow@aol.com • www.twomorrows.com

Contents

THE NEW

Myths & Legends ISSUE! OPENING SHOT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 (a Kirby documentary on the Fantastic 4 DVD?!) UNDER THE COVERS . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 (leave, leave, the form of pencil...)

ISSUE #44, FALL 2005

MUSEUM PAGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 (news from the Jack Kirby Museum) INNERVIEW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 (Jack’s rarely-seen 1983 interview) JACK F.A.Q.s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11 (Mark Evanier’s trip to Syd Shores) INCIDENTAL ICONOGRAPHY . . . . . . . .17 (a Norse is a Norse, of course, of course) KIRBY AS A GENRE . . . . . . . . . . . . .18 (Adam McGovern on who made who) ACCOLADES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 (Kirby Award-winner David Schwartz talks about Jack, Mark, and Mike) SOURCES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 (Etrigan’s great grandfather?) RETROSPECTIVE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24 (Jack’s midnight masterpiece, The Demon) GALLERY 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27 (some Demonic pencils) OLD FRIENDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32 (Barry Alfonso shows us that Witchboy’s all grown up) PUBLIC DOMAIN THEATRE . . . . . . .34 (two complete Black Magic stories) KIRBY OBSCURA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42 (journey into unexpected mystery...) NEAR MYTHS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44 (how faithful was Jack’s to legends) GALLERY 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48 (myth-illogical Kirby art, in pencil) RETROSPECTIVE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54 (Thor the Thunderer revealed) BEFORE & AFTER . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60 (compare classic pencils to published inks, side-by-side) NEAR MYTHS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66 (Odin’s not “all that,” and the legend of Galactus’ origin) KIRBYWOOD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70 (F4 screenwriter Mike France speaks) COLLECTOR COMMENTS . . . . . . . . .78 PARTING SHOT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .80 (what would Demon #17 have been?) Front cover inks: MATT WAGNER Front cover colors: DAVE STEWART Back cover painting: GEORGIO COMOLO Photocopies of Jack’s uninked pencils from published comics are reproduced courtesy of the Kirby Estate, which has our thanks for their support. COPYRIGHTS: Black Panther, Captain America, Eternals, Falcon, Fantastic Four, Galactus, Giant-Man, Him, Hulk, Iron Man, Journey Into Mystery, Machine Man/X-51, Nick Fury, Odin, Prester John, Spider-Man, Thor, Watcher TM & ©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc. • Atlas, Barri-Boy, Batman, Brainiac, Darkseid, Demon, Desaad, Farley Fairfax, Flash, Forever People, Green Lantern, Guardian, House of Mystery, Jason Blood, Jimmy Olsen, Joker, Kamandi, Lex Luthor, Mark Moonrider, Merlin, Mister Miracle, Morgaine Le Fey, Newsboy Legion, Penguin, Sandman, Sandy, Super Powers, Superman, Vykin, Witchboy, Wonder Woman TM & ©2005 DC Comics. • Thunderfoot, Gladiator & Dracula drawings TM & ©2005 Jack Kirby Estate. • Black Magic TM Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. • 2001: A Space Odyssey © 1968 Turner Entertainment Co.

The Jack Kirby Collector, Vol. 12, No. 44, Fall 2005. Published quarterly by & ©2005 TwoMorrows Publishing, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614, USA. 919-449-0344. 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 ©2005 Jack Kirby unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter is ©2005 the respective authors. First printing. PRINTED IN CANADA.

Museum website goes live! On 28th August 2005, Jack’s 88th birthday, the Trustees of the Museum presented the website of the Jack Kirby Museum & Research Center to the world— and the world visited! We opted to allow the news to spread across the web, rather than contact news agencies as we did with the announcement of the formation of the Museum. Rand simply announced it in the comments of a few blogs who were also celebrating Jack’s birthday and confirmed it on Kirby-L—the Yahoo Groups-based Kirby discussion group—after eagle-eye Kris Brownlow discovered the site before Rand posted his announcement there. Word began spreading, and soon, some major web-culture and comicbook sites were sending people our way—sites like Metafilter, Boing Boing, Newsarama, The Comics Reporter, and The Jack Kirby Comics Weblog. Kirby appreciators in Germany, Italy, Mexico, Spain, The Netherlands, and Brazil acknowledged our debut, as well. Almost 175,000 requests were made to the website in its first week!

Newsletter TJKC Edition Fall 2005 The Jack Kirby Museum and Research Center is organized exclusively for educational purposes; more specifically, to promote and encourage the study, understanding, preservation and appreciation of the work of Jack Kirby by: • illustrating the scope of Kirby's multifaceted career, • communicating the stories, inspirations and influences of Jack Kirby, • celebrating the life of Jack Kirby and his creations, and • building understanding of comicbooks and comicbook creators. To this end, the Museum will sponsor and otherwise support study, teaching, conferences, discussion groups, exhibitions, displays, publications and cinematic, theatrical or multimedia productions.

Jack Kirby Museum & Research Center PO Box 5236 Hoboken, NJ 07030 USA Telephone: (201) 963-4383

Board of Trustees Randolph Hoppe rhoppe@kirbymuseum.org Lisa Kirby lkirby@kirbymuseum.org John Morrow twomorrow@aol.com 4

Catalogue Raisonné Greg Gatlin, the Museum’s MySQL/PHP hero, and Rand have been continuing their work on the development of the database. Soon, we will be adding many of the scans of penciled Kirby artwork that the Kirby Estate has provided, not to mention the significant scanning efforts TwoMorrows has contributed. Need we mention that Museum members will gain access to a larger offering of these scans than the general public?

Kirby Video! In addition to the Glenn Flemming video featured on the website (edited by David Schwartz), John Hitchcock has provided the Museum with a VHS tape of an interview he held with Jack in 1985. We expect to have some of this digitized and available on the website in the coming weeks. This kind of material is crucial to our documentary project. Thanks Glenn, John, & David!

Membership News The Museum welcomes these new members: Tod Seisser, Kris Brownlow, Mitch Jomsky, Steve Meyer, Jim McCaffery, Kenn Thomas, Ronald Chironna, Wade Aucoin, Jimmie Harvey, Scott Rowland, Lee Curiel, Eric Reinders, John Floyd. Questions about membership? New Address? E-mail us at: membership@kirbymuseum.org

Join us! For the Jack Kirby Museum to become the vital institution it can be, it needs the support of an active membership. We are always looking for volunteers and donations. In addition to the costs of developing educational programs and exhibits, the Museum’s bank account needs to cover operating expenses such as professional services, web servers, insurance, shipping and postage, amongst other things. So, like most educational arts institutions, we offer Annual Memberships. Other than knowing the Museum is being helped to pay its bills and develop its educational programs and exhibits, Annual Membership will will provide Members access to a greater library of images in our database, when that functionality is added. We do, however, offer incentives for Membership in the form of posters donated for this purpose by the Kirby Estate. We are still getting our online payment system ready, but checks and money orders can be made out to Jack Kirby Museum and mailed to us. Please include your e-mail address, phone number and poster choice in your correspondence or on the memo line of your check. Students half-price (contact us). The posters are offered “as-is”—please do not expect yours to be in absolutely perfect mint condition.

