Monday, August 28, 2017

Happy 100th Birthday, Jack Kirby!

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! Today is the hundredth anniversary of the birth of one of the most revered comicbook creators to ever pick up a pencil--Jack "King" Kirby! Why is Kirby so revered? To say that it's his creativity, energy, mastery, and love for the medium only scratch the surface. Just look at the following covers featuring characters he either co-created, created, wrote, or drew (or all of the above)--in the 1970s alone! If we went all the way back to the 1940s and on into the 1990s, we could spend a week on Kirby and his accomplishments. And he'd deserve it.




























(And thanks to the Grand Comics Database for being a comicbook blogger's best friend!)

4 comments:

  1. Mind boggling.
    Its always amazed me that someone of Jack's generation, with all the work he'd done up to that point, could still come up with a comic as exceptional and forward thinking as OMAC. While also working on the Losers and putting out Kamandi every month!

    Great selection of covers Groove, and good to see you chose to emphasize Kirby was a writer as well as artist.
    (Thinking about it... is Justice Inc the only comic he drew during the 70s that someone else wrote?)

    -sean

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    Replies
    1. I was reminded earlier today that Jack didn't write Sandman. Which I suppose was actually a more obvious example than Justice Inc. Doh.

      -sean

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  2. Great collection of covers!

    It's cool that you happen to include issue 14 of the Eternals as it was my first introduction to Kirby that I can remember. I was not familiar with the Eternals but I picked up the issue because of the Hulks guest appearance. At first glance I was not sure what to make of the artwork. It was shockingly different from Sal Buscema's work at the time. However, I quickly fell in love with the bold dramatic drawings. I guess that was the beginning of my appreciation of the King!

    Ron

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  3. My first Kirby was Captain America 197. Bought it off a spinner rack at a liquor store in Feb 1976. Been a fan ever since. Happy 100th Birthday Jack and thanks for enriching our lives.

    ReplyDelete

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Special thanks to Mike's Amazing World of Comics and Grand Comics Database for being such fantastic resources for covers, dates, creator info, etc. Thou art treasures true!


Note to "The Man": All images are presumed copyright by the respective copyright holders and are presented here as fair use under applicable laws, man! If you hold the copyright to a work I've posted and would like me to remove it, just drop me an e-mail and it's gone, baby, gone.


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As for the rest of ya, the purpose of this blog is to (re)introduce you to the great comics of the 1970s. If you like what you see, do what I do--go to a comics shop, bookstore, e-Bay or whatever and BUY YOUR OWN!