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Home , Absorbing Man, Ajak, Amy Reeder, Apokolips, Athena (Marvel Comics), Atlas (DC Comics)

$10.95 SUMMER 2016 SIXTY-EIGHT 1 82658 00053 0 THE Contents

KEY CHARACTERS! OPENING SHOT ...... 2 (the five keys to Kirby’ character) 1: PATRIOTIC ...... 4 ISSUE #68, SUMMER 2016 INNERVIEW ...... 6 l c o (Jack’s Hour 25 interview) KIRBY KINETICS ...... 24 2016 EISNER AWARDS NOMINEE: BEST COMICS-RELATED PERIODICAL (Norris Burroughs on Sgt. Fury #13) KEY 2: DEDICATED . . . . .28 SCENERY ...... 30 (seven panels of incidental brilliance) KIRBY OBSCURA ...... 34 ( was dedicated too) EMOTION ...... 36 (Jack’s romance work, hiding in plain sight) GALLERY ...... 39 (images of Jack’s character traits) JACK KIRBY MUSEUM PAGE . . . .45 (visit & join www.kirbymuseum.org) KEY 3: OBSERVANT . . . . .46 INCIDENTAL ICONOGRAPHY . . . . .48 (what’s behind the Panther’s mask?) MYTH ...... 50 (the perfection of ) WORDS ...... 56 (decoding the road to Armagetto) KEY 4: INNOVATIVE . . . . .62 ?! ...... 64 ( JHS@&WtNGi2tMU?) TECH ...... 70 (Jack Kirby: writing “Machine”) KEY 5: INSPIRATIONAL . .74 KIRBY AS A ...... 76 (Adam McGovern explores Moon Girl and Devil ) JACK .A..s ...... 80 ( moderates the 2015 WonderCon Tribute Panel, with , Darwyn Cooke, , Skillman, , and Paul Levine) COLLECTOR COMMENTS ...... 92 (cause you can never get too much Hidden Harry) PARTING SHOT ...... 94 (about that Spidey figure from FF Annual #3...)

Cover inks & color: PAUL CHADWICK

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TM & tive authors. First printing. PRINTED IN CHINA. ISSN 1932-6912 © Street & Smith or successor in interest • Teenage Ninja Turtles TM & © Mirage Studios • Iron God, TM & © the respective owner 1 very comics creator has one key character that He presented his readers with his take on a they will forever be associated with. For Jack, that military-industrial complex gone awry in A.I.M., and Key 1: E government conspiracies with . But he has to be Captain America. Cap wasn’t the first patriotic hero in comics (the mostly stayed away from politics in his comics, save claims that designation), but he was definitely for an occasional dalliance—such as the fight the best, and most long-lasting—and is undoubtedly a between pacifist son and hawkish father in “The Glory reflection of his co-creator. Kirby lived the American Boat” in #6 in the 1970s. That’s as close to , coming from humble beginnings, to become a comment on the as he ever made in the preeminent figure in his chosen field. It wasn’t an comics. easy journey, but he stuck with it for the long haul. (He did indirectly serve his country with the Lord (Below) A late 1930s political cartoon by Jack. Jack was born into an immigrant family, and grew of Light presentation artwork, which was used without up in early 1900s America, helping his folks work their his knowledge by the CIA, as a cover-story to rescue (next page, top left) way up from poverty. Eschewing a traditional factory or hostages from Iran in the 1970s, as depicted in the Fighting American, from nine-to-five job, he ventured out to earn a living using Academy Award-winning Argo.) Jack’s sketchbook. his artistic skills, determination, and hard work. He At his core, Kirby was a believer in justice and enlisted in the Army, and served his country overseas fundamental fairness, who stood up for what he felt (next page, far right during World War II, nearly losing his feet to frostbite, was right. Faced with needing to support his family and bottom) Jack Kirby during basic training at and his life in battle. and a business deal he thought was unfair, he fought Camp Stewart, Georgia Jack’s rendition of Captain America was much like editor over , even though it and a clipping from the the man himself, with an earnest, unforced sense of cost him work at DC Comics for a decade. In the camp newspaper, dated October 9, 1943. patriotism. Kirby’s own WWII military service could well 1980s, when withheld original art to From Jean Depelley, courtesy of have jaded him, but instead it greatly shaped the rest get him to sign over rights to his work, he again fought Neal Kirby) of his life, and comics became an outlet to vent the against an onerous situation, until it was resolved in a never-ending that even combat couldn’t quell. manner in which he could hold his head high. During Kirby’s own fighting characters eventually came that dispute, he volunteered his services to help Steve full-circle, from Captain America’s WWII patriotism with Gerber in his own battle against the company over a simple Nazi foe to destroy, to Izaya of the New Gods, ownership of . The result was the who abandoned his warrior ways in an effort to promote waterfowl , a series that helped peace with his enemies. Along the way, Jack created Gerber financially, so he could eventually his or worked on a small army of patriotic characters, all own settlement with Marvel. in some way a reflection of his own beliefs and real- That fighting spirit lives on through his family, and life battles: their recent dispute over copyrights on the Marvel characters. Taking the battle all the • Fighting American way to the steps of the Supreme • Captain Victory Court, the Kirbys held out against the • Pvt. Strong corporate might of Disney/Marvel. • Sgt. Fury Now, Jack’s finally receiving proper • Captain Glory credit in comics and film—a patriotic • OMAC legacy that Jack and Roz would’ve • been proud of. • Jack Kirby was

PATR4 I

OTIC5 Innerview Hour 25 Interview Jack Kirby interviewed by . Michael Straczynski and Larry DiTillio on the April 13, 1990 episode of Mike Hodel’s Hour 25 radio show. Transcribed by Rand Hoppe. You can hear the audio of this interview at: http://kirbymuseum.org/blogs/effect/2012/06/27/19900413-interview/

