Jack Kirby Day
It is the 90th anniversary of Jack Kirby’s birth.
Mark Evanier remembers
Jack Kirby would have been 90 years old today.
I know I write too much about Jack but that’s because people are always asking me about him. And as more time passes on this planet without him, more people ask. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard fans of his work regret that they didn’t get to meet him. His work enriched their lives in some way and they assume, probably correctly, that a personal encounter would have been even more enriching. At the very least, they could have told him what his unbounded creativity meant to them, professionally and/or personally.
So does Tom Spurgeon.
And the New York Times:
He created a new grammar of storytelling and a cinematic style of motion. Once-wooden characters cascaded from one frame to another — or even from page to page — threatening to fall right out of the book into the reader’s lap. The force of punches thrown was visibly and explosively evident. Even at rest, a Kirby character pulsed with tension and energy in a way that makes movie versions of the same characters seem static by comparison.
The frenetic action and the rooftop fighting so common on the superhero set did not just materialize out of nowhere. Mr. Kirby remembered much of it from his Depression-era youth on New York’s Lower East Side, where, he once told an interviewer, the incessant fights among rival gangs were often staged up and down fire escapes and during running battles across tenement rooftops.
More links at Blog@
08/28/07 at 11:40 am
Kirby lived in the same town as me, when I was growing up. I can’t tell you how neat it was to just spot him at the movies, or the mall, every so often. It felt like Comic Con was coming to me. I didn’t think at the time that I should have bothered him, but I have since been told that he would have loved it.
08/28/07 at 2:04 pm
Wow. That Tom Spurgeon link has some awesome samples. This one is just stunning: http://www.tate.org.uk/tateetc/issue9/images/realcomic_devildinosaur.jpg
And yet, with all the images of MODOK and Arnim Zola and Captain America, my favorite of all those images is this one: http://www.cartage.org.lb/en/themes/Biographies/MainBiographies/K/Kirby/kirby8.gif
08/28/07 at 3:11 pm
I was lucky enough to meet Mr. Kirby in the late 80’s. I was of course a retarded
fan-boy, Jack was of course wonderful about it. Signed all the stuff I had, talked to me and so on. As the con was ending I spotted him as he was leaving with Roz and walked up to him in the parking lot to shake his hand one more time, I said to him as we shook hands “it was a honor to meet you Mr. Kirby, I can’t tell you how much your comics have meant to me.” he grapped my other hand, gave me a two-hand hand shake and said ” the honor was all mine son.” I nearly shit myself on the spot. Kirby was the real deal. I still get a thrill thinking about.
Proud Kirby Fan-boy!
08/29/07 at 11:20 am
You’re right Magoo. That one is pretty kick ass.
08/29/07 at 2:28 pm
I second the Snoid — I met him and it was similar — he could make you feel like you were something special with his graciousness and positivity.
09/18/07 at 3:20 pm
[…] Jack Kirby Day from THE BEAT […]
11/3/07 at 5:07 pm
Kirby rules! I was also one of the lucky ones to meet him at his home and a few other places in the mid 80s to early 90s. I recall the day at work I found out he passed away. A very sad day! A true gent, great person and a killer artist! He will be part of my good memories to the end of my journey here.
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