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Annual Membership with one of these posters: 50*

Marvel — 14" x 23"

s.com omorrow Incan Visitation — 24" x 18" color

w.t ww Galactic Head —w 18" x 20" color

*please add $10 for memberships outside the US, to cover additional postage costs

INNERVIEW (below and throughout) Unused cover for Thunderfoot, based on the legend of Bigfoot. This concept was created with Satan’s Six and Captain Victory in the mid-1970s for a proposed new line of “Jack Kirby Comics” (note the logo), but was abandoned when the investors’ financing fell through. Thunderfoot TM & ©2005 Jack Kirby Estate.

Idea & Motive In Kirby’s Comics Conducted by Ronald Levitt Lanyi, submitted by Kenneth F. Thomas, and reprinted with permission [Editor’s Note: The following interview, conducted by Ronald Levitt Lanyi, first appeared in the Fall 1983 issue of the Journal of Popular Culture. It’s the official publication of the Popular Culture Association, which is dedicated to breaking down the barriers between so-called “low” and “high” culture and filling in the gaps a neglect of popular culture has left in our understanding of the workings of society. You can find out more by visiting <www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0022-3840>. Our thanks to the PCA for permission to reprint this interview.]

ack Kurtzberg was born on New York’s Lower East Side in 1917. Nineteen years later, his comic strip illustrations were appearing in nearly seven hundred newspapers. A few years after that, as Jack Kirby, he entered the newly-established comic book industry and introduced, among other techniques, both the full-page spread, in which a single panel occupies an entire page, now a standard practice for opening a story, and the double-page spread, a highly spectacular feat which perhaps only Joe Kubert, of all other comic book artists, has yet been able to produce with similar skill. In the early years of U.S. involvement in World War II, Kirby’s illustrations for the first kid-gang comics—The Young Allies, “The Newsboy Legion,” and The Boy Commandos (this last at its peak selling 900,000 copies per monthly issue) provided boys with surrogates through whom they too could help defeat the Axis powers. Then, after returning from combat duty in Germany, Kirby drew My Date, the first of the romance comics, which now account for nearly half of the industry’s sales. In the 1960s, he illustrated the super-heroic exploits of The Fantastic Four, one of the most bizarre and successful comics in the medium’s history. Among his more recent efforts are series with such self-explanatory titles as The New Gods, The Forever People and The Eternals. Although he has been a major force in comic book illustration for over forty years, only within the last thirteen has the widespread recognition and praise which he richly deserves become evident. For instance, in The ComicStripped American, a pioneering study of the cultural values underlying a number of our past and present comics, Arthur Asa Berger notes that Kirby creates “brilliant panoramas... with remarkable flair and a wonderful sense of spatiality.”1 In Maurice Horn’s mammoth World Encyclopedia of Comics, it is asserted that Kirby is “Perhaps the most accomplished of all comic book creators.”2 In his History of Comics, Jim Steranko, himself a very fine comics artist, states that without Kirby “... there may not have been any comics to write a history about.”3 In the first issue of The Harvard Journal of Pictorial Fiction, Kirby’s artistry is likened to that of the great expressionist cinematographer Fritz Lang. In a letter printed in issue #198 of Kirby’s Captain America series, a fan christens him “The Michelangelo of the comic book,” and the editorial reply to that letter includes a reminder that Kirby is, after all, “the one and only ‘king’.” Matching this recognition of his artistry in its recentness is Kirby’s assumption of the additional role of scripter for his comic books. Within a few years, he has established himself as one of the most amusing and interesting writers now active in mass culture. In the conversation which follows, I am primarily, although not exclusively, concerned with getting into the mind of the writer, uncovering the ideas and motives which generate his stories, or, if you will, myths. This conversation was recorded in Kirby’s room at the San Francisco SheratonPalace on September 18, 1976, during Bay Con Two, a convention of “overground” and “underground” comic book writers and artists, fans of all ages and—I hope—levels of intelligence, and dealers of the wide assortment of paraphernalia that fans really don’t mind paying high prices

because it was a natural relationship. There were father and son, pitted against each other. One may even love the other. And yet they had to fight because it was a natural relationship, and there was an enmity there which had to be resolved. In other words, the son had to transcend the father. I believe that’s natural. If the son cannot transcend the father, he’ll die in frustration. And, therefore, to survive, he’d have to beat the father. I believe that kind of feeling extended from the caves, and I believe that many a father ended up with a dented skull, which was given to him by members of his own family. LANYI: Another kind of loving relationship your heroes usually lack is with women, especially those who aren’t amazons like Big Barda of the Mister Miracle series. In issue #9 of The New Gods, Orion speaks harshly but representatively when he declares, “As for love. Madam—I find love in battle hotly fought—in vengeance fulfilled!!” Mister Miracle, on the other hand, does fall in love in issue #18 of his series, but you seem to have used that event as an expedient for getting rid of him. He tells Barda, “We’ve wasted precious time,” and she agrees, saying, “We’ve spent our time on all the things that don’t count.” And a few pages later, his heroism and the series come to an end. Flash Gordon had Dale, The Sub-Mariner had Donna, Doctor Strange had Clea, Ant-Man had the Wasp, Hawkman had Hawkgirl. In fact, in the Fantastic Four series which you drew and Stan Lee scripted in the Sixties, Mr. Fantastic had The Invisible Girl. Why, in works which you alone have produced, do you dissociate romantic and/or married love from male heroism? KIRBY: Well, I believe that male heroism is secondary. Male heroism, to my mind, is the prelude to romantic love. In other words, a man has to bring something to his girl. If it can’t be the pelt of a lion, if it can’t be the meat of a crab, it’s got to be something. It’s got to be a raise in pay. It’s got to be a recipe for something they both like. It’s got to be some kind of victory. In other words, a man has to have a victory in order to fulfill either his romance or his marriage or his male status. LANYI: Of all your heroes deprived of a loving relationship with a member of the opposite sex, Kamandi stands out as a special case, for it is not entirely clear what sex is opposite to his. What is clear, I think, is the support he lends to Wilhelm Stekel’s theory, stated in Die Sprache des Traumes, of the bisexual tendency of dreams. For Kamandi may be centrally “man,” the middle syllable of his name, but around the edges he’s a girl whose name is “Kandi.” His face differs only slightly from those of the series’ infrequently-appearing female characters; mainly their lips are darker. His long, gently cascading blond locks conceal a bare amount of his nearly total, smooth-muscled nudity. A being of pure energy attempting to duplicate his face and form comes out female. Hardly a Hemingway Code Hero, bearing up under pressure with stoic grace, Kamandi lets his feelings of powerlessness and frustration get out of control, and often has need of his protector, the mutant he-man, Ben Boxer. With a single touch of his “cyclo-heart,” Ben converts to solid steel, with hard muscles glistening all over-clearly a priapic fantasy. Kamandi’s own masculine side also is centrally, although subliminally, defined in terms of the strong penis. Freud stated in “Three Contributions to a Theory of Sex” and Peter Hays demonstrated in The Limping Hero that in the myths of primitive societies as well as in the literature of the advanced ones, male sexual potency is often symbolized by the foot. Kamandi’s feet are covered by loose but imposingly tall boots which sometimes are shown extending well up his calves and always are the tallest boots of any of the characters in the series. Thus, as a girl, he needs a big strong man. As a boy, he already is a big strong man. Would you comment on this reading of Kamandi’s androgyny? KIRBY: Well, I feel that you’re placing this bisexual connotation on the thing out of your own interpretation. To my mind, Kamandi is the man in puberty; Ben Boxer is Kamandi at the age of twentyseven. The man in puberty has not gone the route that hardens his muscles to hard knots. He hasn’t gone that route yet; he’s softer, he’s smaller, he’s less able to defend himself. Therefore, 10

