Jack Kirby In His Own Words

[metacosmos]

Probably his superhuman heroes were the dream of a short Jewish Austrian immigrant in the USA raised in a very bad suburb.

[Actionguy1]

This makes me sad. (Especially with the Hulk music playing.)

Jack Kirby was a brilliant artist, but he was also an "every man". It showed in his work. Think about Ben Gimm. Marvel Comics screwed Jack, and Stan Lee turned his back on him. He never got what he deserved while he was alive. I think Kirby's estate is owed a lot!

Long live the KING!

[tsalathe]

I had the pleasure of meeting the king in San Diego in 1991 during a tribute to the 59th birthday of Captain America, and of all things Jacks birthday as well. I got to talk with him for about 15 minutes and thanked him for all the wonderful work he has accomplished. He then autographed a few old issues of Fantastic Four for me. I wished him a happy birthday and many more years of success. Jack Kirby was not only imo the best comic artist, but a true gentleman and class act.

[Acrylicdrums]

Lets not forget Kirby also powered Dc comics. Take a look at all the Paul Dini animated movies. The art and other touches (like Kirby energy dots, flying para-demons and of course his likeness as Dan turpin.) are always there as a homage to the master.

[HDibbles]

Damn! my man Kirby got shafted

[billionhalloween]

This man's genius humbles me.

[aldimes]

I wasnt trying to take anything away from K, and as I'm 56 and have probably read 75% of his output, my comments were not made in ignorance of his work, as some people who responded implied. I'm sure Art Spiegelman, for example, would acknowledge K's influence, but that doesn¨t do anything to spread awareness or appreciation of K's work, any more than his citation by Chabon has. Yes, he¨was a giant of comics, but to the majority of people that means 0

[cha5]

(shrug) The majority of people don't know who Harvey Kurtzman was even though we would never have had Saturday Night Live and The Daily Show without him and Mad,

IMHO the majority of people consider comics as material for superhero films and nothing more at the present time,

Will Eisner, Jack Kirby,

Robert Crumb, Art Spiegleman,

Alan Moore, Chris Ware,

Those names aren't known to the majority of people on the scale of say Charles Schultz's name.

[HOOLIGANISM1982]

@cha5 dont forget dikto and simons

[cha5]

@HOOLIGANISM1982 Yes Ditko and Simon as well, not to mention Jack Cole, Wally Wood, CC Beck, Siegle and Shuster and way too many other creators to name.

[cha5]

IMHO comics will take at least a decade or two to become anything close to being accepted as an artform in this country,

let alone their creators such as Kirby getting the respect they deserve for having laid out the foundation

for this artform. Will it happen?

eventually IMHO,

this is still a pretty young artform.

[daniwexler]

do you have any actual footage of jack kirby or know where to find any footage of him?

[aldimes]

Kirby was great,but does his output have anything to do with people taking comics seriously now? Maus, for example,is OK with the intelligentsia, but FF? New Gods? Only taken seriously by those (I include myself) whom the majority of people think are geeks. I agree that Kirby should get credit, but like most of his generation of creators, he took the devil's bargain. They signed away their creations in exchange for the quick money and seeing their work printed in a widely distributed form.

[cha5]

The New Gods? Yeah I would say so IMHO,

One interesting thing is that the

Kirby Fourth World Saga thanks to DC's recent release of it in that four volume set is getting the sort of attention that really has helped it get more critical notice these days than it ever got in Kirby's lifetime.

[cha5]

Another is that he was always championing the evolution of comics into something other than 24 page monthly books, Mark Evanier has said he probably would have been proud to have seen the way the recent 4 volume collection of The Fourth World Saga came out and the attention it's been getting,

As for Kirby helping comics being taken seriously as an artform in these days of Maus and Acme Novelty Library for me it's a little like asking if Beethoven can be taken seriously as a musician these days.

[cha5]

Sorry for the length of that answer,

Let's just say without Kirby the comics industry would be either radically different than what we have these days or it would have grown stagnant and died a long time ago.

