The Passing of Jack Kirby

JimInks · Feb 6, 2014

Today marks the 20th anniversary of the death of my old friend and hero, comics' greatest writer/artist/creator, Jack "King" Kirby. Without Jack, there is no Captain America, no Iron Man, no Thor, no X-Men, no Spider-Man, no Hulk, no Avengers, no Marvel Universe. He created or co-created more million dollar properties than anybody else in the business, and despite what Stan Lee claims, is the major creator of the Marvel characters. He was a rather humble guy considering his achievements, and kind to everybody. He may not have gotten the proper credit for what he did, or the money he was entitled to, but he's remembered by everybody who saw his work and by everybody who ever met him. I'm dedicating all my smokes to Jack today, who occasionally smoked a pipe, btw. RIP, Jack.

vespertillio · Feb 6, 2014

Jiminks, thank you for the reminder. I always thought Lee got way more recognition than he should have while Kirby humbly put out issue after issue of fantastic artwork. He was a giant.I'll smoke some for him today as well.

blueeyedogre · Feb 6, 2014

Anyone who has seriously collected comics has heard Jack's name. Did great things for imaginations of all ages.

phred · Feb 6, 2014

Hear, hear. :clap:

peckinpahhombre · Feb 6, 2014

I love Jack Kirby but Spider-Man was created by Steve Ditko and Stan Lee. I share the sentiment however.

JimInks · Feb 6, 2014

Peck: I didn't say Jack created Spider-Man as you know the character, per se'. But it was Jack who brought the concept to Stan Lee. The original idea for Spider-Man was actually created by Joe Simon, Jack Kirby, Jack Oleck and CC Beck (co-creator of Captain Marvel), as The Silver Spider in 1955, though it was never published. Simon and Kirby revamped the idea for a SpiderMan (no hyphen) character that was never published, though they did use the script to create The Fly for Archie Comics in 1958. Later, Kirby drew the first few pages of Spider-Man basically using the origin of the Silver Spider, which Stan Lee didn't like (and denies, though he's not believed by most comics historians), and Lee then turned it over to Steve Ditko. But several of Kirby's ideas were kept, though Ditko with Lee recreated the idea. Without Kirby suggesting the character to Lee, there's no Spider-Man. I'll stand by that all day long, especially considering that Kirby, Simon, Beck, and Ditko all stated this was what happened, and there is proof that still exists for this scenario.

JimInks · Feb 6, 2014

Here's my old friend Will Eisner telling a funny Jack Kirby story. Seems like only yesterday that these great men were alive and creating the work of the Gods.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmykiOdHzH0

jguss · Feb 6, 2014

Jack was one of the greats, and a hero of my childhood. He was a truly original talent; his work is so distinctive that it can be easily identified fifty feet away.

JimInks · Feb 6, 2014

Jguss: I totally agree. Jack was a true original and took great pride in that. His work was so graphical attractive to the senses that you always felt compelled by it. I have a unprinted Thor page from the 1960s in my studio and power bursts from every line in every panel. It's still in pencil form, but images are so potent that you can see them from a distance with stark clarity. I was always amazed by the fact that there have been many people with much lesser talent who let you know how good they think they are, but the man who had the most talent treated everybody like an equal. Jack was not a braggart. He always made everybody feel like they knew him, and he never felt he was better than other people. Jack, for all his greatness as a creator, was a regular guy who really liked people.

sablebrush52 · Feb 6, 2014

Jack Kirby was Marvel comics, Stan Lee or no. When I reflect on the wonderful images of the Silver Surfer, The Fantastic Four, and much much more, it's Kirby's images that come to mind.

When I was working on Duck Dodgers a few years ago, we had a sequence revolving around a character named "Hungortus", who had something of an eating disorder - he ate entire planets. We designed the character around some of Kirby's stylistic elements including an animating energy field filled with what we called "Kirby dots".

JimInks · Feb 6, 2014

Sablebrush: That's funny. A parody of Galactus. See... Kirby's everywhere!

virginiacob · Feb 6, 2014

As a kid growing up in the '70s, I was enthralled every time I could get my hands on a comic book and Marvel Comics, I thought, were always the best! Captain America, Iron Man, and Spiderman were my three favorite superheroes. RIP, Mr. Kirby.
sablebrush, neat to hear that you worked on the Duck Dodgers cartoon series. I was always a big Looney Tunes fan as well!

ithelouniverse · Feb 6, 2014

Yep. He was one of the driving forces, not just of marvel, but comic books in general. He forced other companies to raise the bar in order to compete.

mountainman · Feb 6, 2014

Jack Kirby was truly a hall of fame talent. I was and still am a consumer of comic books. Jack Kirby was not only a creator and great artist, but a great visual storyteller. Thank you for honoring him with your post. I just finished smoking a bowl of Erik Stokkebye 4th generation 1897 in honor of the legend. :worship:

gentlemanjerry · Feb 7, 2014

Jack "King" Kirby is in my esteem THE greatest comic's artist-creator of all time! I loved all his work especially his work with Stan Lee in "Tales to Astonish" - NOTHING rivals his work! God rest his soul.

JimInks · Feb 7, 2014

I posted this story in another forum, and thought you folks might like to read it: I was a house guest of the Kirbys' for a few days after the 1991 San Diego Con. My wife knew Jack loved chocolate cake, so she made a small one (sans icing, but it was still very tasty), and mailed it so it arrived the day after we got to the house. Jack was thrilled about it, but Roz said, "You can only eat a little bit, Jack. Remember you're on a diet!" When Roz wasn't looking, I gave Kirby an extra piece of cake. He ate it real fast and asked,"Are their any crumbs on my shirt?" "No, Jack. I think we got away with it." And we did!

JimInks · Feb 7, 2014

Here's a picture of Kirby drawing the Thing while smoking a pipe. http://seanhowe.tumblr.com/post/75402007687/jack-kirby-at-the-san-diego-comic-con-1980

pshmrst · Feb 14, 2014

Jack Kirby is a True Storytelling Genius...
One of the Comic Book Greats...

tobyducote · Feb 14, 2014

RIP Jack...thanks for all the great childhood memories and fantasies...your characters will live on forever...

phred · Feb 14, 2014

One of the treasures of my own modest comic book collection is the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" solo Donatello story that Eastman & Laird did, with Donatello meeting Jack Kirby... It was a fitting tribute to a hugely influential guy.

The Passing of Jack Kirby

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