(below) The Newsboy J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI: Our guest tonight is some- you fellows seem to feel the Legion (minus Flippa one whose work I’ve been reading since I could read… same way toward the medium that I do, so I expect it to Dippa), from Jack’s develop into a kind of kinship that I really enjoy. sketchbook. LARRY DiTILLIO: Since you were a toddler, which is a (next page) Kirby had frightening concept. STRACZYNSKI: We’re looking forward to it. And, let me just start off going into your background a little bit an uncanny ability to STRACZYNSKI: It was like two weeks ago… I looked at capture accurate like- with you. You came out of the Lower East Side originally, the pictures before I could see the words, understand nesses, even in his is that correct? New York? iconic cartoony style. the words, and I began to get the stories behind the Shown here is actor words, and that’s Jack Kirby. One of the foremost KIRBY: Yes, I did. New York’s Lower East Side. I was born Jimmy Finlayson, who creators and writers and artists in history, on Essex Street and my family moved to 131 Suffolk Jack based the char- acter Felix MacFinney quite frankly, who’s given us such wonderful books as Street, which wasn’t a big move in those days and was on, from these pencils , Thor, the , Spider-Man, Sgt. Fury, still the Lower East Side. I grew up there, I grew up on for Jimmy Olsen #144, Captain America, Challengers of the Unknown, the list Suffolk Street. I went to 20 which was one of the page 15. (We’re not goes on forever. New Gods. And he’s with us tonight and schools there. But the only thing that bothered me as I sure who “Ginny” was based on, but we’re this is a true pleasure for us to have you here, Mr. Kirby. grew up is, I found out I didn’t like the East Side! So, I began to take long walks. I found 42nd Street. I found smitten with her!) KIRBY: It’s a pleasure for me to be here and certainly, 44th Street, and I went further uptown and I met the people who turned out the newspapers. I met one reporter who had upended a tele- phone book, and was shooting golf balls through the book, and I suddenly decided, well, that’s a job for me. STRACZYNSKI: [laughs] Now you say that you wanted to get out of there, but certainly in a lot of your books that came later on, the “” and Boy Commandos, you used those kinds of characters, rough street kind of characters, a lot, as kids. KIRBY: Well, you’re bound to, because I imagine they become part of what you know, what you grow up with, what life hands to you, and you react that way. And I’m glad, in a way, because later in life I had to use that as kind of an atti- tude in ways that probably saved my life. STRACZYNSKI: How much of Suffolk is in Yancy Street? KIRBY: Oh, all of it is there. But so is the story. I come from a storytelling family. All of the immigrants on the Lower East Side were story- tellers. My family happened to be Austrian immigrants and they told their share of stories. I think the young people were closer to their parents, anyway, at that time, and they absorbed all of this. They absorbed the storytelling. Many of them used it to build a professional life. I don’t mean as writers, exactly. But let’s it, any businessman has to tell a good story in order to sell his merchandise. And so I think that kind of thing is helpful. STRACZYNSKI: Was it a rough neighborhood? KIRBY It was a rough neighborhood, and the practice would be that, you would stand out in

6 An ongoing examination of Kirby’s art and compositional skills Sgt. Fury #13 Ultimate Kinetics

aptain America was created at a time when Jack Kirby, along with a substantial segment C of this country’s citizens, realized that the evils of Nazism had to be dealt with and coun- tered by the forces of democracy. When he returned to the US in 1945 after having served his country in France under the command of George Patton, Kirby had seen firsthand just what it took to defeat the evils that Hitler had wrought. Decades later, in 1963 working with Stan Lee at Timely/ Marvel again, Kirby created Sgt. Fury and His , a team of soldiers that must have brought him back psychologically and emotionally to his days in the service. In the 13th issue, Kirby featured his super-soldier Captain America in a story that for me represents the epitome of tour de dynamic storytelling. It is also a very compelling story. Now, some people have said that Sgt. Fury was Burt Lancaster and some have said that he was Ralph Meeker, but we can be certain that he was Jack Kirby, or at least represented Kirby as he idealized himself. The cigar of course is a dead giveaway. So we can essentially think of this story being about Kirby as a soldier in 1940s Nazi-occupied France meeting his creation Captain America, and fighting side-by-side with him. Kirby pours all of his energy into this tale. Not only are his figures exploding with kinetic energy, they are placed for the most part in complex compositions of deep space perspective. In nearly every panel there are multiple planes, consisting of background, mid-ground and foreground, and Kirby uses elements throughout the space in support of his figures to make them come alive. Deep space perspective is a subject that artist has discussed in his Dynamic Anatomy and Dynamic Figure Drawing volumes. Kirby had internalized and utilized these same concepts in his work decades ago. Ideally, the figure should be designed as a three-dimensional shape/mass moving in the confines of panel space, which must be arranged convincingly in order to be believable. Hogarth states that the position of the torso is of primary importance in the dynamism of the figure in space. The torso is composed of the rib barrel and the pelvis, and these can move in contrapuntal directions in relation to each other. The upper and lower por- tions of the torso, moving in opposition, can create more dynamism in the figure. Also, wherever there are joints in the body, there is an opportunity to depict more contrapuntal movement. The pivot points of the shoulder and elbow, for instance, can create ellip- tical arcs of motion that increase dynamism. Kirby, even more than Hogarth, was a master of this, particularly when he would also utilize a counter movement of the head. Look at this picture of Captain America on the cover of Sgt. Fury #13. Notice how the left side of his rib barrel is twisted forward and to the 24 he dedication Kirby put Key 2: T into his work is easily spotted by perusing his prolific output. No other artist in the history of comics comes (right) Panel from close to him in quantity or Kamandi #1 (1972): Dr. quality—just browse through Canus ended up being the Jack Kirby Checklist. After Kamandi’s second-best friend, after Ben Boxer, publishing this magazine for who some think was 22 years and 68 issues (plus based on Jack’s own books, collections, let alone big brother Dave. It’s interesting that Jack other publishers’ Kirby named the character projects), we still haven’t run Ben “Boxer,” since Dr. out of interviews with him, Canus is obviously of the Boxer breed of dog— and previously unseen Kirby art keeps turning up all As the expression goes, Jack worked like a dog. sort of like the theory the time. He couldn’t stop creating new characters, even during that Jack added the But he was also a dedicated Family Man, intent times of disillusionment at whatever company was Stone Men of Saturn (basically Tiki statues on providing for his wife, children, and grandkids. Jack employing him. Even in his sixties, when other men come to life) to Thor’s Kirby was driven (and no we don’t just mean how wife were getting a gold watch and a pension check, Jack debut in Journey Into Roz had to tote him around everywhere, because he’ was cranking out dozens of new concepts a week for Mystery #83, because he had read the book get too distracted by his imagination to drive a car animation studios—in many ways, a most fitting end Kon Tiki by Norwegian safely). To call him a hard worker is putting it mildly. to such a creative career. adventurer Thor His work ethic was unrivaled. Heyerdahl. An inveterate nightowl, he’d stay up till the wee hours (bottom) Kirby spent his twilight years working in drawing page after page, sleep the field of animation— till noon, be there when the the perfect outlet for kids got home from school his fertile imagination. Shown at right is Jack’s (and to spend time with the concept sheet used for never-ending stream of fans background characters who’d stop by), then be back in the October 22, 1983 episode of the animated at the drawing board after Mr. T series. dinner, doing it all over again, © Ruby-Spears Productions. seven days a week.