it’s not the bisexuality that’s in evidence there; it’s the man’s need for a brother, for a protective brother. It’s man’s need to protect a younger child. It’s man’s need to trust an older brother and to run to him for aid. Kamandi does that with Ben Boxer. And Robin did that with Batman. And Bucky does that with Captain America. Bucky can handle himself with one or two fellows, but Captain America will come to his aid when he’s overwhelmed. And that’s my point. My point is little brother, big brother; man in puberty, man at the peak of manhood. LANYI: In Love and Death: A Study in Censorship, author Gershon Legman asserted: “That the publishers, editors, artists, and writers of comic-books are degenerates and belong in jail, goes without saying....”6 Elsewhere in the volume he offered a specific degeneracy, stating that “...comic-book companies [are] staffed entirely by homosexuals.”7 Can I get a rise out of you, so to speak, on that one? KIRBY: Well, I believe that we have our share of a range of people. I can’t specifically name the homosexuals in comics. I believe that if there are dangerous degenerates there, they should be put in jail. If there are dangerous degenerates in any other medium, they should be put in jail. If there are degenerates in high office in our land, they should be put in jail. I believe that we should have the best of our people in any position, in any medium, in any form of endeavor, that we should be represented by the best of what we’ve got. If we aren’t, that’s a human failing. And, actually, we can’t leave anybody out. I mean, if the degenerate is trying to contribute something to society in a degenerate form, I’m not going to fault him for it entirely, see? I’m just going to fault him for messing things up. And that’s my point. ★

Notes 1. Arthur Asa Berger, The Comic-Stripped American (New York: Walker, 1973), p. 204. 2. Maurice Horn, ed., The World Encyclopedia of Comics (New York: Chelsea, 1976), p. 429. 3. Jim Steranko, History of Comics. I (Reading, PA.: Supergraphics, 1970), p. i. 4. Frederic Wertham, Seduction of the Innocent (New York: Rinehart, 1954). Quoted in Jules Feiffer, The Great Comic Book Heroes (New York: Dial, 1965), p. 42. 5. Joseph Campbell, The Hero With A Thousand Faces (Cleveland: Meridian, 1956), p. 10. 6. Gershon Legman, Love and Death: A Study in Censorship (New York: Hacker, 1949), p. 45. 7. Ibid., p. 43.

Mark evanier

Jack F.A.Q.s

A column answering Frequently Asked Questions about Kirby by Mark Evanier (below) A pretty punchy example of Syd Shores’ inks over Kirby from Captain America #101 (May 1968). This image was shot from a copy of the original art, showing the detail that Shores put into his inking. Captain America TM and ©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.

We start this time with the following query from Michael Wohl: I’ve seen you write about which Kirby inkers were your favorites but I’ve never seen you give your opinion of Syd Shores, whose work I loved. I’d also like to hear whatever you know about his return to Marvel after years away and what Jack thought of his inking. was not a big fan of what Shores did to Jack’s pencil art on Captain America. I liked him better embellishing Gene Colan but even there, I thought there were plenty of inkers who were more sensitive to the task. That said, I will add that I liked Kirby/Shores a little better

when I saw some of the original art. Shores was using a lot of fine lines—some, apparently executed with a ball-point pen of some sort—at a time when comic book printing was especially noxious, and a lot of what he put in went muddy. This was also a period when Marvel’s colorists were being influenced by what DC was doing with color in their books—darker colors, less reliance on bright primary tones, less yellow on the page. Kirby once described it as: “Everything being colored like it’s a war comic.” (It is said that a few months later, Stan Lee happened to leaf through a pile of their comics—like Jack, he didn’t look at the printed books all that often—and said something like, “This isn’t how I want our books to look!” And with that, Marvel went back to brighter, lighter colors... and a better approach, I thought, at least for their super-hero titles.) Still, even given those excuses, I thought Shores was miscast... not just as a Kirby inker but as an inker at all. And his stint inking Jack is a good example of, as you occasionally see in comics, an inker not being sure of his goal. Shores’s natural drawing style was quite different from what Jack was then doing... so was the end product supposed to look like Kirby or Shores? There are panels in those issues that skew in both directions and I don’t think either approach is particularly effective. Inking another artist is not something that comes naturally to some folks who know how to draw, and I don’t think Shores was really suited for the chore. Once upon a time, Syd Shores was Marvel’s star adventure artist. He held the post for a period after Kirby and Al Avison but before Bill Everett, Joe Maneely and the return of Kirby. No less than Gene Colan and John Buscema would later cite him as a powerful teacher/influence, and you could see a lot of other guys who drew for Stan Lee back then wishing they were Shores. Shores started at Marvel as an inker, working with Simon and Kirby on their first Captain America books. In an unpublished interview with Shores that recently came my way, he explained: “I had been assisting Mac Raboy and it didn’t pay enough. I’d just gotten married and I was desperate for a real paycheck. So I wrote and drew this strip called “The Terror” and I took it up to Timely Comics, just picking them at random. The whole office consisted of Joe Simon and Jack Kirby and we sat around talking for a 11

Accolades (below) An example of the kind of help David gives to this publication: He discovered this obscure 1980s Kirby piece (inked by Mike Thibodeaux) and immediately sent us a copy. Whatta guy! ©2005 Jack Kirby Estate

David Meets Goliath David Schwartz Interview Interviewed and transcribed by John Morrow (Editor’s Note: In case you’re not familiar with the name David Schwartz, let me say he’s a great friend of the Kirby family, and of yours truly as well. While he’s never been in the public Kirby spotlight, he’s helped out innumerable times on this magazine, supplying just the right piece of art when a need arises, and acting as a liaison between us and an often overworked Mike Thibodeaux in getting us materials for the mag. As you read this interview—which was conducted September 19, 2005 by phone, and was copyedited by David—I think you’ll understand why David was chosen to receive a Jack Kirby Award at last year’s Comic-Con International: San Diego.) THE JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR: David, can you give us some brief biographical information on yourself? DAVID SCHWARTZ: I’m 47; I was born in 1958. I grew up in New York City, in Greenwich Village in the 1960s and I went to my first convention in 1971, which was Phil Seuling’s con; I was 13. TJKC: Was Kirby there?

