Kirby is god!

August 29, 2005 4:52 AM

The Jack Kirby Museum opened yesterday on what would have been Kirby's 88th birthday. While just an online museum at this point, it promises to be a great resource for learning about the life and contributions Jack "The King" Kirby made to comic book culture. Largely under-credited for his role in co-creating many of Marvel's characters during the Silver Age of comics, his career spanned over 50 years.
Largely from The Jack Kirby Weblog, natch!
posted by jpburns (23 comments total)

Previous Kirby attention here. Mind you, the Museum is a new event, and frankly, I could celebrate the King's birthday every year! Also, there's a Yahoo! Group, Kirby-l, with a seriously decent signal-to-noise ratio (at least as of a couple of years ago when I read it religiously).
posted by kimota at 5:19 AM on August 29, 2005

Oh, it looks like jpburns can celebrate it every other year.
posted by kimota at 5:20 AM on August 29, 2005

Well, every 2 years...

Kirby is god, after all ...

(I thought the opening of the museum was post-worthy in itself ...)
posted by jpburns at 5:29 AM on August 29, 2005

Busted. But a good link nonetheless. I dig old comics.
posted by bdave at 5:49 AM on August 29, 2005

You have to set an example even in the face of stupidity. Now everyone who reads comic books knows that the Kirby Silver Surfer is the only TRUE Silver Surfer, now am I right or wrong?
posted by bwg at 6:36 AM on August 29, 2005

Fantastic! It's taken me a long time to realize it, but Kirby is King.
posted by handshake at 6:38 AM on August 29, 2005

We love ya, jack.
posted by zerolives at 7:17 AM on August 29, 2005

Here's an interesting book entitled 'Tales To Astonish: Jack Kirby, Stan Lee and The American Comic Book Revolution.'

I think Kirby's biggest mistake was thinking he could write comic books. He's one of the best comic artists of all time but man, he couldn't write his way out of a wet paper sack.

Although I will always love Devil Dinosaur.
posted by Fuzzy Monster at 8:49 AM on August 29, 2005

I think Kirby's biggest mistake was thinking he could write comic books. He's one of the best comic artists of all time but man, he couldn't write his way out of a wet paper sack.

I don't think that's a fair assessment. The New Gods is quirky, but as engaging and well-fleshed-out as anything else the Big 2 were putting out at the time. Kirby definitely wasn't as towering a figure in writing as he was in art, but the guy had his moments.
posted by COBRA! at 9:09 AM on August 29, 2005

He was much more of a brilliant ideas man, and a truly great artist than a writer. If you're comparing 1960 comics to 2005 comics, maybe it might seem a bit silly. But I still enjoy reading Jack's stuff.
posted by zerolives at 9:33 AM on August 29, 2005

Oh, and with the page title, it's worth noting that Mark Waid recently (well, in the past year or so) established that within the Marvel Universe, Kirby literally is God. The FF travel to Heaven and meet him.
posted by COBRA! at 9:37 AM on August 29, 2005

COBRA!, I agree that The New Gods had interesting plots-- definitely epic in scope-- but that Kirby dialog is terrible. Being a fan of the "so-bad-it's-good" school, I enjoy Kirby's dialog, but it's definitely bad.

To plunge into the depths of Kirby Crappiness, check out "Captain Victory & The Galactic Rangers." Issue 7 introduces Paranex The Fighting Fetus: a giant armored fetus who is a member of a band of intergalactic pirates.

Here's some dialog from issue 7:

Rangerette: I--It's Gigantic! ----as big as four galaxies!--- looks humanoid in appearance-- but, what in Solar Soap Suds is it?!

Captain Victory: Who Gives A Damn! See if you can back-track it! If it comes from 'Quadrant X' we'll talk about it!!

Col. Klavus: Yes--- it's strange how "Quadrant X" witholds (sic) its location from the law-- and yet, somehow, offers refuge to outlaws like "Finarkin The Fearless!"

All quotes, exclamation marks and dashes are Kirby's. And here's my favorite:

Mister Mind from "Captain Victory and The Galactic Rangers #3 (right after turning a giant ant into a block of ice):

"His condition is purely psychosomatic! I merely switched his thoughts from murder to cosmic temperatures at a fascinating ultimate!"