Jack Kirby was

DEDICAT28 Scenery Seven Panels of by Shane Foley TIncidental Brilliance

his little piece of Kirby appreciation was inspired by and not feeling particularly inspired, could not help but one panel in particular in one of Jack Kirby’s least throw in artistic wonders. A man who couldn’t help but T respected Fantastic Four issues. Every time I see it I draw evocative elements into ordinary scenes to inspire am in awe of the man who, even when coasting along a feeling of awe and wonder. As I thought about this little panel I thought of six other panels that have inspired similar feelings of wonderment. Not just feel- ings of “Gosh! This guy’s good!” but feelings of “Why on earth did he bother?” I could have called this piece “Unnecessary Brilliance”— because most of what I’ describe could be left out of the story and it wouldn’t matter. But then, this sort of brilliance in the inciden- tals of stories is yet another element of what made Kirby the standout giant he is. So in that sense, what I’m describing is not ‘unnecessary,’ but they are certainly in the ‘Incidentals’ of the drawing. And I don’t know why these seven panels in particular leap out at me in this particular way more than most others. But leap out they do. I think a similar type of wonderment was described in TJKC #36 (2002) on page 57, where the writer calls our attention to Morduck’s houseplant in Thor #118. Kirby did not have to include that plant. The story would not have suffered a whit if he drew a geranium! And a geranium (or some such) is about what 99% of the most brilliant artists on Earth would have drawn—and who could blame them? But (usually) not Kirby. Here are my seven examples. That they are all from ’60s Marvel books is perhaps because the ’60s were the time when Kirby combined his new approach, which flowered in the ’70s, with his equally powerful yet so different ’50s work. Perhaps. I don’t really know. With my first inspiration left for last, here they are:

THOR #141, ”TALES OF ,” PAGE 1 (left) Counting the idol, there are 19 figures on this page. 19! It would have worked very well with only 10! There’s a lot of background detail too. This panel delightfully surprises me every time I see it. (We note that this page was inked by , so the could be asked: “Did Kirby actually draw more than 19 figures?” But surely not! This is great inking by VC!)

30 Barry Forshaw Obscura

my feeling—make the rivalry with the A regular competition at least diplomatic. But column focusing that simply was not in Jack’s . on Kirby’s least And then, ironically he was lured back known work, to DC by —the company he had attacked by Barry Forshaw so rigorously.” TALKING TO I drew something of a blank when I asked Lee about another STAN comics subject that most interested me personally: Lee’s Trojan Barry Forshaw is the Unlike my co-contributor output for such legendary Atlas as Adventures author of British Gothic to this journal, Mark Evanier, I into Terror, Menace, Astonishing and (before it became a Cinema and The Rough never met Jack Kirby. However I super-hero title) . Lee was notably less Guide to Crime Fiction once had the opportunity to inter- voluble on this subject that he had been on others. (available from Amazon) and the editor view his long-term collaborator and of Crime Time ‘frenemy’ Stan Lee (at the time of the THE HORROR, THE HORROR (www.crimetime.co.). UK release of ’s first Spider- “Actually,” he said, “Publisher Martin Goodman and I didn’t He lives in London. Man movie), and it was soon clear to me that really do much in the horror comics line before the start of Lee was both tired and (though thoroughly pro- the monster books—and then we really hit paydirt with the fessional) somewhat on autopilot in terms of his super-hero titles.” What was I to say to this? Lee was obvious- responses. In any case, I was far more interested in ly being as truthful as one could wish—was this an example the Marvel writer/editor supremo’s pre-super-hero of memory changing the facts to more suitable proportions? I work (he had discussed and Co. a million certainly wasn’t going to argue with Lee (particularly as we times in exhaustive detail), and decided to ask him about were getting on so well) and remind him that Atlas had pro- the things I really wanted to know about—I already had duced more horror comics than any of its rivals (even the enough about the Spider-Man-related things required for the market leaders, the much-acclaimed EC line), and that (along interview, in any case. with such professionals as Hank Chapman) he had written the Jack Kirby was always on the agenda, of course, but I began comics equivalent of War and Peace in terms of sheer word by asking Lee why he still put himself through such punishing count. He did, however, admit to me something which I also schedules (when with the money he was making from the heard from the lips of SF writer Harry Harrison when telling Marvel he could be sitting on a Californian veranda sip- me about his days at EC (when he was the less talented half ping a martini); I asked about his English wife; about nearly of the /Harry Harrison art duo): he didn’t admit at working with French director Alain Resnais (a comics fan), parties that he wrote for the comics in the days when anti- and several things that he had not been asked before. Lee comics hysteria was at its height—better to admit to being a notably perked up, and I began to get some really fresh and criminal or terrorist than being one of those creatures who interesting responses. These included a lengthy discussion of were corrupting the youth of America (and, at one remove, the credit wars between himself, Jack Kirby and the youth of Britain—such as this writer, via the sporadically (below) Stan Lee hard (half of which I knew I could never put into print!), but I can available material we eagerly consumed in the UK). at work in the 1950s report one thing he mentioned concerning his and Kirby’s Timely offices. Like Jack, he too was a very different personalities: “Whenever Jack and I would do PRE-MONSTER DAYS prolific, dedicated some event in public together,” he told me, “a radio interview, Ironically, while Lee is certainly the most influential editor worker, responsible for for instance, he was always more direct and less diplomatic in comics (closely followed by and his work an entire line of comics than me. I always felt the need to be the friendly public face on DC super-heroes and such SF classics as Mystery in each month. of Marvel. I remember one example of his uncompromising Space and ), I got the impression from nature—something he once said in an interview we were talking to Lee that he was most proud of his writing skills— doing. When our rivals and it’s certainly true that they were fully exploited in his at DC Comics were Atlas horror comics days. Admittedly, he never matched the mentioned, Jack said, EC team of Feldstein and Gaines in terms of invention and with a hot emphasis, elegance, and many of his scripts were banal and clichéd. But leaning forward: ‘We’re (at his best) he created—along with the matchless team of really going to it artists available to him at Atlas—some of the liveliest and to those guys!’ I later most gruesomely entertaining comics of the 1950s before the said to him that was censorship axe decimated the industry. And my failed too aggressive a state- attempts to discuss with him the books he worked on back ment—we were rivals then were frustrating, particularly as he would swerve onto with DC, certainly, but I the post-Code monster books with Kirby and Ditko, as if they tried to keep the rivalry were far more interesting than the horror titles (despite the light; and any insults I presence of the inestimable Jack and Steve... they weren’t). used, I tried to make Certainly, Lee had not the slightest memory of a particular humorous. That was book that I invoked: Adventures into Weird Worlds #26. It was

