30 years ago, I had the good sense to snap this fantastic photo of Jack Kirby and Gil Kane at the 1993 San Diego Comic-Con. (Jaunty Jim Salicrup, the Topps Comics EIC, is the happy fella in the middle.)
Fantastic, but, as it turned out, bittersweet: This was the final time these two legends had a chance to greet each other. (Jack passed away the following winter.) I’m not sure they were both scheduled at the Topps booth at the same time, so it may have been a very happy coincidence.
I’ve discussed Topps Comics (and trading cards) numerous times in previous posts — it was a wild ride with many great moments. This was one of my favorites.
And did I say good sense? Hardly. If I did, I would have handed off the disposable camera to someone else and jumped in the photo as well.
Kane and Kirby both delivered for Topps; we launched the “Kirbyverse” with unused and under-utilized concepts from Jack’s files, and Gil Kane drew the Jurassic Park adaptation and prequel. And both provided art for our massive Star Wars Galaxy series, which featured more than 400 cards — with art from nearly that many individual creators.
Here are two great pages from the final issue of the 1993’s Jurassic Park adaptation, penciled by Gil Kane and inked by the George Perez. As I noted previously, the key Dino action takes place in issue #4 which covers half (or more) of the film. (Thanks a lot, Universal.)
Fun fact: Universal had a giant launch party for the JP licensing and marketing program at New York City’s Museum of Natural History in February 1993 (at the annual Toy fair event) and Topps received several invites. So what happens when I hop out of the Subway to walk to the museum? I run into George Perez, and we make our way in together. I had a great time, but George was even more thrilled. It was clear he was absolutely delighted to be a part of this.
Fun fact #2: Topps also had a few invites to the NY premiere of Jurassic Park at the Ziegfeld Theater and Walter and Louise Simonson were able to accompany us to the theater, and a swell time was had by all. But, apparently, the final version of the shooting script had not made it from Universal / Amblin to Topps to Walter, so naturally he immediately noticed that his script and the Final Cut differed in a few places. (Fortunately, only a few.)
Jurassic Park opened thirty years ago June 11, so it seems like an ideal time to present some more great Jurassic Park pages from 1993’s adaptation drawn by Gil Kane and George Perez this week. (I still can’t believe it’s been thirty years.)
Here’s a terrific splash from issue three, with George’s telltale detailed inking mostly only evident in the original art; the color obscures many of those fine details in the published page.
Fun fact: Because of licensing restrictions (including embargo dates) and publishing schedules, the film’s script and the four-issue comic breakdown are somewhat uneven. Not that much happens in Issues #1 and #2. Issue #3 has this cool opening, and some cool T-Rex action in the second part, but most of the exciting Dino action happens in issue #4. (Writer Walter Simonson did a terrific job balancing the script under those challenging restrictions.)
Dracula vs. Zorro.? For about a millisecond, this one sounds a bit odd, and then you say, wait a minute…
In the hands of writer Don McGregor and artist Tom Yeates (inks by Rick Magyar), you get a fun Topps Publishing two-parter, with Don’s smart writing and Tom’s magnificent storytelling — on giant art boards, no less.
A few notes:
• ˜The book came out just shy of 30 years ago.
• Dracula (The Francis Ford Coppola adaption kind) was Topps very first comic book; Dracula vs Zorro appears just before the launch of Topps’ Zorro solo series, also featuring stories by McGregor. (The crossover wasn’t originally planned as the character’s introduction— it just sort of happened, following the smash success of the Drac adaptation…)
• It’s only two monthly issues but features a whopping 61 pages of content — which leads me to believe we may have originally intended the story to total three issues. Perhaps we scaled back after the numbers came in for issue #1. Although we collected it in a prestige format comic in 1994, there are definitely not enough pages for a full trade collection. That was an era when we didn’t always plan for collections.
Thirty years ago this month — April 1993 — saw the launch of Topps’ “Kirbyverse.” (I genuinely can’t remember who thought of that phrase – EIC Jim Salicrup or myself, so we will each take have to take co-credit.)
Although Jack was not directly involved in character or story development, he did enjoy being kept in the loop and, from the feedback we received, he enjoyed our efforts.
The challenge at the time of course, is that the consumer marketplace didn’t enjoy our efforts quite as much as he OR we did. Four Kirbyverse titles launched in April 1993, plus a freebie. Total circulation of the group: About one million copies. (That is not a typo.)