DAVID: Jack was there in 1972, I believe. I got a copy of Demon #1 signed. It was July of 1972, and I’ve still got that signature. Demon #1 would’ve been out some time in May. That was the first time I met Jack. Neal [Kirby] was there selling Jack’s comics and art. The thing I remember most is waiting in line with everybody. There was a guy in front of me with Captain America #1, which was a big deal even at that time, and he had Jack sign it. And there was another guy who had Spider-Man #42, and Jack looked at it and said, “I didn’t work on this,” and the kid said, “That’s okay, could you sign it anyway?”” (laughter) So Jack signed Spider-Man #42. If the fan was happy, Jack was happy. TJKC: So you were steeped in the whole ’60s-era Marvel period? DAVID: Yeah, the Marvel stuff ’s what grabbed me. I’d read the Archie and Harvey stuff when I was younger, but my first “real” comics were Fantastic Four and Spider-Man. The first things I bought off the stands were Spider-Man #44 and Fantastic Four #58 or #59. Then I started buying Marvel Tales and Marvel Collector’s Item Classics, and discovered Ditko’s Spider-Man and the real early issues of Fantastic Four in those reprints. But I was completely unaware Jack had been at DC prior to that, and didn’t know much about his comics in the 1940s. TJKC: Was there anything really eventful about that first meeting? DAVID: No, it was pretty much, “Here, will you sign my book?” There was a line of people, and I said “hello” and shook his hand. I was very shy, and went away; a quick meeting where I recognized who I was in the presence of, and there was a long line and I didn’t want to overstay. TJKC: After that Demon #1 signing, when were your next encounters with Jack? DAVID: The first was at a convention in the late 1970s. It was either at a Baycon in San Francisco or a San Diego convention. I had an opportunity, for whatever reason, to be talking to Jack, and I went to lunch with him and Roz. I wasn’t the only one; there were four or five fans, and I seem to remember just being in a position where they said, “We’re going to get something to eat; would you guys like to come?” And we went. That was the first time I actually got to sit down and meet them, and really know Jack on any level. I just remember being kind of in awe of being at a table with Jack Kirby, and speaking with him throughout the lunch. It was just a great thrill. In 1980, I’d graduated from San Francisco State University, and moved down to Los Angeles to work in the television industry. I met Mike Thibodeaux at a convention, and we got to know each other and became friends. He had just started inking Captain Victory, around 1981. He was so excited, and so secretive, because it hadn’t come out yet, and he didn’t want to say anything until it came out—partially because he couldn’t believe he was doing it. (laughter) He didn’t want to jinx it. Mike invited me up to the Kirbys’. It was pretty amazing; their walls were adorned with all this bursting creativity of Jack’s, whether it was things he’d just done for the house, or his collages. You were in this amazing, powerful space of Jack Kirby’s energy, and that was pretty phenomenal. Jack would go with you around the home, and give you a little story about each piece of artwork; a little guided tour around his home. Over the years, he did it so many times, that by the time Jack passed away, when fans would come up there with me or Mike, I was able to give that tour to some extent. (laughter) And because Mike and I were friends, I was invited up many more times during the years. The next time I ran into Jack was at Ruby-Spears, when he was doing animation things. I started writing animated cartoons in 1982 for Hanna-Barbera, Ruby-Spears, Filmation, and Disney. Over the years, I wrote 75-80 different episodes of cartoon shows as a freelance writer; things like Alvin and the Chipmunks, Jonny

been a lot harder for me to get my foot in the door.

Quest, the Addams Family, and many others. The day I ran into Roz and Jack they were dropping off artwork, and because I had visited them in their home, they remembered me, so we said “Hi” as a passing thing. I remember it because it was always a big thrill whenever I got to see Jack. TJKC: How’d you get started in animation? DAVID: Mark [Evanier] got me started. Someone had given me his number, saying he was a comic book person who also worked in television. I was in college, and I’d written some speculative sitcom scripts, so I called him. Mark was willing to read them and give me advice. TJKC: At the time, did you realize this was Jack Kirby’s former assistant? DAVID: No, I didn’t have a clue! (laughter) I didn’t associate the name at the time. I probably knew he’d worked with Jack in one portion of my brain, but it didn’t connect right away. Here was a guy who worked in television who could possibly give me some advice on my scripts. When I moved to Los Angeles in 1980 to work in television, I didn’t know anybody except Mark, so I said, “I’m new in town, let’s have lunch.” So Mark and I established a friendship. He knew I was trying to write sitcoms, and I was working on different TV shows as an assistant, but wasn’t able to break in. Mark was a story editor at Hanna-Barbera, and gave me the opportunity to write a Richie Rich cartoon in 1982; he bought it, liked it, and it actually aired. And I thought, “I’m in! Mark’s the story editor, and I’m gonna be able to do more scripts, and everything’s great,” and Mark said to me, “Now I’ve gotten your foot in the door. You need to go out and get work from other people, so it doesn’t look like you’re only being hired because we know each other.” It’s the best thing he could’ve done. He gave me an aired sample that I could bring to others, and say, “This was bought by Hanna-Barbera, and now I want to do one for you.” So I went out and worked for twelve years doing animated cartoons. Mark gave me what he called a TenMinute Lesson On How To Write Animated Cartoons. For the next ten years, to anyone I met who wanted to get into writing cartoons, I considered it my duty to go to lunch with them, to be willing to read what they wrote, and to give them that Ten-Minute Lesson. It’s not ten minutes on how to be a writer; it’s ten minutes on how to write for this specific format. I really felt an obligation to help anyone who wanted to get into the industry, based on the kindness and helpfulness Mark had shown to me. Without Mark, it would’ve

TJKC: Were your other encounters with Jack visits with Mike Thibodeaux up to the Kirby house? DAVID: Yes. Mike became kind of the unofficial greeter up there. If people wanted to go up there and meet Jack and Roz, Mike was the person Jack and Roz would refer them to. Mike was kind of the ambassador of bringing people up there. (laughter) I think there was also an added comfortability for Jack and Roz when Mike was there. Mike also knew the values of the original artwork really well, so he could help with that if people wanted to buy art. Over the years, he became kind of an adopted son to them.

DAVID: All modesty aside, I was basically someone who backed Mike up. Mike would go up there, and he’d be with people he didn’t know; different collectors, or huge fans who’d be so thrilled to meet Jack. Mike didn’t know a lot of these people, and wasn’t all that comfortable going up alone with these people he didn’t know, so he would invite me to come along, because he knew me, and we had a certain camaraderie, and an ability to be comfortable and include the new people in that comfort zone. Mike would call me and say, “Somebody wants to meet the Kirbys,” and I’d meet him over at his house, and we went up there. That was kind of the pattern.