34 Emotion Hiding In Plain Sight Jack Kirby’s Atlas/Marvel Romance work (1960-1963), by David Schwartz

ike a lot of us, I grew up an avid reader of all things The Incredible Hulk, and everything else by Stan Lee and Marvel Comics—and especially all things Jack Jack Kirby. L Kirby! After discovering Jack’s super-hero work, I During my travels I found quite a few things that I searched throughout (where I grew up) had been previously unaware of. I discovered the pre- for everything I could find. I searched out each issue of hero comics, with all of the incredibly creative monsters The Mighty Thor, The Fantastic Four, Captain America, with all those funny names: Fang Foom, , , Blip, Gorgilla, Trull, , Googam, and so many more. These comics all had incredible artwork, bursting with Jack’s creative energy. Shortly after discovering the monster comics, I found Jack’s west- erns. I never cared much for westerns on television, but boy, did I love Jack’s comics. The was a real gem. He was a good guy being persecuted by just about everyone around him and he still stood up to do the right thing—talk about integrity. Then there was the Two-Gun Kid. Jack’s revamp of that character completely revitalized the series. It seemed that everything Jack touched was bursting with cre- ativity. So… after years of searching for everything Jack was involved with at Marvel, I was confident I had found it all—that I had seen just about every comic Jack had worked on during those years. But I was wrong. It wasn’t until nearly 20 years after my initial searching that I dis- covered Jack had also done a whole genre of comics I knew nothing about. These were his romance books. Now, I’m not talking about the he created in the late 1940s and early 1950s with Joe Simon; I’m talking about his romance comics of the early 1960s that were done at Marvel. Somehow, this entire body of work had slipped right by me—it was a whole genre of comics that Jack Kirby and Stan Lee had been creating at the same time as their super-heroes! I don’t know how I’d missed these comics. During my childhood I, along with my brother Howard, amassed a pretty good collection of Marvel comics. Yet neither of us had seen any of these romance books. How was this possible? We had gone to conventions… talked to dealers… looked through hundreds, if not thousands of back issue boxes for everything Kirby… and yet we hadn’t a clue that these even existed. 36 ack Kirby was a keen observer, perhaps to a best convey this Key 3: J fault—he couldn’t safely drive a car, because he aspect of Jack was so easily distracted. But through all eras of his would be the Black life and career, he took in what was all around him. Panther (showing From mythology books and pulps, to TV and his awareness of movies, Kirby would soak it all in, and spit back out the Civil Rights (below) Jack consults concepts that may’ve had a in something he movement), Atlas his reference shelf in the heard, saw, or read, but would be wholly his own. (just when we 1950s. The dichotomy is that, Jack was not highly edu- thought he’d cated, at least in terms of having a college degree. But mined all the (right) Though we could’ve used the what he lacked in formal education, he more than myths he could...), , we felt the made up on his own. He was a voracious reader, having Big Barda (his first Recorder best symbol- been influenced early-on by sci-fi pulps, as well as the Feminist), the ized Jack’s desire to document what he popular artists of his day like Forever People (his observed—in his own and Alex Raymond (and he had a garage full of old reflection on the unique way, of course. National Geographic magazines he saved for reference). Youth Culture of The hours he’d spent chained to his drawing board the hippie generation)—and The Recorder from Thor, afforded him time to become a deep . who symbolized Jack’s own thirst for exploration. He was astutely aware of the times he lived in. His longtime partner Joe Simon taught Jack to trends and exploit them Kirby’s World That’s Coming commercially, but once on his The King talks in future tense—written and transcribed own, Jack took it a step fur- by Jerry Boyd ther in his work. Key characters that would [Some of the most astounding notions about the challenges mankind of the future will face in technology, lifestyle, space travel, and alien worlds are present in comics magazines. Inventions once used in ’30s comic strips featuring early starblazers and Gordon (and either mar- veled at or contemptuously dismissed) have become reality or adopted/researched by the nation’s space programs. Concepts explored by Jules Verne, .. Wells, Burroughs, Asimov, Bradbury, and more have found their way into retooled tales by Thomas, Lee, Feldstein, Moore, Binder, and Kirby, to name a few. Jack Kirby’s affinity for things pertaining to super- science could be put into a category all its own. And it has. In TJKC #15, a number of the King’s inventive oddities from times and zones futuristic spilled out like so many gadgets from Mr. Fantastic’s storage closet. Naturally, Jack had opinions on how we’re going out into the wild blue yonder and its dark, mysterious depths and what type of mechanisms will aid us in the endeavor. Jack Kirby was

