Revisiting jack kirbys return to marvel comics scott edelman. In 1990 ditko published a visual diagram to defend his design credit of spiderman in the history of the comic s book. Its accurate enough to refer to jack kirby as an american original, but its hard to know where to place the emphasis on american or original. He grew up in new york city, and learned to draw cartoon figures by tracing. Original art for ditkos spiderman, kirbys mighty thor up for auction. Renowned as one of the handful of true artistic giants in the history of comic books, its difficult to come up with encomiums that have not become commonplace. Oct 09, 2017 comics writer and blogger mark evanier celebrated jack kirbys centennial with rand hoppe and tom kraft, the curators at the jack kirby museum at nyccs jack kirby king of comics panel this. Aug 28, 2017 arguably, the romance of money is jacks first comic book. Go back and look at early spider man comics visually they look a lot like archie comics or the sort of teen adventure comedy comic that was really popula. The 100 most influential pages in comic book history.
With the success of superman in 1938, there was a tremendous demand for new, original comic book content. Steve ditko and stan lee cocreated spiderman in 1962, and the credit. The amazing spiderman is an american comic book series published by marvel comics. May 27, 2012 i began reading comic books the same year that jack debuted his fourth world mythos at dc, and the wild art and wild speech were inseperable to me. Jacob kirby kurtzberg was an american comic book artist, writer and editor, widely regarded.
August 28, 1917 february 6, 1994 was an american comic book artist, writer and editor, widely regarded as one of the mediums major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. May 14, 2012 kirby just couldnt get spider man, although there were a few times he did an acceptable job. Stan lee and larry lieberman write the dialogue for the webslingers most harrowing adventures. Today is jack kirby s birthday, and its the perfect time to honor the memory and legacy of one of the most influential creators in all of comic books and marvel comics. Mar 2, 2014 pencils by jack kirby inks by erik larsen colours by oliver hudson. Did a fifties halloween costume inspire spiderman costume. Go back and look at early spiderman comics visually they look a lot like archie comics or the sort of teen adventure comedy comic that was really popula.
Spiderman is a fictional superhero created by writereditor stan lee and writer artist steve ditko. Three titans of the comic book industry who each had a hand in the creation of spiderman. Jack kirby energetic art style would had been great to see in spiderman stories for sure,but i guess i can. Jack found his way to the eisneriger studio, preparing stories in a similar fashion to the single pages appearing in sunday newspapers. Tracing the evolution of comic books by looking at the pictures.
The original instigators of this process, the alien celestials, intended the eternals to be the defenders of earth, which leads to the inevitability of war against their destructive counterparts, the deviants. May, 2012 i notice that some of the answers were edited slightly when the interview was reprinted in tcj jack kirby library. In a world without stan, the average comic book reader is an 814 year old boy who stops reading comic books when he discovers either girls or porn. Black anime characters, superhero characters, comic book characters. Jack kirby 101 as surely as elvis presley is the king of rock n roll and michael jackson is the king of pop, jack kirby is the king of comics. Comic link the online vintage comic book and comic art. Ditkos quirky art provided a stark contrast to the more cleanly dynamic stylings of marvels most prominent artist, jack kirby, and combined with. Kirby initially was assigned to pencil the first spiderman story, but when he.
We will preorder your items within 24 hours of when they become available. Why did stan lee reject jack kirby as the original spider. May 17, 2020 original art from comic books or comic strips, complete with whiteout, staining and all the glorious imperfections. Hulk 1 by jack kirby, tales to astonish 35 ant man. Jack kirby walked into stan lees office with an idea. Sep 10, 2012 the worlds most expensive comic book art and why prices keep climbing action comics no. Masters of comic book art eisner, kirby, ditko, adams, wrightson. Apr 24, 2020 jack kirby, original name jacob kurtzberg, born august 28, 1917, new york, new york, u. The latter issue featured spiderman reverting to his original redandblue costume. Symbiote spider man 2019 actor presents spider man and the incredible hulk 2003 adventures of spider man 1996 1997 age of heroes 2010 age of ultron 20 alias 2001 2003 alpha flight 1983 1994 alpha. His art shaped the modern mythology of comic books. After leaving marvel and spiderman in 1966, ditko went to charlton comics, where.
Comics writer and blogger mark evanier celebrated jack kirbys. While not the original artist, his work is the most recognized spidey. Comiclink is the online vintage comic book and comic art auction destination featuring comic book auctions spotlighting the most desirable cgc graded examples of key comics, as well as comic art auctions featuring the biggest names in comic book illustration from the golden age to the present. Jack kirbys interpertation of spiderman marvel mysteries and. Its a bit hard to say what part of his thor was good, the early issues really suffer from identity crisis as thor isnt really a identity and donald blake is the persona in control the whole time, but his later issues deal with a lot of the same ideas that ff had him and galactus both make reappearances. Comic collages in context fantastic four cartoonist jack kirby s work traces its roots to ancient japan and early cubism. How jack kirby left marvel for dc and created the fourth world pt. He appears in american comic books published by marvel comics, as well as in a number of movies, television shows, and video game. The original spider man design jack kirby, jack kirby. Comic book artists comic book characters comic character comic books art comic art kirby character character concept character design marvel e dc jack kirby created two new possible costumes for captain america in case marvel lost a lawsuit filed against them by joe simon over the rights to cap. Please practice handwashing and social distancing, and check out our resources for adapting to these times. He appears in american comic books published by marvel comics, as well as.