[aldimes]

My point remains the same. I fully concur that Kirby was important to the development of comics, and that he vitally encouraged development, etc, etc. The analogy with Beethoven doesnt work - I never said Kirby couldnt or shouldnt be taken seriously, I said that most people dont take him seriously, because unlike us, they think comics are crap, so the most superlative producer of comics is to them still a producer of crap. This critical appreciation is all within the small world of comics.

[cha5]

Well Kirby is a part of this medium's history that can't be overlooked anymore than the Underground comics can for the impact they had on it.

Kirby comics on their own won't cause the general public to take the comicbook seriously as an artform anymore than Superhero comics by themselves would or

Carl Barks's Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge comics will, You'll need far more variety in this medium to reach the general public.

[cha5]

If or hopefully when comics can get attention with the general public that goes beyond things like the newest hottest superhero film comicbook adaptation to hit theatres and can get some notice that goes beyond that,

Then and only then will comics be taken seriously as an artform and we have a long ways to go till then. (End of sermon)

That analogy I made about Beethoven and Kirby was in regard to the impact that both men had on their artistic mediums which for me at least is valid.

[mysterywalker]

I think the thing that's underappreciated about kirby was his story-telling skill... basically his cinematography. As far as his drawing... I think any number of s imitators could have equaled his drawings from early on in kirby's life. But his ability to visually tell a story... JESUS H. CHRIST.

[itzjoeymac]

Aldtimes... considering that the absolute top people in the field TODAY, like Frank Miller, Alex Ross and Jim Lee, fully acknowledge the FACT that without Kirby there would likely be NO COMICS TODAY, I feel it is safe to assume that he has EVERYTHING to do with comics being 'talked seriously' now. You need to read up a bit and take a good look at just how many creations and artisitic concepts Kirby The King brought to comics. It is UNCOUNTABLE.

[HOOLIGANISM1982]

@itzjoeymac well said my friend

[mysterywalker]

I actually don't think that the comic book -- as in decline as it may be right now -- would even exist without jack kirby today. Think about how the 1950s were. I can't say 100% for sure, but I'm at least 90% sure that the creator of maus never would have created it without having somehow come under the influence of jack kirby's work.

[azuzaj1]

man i love me some kirby! sorry that he never got the cred that he deserved but i'll always know that he accomplished a lot and is and was the best artist slash writer of all time.

[shallowmaster]

He and Eisner contributed alot and helped shape what comic books are now. Kirby helped evolve a quirky medium to a standard that people take seriously now. MARVEL's financial success proves how a great idea can evolve. But poor jack like many artist of his time got fucked by the same companies they helped make money.

[brabon]

jack, roz and their kids shouldve been sitting on ez street...marvel effed him

the exact same way marvel effed ditko, steve gerber and many others

and it really would be nice if the individuals who were now making movies under the marvel banner, would request that a share of the profits went to the original creators

except for stan lee....who can go fuck himself

[Munny11]

Can anybody tell me the name of this song?

[cha5]

It's the ending theme music from 'The Incredible Hulk' TV series

from the 1970s, I don't know just what the name of it is wheither it was an already existing piece of music or if it was just created for the show,

Does anyone know out there?

[Munny11]

Thanks for replying.

The song is "the lonely man" - joe harnell

I'm going to try and learn to play it :)

[cha5]

Thanks for the information,

I always thought there was something haunting about this piece of music,

It was a perfect choice for this video IMHO.

[itzjoeymac]

Another KIRBY CREATION, 'Iron Man', came out tonight and it was awesome. The artists from the time unilaterally profess that JACK KIRBY came up with almost all the ideas for characters. Still, Jack's name was not mentioned until the end credits in SMALL PRINT! It is so pathetic and I believe will soon backlash more than ever before considering the amount of KIRBY MOVIES in the past 7 or 8 years and the MANY YET TO COME. It was an improvement from X-men though who acted like Jack was a CATERER!