OBS46 E What’s ..his Behind... Mask? Incidental Iconography

An ongoing analysis of Kirby’s visual shorthand, and how he inadvertently used it to develop his characters, by Sean Kleefeld

f you’ve read my column Now, here’s some before, you’ll know that I interesting considerations. We I usually take a look at how also have a rejected cover for FF Jack would modify character #52 featuring the Panther, now designs on the , sometimes named as such, wearing changing them from panel to basically the Coal Tiger panel, creating what ultimately costume, minus the stripes plus become iconic visuals. If you’ve a half-mask. Since the final read my column before, you’ll cover features a Panther also likely be familiar with Jack’s costume that completely covers original sketch of the Black the character’s face, I think it’s Panther: a watercolor design he safe to presume that either Stan entitled Coal Tiger. So why Lee or Martin Goodman made a would I spend time-travelling request to change to a full mask over well-trod ground? out of concerns of a potential Despite that original backlash. Again, we’re talking sketch being relatively well- about 1966 here, squarely during known (including having been the Civil Rights movement—a reprinted in this very magazine repeatedly, and again below), I don’t year after the assassination of Malcolm X and two years before think many people have really looked at it in comparison to Jack’s Martin Luther King, Jr. A good many people were uncomfortable evolution of the design. I think people see it and think, “Wow, that’s… with Black people getting increasingly equal rights, and those who yellow!” without going much further. But we have some additional supported them sometimes found themselves facing arrest, steps to examine before imprisonment, or worse. getting to the Panther’s formal Here’s another consideration, though: Jack usually drew his debut in Fantastic Four #52. covers last. It wasn’t part of the story he was telling, so he’d dash We of course start with something off after he did the last page because a comic needed a Jack’s original watercolor—a cover. Which means that we’ve got a 20-page story featuring the Black -atypical Kirby design, Panther in a half-mask basically done before someone suggested that although he tended to avoid maybe showcasing a Black person on the cover was too risky. This capes as a general rule. If Jack suggests to me that it was Goodman’s concern. Wherever you fall on hadn’t made the character the who-did-what debate between Lee and Kirby, Stan was certainly dark-skinned (which in 1966 aware of the story being told beforehand, and he would’ve had was virtually unique) the cape ample time to mention to Jack that showing a Black man on the is probably the most cover might be risky if that outstanding design element was a concern of his. from Jack’s perspective. Take a Goodman was less involved moment, though, to picture in the day-to-day operations the costume without the color. and probably only noticed The changes between this the cover shortly before the design and the final Black book was ready to go to press. Panther costume are minimal—aside from the mask, the types of But changing the changes Jack might make absent-mindedly on any design from issue costume for the cover to issue. Really, besides the removal of the stylized “T” on the belt produces the additional and the vertical stripes on the tunic, the only change to the costume problem of having to adjust is in the coloring. Note that, although difficult to see in the final the interior art to . If published comics with color, the stripes on Panther’s gloves and you look at the story, you’ll boots remain in place. notice that Panther’s mask—

48 Myth The Perfection of Thena by Mr. MacLean (we’re sorry, we don’t know the author’s first name—please contact us for credit!)

ack Kirby’s Eternals series, created at Marvel in the feel this way about the series, via an analysis of one of mid ’70s, is often seen as one of his lesser efforts, at its most fascinating and overlooked characters, Thena, (below) Thena from J least in comparison with the multi-title Fourth particularly the three-issue story of which she is the Jack’s sketchbook. World epic so unfairly aborted at DC; it has even been protagonist (Eternals #8, 9, and 10). referred to as a sort of “Fourth-World-lite,” a relatively Thena is for me one of the most attractive and (next page) The gang’s uninspired rehash of ideas which he had given a more interesting characters ever to appear in Marvel comics. all here, led by Thena in profound treatment in that earlier set of books. My view Kirby was quite subtle in his portrayal of her, and since Eternals #6 (Dec. 1976). Jack always depicted is that The Eternals occupies a unique position in the he is usually seen as anything but subtle, it is not too her as a strong , Kirby canon, one at a level equal to that of the Fourth surprising that, in my view, later Eternals writers did as on the pencils from World, with which it does have some interesting parallels, not understand or simply didn’t notice what he was issue #10, page 12 but to which it gives up nothing in terms of depth and doing. In order to give some idea of what I believe Kirby (shown on page 52). resonance. This essay is an attempt to articulate why I was attempting with this character, it will first be neces- sary to go into the background of her mythological namesake, . Athena The goddess Pallas Athena is in many ways a unique individual among the twelve Olympians of Greek myth. In the very patriarchal ancient Greek culture she was for some reason given special status, often being the only Olympian, with , to be honored alongside regional in the rites dedicated to those local deities. Karl Kerenyi describes her as second only to Zeus in the ancient religion of which the surviving Greek myths are our main of information [The Gods of the Greeks 7.2]. She often appears with Zeus and a (variant) third god or goddess as part of a trinity of spe- cially honored gods at many locations in the ancient Greco-Roman world. Athena is described by Robert Graves in his exhaustive compilation of Greek myth [The Greek Myths 25.1] as follows: “Although a goddess of war, she gets no pleasure from battle, as and Eris [Strife] do, but rather from settling disputes and upholding the law by pacific means. She bears no arms in time of peace and, if ever she needs any, will borrow a set from Zeus. Her mercy is great… Yet, once engaged in battle she never loses the day… Many gods, Titans, and giants would gladly have married [her], but she has repulsed all advances.” Athena was born from the head of Zeus, fully-grown and clad in armour. She is the only god, besides Zeus himself, who is both capable of and permitted to wield Zeus’s -forged . According to one myth, she was the only god to stand her ground before the initial of the monstrous ; all the rest, Zeus included, fled to Egypt in animal form (incidentally enabling the story to provide an explanation for the 50 WordS Decoding “The Road” On understanding some of Kirby’s meaning in “On the Road to Armagetto,” by Shane Foley