TJKC: Being an art collector, were you helpful to Mike in suggesting whether he should negotiate up or down when he was pricing original artwork to sell to collectors? DAVID: Oh yeah, I became very good at doing that. TJKC: Mike became the de facto art DAVID SCHWARTZ He was really the liaison agent at some point. It just sort of to Roz, but when you’re evolved that way through this process? dealing with something as DAVID: Yeah. Since Roz wasn’t an fluid as art collecting, art collector, it was very hard for her sometimes things go up in value, or get more or less to be up on all the pricing. Plus, how do you negotiate popular; Mike and I having the ability to soundboard with Roz Kirby? You just want to say, “Here’s all my each other made a big difference, so we at least felt money, Roz, give me whatever you think it’s worth.” Jack and Roz were getting a fair price. A lot of our (laughter) Mike could be that person, so you wouldn’t goal was to make sure we were able to satisfy both have to say, “Gee, Roz, can I have it for ten dollars the collector who didn’t want to feel they were overcheaper?” He became really invaluable to them, and paying, while at the same time wanting to make sure he did it all out of his love for them, for years and Roz and Jack got a very fair price for their artwork. years. TJKC: Why do you think you received a Jack Kirby TJKC: How often did you see Jack after the RubyAward? Spears meeting? DAVID: After Jack passed away, Mike and I really DAVID: Mike and I went up there once or twice a became very instrumental in making sure Roz was month, for at least a couple of years in the mid-1980s. okay, and taking care of Roz. Mike, certainly much TJKC: So you got to be a regular fixture around the more than I was, made sure she was okay healthhouse? wise, or was able to get what she needed. We used DAVID: Yeah, but nowhere near what Mike was. It to take Roz to dinner a lot, and spend a lot of time got to the point where they were very familiar with with her, because she was a real joy to spend time me when I came up, and I was very friendly with them. with. But I want to emphasize that, while I was there and was always trying to do what I could, Mike did TJKC: All modesty aside, what was your involvement so much more, and put in so much more time. with Jack and Roz and the family? That’s not to minimize what I did, but I don’t want it to look like I was up there with Mike every time, and I was as helpful as he was. Because truthfully, he was family with them, and I was basically his friend who was lucky enough, and in the right place at the right time, to be able to be supportive of him, and have all the wonderfulness of being part of that family. At some point, somebody needs to write something on how instrumental Mike was in the well-being of the Kirby family, especially after Jack passed away. If Roz needed groceries, if she needed to be driven somewhere, if she needed to go to the doctor, he was right there every time. Mike was probably at first so in awe of meeting them in the 1970s, but his love for who they were as people quickly transcended his love for who Jack was as an icon. TJKC: My sense is that you helped Mike a lot. DAVID: I’m very organized, and have a lot of clarity and a good memory about things. I remember if a piece of artwork was sold or not, or if it had some kind of defect that Mike might not remember. I would also remember what previous things sold for, and because 21

Retrospective

Jack Kirby’s Midnight Ma

An uncanny look at a demon named Etrigan, by Brian Cremins

“There’s still a black, shivery outside, you know––a weird realm from which men shrink in terror. Science hasn’t done away with it. Nothing will ever do away with it.” ––Fritz Leiber, from Weird Tales, Sept. 1946 “As a needed change of pace in Kirby’s experimentation, the occult character emerges as an identifiable individual who lives on the premise that the strange world of black magic and potent spells is real and horribly alive with potential dangers for us normals.” ––Mark Evanier and Steve Sherman, “Demonology as Heroics,” The Demon #2 (Oct. 1972) “AAAARRR!” ––Etrigan the Demon, from “My Tomb in Castle Branek!,” The Demon #2 (Oct. 1972)

or most comic book fans, the word “uncanny” evokes images of teenage mutants wearing skin-tight costumes and doing battle against a white-haired, middle-aged man with a redand-purple tin can on his head. Many of us, in fact, gained an extra point or two after stumbling across this word on the SATs (raise your hands if you know what I’m talking about, class!). While I could spend this entire essay talking about Jack Kirby’s invaluable contributions to the mythology of the X-Men, truth be told, they didn’t have that glorious adjective added to their name until issue #114 in 1978 and they weren’t officially The Uncanny X-Men until issue #142 in February, 1982, at which point Jack was busy at Pacific Comics writing and drawing Captain Victory and the Galactic Rangers. So this essay isn’t about Jack and the X-Men, but it is about Jack and the Uncanny, specifically all of the strange characters and worlds Jack created for us during his sixteen-issue run of The Demon in the early 1970s. If you like your weird tales mixed with humor and just a hint of the absurd, you owe it to yourself to read “The Reincarnators” from The Demon #3 (Nov. 1972) or, better yet, the stories featuring Klarion the Witchboy and his evil cat Teekl (issues #7, 14, and 15). Just be sure not to read these stories too late at night, or you may find yourself murmuring, “Gone! Gone!––The form of man––! Rise, the Demon Etrigan!!” and suddenly be transformed into a stunted creature with webbed ears, pale yellow skin, and fiery red eyes. This sounds like a classic case of split-identity. Calling Dr. Freud, please! Dr. Freud?! In 1919, Sigmund Freud published a paper in the journal Imago entitled “The ‘Uncanny,’” one of the many short essays in which Freud writes more about literature than he does about his patients. He admits as much in the first paragraph of the essay, saying, “It is only rarely that a psycho-analyst feels impelled to investigate the subject of aesthetics even when aesthetics is understood to mean not merely the theory of beauty, but the theory of feeling,” (Freud 368). As the essay progresses, it becomes clear that Dr. Freud loved a good horror story just like everyone else and was especially frightened by E.T.A. Hoffman’s “Der Sandmann” (first published in 1816-1817 and translated into English as “The SandMan”), the chilling tale of an obsessive young man slowly destroyed by the memory of a traumatic event from his childhood. I won’t tell you whether or not the young man is destroyed by the villain of the story, the shadowy Coppelius––you’ll just have to find out for yourself. However, I can tell you about Freud’s reaction to the story, which inspired him to invent a definition of “the uncanny” which will help explain why Jack’s Demon stories, for example, are so ghoulishly entertaining. The good Dr. Freud informs us that the uncanny “undoubtedly belongs to all that is terrible––to all that arouses dread and creeping horror; it is equally certain, too, that the word is not always used in the clearly definable sense, so that it tends to coincide with whatever excites dread” (Freud 368). “Creeping horror,” “dread”––has this sentence been translated from the German by H.P. Lovecraft or Fritz Leiber? Perhaps my American Heritage Dictionary will help to clear things up a little. “Exciting wonder and fear; inexplicable; strange: an uncanny laugh.” My faithful red dictionary also informs me that, in case I want to do some exploring, I should “see synonyms at weird.” So we’re right back where we started: the kind of feeling you get from reading the weird tales and experiencing the creeping horror of a pulp magazine of the 1930s. Not so fast! Dr. Freud isn’t quite finished with us just yet.