[brabon]

what's sadder, lee keeps getting the cameos and audiences continue to connect him to the characters...there really is a special place in hell reserved for him...someone, someday needs to ask stan about his connections in the comics code board that made sure that ec comics was killed off

[itzjoeymac]

If you think Kirby was just drawing Stan's ideas you need to think again. Kirby joined Marvel and shortly after, they had a thousand new and inventive characters. Kirby left Marvel and created an entire universe for D.C., many of which are STILL huge. Stan, at this time, QUITS WRITING. Jack came back to Marvel and created more characters that are still big. FACTS ARE FACTS. Stan was good but JACK WAS THE KING. Jack created DARKSEID, THE DEMON, MR. MIRACLE and MACHINE MAN AFTER STAN. 'NUFF SAID!

[KronnangDunn]

I was pretty pissed off by the recent Death of The New Gods series... To kill Kirby's 4th World... Unthinkable!!!! Is a great series, though... But I believe Jim Starlin just went too far. I hope somebody revives them all someday...(Mee!Meee!!!) =p

[mavericstud1]

wahhh-I'm not as rich as Stan Lee-Wahh-I'm not rich as George Lucas-wah.wah.Grow up,Jack.Oh.I forgot your dead and your not coming back like Jesus Christ.Hey,Kirby retards-That King Kirby crap was created to sell comics.

[cha5]

I assume you're trying to make some point trollboy,

Not that I really care,

If you ever create anything

on the scale of a Jack Kirby

get back to me.

[cha5]

Kubrick made movies to make money although he like Kirby also was a visionary, Picasso made paintings to sell them, That doesn't detract from his artistic ability, Kirby was one of a handfull of artist who shaped this artform as we know it, We certainly wouldn't have a comicbook industry without him.

[cha5]

Actually Picasso isn't a good example of a 'starving artist' In his glory years

(1917-1932) Picasso didn't really have to sell any of his artwork, Art exibitions with his name on them sold themselves.

[FantomBloth]

It's always seemed to me that Lee and Kirby were an artistic collaboration in the best sense of the word, with each suitably complementing the other's strengths.

[cha5]

As I recall the subject of Jack Kirby was a taboo subject at Marvel for quite awhile especially with the way they tried to hold onto Kirby's original artwork,

And Lee made little to no mention of the fact that Kirby handled the basic plotting of The Fantastic Four while Lee did the dialog

until pretty recently in say the last 10-20 years.

[cha5]

I don't recall Lee making much if any mention about Kirbys contribution to the basic plotting of Captain America, Thor, The FF etc,

Back in the seventies, Although to be fair

I was a kid back then, IMHO it was really in the late seventies with the way that DC had mistreated Siegel & Shuster over the years when the Superman movie came out that the worms started really coming out of the closet so to speak on the way quite alot of creators

had been shit upon by the industry.

[doubleaamazin]

You couldnt be more right. Without Kirby there would be no silver age. Dont forget that Stan Lee like to take all the credit for Spiderman too, he gave the big shaft to Steve Ditko.

[JamesRobertSmith]

Lee was/is a no-talent skank. He was in a position to put his name on the work of others when he had no imagnation himself.

[theraven19752006]

Boring, boring, boring.

Yes, Stan is the devil, and Jack was the second coming of Christ. I love Stan, and I love Jack. I've actually taken the time to form my own opinions on the matter. Why don't you do the same, instead of mindlessly repeating the opinions of a thousand biased Kirbyites.

Were any of Jack's comics as readable AFTER Stan??

[cha5]

Were any of Stan's Fantastic Fours readable AFTER Jack left? NO, How about his Thor's? Same answer.

[theraven19752006]

Which goes to prove what, exactly. That Stan and Jack did their best work TOGETHER.

My point, exactly. Kind of :p

[cha5]

I would just say that Jack's Fourth World Saga

has something of a fan base even these days as is the case with the Jack Kirby Omnibus that DC has put out in three volumes at $49.95 which is reprinting the whole saga to critical acclaim for the most part and they have been selling pretty well,

Now I'm not a hard core fan of Kirby's 1970s work, But I find it interesting and IMHO a few of the tales like

"The Death Wish Of Terrible Turpin" are as memorable as anything Jack did with Stan.

[cha5]

My personal favorite decades for Kirby's art are probably the early to mid 1940s

the Simon & Kirby days and The Fantastic Four of the 1960s especially with

Joe Sinnot's inking.

