Jack Kirby – Page 6 – Greg Goldstein's Comic Art Gallery

Carlos Pacheco — Shattered Glass

December 3, 2020 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Ultimate Avengers #3, December 2009, and Avengers Assemble Season 2 (Marvel Universe) #4, 2015

Continuing our tribute to Captain America’s 80th anniversary.

Captain America breaks a lot of a glass. In his very first solo appearance in the Silver Age, (Tales of Suspense #59) Jack Kirby has him jumping directly at the reader, shattering a window as he does.

Maybe that shield gives him a sense of security. After all, the super soldier serum made him super strong, but not invulnerable. And Batman and the other “ordinary” (no enhanced super-powers) heroes tend to break a bit less glass.

This great splash page features rouge Captain America doing the glass bit with tremendous drama and detail by the terrific Carlos Pacheco.

And the art is so dynamic that Marvel used again six years later as a cover for an animated series cover.

That’s pretty cool —it could have been used as a cover the first time around, but second time’s the charm apparently.

*The splash becomes a cover a few years later.*

*Stan Lee and Jack Kirby break the glass in Captain America’s very first Silver Age solo appearance.*

Ron Frenz and Bruce Timm — Saluting The Creator

December 1, 2020 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Captain America #50, February 2002

Captain America officially turns 80 in a few weeks, and this iconic character is definitely worth an anniversary celebration. (Cap #1, created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, is cover-dated March 1941, but the on-sale date was December 20,1940.)

First up is this great Jack Kirby homage by Ron Frenz and Bruce Timm that appeared as a pin up in Captain America #50 (3^rd series.). This piece, typical of Timm’s other published comic book work, is “inks-only” over a Frenz layout.

The layout itself is an homage to Jack’s Captain America art that appeared on the cover Marvelmania #1 (fan magazine), near the end of his Silver Age run at Marvel. Frenz added the Super-Adaptoid, and Bruce did his magic, creating a classic Kirby look.

*Jack’s original art for this cover was little-seen until it finally appeared in color as the cover to the Jack Kirby Collector (#34, 2002),*

*The Super-Adaptoid was a mid-60s creation appearing early during Cap’s Silver Age revival. Also pictured, Captain America #1 with Cap decking Hitler a full year before the U.S. entered World War II.*

Jack Davis — Rarity

November 21, 2020 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Rawhide Kid #35, August 1963

Jack Davis and Stan Lee only worked together a handful of times. Jack drew six Rawhide Kid stories at the dawn of the “Marvel Age,” after Jack Kirby became too busy designing and developing Marvel’s earliest superheroes.

Davis’ cartoony style is unmistakable, and definitely a departure from the typical Marvel western art line-up that included Kirby, Dick Ayers and Larry Lieber, among others.

These Davis Western stories are some of the final color comic book stories to he ever drew. Shortly after their publication, Davis returned to Mad Magazine and became a Mad mainstay for more than 20 years.

And of course, we can’t forget the Time Magazine covers. The TV Guide covers. The film posters. The advertising work. Trading cards for Topps. Etc.

Just a few things to occupy the drawing board of one of America’s most talented and recognizable commercial illustrators.

Too bad Stan couldn’t persuade Davis for a bit more work. I’m not sure how it would have worked out on the traditional superhero stories * but a few short pieces for Not Brand Echh would have been right on the nose.

(*Well, actually I’m certain it would have been jarring to see Jack on “straight” superhero stories…)

Jack Kirby — Hello and Goodbye, Rinse, Repeat

November 14, 2020 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

DC Graphic Novel #4 – The Hunger Dogs, June 1985

Jack Kirby’s tenure at DC was ultimately a mixed bag — for both Jack and DC.

The Fourth World saga was one of the most ambitious projects ever attempted in comics at that time; yet, the books were cancelled well before they had a chance to fully realize Jack’s vision.

And yet… there was something about those characters and premises that continued to resonate.

Jack’s Post DC career included a three-year return at Marvel (Think Eternals, et al), his own creator-owned comics (Captain Victory, Silver Star) and a home at animation house DePatie-Freleng studios and then later Ruby-Spears.

And then, another opportunity arose at DC to finish his New Gods saga. DC would reprint the original series in “deluxe” format and give Jack a chance to end the saga with new material.

But, unfortunately Jack wanted to end the saga in a way that would kill off the main characters, and by then DC had grown accustomed to having them in the line-up.

So, Jack was again denied the chance again to finish it in his vision. And somehow the end of the saga morphed into a standalone graphic novel, Hunger Dogs, which also didn’t bring the story to a satisfactory conclusion.

And the graphic novel itself was a mess on the production end. Pages intended for the standard comic books were reworked for the graphic novel using photocopies, corrections, new “border” art and a host of other techniques to turn standard size pages into graphic novel pages.

Fortunately, Jack did create brand new large art pages for the GN, and they are pretty terrific in terms of page layout and composition, as evidenced here. They are his final work for either of the “big two” publishers.

As for the New Gods? They lived on, and more importantly, Darkseid arguably became the most important villain in the DCU. Jack shared in some of that commercial success, and his family continues to share in that success today.

A fitting ending after all.