sterpiece “[T]he ‘uncanny,’” Freud writes, “is that class of the terrifying which leads back to something long known to us, once very familiar” (Freud 369-370). Later in the essay Freud refers to another great German thinker and philosopher, Friedrich Schelling, and elaborates on this earlier definition: “According to [Schelling] everything is uncanny that ought to have remained hidden and secret, yet comes to light,” (Freud 375-376). This is the part of Freud’s essay which is so intriguing, especially when applied to Jason Blood and his link to Merlin’s Demon, Etrigan. Jason’s great curse, explored not only by Kirby but also by Matt Wagner in his underrated 1987 Demon mini-series, is his sense of alienation from his own body. After he discovers his violent, vengeful other half, Jason Blood no longer feels at home in his own skin. You can’t blame Jason from feeling estranged from himself; after all, how would you feel if at any moment a simple rhyming couplet could turn you into a creature from the deepest pits of Dante’s––and Jack’s––fiery imagination? The first issue of The Demon, “Unleash the One Who Waits” (Aug.-Sept. 1972), is filled with several uncanny moments in which Jason, a demonologist by trade, slowly uncovers his true identity as the human vessel for Etrigan. As Blood tells Mr. Warly in the opening scenes of issue #1, “A demon haunts my dreams! A demon haunts my life!” Jason’s mysterious past is slowly coming to light, and he’s beginning to feel a little crowded by that other creature who shares his skin. By the way, I neglected to mention another interesting bit of linguistic trivia, courtesy once again of Dr. Freud, who informs us, “In Arabic and Hebrew ‘uncanny’ means the same as ‘daemonic,’ ‘gruesome,’” (Freud 371). No wonder we’re told in the credits of The Demon #1 that we’re about to read “A MIDNIGHT CLASSIC by JACK KIRBY with inks of darkness by MIKE ROYER”! Jack’s Demon first arrives on earth at a time when, as we learn in “Unleash the One Who Waits,” “men still [live] in the shadow of the old gods!––and [fear] them!” As the walls of Camelot fall before Morgaine Le Fey’s ruthless, bloodthirsty hordes, Merlin formulates a plan to defend himself and his “Eternity Book.” What better way to fight evil than by summoning a creature from the depths of Hell itself? “I will soon vanish with Camelot, faithful guardian,” Merlin tells Etrigan as the battle for Camelot subsides. “I’ve given you a torn part of this fabled book! It is to be your destiny––on earth!!” But why cast a fierce Demon as a hero? Can he be trusted? Merlin then reveals that Etrigan will again be summoned to defend humanity from Morgaine Le Fey’s evil plans. “That may be many centuries hence––after time has done its work on Morgaine Le Fey,” Merlin reveals. “Her evil beauty shall fade and die, as Camelot does this night––never to be renewed!––unless she finds me––and this ancient book!” And, sure enough, in the early 1970s a rapidly-decaying Morgaine Le Fey

returns to claim the Eternity Book but soon faces Jason Blood, who appears to have forgotten all about his powerful alter-ego... except for those curious dreams, of course. The often tense relationship which exists between Jason Blood and Etrigan throughout the original series––on the cover of issue #3, for example, they are shown chained together and trying with all their might to pull away from each other––calls to mind other uncanny relationships in the realm of imaginative fiction. Dr. Jekyll, Bruce Banner, and Bruce Wayne are all respected men of the world who constantly struggle with inner demons who threaten to overwhelm them. Walter Gibson’s The Shadow, another creature of the night, is often more terrifying than the criminals he claims as his victims, but he spends most of his time as playboy Lamont

Cranston waltzing arm-in-arm with Margot Lane at the Cobalt Club (I don’t have the room here to explore The Shadow’s other secret identity, Kent Allard!). What they all share in common is a dual, conflicted identity, a life spent sharing their space in the universe with another being more strange and powerful than one man can ever be. As Etrigan tells Jason in the dream sequence which opens The Demon #3 (Nov. 1972), “HA HA HAH!! We’re linked together, you and I! Bound as brothers, Jason Blood!” To underscore the tense relationship between these two brothers, Jack and Mike Royer produced some of the most grotesque creatures and dreamscapes ever seen in American comic books. The word “uncanny” applies not only to Jason Blood’s relationship with Etrigan, but also to Kirby’s explosive, often expressionistic drawing style. 25

Public Domain Theatre

Black Magicians

or this October issue, we’ve opted to present not one, but two creepy tales by Simon & Kirby, both from Black Magic. The first is “Slaughter-House” from issue #31 (also known as Vol. 5, #1, from July 1954). The second is “Voodoo on Tenth Avenue” from #4 (April

1951). If the climax of “Voodoo” seems vaguely familiar, check out Fantastic Four #8 (Nov. 1962) for a similar ending, as the foursome battles the Puppet Master—evidence that Jack was having input into FF plots early-on. ★

Near myths

In Name InInName Only InName InName Name Only Only Only Only

A look at Kirby’s use of legend and myth, by Shane Foley

(below) Kirby took a second shot at Prester John for Marvel Two-In-One #12 (Nov. 1975), if only on the cover. (next page) Merlin debuts on the first page of Demon #1 (Aug. 1972), shown here in pencil. Demon ©2005 DC Comics. Iron Man, Thing ©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc.

“If there’s been one theme running through the comics career of Jack Kirby, it has been legend.” (First Issue Special #1, text page) et how well did Jack know and use the great themes of legend? On the one hand, readers of Thor know well that he had good knowledge of the Norse myths, using what he wanted and ignoring what he didn’t. On the other, readers of Black Panther #1 smiled at Jack’s reference to the story of “Ali Baba and the Genie.” Like most, my knowledge of actual legends is slim. I know a few names and a few generally accepted, but often wrong, ideas of some of the stories. So searching for some background on the legends used in a few favorite Kirby stories would not only enlighten me but reveal a bit about Kirby’s usage of them as well.

Pandora’s Box

(House of Mystery #61, 1957) Kirby’s story involves a strange “talking” chest being dumped at sea, then the attempt of a witness on the ship to uncover the mystery of the box. He is stopped just in time before he unleashes the horrors of the chest, revealed to be “Pandora’s Box.” Pandora was, in classical myth, the Greek equivalent of Eve and was the bringer of sorrows to mankind. When she went to live amongst men, she was given a gift from the gods—a sealed jar with all the misfortunes of existence inside. But her great curiosity got the better of her caution and she broke the seal, releasing sorrow, disease and conflict into the world. Thus, according to the legend, there is now no mystical box or any other container to be found as in Kirby’s story.