[itzjoeymac]

Agreed and 'THE PACT' is IMHO the greatest comic story EVER. BTW, 'THE NEW GODS' was a major influence on 'STAR WARS', if not THE INFLUENCE as I and FRANK MILLER believe. Consider the city in the clouds, the para-demons/stormtroopers, the father/son plot, the name 'DARKSEID', the all-powerful 'SOURCE', the uncanny resemblance of the planet 'APOKOLIPS' to the DEATH STAR. IT IS OBVIOUS. In sum, NO JACK KIRBY=NO MARVEL and NO STAN LEE! NO STAN OR MARVEL=MORE MONEY FOR D.C. VIA JACK 'KING' KIRBY!!!

[itzjoeymac]

Agreed and 'THE PACT' is IMHO the greatest comic story EVER. BTW, 'THE NEW GODS' was a major influence on 'STAR WARS', if not THE INFLUENCE as I and FRANK MILLER believe. Consider the city in the clouds, the para-demons/stormtroopers, the father/son plot, the name 'DARKSEID', the all-powerful 'SOURCE', the uncanny resemblance of the planet 'APOKOLIPS' to the DEATH STAR. IT IS OBVIOUS. In sum, NO JACK KIRBY=NO MARVEL and NO STAN LEE! NO STAN OR MARVEL=MORE MONEY FOR D.C. VIA JACK 'KING' KIRBY!!!

[cha5]

Plus of course Dr Doom was the obvious source for Darth Vader as everyone knows.

[doubleaamazin]

Not true, these comics were all the shit: Eternals, Black Panther, New Gods, Omac, Forever People...pretty much everything he did, and lets not forget about Captain America and Sandman w/ Simon

[doubleaamazin]

Actually Stan Lee's writing is and was very basic. Most of the time it was like reading a childrens book. Even his newer stuff is like that. Kirby on the hand is the real deal. The true creator of the Marvel Universe. Kirby could have done it alone. And he DID. Who do they call the King of Comics? The bottom line is that Stan Lee is a rat bastard. BTW, look at the fued between Ditko and Lee.

[itzjoeymac]

DID STAN EVER WRITE A COMIC AFTER KIRBY? LOL! I love them both too but Jack is telling the truth here. JACK MADE MARVEL... not Stan. What he did not realize, as Stan, the NEPHEW of Marvel's publisher, would later admit, was that Jack confused Stan with the actual management of the company. Why would Stan not want more money and accolades? Stan deserves credit but JACK MADE MARVEL what it is today and Stan will tell you "JACK WAS THE MOST IMAGINATIVE GUY." Stan wrote dialogue... JACK CREATED!

[digipeeper]

If Jack did not knock on that door with his portfolio. Marvel would have been a lost memory! Stan was great for two things scripting and bragging. He did bring the characters to life with words in bubble and he did fool all who is ignorant with Stan Lee Presents. which makes you believe he created these characters! Spiderman was designed by Kirby but Ditko and Lee brought life to the Marvel Posterboy. Jack is not the King but the Legend a GOD!!!!

[itzjoeymac]

ALL HAIL THE KING!!!!

[doubleaamazin]

To be honest, Kirby didnt need Stan Lee, Kirby was a great writer. Stan Lee needed Kirby more than Kirby needed Lee.

[cha5]

I probably liked a bit of Lee's Spiderman stories after Ditko left, Although Lee's Spiderman villians apart from The Kingpin and The Rhino just IMHO weren't as interesting as Doc Ock, Mysterio, The Goblin ect, That Lee and Ditko did together,

I mean who remembers 'Man Mountain Marko' and 'The Kangaroo' these days? LOL,

Although to be fair Lee did do some memorable bits in Spiderman, Mary Jane,

Norman Osborn's secret identity,

And a few others.

[cha5]

However nothing but nothing makes me want to touch those last FF stories that Lee did in the seventies after Kirby left the book,

IMHO the magic was gone and Lee knew it

which is probably a big reason why Roy Thomas Gerry Conway and others took over the writing

on most of the Marvel titles.