(throughout) Mike reckon Hunger Dogs has some wonderful and unexpected moments in it. Better still, to my mind, is Royer’s original, unal- “On The Road to Armagetto,” that wonderful 25-page piece that ended up being split in two, tered inks for “On The I reorganized and absorbed into Hunger Dogs. How I wish the original plan had been followed—with Road to Armagetto,” “Road” left intact and the new Hunger Dogs story following on after it. Jack’s original 23- (later But again, like so many, and despite my love for the material, I often find Kirby’s scripting grates. At 25-) page story that was to be his wrap-up to the times it is really clunky and unnatural—a ‘tin ear’ Steve Engelhart called it. Other times, it is beautifully New Gods saga, before poetic and epic in character. These two characteristics can sometimes be found together in the same morphing into the panel. And there are times, whether he’s at the ‘clunky’ end of the scripting spectrum or at the poetic, or Hunger Dogs graphic somewhere in-between, where the reader simply goes “Huh? What does that mean?”... novel. ...especially in the ’80s. confessed to this in a 1997 interview, when speaking of working on from the same period, say- ing, “…sometimes, while lettering, I would go, ‘I don’t really understand this!’” (Jack Kirby Quarterly #8, page 10—in an interview with Chrissie Harper) (And while mention has been made of Mike Royer, I want to say that his original lettering on “Road,” and most especially his open, emboldened words, is sheer lettering brilliance!) As I said, I love so much of “Road.” But there is that frustration in the script that sometimes makes me say, “What?” But I want to understand it! So here is a short piece written about trying to make sense of some of “On the Road to Armagetto”’s script. “Road,” page 6 is where I begin. (This became Hunger Dogs, page 12.) This page has four captions. The first is great—it speaks of Armagetto:

“Did not the Elder Gods, on the eve of their doom, leave the warning of Armagetto behind them?” Did they? I’m happy to take Kirby’s word for it. It all sounds very philosophical— it has a great ring to it. (In the jettisoned caption from page 4 [HD page 10] which originally preceded this one, Kirby had already introduced the concept of Armagetto and defined it in this way:

“The slum and its inhabitants are a universal concept…on , the place called Armagetto shelters the ‘Lowlies’.”.. ...but this caption stands without needing it.)

56 innovator does what hasn’t been done before; • Taking “nothing” characters like Green builds on what others began to create something and Jimmy Olsen and making them “something.” Key 4: A • Helping launch the first syndicated television new; and never dwells on the past. If that doesn’t describe Kirby, we don’t know what does (his obsession program (, for which he with telling World War II stories aside). submitted a wealth of concepts and characters Here are a few that are yet to be mined) of the ways Kirby And perhaps his most was innovative: innovative concept: • Exploring new • The Silver Surfer (up formats for to that point, only comics (such as Siegel and Shuster’s his original plans Superman was so for the 1970s unlike whatever had DC “Speak-Out gone before it—both Series”) changed the industry • Introducing forever. The Surfer collages (even turned “comics” into though printing “cosmic.”) processes of the time weren’t up to the task of The Ship reproducing by Steve Sherman them) The Ship was one of those things we worked on • Developing the around the time of Captain Victory and Silver Star. I had first over- just read Arthur C. Clarke’s Rendezvous with Rama. We arcing multi- were trying to find another market for Jack Kirby. book epic (The When I told Jack about the story, he started to talk Fourth World) about spaceships and aliens, and pretty soon he’d con- • Pioneering the cocted this great multi-episode adventure as a TV Romance and series. We went for a walk up the hill outside of his Kid Gang house, all the while Jack puffing on his pipe and coming up with each episode. This was ten years before Flight of comics the Navigator. with Joe Simon I have this vivid picture of a pencil drawing of this • Launching the Direct Market of comics big mountain with these four figures climbing, and this shop distribution with Captain Victory huge Kirby spaceship. Now I can’t tell you if Jack actually • Popularizing artistic techniques like did a drawing like that or not. It’s one of those things breaking panel borders, using double- that Jack kept in the back of his head for later use! page splashes, and others The other idea he had was for a Twilight Zone type • Injecting futuristic technology into his show where each week someone would encounter a stories as pivotal elements (and even UFO and it would change their lives in some way—for as characters) good or for bad, depending on the person. Jack Kirby was

INNOVAT62 ?! What If... JHS@M&WtNGi2tMU*? (*Jack Had Stayed At Marvel and Worked the New Gods Into the ?) by Jeff Deischer

t is 1970. The comics industry is rocked when Jack Certainly, it could not have come about as it was Kirby jumps ship, leaving Marvel for DC. shown in the opening pages of The New Gods, with the (below) Cover corner I If you’re a regular reader of The Jack Kirby destruction of Asgard and the of the Norse gods “bullets” for the Fourth World titles, including an Collector, then you’re probably aware that in the late featured in Thor. Stan Lee, editor-in-chief at Marvel who unused one for Jimmy 1960s Jack Kirby became dissatisfied with the recognition had guided the company to the Number One spot in the Olsen, with inks by Vince and compensation he was receiving for his work at industry, would not have allowed this. So how could the Colletta. Marvel. For those of you who don’t know, in the Spring Fourth World have developed in a universe of old gods? of 1968, Jack began decreasing the amount of creative Craig McNamara asked this question in TJKC #53 (next page) Glorious input he gave stories, resulting in larger (and therefore (“What If?”), and his answer was both interesting and Godfrey, inspired by real- fewer) panels, and shorter and less spectacular tales; his reasonable. But he overlooked one logical setting for the life evangelist , from Forever longer stories took on a tendency to ramble at times. Fourth World: the Inhumans series in People #6 (Dec. 1971). Jack also began holding back his better ideas for a (Volume 2), which Jack both wrote and drew in 1970. stage of his career that would give him what he wanted. To re-cap Mr. McNamara’s thesis: Jack Kirby The most famous of these is his Fourth World saga, might have been given books that had failed or were which included New Gods, Mister Miracle, Forever People, failing, such as , The X-Men, Dr. Strange, and a run in Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen. So, what if The Silver Surfer, etc. He posits the saga of the New Gods Jack had gotten what he felt he deserved, and stayed at would fit into the adventures of a space-traveling Silver Marvel, rather than departing for DC in 1970? How Surfer, using the Surfer’s ideological similarities to would the Fourth World have Lightray; the counter-culture material of Jimmy developed in the Marvel Olsen and The Forever People would dovetail Universe? nicely with the exploits of the teenaged X-Men, while Dr. Strange would pick up the leftovers of The Forever People and Mister Miracle. The matching of the X-Men to Jimmy Olsen’s adventures seems a natural fit—but I think there are better choices for the rest of the Fourth World saga. Specifically, the New Gods could have been adapted to cover the history of the Inhumans, which Stan and Jack had started in the back pages of Thor (#147-152, 1967). They went from the first super-powered , Randac, in the first install- ment, to the birth of Black Bolt in the second, some twenty-five years before the beginning of the Marvel Age. Four more chapters in the recent past, and the strip was over. That left lots of room for untold tales, such as the first evil Inhuman. I have to confess that this idea came to me while reading Shane Foley’s article in TJKC #56. “Subploticus Interruptus?” discussed unfinished storylines of Stan and Jack in the MU, specifically that of the Inhumans. Among other things, he pointed out the long and awkward gap in the “ of the Inhumans” back-up strip in Thor, and suggested that this was one instance of Jack pulling back, contributing