The avengers is lee and kirby s renovation of a previous superhero team, allwinners squad, who. Jack not only had to design the spiderman books costumes, come. The original spider man design jack kirby, jack kirby art. Kirbys original spiderman art has never publicly surfaced. Universe in the 1960s jack and steve worked on other books too, the. Jack kirby 19171994 jack kirby is widely recognized as one of the most influential and prolific creators in comics. I read that one kirby book that everyone else has read.
The avengers are a fictional team of superheroes appearing in american comic books published by marvel comics. Kirby left high school at age 16 and worked in max. Actually steve created spider man, and got him on a roll when the interview was reprinted it reads. Simon concurred that kirby had shown the original spiderman version to. Evanier, a former assistant to kirby, wrote the coffeetable book kirby.
Beyond that, fantastic four was where jack kirby redefined modern comic book art, giving us the structure, pacing, and design elements that still define comic books to this day. I think the genius of the character, from the minds of stan and steve ditko, was that many of the known tropes of superhero comics were used, but. A rare spiderman drawing jack kirby and nick cagnetti. Why did stan lee reject jack kirby as the original spiderman. Jack kirbys original spiderman design, according to steve. Unfortunately this is the only reference we have to what kirbys spidey looked like. The comic book artist finally gets the recognition he deserves. The eternals are a fictional race of superhumans appearing in american comic books published by marvel comics. A beginners guide to the king of comics, jack kirby.
Ditkos original cover, which was rejected, was far superior. When new books are released, well charge your default payment method for the lowest price available during the preorder period. Comic book artists comic artist comic books art collages jack kirby art jack king superman batman 70s sci fi art. The original comics often had, as evanier said, a bad inker, bad. Spider man is a fictional superhero created by writereditor stan lee and writerartist steve ditko. Two instances were on a marvelmania cover and the original spider man poster for marvelmania international, although the posted that was published and sold was drawn by romita, based on kirby s original. Aug 28, 2017 when we were thinking of ways to celebrate his tremendous impact on the world of comic books, we realized that one of the easiest ways to visualize kirby s impact was just to list 100 of his coolest comic book creations. See more ideas about comic books art, spiderman and art. While ff is the darling of the comics intelligentsia, especially big time kirby fans, its family of characters still trail behind peter parker, the amazing spider man, in the hearts of most folks. It was most likely something close to his the fly design. To celebrate, were looking back at king kirby s countless contributions to marvel history all week here on. See more ideas about comic art, comic books, original art.
The neverending who created spiderman debate jack kirby. Dc comics had a policy of destroying original art in the 1950s. Dec 04, 2018 before spider man became the star of multiple comic books series, tv shows, and movie franchises, he was a special character introduced in issue no. John romita does some of the greatest spider man artwork in history. Big time 20 amazing adult fantasy 1961 1962 amazing adventures 1961 amazing. Unfortunately this is the only reference we have to what kirby s spidey looked like. He created, or cocreated, such enduring characters as captain america, the fantastic four, the avengers, the xmen, the hulk, the new gods, and hundreds of others stretching back to the earliest days of the medium. Spider man crashes a party at johnny storms girlfriends place, causing a fight between the human torch and spider man that soon escalates to include the rest of the fantastic four. To be fair to kirby, this is a sketch by ditko trying to prove a point not trying to accurately depict kirbys design. When i started reading his earlier marvel work in reprint magazines like marvels greatest comics i was already a firebreathing new gods fanatic. Comic collages in context fantastic four cartoonist jack kirbys work traces its roots to ancient japan and early cubism. As for stan lees writing, well, i do not remember if he actually wrote millie the model, but the soap opera elements of spider man are. Jack kirbys original spiderman design, according to. Jul 08, 2017 regarding steve ditko, he had some contention with stan lee and a particular point of contention with jack kirby both regarding spider man.
The jack kirby created spiderman was actually a collaboration. His big three are probably ff, thor, and the new gods. Steve ditkos costume design was unique, with its webbing pattern and full face mask and kirby rarely got the details right. Jack kirby, original name jacob kurtzberg, born august 28, 1917, new york, new york, u. To be fair to kirby, this is a sketch by ditko trying to prove a point not trying to accurately depict kirby s design. It also shows stan having a hard time coming up with an original story idea. Interesting to see a drawing of spiderman by jack kirby considerating that he did not illustrated spiderman much at all. Kirby was great at scifi, monster comics and stuff like that. These are the daily comic strips from january 29, 1979 through january 11, 1981. A play based on kirbys life, king kirby, by crystal skillman and new york times bestselling comics writer fred van lente, was staged at brooklyns brick theater as part of its annual comic book theater festival.
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