When it came to comics, JACK KIRBY was KING!

[MrScorpio]

>>Kirby had a hand in the creation of nearly every character for Marvel for the next several years. Some of the highlights include such characters and concepts as the Fantastic Four, Thor, the Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, the original X-Men, the Silver Surfer, the Avengers, Doctor Doom, Galactus, Magneto, the Inhumans and their hidden city of Attilan, the Black Panther and his African nation of Wakanda, and Daredevil. Kirby was often co-plotter of the stories he drew, leading him to introduce elements not mentioned in Lee's scripts; in particular, Kirby is credited as having created the Silver Surfer, who was not mentioned in Lee's plot outline for the character's first appearance. Kirby's speedy output as a storyteller and co-plotter moved Lee, in his role as Marvel's editor and art director, to have Kirby provide only the pencil art for his stories; Lee would refer to Kirby's pencil art to create the script and assign inkers, letterers and colorists to make the work reproducible.<<

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Kirby

[Squeech]

1. It's good stuff

and I was certainly gaga about it at the time.

But in retrospect my favorite is Steve Ditko's Doctor Strange.

[dbt]

2. Ditko Dittoes!

[Spider Jerusalem]

3. And Marvel are bastards...

absolutely criminal, the way they fucked Jack Kirby over. They treated everything he did as work-for-hire, so he didn't see much money...but they milked his name for all it was worth.

[AmyDeLune]

4. Jim Shooter in specific

...and look where he is today.:evilgrin: Proof that what you do to others will come back and bite you in the ass.

[saltpoint]

5. Kirby's range was almost unlimited. At least it seemed that way.

I owe the man a debt for the work he did on these characters and the impact they had on my writing and thinking.

Thor is the ultimate culture-fucking icon -- the boundary-smashing avenger. I love the lame-Don Blake-to-Mighty-Thor transformation. Blake's cane becomes Mjolnir, the enchanted mallot, and Don Blake becomes Thor. Hurt me with that construct forever.

Jack Kirby is a major player in my life, even though I never met him. I was a grateful beneficiary of his genius.

Thank you Mr. Kirby.

Thanks MrScorpio too for this post.

[MrScorpio]

7. I've got hundreds, if not thousands of Kirby comics

Kirby, believe it or not, was instrumental in helping me develop my own life's philosophy.

To say that he was a genius is a understatement.

He was more of a force of nature.

Anything related to the comic book today (i.e., movies, graphic novels, the Cartoon Network, credit card commercials) owes its existence to the works of Jack Kirby.

He wsa truly the King.

[saltpoint]

9. Have to agree. And I probably did understate Kirby's --

-- contribution. Didn't mean to slight him.

Hold on to those Kirby comics. A later age will value the aesthetic rarity & you may be the one with access to the sacred documents.

Really good post, MrScorpio.

[AllegroRondo]

6. Why did I ever sell my X-Men #1 ???

OK, I did need the money. It paid for my honeymoon.

[Rabrrrrrr]

8. Kirby was indeed the god of sequential superhero art

Though Eisner is the true god above all sequential art gods.