But our titles launched purposely with retro styling, (see the ad below) and, at that moment, the market was mostly uninterested in classic styling. Younger readers gobbling up Image’s Youngblood and Spawn weren’t that versed or interested in Jack Kirby.
From the moment we launched, sales of the Kirby titles dropped each month. By the time we had reached 1994, we were sunk.
That said, it was a hell of a launch, and Jim managed to reunite the classic Marvel bullpen (or at least some of it) one last time.
And well-known Kirby superfan and Image co-founder Erik Larsen was kind enough to “lend” us Savage Dragon for the first issue of Jack’s Bombast one-shot.
So, there was that.
More on the Topps Comics “30th anniversary (albeit a few months late) in the next few weeks.
Did I manage to squeeze enough info into this one ad? Did the design team hand draw the “Kirby Crackle” in the background? Hint, those are both rhetorical questions.
Jack Kirby’s Satan’s Six was developed as part on an unrealized “Kirby Line” of comics in 1978, shortly after Jack’s final tenure at Marvel had ended.
Jack drew a cover and eight story pages, plus a character concept and design page. Mike Royer was hired to ink some of those pages as samples, but when the concept for a “Kirby Line” dissipated, the pages sat in a drawer unused for nearly 15 years.
Enter my old home, Topps Comics, the fledging publishing line from the trading card and confectionary giant. Topps signed a deal with Jack in 1992 to produce comic books based on new, and (primarily) previously unused concepts. It was essentially a second chance for a “Kirby Line.” With the King in declining health, however, others would have to create content around Jack’s ideas.
What became of Satan’s Six? Tony Isabella’s stories based on Jack’s high concept of a lovable group of misfits too mischievous for Heaven, but not evil enough for Hell seemed wackily appropriate enough, but the art definitely was a challenge from issue one.
Especially issue one.
Kirby’s eight original pages are scattered throughout the full story with the rest of the art from John Cleary, making for a dizzying juxtaposition of styles.
And Cleary’s “contemporary” (1993) art here, and through the remaining three issues, was simply not enticing enough to sustain interest. The book was cancelled with issue #4. You can read a complete illustrated overview of the series here.
Satan’s Six has yet to return to comics. They remain in… Limbo.
But still…Happy 30th anniversary to the “Kirbyverse!”
Bram Stoker’s Dracula, #3, December 1992 (& A Topps Gallery, 1992-1995)
Better late than never — Topps Comics actually launched its first title, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, in October, not November of 1992. By mid 1993, we had film adaptions, SF anthologies, Kirby superheroes and dozens more under our belt.
It was a wild ride.
In early 2023, we will have a more extensive look back with some new art, photos, memorabilia, etc. In the meantime, here’s a gallery of previously posted art. (Each piece links to the original post.)
In honor of Jurassic World: Dominion opening this Friday, we’re featuring a “Summer Rerelease” special this week of three of our best earlier Jurassic Park posts.
Gil Kane and George Perez teamed up on artistic chores for the original Topps Jurassic Park film adaption. (With writing by Walter Simonson). It was a unique pairing suggested by Topps EIC Jim Salicrup, and for the most part, worked very well. All four issues came out on the predetermined schedule, not an easy feat, especially in those days with newsstand distribution considerations. But the schedule was… tight. (OK, harrowing.)
I was delighted to pick up the original art for Gil’s and George’s variant cover for issue #4 a few years ago at auction.
The scene is from the climax of the film where our young heroes are menaced in the commissary kitchen by the crafty velociraptors. It’s a cool composition that captures the terror of the moment.
Here’s the rub — Is that a chubby raptor missing a neck? Or a deformed T-Rex? I mean, what kind of dino did Gil actually draw?
You can’t tell from the scan, but there’s an art patch on the dino’s face. Clearly some of it absolutely, positively needed to be altered to be approved overnight. But someone in Universal’s licensing department must have ultimately taken pity on our harrowing schedule, and us, because the final version is definitely not on model.
Since this is technically not the “main” cover, which is by Dave Cockrum, maybe they gave us a pass. (I don’t remember who did the art patch — George, our production department, or, for that matter, Gil.)
Ah, Gil. We sent him lots of photo reference. I can’t recall if we sent this exact scene specifically, but regardless, he had reference. Like I said, lots of it.
Only problem is, as I found out later on, Gil didn’t have much use for reference.
It doesn’t matter. He was one of the best. I consider myself fortunate to know him professionally, albeit briefly. Stories about him were legendary by the time I met him in 1993.
And, I got at least one “Greg, my boy…” out of him, so I could cross that off the list. Whew.