Prester John (Fantastic Four #54, 1966) In this story, Johnny Storm and Wyatt Wingfoot meet a character called Prester John. He is dressed in “Medieval garb” and is in suspended animation, courtesy of the “Chair of Survival.” When he wakes, he states he has been there for 700 years. He had been in the service of good King Richard and then travelled the world as the Wanderer, ending up on the fabled Isle of Avalon. So who was “Prester John”? In Medieval times there existed a legend of a great King and Priest of God living in “the Far East, beyond Persia and Armenia” known by the simple and humble title of Presbyter or Prester John. (“Presbyter” means “Elder” in Greek). In the 12th Century, letters supposedly by him circulated in Europe, wherein he writes that his land which included “the Three Indies” boasted rich natural resources, was “streaming with honey, and overflowing with milk,” and was a place of peace and justice. One traveller wrote, “In one region grows no poisonous herb, nor does the querulous frog ever quack in it, no scorpion exist, nor does the serpent glide amongst the grass.” Some records speak of the fountain of youth freely available to all and of John himself being 562 years old. He was said to be the guardian of the shrine of St. Thomas, the apostle to India, at Mylapore. Some sources said his worldly possessions included the Holy Grail, inherited from his Uncle, the Round-Table Knight Sir Percival. Mostly he was popularized as a hoped-for ally against the Muslims. He was believed to be a Nestorian—a member of the independent Eastern Christian Church, who did not accept the authority of the Patriarch of Constantinople (the equivalent of the Catholic Church’s Pope). He was usually seen as a Christian priest-king, but Prester John also appears in Medieval Jewish legend. One Jewish traveller in the East between 1159 and 1173 wrote that Prester John was a Jewish King who ruled with great splendor over a Jewish realm. A later account recorded John as being a lineal descendant of Ogier the Dane, who reached the north of India with 15 of his barons. Marco Polo was one of many other Middle Age travellers who claimed John ruled a vast Central Asian Kingdom. In his Travels, Marco Polo says Genghis Khan “fought against Prester John and after a desperate fight, overcame and slew him.” Pope Alexander III sent a messenger to him in 1177 but the messenger never returned. Later 14th Century reports from Portuguese explorers began to place John’s kingdom in Ethiopia. His legend continued, and a 15th Century woodcut depicts him as ruling in both India and Ethiopia. No source that I looked up referred to Prester John as one who had been in the service of King Richard, as stated in FF #54. (These references could only refer to the later Prester John legends as King Richard—of Robin Hood fame—lived in the late 14th/early 15th Centuries.) Nor did they mention he had been known as a “Wanderer,” although for him to have set up a Kingdom in the East, it would have been required at one point. Jack’s Prester John has very little in common with the man of legend. Instead, though he is from ancient times, he is a cosmic-minded traveller who is at home with futuristic technology

due to his experiences. His Kirbyesque travels seem to take him from Baghdad with its evocative flying carpets (page 13, panel 1), east to the Himalayas (panel 2), further east to China (Cathay, panel 3) then “across the angry sea” to what looks like a Pacific Island or South American people, then onto the “fabled isle of Avalon.” The only connection of Prester John with Avalon that I could find was that John perhaps held the Holy Grail. The Grail and Avalon were both of course, elements of Arthurian legend.

Avalon

(Fantastic Four #54, 1966) In Jack’s Avalon, “wizards created mighty machines which harnessed the natural forces of the universe,” which unfortunately destroyed them. All that remain are the chair and the weapon dubbed the “Evil Eye.” What was Avalon? In legend, Avalon, evidently meaning “Island of Apples,” was also called Annwn, the Welsh underworld. It was an island to where, after his last battle with Mordred, the grievously wounded King Arthur was taken for healing by three women in a boat. In some legends, the sword Excalibur was forged there. The first real mention of Avalon was in 1135 when Geoffrey of Monmouth, a Welsh or Breton monk, published his Historia Regum Brittanniae (i.e., History of the Kings of Britain). His work, believed to be a collection of already existing legends, covered over 90 Kings of Britain, with a fifth of the work focusing on tales of King Arthur. He wrote of Avalon as King Arthur’s final destination and supposed it to be a paradise, surrounded by water. In “The Life of Merlin,” he records a passage attributed to the Welsh bard Taliesin wherein Arthur is being taken to Avalon. The island is now described as a fairy island, inhabited by the mystic number nine ladies, one of whom was Morgan le Fay. Other legends arose of a prophecy that Arthur would one day return from Avalon to once again rule in Britain. All subsequent works regarding Arthur seem to use Geoffrey’s work as a basis. So from a mystic island of healing and (possibly) resurrection in legend, to Attilan-like crucible of scientific wonders out of its time in Kirby thought, there is no connection except the name and ability to generate a feeling of mystery and awe.

Orion (New Gods #1, 1971) Jack’s greatest character (a bit of personal opinion there) with a powerful name from legend. But what is there beyond the name? According to classical mythology, Orion was one of Poseidon’s unruly sons. He was a giant and a handsome hunter who could walk through he oceans. Once he was blinded in a battle but he regained his sight by the radiance of the sun god Helios. Eos, the goddess of the Dawn, loved him to such a degree that other gods became jealous, so for the sake of all the gods Artemis killed him. He was then raised to the stars as a constellation. Like Kirby’s character? Not at all.

Arthurian Legends (Demon #1, 1972) 1) Merlin With no mention of Arthur, Merlin is seen at the

destruction of Camelot in Demon #1, accepting that he shall pass with it, but unlike it, he shall return. Who was Merlin? Merlin appears to be the creation of Geoffrey of Monmouth, who in his 12th Century History of the Kings of Britain combines traditions about a bard and prophet named Myrddin with a 9th Century story of Ambrosius. In the latter, the Britons found a girl who was pregnant by demonic forces. They kept her secure and when her child was born, he was immediately baptized as a Christian. Thus the child worked for good rather than evil, yet was still possessed of the fabulous powers of his demonic father. Some legends speak of him learning his craft from a Master named Bleise. In Geoffreys’ work, Merlin is responsible for moving the monoliths of Stonehenge from Ireland and assists Uther Pendragon but is not associated with Arthur himself. Later, Merlin was credited with helping Uther conceive Arthur by disguising Uther as the husband of a beautiful woman named Igraine. As with many Celtic gods and goddesses, Merlin was seen having a deep affinity with nature and could assume any shape he wished. It was in Sir Thomas Malory’s Morte d’Arthur that Merlin is viewed as Arthur’s faithful advisor, prophet, and Magician.