On Preview: within the Marvel Universe, Kirby literally is God. I buy that. But it's the Jack Kirby/Stan Lee combo that really made the magic happen. Stan couldn't draw and Kirby couldn't write dialog, but together they changed the face of comics forever. Too bad Jolly Jack wasn't treated better by the company he helped to build.
posted by Fuzzy Monster at 9:44 AM on August 29, 2005

I agree, the dialog sounds pretty harsh now. But a lot of that is because of time; getting used to Stan Lee or Gardner Fox dialog from back in the day takes a while, too... Sort-of-realistic dialog is a pretty recent thing, looking at the big picture (and yeah, the overuse of exclamation marks and dashes is grating, even after you've sort of gotten used to the style).

And yeah, Kirby definitely got a raw deal from Marvel. I remember reading a boast from a DC exec (can't remember which one) saying that DC paid Kirby more in royalties just for creating Darkseid than Kirby got in total from Marvel. Not cool.
posted by COBRA! at 9:58 AM on August 29, 2005

"But it's the Jack Kirby/Stan Lee combo that really made the magic happen. Stan couldn't draw and Kirby couldn't write dialog, but together they changed the face of comics forever."

Stan Lee may have been better at writing dialogue than Kirby was, but that doesn't mean he was actually good at it. On a dialogue writing scale of 1-10, with Brian Bendis as a 10, I'd put Kirby as a 1, and Lee as a 3. I'm not sure who was responsible for the plotting, but I've read interviews with Kirby which seem to indicate he did a lot more of that than he got credit for. Stan Lee's biggest gift seems to be in the field of self-promotion. Lee has claimed credit for inventing a lot of characters that Kirby says were his. Given their respective track records, I'm more inclined to believe Kirby.
posted by tdismukes at 10:06 AM on August 29, 2005

American Comic Book Revolution.

And, similar vintage, slight play on words, 1957 Atomic Revolution Comic Book.
posted by Peter H at 10:29 AM on August 29, 2005

with Brian Bendis as a 10

We're going by word-count then?
posted by Artw at 10:39 AM on August 29, 2005

But it's the Jack Kirby/Stan Lee combo that really made the magic happen.

Kirby==Ohrmazd, Lee==Ahriman
posted by sonofsamiam at 11:05 AM on August 29, 2005

Lee has claimed credit for inventing a lot of characters that Kirby says were his. Given their respective track records, I'm more inclined to believe Kirby.

I've never seen Lee fail to give credit to Kirby or Ditko (whichever one happens to apply to the character at hand). I don't get the idea that to properly appreciate Kirby, you have to dislike Stan Lee. It's not an either/or proposition.
posted by COBRA! at 11:22 AM on August 29, 2005

John Byrne FAQ:

Q: How come Stan Lee appeared on the cover of FANTASTIC FOUR #236 while Jack Kirby did not? (image)

A: Kirby was on the cover, but Shooter had him removed.

I duno, I think Lee gives just enough credit to seem appreciative, while maintaining his deluded self image of being the real brain behind everything.
posted by Chuckles at 11:50 AM on August 29, 2005

For me, Kirby is one of maybe a dozen comic book writers who can be called great. His 70s work has energy and scope at such "a fascinating ultimate" that I don't miss smooth dialogue--and, frankly, some of his unintentional humor adds to the fun.
posted by Superfrankenstein at 12:03 PM on August 29, 2005

I used to work for a major comic book retailer and got to hang out with Stan Lee for the bulk of a day. I'll never forget asking him about working with Jack Kirby (shortly after Kirby's death) and Stan paused, looked at me and said: "You know, I called Jack 'The King' for a reason." He then grew silent and it seemed like there was a moment of actual pain. My respect for Lee went up at that point.
As for Kirby, he was the model for the vast majority of comic book artists that followed him. His dynamic syle can still be seen in many artists today. As a kid, Kirby was the only artist whose work really grabbed me and drew me in. Today I still feel like a giddy 10 year old when I look at his art.
posted by causticgnostic at 9:45 PM on August 29, 2005

Man, the King had an influence on me: dozens of notebooks filled with knock-offs of his style. Arguements with fellow comic geeks over Who Was Better: Kirby or Byrne?
As I understand it, he could crank out pages and pages of work in a very short time and in a weird way it showed though. Everything was imbued with an energy that I've not seen since.
I got hooked on the Fantastic Four and soon grabbed everything I could find, Kamandi, New Gods, Thor, Capt. America. His influence lives on with guys like Ron Frenz and the Batman Beyond and Justice League cartoons.
posted by black8 at 10:55 PM on August 29, 2005

Is this museum a rela, physical place, or just a Web site?

That museum page doesn't seem to offer any clues.

And how is it that a site devoted to a graphic artist is so damn fugly?
posted by Ayn Marx at 10:58 AM on August 30, 2005