Dave Cockrum’s cover features raptors that are more on model, while Gil’s raptor might need some Ultra Slimfast.Raptors are lean, mean, fighting machines as seen in reference stills from the film.
Michael Crichton’s
Jurassic Park novel turns 30 this year, so the next few posts pay tribute to
the book that became a blockbuster film franchise.
Gil Kane and George Perez teamed up on artistic chores for the original Topps Jurassic Park film adaption. (with writing by Walter Simonson). It was an unique pairing suggested by EIC Jim Salicrup, and for the most part, worked very well. All four issues came out on the predetermined schedule, not an easy feat, especially in those days with newsstand distribution considerations. But the schedule was… tight.
I was delighted to pick up the original art for Gil’s
variant cover for issue #4 a few years ago at auction.
The scene is from the climax of the film where our young
heroes are menaced in the commissary kitchen by the crafty velociraptors. It’s
a cool composition that captures the terror of the moment.
Here’s the rub — Is that a chubby raptor missing a neck? Or a deformed T-Rex? I mean, what the hell kind of dino did Gil actually draw?
You can’t tell from the scan, but there’s an art patch on
the dino’s face. Clearly some of it absolutely, positively needed to be altered
to be approved overnight. But someone in Universal’s licensing department must
have ultimately taken pity on our harrowing schedule, and us, because the final
version is definitely not on model.
Since this is technically not the “main” cover, which is by
Dave Cockrum, maybe they gave us a pass. (I don’t remember who did the art patch
— George, our production department or for that matter, Gil.)
Ah, Gil. We sent him lots of photo reference. I can’t recall
if we sent this exact scene specifically, but regardless, he had reference.
Like I said, lots of it. Only problem is, as I found out later on, Gil didn’t
have much use for reference.
It doesn’t matter. He was one of the best. I consider myself
fortunate to know him professionally, albeit briefly. Stories about him were legendary
by the time I met him in 1993.
And, I got at least one “Greg, my boy…” out of him, so I could cross that off the list. Whew.
Gil’s published variant cover, along with Cockrum’s “main” cover.
Actual Velociraptors menacing our protagonists in the film.
It was February 6, 1994. As we put the first (and it turned
out, last) issue of Victory to bed at Topps Comics, the sad phone call came
into our offices. The King had moved on — Jack Kirby had passed away at age
76.
Victory was supposed to be a monumental crossover project between
all of Jack’s creator owned characters; the new ones we had already developed,
and the previously existing ones that included Silverstar, and of course
Captain Victory. It was going to be the event that shook the “Kirbyverse.” (I
can’t remember who thought of that – EIC Jim Salicrup or myself, so we will
each take have to take co-credit.)
Since the issue had not yet gone to press, we were able to include this lovely art memorial to Jack by Keith Giffen and Jimmy Palmiotti in the published issue, as well as a two-page editorial tribute written affectionately by Charlie Novinskie.
Although Jack was not directly involved in character or story development, he did enjoy being kept in the loop and, from the feedback we received, he enjoyed our efforts.
The challenge at the time of course, is that the marketplace didn’t enjoy our efforts quite as much as he OR we did. A year prior, we had launched the Kirbyverse with a bang. Four titles launched in April 1993, plus a freebie. Total circulation of the group: More than one million copies. (That is not a typo.)
But our titles launched with mostly retro styling, and the market was not interested in classic storytelling and clean draftsmanship. The market wanted the dynamism and styling of Image-type comics (preferably from Image itself; remember this was 1993). And the younger readers gobbling up Cyberforce and Spawn weren’t that interested in Jack Kirby.
From the moment we launched, sales of the Kirby titles dropped each month. By the time Victory project came to fruition, it was too late. Despite that issues #2 and #3 of the crossover were drawn, they never saw the light of day.
So ironically, and most definitely not intentionally, this
version of the Kirbyverse was laid to rest at about the same Jack was.
But… did the King really die?
Captain America. The Hulk. The Avengers. The X-Men. The Eternals. Darkseid. The Black Panther. The Silver Surfer. Add a few hundred more, and you will just about scratch the surface of Kirby’s creative output.
The King lives on.
Long live the King.
Topps Comics sponsored a memorial event at Pro-Con (tied in to Wonder-Con, back in the day) and attendees were provided with a small program book. I flew out to pay my respects to Jack’s wife Roz — who liked me in part because her maiden name was Goldstein.
Main cover by Keith Giffen, variant by Rob Liefeld