Jack Kirby — Goodnight, Santa Claus

November 12, 2020 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Best of DC #22, March 1982; originally Sandman #7, February 1976 and Kamandi #61, November 1978 (Both unpublished)

Here is some big goofy fun from Jack Kirby (inks by Mike Royer) with a story involving the Sandman and… Santa Claus. (You can’t make this up.)

Even goofier than the actual narrative itself, however, is the fact this story fell victim to cancelation, not once, but twice, before finally seeing print nearly six years after it was completed.

Kirby’s Sandman series was cancelled after issue #6, although this story for issue #7 had already been completed. It sat in inventory for two years, until it was slotted to appear as a back-up in Kamandi #61, and then that comic, along with dozens of others fell victim to the “DC Implosion” and was cancelled as well.

It finally saw print in Best of DC #22, a digest-sized publication, that hit the stands shortly before Christmas 1981.

Which means… It did not actually appear in traditional color comic book format until DC collected it in 2011 in the Jack Kirby Omnibus — 35 years later!

Jack Kirby — The Future Is Now

November 10, 2020 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Omac #3, January 1975

“Technology is fire in the hands of children, and (Jack) Kirby easily foresaw what the world would look like with wealth, corporations, and technology operating simply for human profit and power, without accountability to any Rule of Law.” — Rob Walton, Slings and Arrows Graphic Novel Guide.

Jack Kirby brought his fertile imagination (back) to DC fifty years ago, and the results, while not always commercially successful, were typically fascinating.

OMAC was one of my personal favorites. It felt vastly different than anything else Jack had done, with one wild futuristic technology idea after another thrown into the mix. (And of course, many of these technologies have come to fruition in the subsequent 50 years. But, as always, we digress.) Ultimately Jack never had chance to fully develop many of these ideas, as he jumped ship and returned to Marvel after just eight issues.

This great “chapter splash” checks off many Kirby flourishes. (Many of Jack’s books had multiple chapters, meaning more great splash pages in each issue.)

Why is this page great?

It features the title character, a personal rocket ship, and the Kirby cosmos — in all its glory! (Earth’s atmosphere never looked this trippy.)

It features the title character’s name prominently in a flashy hand-lettered headline.

And, of course, it has great Kirby Crackle.

We celebrate the King’s reign at DC all this week. Stay tuned.

Happy Halloween!

October 31, 2020 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

After our last three weeks of Halloween-themed posts, here is an index of monsters and mayhem published for 2019’s Halloween celebration — in case you missed any.

Happy Halloween 2020!

Ron Frenz & Sal Buscema — Ragnarok & Roll

October 27, 2020 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Thunderstrike # 4, May 2011

FRenz Kirby etc

Ron Frenz goes full on Jack Kirby (with perhaps a dash of John Buscema) with this wonderful Mangog splash from the second Thunderstrike (Thor — sort of) mini-series.

Just because the “Monster Age” at Marvel ended when the superheroes took over the publishing schedule (early 60s), that didn’t mean that Kirby stopped creating great monsters during the era.

In fact, the monsters had to be fiercer, meaner, and smarter — to provide antagonists worthy of our intrepid heroes.

Take Mangog here. His appearance typically means the end — of everything. Hence, Ragnarok. Stan and Jack introduced him in Thor 154 and 155 back in 1968 and he’s created havoc from time to time ever since.

As for Mr. Frenz? Another great looking effort, with terrific inks by Sal Buscema.

Kirby Crackle included, no extra charge.

Joe Sinnott — 4Ever

June 30, 2020 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Sketch, NYCC Convention Program, 1972

Joe Sinnott, easily one of the greatest comic book inkers of all time, and a terrific person to boot, passed away a few days ago. He was 93.

Joe drew the very first sketch I ever owned (and still do, BTW) in my convention program at my very first NYCC, 1972.

Reed Richards — Mr. Fantastic — was an appropriate choice, because Joe’s legendary inks on both Kirby and then John Buscema (and ultimately others) provided a polished, consistent look for “The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine.”

I own other art inked by him, but this one is extra special.

RIP Joe. Many thanks and salutes from all of us for your astonishing career.

https://greggoldsteincomicartgallery.com/sal-buscema-and-joe-sinnott-fireworks/

https://greggoldsteincomicartgallery.com/john-buscema-going-underground/

Frank Springer — Death To Fury!

May 28, 2020 Greg Goldstein Original Art and The Artists

Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #10, March 1969

Continuing a look at SHIELD on the eve of its 55th anniversary.

Jim Steranko is not a hard act to follow.

He’s an impossible one.

But on the SHIELD solo series, Frank Springer gave it a try. And in possibly another circumstance, it probably would have been fine.

But, like I said, all of sudden SHIELD transformed into an inadvertent real life version of another spy series: Mission Impossible.

Springer, who broke into Marvel with his work on this series actually captured some of the Steranko vibe in these issues. Barry Smith also managed to capture some it in one issue as well, and even Herb Trimpe had a few cool stories before it became a moot point, and the series died.

In a vacuum, the Springer Fury issues, as exemplified by this page, are well told and illustrative. Clear storytelling and panel variety move us through the action quickly and creatively.

But coming off the Kirby-meets-Krigstein pop-psychedelic acid trip of Steranko’s earlier issues, it wasn’t enough to keep the series going.

But of course, Nick Fury, and SHIELD, lived on.