64 Tech Jack Kirby: Writing“Machine” by Michael Aushenker

or many, Jack Kirby’s writing might be the bottom Machine Man best captured several facets of the master: of the Living Totem that was his towering legacy: his humor, his hopes and fears regarding technology, (below) Machine Man F his unbridled imagination. his immigrant cloth-cut American patriotism, and his (a..a. Mr. Machine) from Above all, Kirby was known for his powerful and faith in humanity, against all odds, despite Kirby’s own Jack’s sketchbook. distinctive artwork, his ideas and concepts, and his pro- healthy dose of worry regarding the future of our lific output (of course, the very reason you’re reading species. At the risk of overreaching, Kirby (born Jacob (next page) Psychiatrist this piece in the post-60th issue of The Kirby Collector). Kurtzberg) may have even intended elements of Dr. Peter Spalding sports a pipe, which, in Jack’s While his text and dialogue could be alternately corny, Machine Man to resonate as an indirect allegory of day, imbued a character clumsy, naïve, long-in-the-tooth, fatiguing, obvious, and Jewish persecution during Nazi-occupied Europe. with having knowledge heavy-handed (not to mention peppered with too many Long before Inspector Gadget, there was the serious and sophistication. exclamation points!!!), his writing sometimes coalesced version: the robot X-51, alias Aaron Stack, also known Nowadays, not so much. perfectly with his visuals. Machine Man as Machine Man. Pencils from Machine Man #2 (May 1978). was such a series. Originally an offshoot character from the short- In terms of Kirby’s writing and philosophies, lived Kirby-does-Kubrick 2001: A comics, this Marvel Comics Group character took on a life of its own. In the late 1970s, Machine Man lasted 19 issues in a glorious run started by Kirby (the first nine) and completed by Steve Ditko with writer . In a letters’ column editorial, Kirby sold Machine Man this way: “He’s just another dude—who happens to have a body of impenetrable armor, electronic eyes, and a deadly hand-weapons system.” In the of Kirby’s post-Silver Age output, the Machine Man series— which blended Kirby tropes from Captain America, Fantastic Four’s Silver Surfer, and The Incredible Hulk—may rank just behind his Fourth World books as his most satis- fying. Like the lone Super-Soldier, Machine Man was the only experimental specimen of what were to be many Machine Men (created by Abel Stack) to survive. As with the Incredible Hulk, X-51 was wanted by the Government and was hounded by an ersatz Captain Ahab obsessed with destroying him: the eye-patch-wearing Colonel Kragg, playing Gen. “Thunderbolt” Ross to Machine Man’s Hulk. Finally, the emotionless Machine Man, as with his cosmic counterpart Norrin Radd, was an alien among us, at once baffled by human- ity and fighting for it, while awkwardly trying to find a humanity of his own. In Machine Man #1 (April 1978), Kirby the writer adeptly kicks off the series by throwing us into the middle of the adventure before launching into the obligatory origin. A rescue of a hiker lets Kirby start off our story with an exciting, action-packed prologue that lets him demonstrate the mechanical capabilities of his new hero in the process, as Machine Man shows off his “ cancellation” techniques and stretching, mechanical- tentacle arms while retrieving the distressed young man. “Look! His arm is extending like a ladder!” exclaims a female as 70 ome key characters Batroc the Leaper Dingbats of Danger Street G Jack created or co- Dino Manelli Key 5: S Ben Boxer Dionysus created: Bernadeth Doctor Bedlam Gammenon the Gatherer A Doctor Canus Abner Little Big Barda Gilotina Abominable Black Bolt Doctor Druid Black Panther Global Peace Agency Ace Morgan Black Racer Dorrek VII Glorious Godfrey (bottom right) 1992 Actor Golden Girl outtake photo by Susan Adam (HIM) , for Ray Wyman’s Goody Rickels Art of Jack Kirby bio. Agatha Harkness Dreaming Googam Thanks to Ray for Agent Axis Bombast Dredmund the Druid Goom making this photo Aginar Dromedan Gorgilla publicly available! Agon Bor Druig Agron Boy Commandos Dubbilex Granny Goodness Aireo Boy Explorers Gregory Gideon Brother Tode Grey Gargoyle Alicia Masters Mutants E Egghead Groot Amphibion Bruno Mannheim Ego the Living Planet Growing Man Anelle Elektro Guardian Annihilus Bucky Enchantress Ant-Man Burner H Ares H.E.R..I.E. Erik Josten Arishem the Judge C Captain 3-D Esak Happy Sam Sawyer Captain America Eson the Searcher Artemis Hargen the Measurer Captain Glory Eternals Athena Hate-Monger Captain Victory Etrigan the Demon Atlas Heggra Celestials Executioner Challengers of the Unknown Avia Circus of Crime F Fafnir Hera Contemplator B Fantastic Four Balder Crusaders Fastbak Crystal Highfather Cyclops Himon Fighting American Hippolyta D Fighting Fetus Dabney Donovan Hulk Dan Turpin Hulk Robot Fly Darkseid I Deep Six Forbush Man Desaad Forever People Idunn Destroyer Duck Forgotten One Ikaris Deviants Franklin Richards Immortus Devil Dinosaur Franklin Impossible Man Devilance Man Funky Flashman Jack Kirby was