Of course the title of 'chairman emertus'

was probably tempting in itself,

No more writing duties just keep hyping the company and bringing in the bucks with Kirby/Ditko/etc characters.

[cha5]

Sorry if I sound cynical towards Stan,

I guess I just am a little bit,

He's a nice enough man,

I even had him sign some things of mine.

[doubleaamazin]

Stan Lee was great and all, but his style always seemed to be a bit too simplistic at times. Ive always felt Kirby's best stuff was the books that he wrote, drew and edited himself. The Black Panther stuff he did was just amazing. I cherish those books. Also, you could tell that Kirby had done alot of research and had a lot of knowledge in history, religion and mythology.

Like you said, magical

[FantomBloth]

It was during that period that Kirby was even claiming creator credit on Spider-Man, of all things. True, Kirby did an early sketch of Spider-Man, but it mostly resembled an earlier work he did called "The Fly," and looked nothing at all like Ditko's Spider-Man.

[FantomBloth]

As for Kirby, many of the interviews in which he claims sole credit for works like the Fantastic Four and the Hulk took place towards the end of his life when he was embroiled in a lawsuit with Marvel over his artwork, and, in my opinion, anyway, may have been getting some poor advice from people who encouraged him to hit the comics press and make some headlines.

[FantomBloth]

In interviews, Stan has always credited Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko (and others) as co-creators. I've seen him go out of his way to do that many a time. People who want to discredit Lee for being in the press for all these movie premieres need to realize that Kirby would be too, if he were alive. As far back as the '70s, Stan was crediting Kirby and Ditko as the co-creators of these characters, in print, well before any lawsuits or movie deals.

[doubleaamazin]

Ive heard Stan Lee say some nasty things about Ditko. Spiderman would be nothing without his look.

[JamesRobertSmith]

Lee never created Spider-Man. Ditko created Spider-Man.

[doubleaamazin]

Stan Lee is a fraud. He writes like a little kid.

[Ianturner77]

Who watched that "Search of steve dikto" On itv4?

[itzjoeymac]

if you want kirby's legacy to grow to it's fullest you gotta let that stan lee stuff go. it was the company and not stan lee who screwed kirby. they were co-creators and as far as i've seen stan is very forthcoming with credit for jack. maybe not as much as you like, but quite a bit. stan lee said flat-out, and i quote, "Jack was the most imaginative guy."

[joebangleec]

same thing happened to ditko but on a smaller scale.....!

[Bulletshado]

Marvel and Stan should be ashemed of themselves.Without Jack Marvel wouldn't be what it is today..making MILLIONS!! Stan stood idly by as the "House of ideas" threw the King under the bus and for that I'll never forgive him. Why else would Alan moore refuse to work for Marvel? because of how they treated Kirby.Same goes for artists like Lee,mcfarlane and robfield who formed Image.

nuff said.

[cameronburge]

""Why else would Alan moore refuse to work for Marvel?""

Screw Alan Moore. He's an idiot. He recently said he 'lost interest' in Spider-Man after Ditko left. What a dope.

[Toonhead]

Well said,Bullet!

[cuchulain55]

nuff said and nicely put indeed.:)

[cha5]

Where did Moore say that?

This "idiot" has done some of the best comics

in existance, If you're able to ever create something on the scale of Watchmen or From Hell get back to me, Now if he did say that well I would probably disagree with him although I never had the same love of Romita's artwork in Spiderman that I did Ditko's,

Plus I hated the Fantastic Four after Kirby left and wouldn't touch it even with Romita's artwork.

[RobLed]

it pisses me off that this genius (and stan lee) are not sitting on billions while talentless pieces of shit (like tobey maquire) make millions off their creations

God Bless Jack Kirby wherever you are - you created much of modern American culture...

[itzjoeymac]

GET THE FF EXTENDED DVD AND WATCH THE AWESOME BIO OF JACK KIRBY AND QUIT RAKING STAN OVER THE COALS!!! the truth is truly out TRUE BELIEVERS!!!