Later stories have him as the architect of Camelot. There are various accounts of his death. One has him swallowed by the earth while another blames his death on his passion for women. One (either Viviane, the Lady of the Lake, or Nimue, a siren’s daughter) imprisoned him in an enchanted wood after he had explained the secrets of his magic. In another, Nimue imprisoned him under a large rock and bound him there in a deep sleep by his own spells. A letter writer from Demon #7 posed the question of how Jack’s Merlin could have a demon as a force for good, opposing Morgan. However, whether Jack knew this or not, perhaps it does fit in quite well with the above-mentioned idea that Merlin’s power was demonic in origin. That power was able to be harnessed for good in the legends and perhaps Etrigan could be viewed as a comicbook extension of that power. (This aberration in Merlin’s past is the reason that both good and evil parties are eager to engage the resurrected Merlin in C.S. Lewis’ sci-fi novel That Hideous Strength. With parentage like that, why wouldn’t the bad guys feel he could be converted over to their way of thinking? (continued on next page) 45

Retrospective

Thor The Thunderer either Stan Lee nor Jack Kirby really created the Mighty Thor. They simply borrowed him from mythology.

N 54

by Will Murray

“One of our established titles, Journey into Mystery, needed a shot in the arm,” Lee once wrote, “so I picked Thor, the Norse God of Thunder, to headline the book. After writing an outline depicting the story and the characters I had in mind, I asked my brother, Larry, to write the script because I didn’t have time. Always dependable, Larry did a great job on it and it was only natural for me to assign

the penciling to Jack Kirby, who drew it as though he had spent his whole life in Asgard, the home of the gods.” “Well, I knew the Thor legends very well,” Kirby allowed, “but I wanted to modernize them. I felt that might be a new thing for comics, talking the old legends and modernizing them. I believe I accomplished that. Thor is an ancient myth—what I did was make him salable once again.” The year was 1962. Lee and Kirby were busily converting fantasy anthology comic books like Strange Tales and Journey into Mystery into super-hero showcases to build a new line following the surprise success of their Fantastic Four. Lee had been Marvel’s editor since 1941, while Kirby had recently returned after long estrangement from the comics house for which he had co-created Captain America two decades before. “I knew that they were lacking super-heroes,” Kirby recalled. “Nobody had really done many in many a year. After the war the super-heroes kind of faded, but of course after a certain amount of time it was time to bring them back. So I brought back the super-heroes. And that’s where all your Fantastic Fours come from. That’s where Thor comes from. I took anything powerful that could sell a magazine—and I did.” Which of the two men first had the inspiration that a Norse legend could be adapted to comic books is unknown. The popularity of Steve Reeves’ Hercules movies may have given either one the idea. Comments both Lee and Kirby later made seem to suggest that their thinking began with Hercules. Yet both Lee and Kirby claimed to have been struck by inspirational Nordic lightning first. “Thor I got from the Germanic legends, the Norwegian myths,” claimed Kirby. “I would take a lot of the stories from the legends. So instead of doing Hercules I would use Thor because nobody used the Norwegian legends.” “Nobody had ever done anything with the Norse legends,” Lee asserted. “We had the Hulk who was the strongest living human on Earth, and then we even had the Thing who was almost as strong. I wanted to do a new book and I said to Jack, ‘Who can we get that’s even more impressive? ...After a while it occurred to me that the only way to make something bigger and stronger than the strongest creature on Earth was to create someone who is outside of our little ol’ home planet.”

Kirby had a track record. The Nordic thunderer had been popping up in his stories since the 1940s, most often as a villain. His earliest mythological creation, Mercury, was renamed “Hurricane, Son of Thor” when the character switched from Red Raven Comics to Captain America in 1941. A year later, Simon and Kirby’s Sandman battled a wild-bearded foe calling himself Thor in “The Villain from Valhalla.” And there were others. “I did a version of Thor for DC in the ’50s before I did him for Marvel,” Kirby pointed out. “He had a red beard but he was a legendary figure, which I liked. I liked the figure of Thor at DC and I created Thor at Marvel because I was forever enamored of legends. I knew all about these legends which is why I knew about Balder, Heimdall, and Odin. I tried to update Thor and put him in a super-hero costume. He looked great in it and everybody loved him, but he was still Thor.” That story, “The Magic Hammer,” appeared in Tales of the Unexpected #16, dated August, 1957—exactly five years before the Marvelized Thor debuted in Journey into Mystery #83, August 1962. The 1957 Thor was clad in the traditional bearskins and horned helmet. Otherwise the only similarity lay in the hammer—Kirby carried the design over unchanged.

The way Lee told it, reviving Thor was a creative struggle in which Jack Kirby was uncharacteristically bereft of ideas. “I figured the only thing to do is get a god,” Lee continued. “There’s nothing more impressive than a god. So Jack said, ‘Yeah, that sounds good.’ So I started to think—the Roman gods, the Greek gods, a lot had been done with them... we’d all seen Hercules and the others, but people don’t know much about the Norse gods... including me. So I started looking them up and when I got to Thor I just thought, gee, a guy who is the god of thunder and lightning—that’s impressive.... So, when I re-read the saga of Thor, God of Thunder, and his mighty hammer, I knew I had found our next super-hero! “I told Jack about it and when I saw the way he drew Thor it was just wonderful... the outfit he gave him... the hammer. I wanted him to have that hammer, and I came up with a plot so he could.” Jack Kirby recalled it quite differently. “I came up with Thor,” he said flatly. “I knew the Thor legends very well.... I came up with Thor because I’ve always been a history buff. I know all about Thor and Balder and Mjolnir, the hammer. Nobody ever bothered with that stuff except me. I loved it in high school and I loved it in my pre-high school days... that’s what kept me in school—it wasn’t the mathematics and it wasn’t the geography; it was history.” “As far as I can remember,” insisted Lee on another occasion, “Norse mythology always turned me on. There was something about those mighty, horn-helmeted Vikings and their tales of Asgard, of Ragnarok, of the Aesir, the Fire Demons, and immortal, eternal Asgard, home of the gods. If ever there was a rich lode of material into which Marvel might dip, it was there— and we would mine it.” Perhaps the absolute truth lay in the middle. After all, Thor had been around for centuries. But where Thor was concerned,

Yet Lee was no stranger to the swashbuckler either. His favorite actor, Errol Flynn, was renowned for his costume epics. A decade before Lee had scripted an Arthurian comic called The Black Knight, which he considered the high point of his pre-Marvel Age work. “When I was a kid,” he pointed out, “I fantasized about Robin Hood, King Arthur, King Richard—even Charles Lindbergh. You imagine you’re going to do great things. I saw Errol Flynn movies and I wanted to be Errol Flynn. Every time I left the theater, I had a crooked little smile on my face and I swashbuckled down the street. Until I was ten years old, I wished that I had a sword by my side.” Either way, neither man was about to do a direct adaptation of the Norse thunderer. “Before staring the series,” Lee told one reader, “we stuffed ourselves to the gills with Norse mythology, as well as almost every

(above) Charlton’s Out of This World #11 (Feb. 1959) contained a Steve Ditko story featuring a young Viking named Thor who discovers a magic hammer in a cave—more than three years before Marvel’s Thor debut! (previous page) A simply spectacular Thor commission from 1975. Thor TM & ©2005 Marvel Characters, Inc. Out of This World © Charlton Comics.