[itzjoeymac]

stan lee has always given jack kirby the highest praise if not total credit.jack likely came up with the ideas because stan never created another great character after he left, but stan put them the ideas together and scripted them as he saw fit as editor. jack was the creative genius, no doubt, but stan was very important.

[Jellyvibe]

Stan only gave Kirby praise after it became apparent that he was pissing people off, way too long after that praise was due. As far as proper credit goes- why did Ditko get co-plotter (and sometimes full plotter) credit when Kirby never did once? Kirby never had a bad word to say about *anybody* except Stan. Why do think that is?

[itzjoeymac]

i would bet my life that jack never asked for this type of credit until it was already too late. he was too busy WORKING. stan has ALWAYS said that jack was the better plotter. have you read the old comics very much? there is sooooooo much being said by stan about jack. always positive. it was the slimy owners and not stan. SEE THE JACK KIRBY BIO ON THE NEW FF EXTENDED VID and you will hear the whole truth even from stan. watch it and LOVE IT and shut the heck up.

[muttonchop2006]

Stan Lee has destroyed the Marvel legacy and all of Jack's wonderful work... everything that Marvel puts out is crap, from Spiderman to FF... I personally will never pay a dime to see any of the crap Marvel is producing...

[cha5]

Joe Simon is in his 90s, There's an unsettled ongoing lawsuit over the ownership of Captain America between Simon and Marvel Vasglorious, Just do the math it's pretty obvious, Look if I'm wrong about this I'll be the first to admit it, I just in my gut feel certain that this "Death Of Cap is no coincidence, Marvel is just playing the same old bullshit game that they did with Jack only now they're doing it with Joe Simon.

[cha5]

Whining about it? I prefer to call it

bitching about it, The Jack Kirby situation goes beyond sad, It's an atrocity, Without Jack Kirby there wouldn't be a comics industry today, Marvel never returned all of his original art to him, Art which was stolen by Marvel in the first place, And they are still making money off of characters he created,

And are trying to keep hold of Captain America by any means they can, I can't type about it and whine about it? Just watch me.

[vasglorious]

WOW! How did this guy get this information? I admit it's sad that Jack Kirby didn't get credit or at least royalties for creating them, but hey you can't type it on Youtube and wine about it.

[Abonisher]

Kirby, RIP in your cosmic afterlife

[GTOMessiah]

LONG LIVE THE KING!

[emerpus01]

its beautiful that that music is recognizable by hundreds of millions, if not BILLIONS of people, and there would have been no 70s Hulk TV theme song if it were't for Jacob Krigstein creating him in 1962.

I think Kirby was perhaps one of America's top ten greatest visual artists, and his legacy will be recognized well into the 22nd century, when Lichtenstein will be a footnote in books about Kirby.

[Jellyvibe]

You mean Jacob Kurtzberg. You may be getting the name confused with artist Bernie Krigstein of EC Comics fame.

[emerpus01]

Yes, Kurtzberg, thank you. I did indeed confuse him with the EC great.

[nemozen1]

This Man where a real fantastic genius, peace to him.

[brabon]

thx for this....

fuck marvel....they held jack's art for ransome

and fuck stan lee

[cha5]

And fuck the FF movie sequel if they don't credit Kirby for this film

And they had better see to it that Kirby's family gets some of the profits from that film.

I'm in no mood for anymore stonewalling bullshit from people making money off of Jack's creations.

[cha5]

And fuck Marvel for killing off Captain America

because of Joe Simon suing them for the ownership of a character he and Jack created, This "death" of Captain America is IMHO Marvel's response to the unsettled Joe Simon lawsuit,

Cap fans and Kirby fans if you want to take a stand on behalf of Joe Simon, Don't buy this comic book,

Marvel is going to bring Cap back as soon as Joe Simon dies IMHO.

[itzjoeymac]

get the extended edition fantastic 4 film and watch the jack kirby biography. it tells it like it is and was with the GREAT stan lee and a host of awesome artists. commenting on stan the way you do is unfair and this bio which you will not believe marvel even allowed proves that stan knows and everybody else actually in the biz knows that jack is the KING. you will love it!!!! now stop dissing stan.