INSPIRAT74 Adam McGovern

Know of some Kirby-inspired work that should be covered here? Send to: Adam McGovern As A Genre PO 257 Mt. Tabor, 07878 A regular feature examining Kirby-inspired work, by Adam McGovern

(this page) A dizzying Amy The Goodguy Dinosaur Reeder cover (top right) and dynamic Natacha obody can forget Devil Dinosaur—even though most people can’t Bustos page-thumbnail N (bottom left) from Moon believe it ever happened. One of Kirby’s last works for Marvel in the late Girl & DD’s pre- (and re-) 1970s, this gonzo tale of a hominid boy and his pet thunder- was both a historic adventures. kid’s and a folkloric fever-dream. In a series taking place before his- tory began, Devil Dinosaur and Moon Boy were trapped in a wild, dreamtime (next page) Line and tone childhood. In Marvel’s current phase of eccentric, original reinventions of art for a kinetic Bustos layout (left) and style-sheet intriguing second-string characters, two of comics’ most seasoned time- for Moon Girl’s many travelers, writer Brandon Montclare and artist Amy Reeder of Rocket Girl fame, phases (right). were called on to bring Devil to the present day with a new kid partner, pre- cocious science-geek Lunella Lafayette, in Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur— (page 78) Proof of evolution: Moon Girl goes up against this time with Montclare and Reeder as co-writers and Natacha Bustos as the humanoid “Killer Folk” the vibrant artist and Tamra Bonvillain supplying the joyous, cinematic colors. in these three stages of a The Collector spoke in-person with Montclare and Reeder in New York on dramatic Bustos/Bonvillain February 27, 2016, and by e-mail with Bustos from Spain on March 6. design. (Do Marvel lifers recognize that orb as the THE JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR: Devil Dinosaur is infamously one of Kirby’s “Omni-Wave Projector” most kitschy concepts, but it does hold a fascination for many sophisticated from the original - War?) creators both in and outside of comics. Was it a series you always enjoyed, or did you just welcome the challenge of updating this crazy idea? AMY REEDER: Honestly, our editor Mark Paniccia is a huge Devil Dinosaur fan; he’d been trying for years to bring it back. I guess the timing was right? Hopefully we brought something to it that made them want more, and they approved it. Brandon and I were just looking for a character, and we really wanted to revitalize something, because there’s a lot less pressure in that, and then you can do a lot of creative things. BRANDON MONTCLARE: Amy’s working on another pile of Rocket Girl issues so we can release them in sequence, but we still wanted to have something on the shelf, and we thought it would be nice for Amy to co-write and do covers. Marvel said, “Why don’t you come by and we’ll talk about what you want to do.” Certainly within the first ten minutes, if not the very first thing that was mentioned, was Devil Dinosaur. Which got me excited, ’cuz, “Oh, it’s such a cool, it’s such an oddball thing,” and like Amy says, nobody really bothers you when you’re doing something so obscure. So about another minute after that, [Mark] said, “How about Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur,” and then you could do something totally different… the idea being, you bring it to modern times instead of setting it in The Valley of Flames and the dinosaur world… REEDER: I think part of his thinking was also that I would be on the project, because, to be honest, at first when he said Devil Dinosaur I was just like, kinda rolling my eyes… inside [laughs], not outwardly, but then as soon as he said, like, “Girl” I was like, ooooh, that’s fun, because… I wasn’t really a dinosaur person growing up. I mean, they’re interesting enough, but, I did not see the possibilities in that. MONTCLARE: And just the idea that you can do a companion for this dinosaur, and from complete scratch. REEDER: That’s really the part that’s exciting, the fact that the story is really intrinsically about two characters, just those two, and their relationship as it grows. That’s really something special that I think sets it apart from other books for sure. TJKC: I just like the sassiness and outsidery-ness of Lunella—how much of each of you is in that character? It feels very contemporary and very true to a young girl who isn’t the play-with-Barbie type… 76 Mark Evanier Jack F.A.Q.s A column of Frequently Asked Questions about Kirby

(below) “What’s a You know, most people, ‘Brooklyn?’” one of 2015 Kirby WonderCon Panel their minds go from A, to Jack’s basic training Held Sunday, April 5, 2015 at 3:00pm at WonderCon, B, to C, to D. Jack would compatriots asked in Anaheim, California. Featuring Neal Adams, Darwyn Cooke, start with A, and then he’d this issue’s interview— here’s the answer from Fred Van Lente, Crystal Skillman, Len Wein, Paul S. Levine, do R, and then he’d do K, Jack’s sketchbook. and moderated by Mark Evanier. Transcribed by Steven and all of a sudden he would have you On Beyond (next page) Photos of Tice. Edited by John Morrow, copy-edited by Mark Evanier. Zebra someplace. His mind would just—and a lot of the Jack from a circa 1974 You can view a video of this panel at: great concepts that he came up with in comics I believe Comic-Con, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sSZOnoGKM0 were a case of him putting together two things no one courtesy of . else would have ever thought to put together, making (bottom, left to right) MARK EVANIER: Every day of my life I find myself one coherent better idea that was better than any of the Moderator Mark answering questions about Jack, thinking about Jack, components. So we do these panels to talk about that Evanier, and panelists: talking about Jack. And if you ever met Jack, you know Neal Adams, Darywn and talk about Jack. he had a very odd way of speaking. His mind would Let me introduce the panel as it stands thus far. Cooke, Len Wein, race from topic to topic. He would start talking about Crystal Skillman, Fred This is a chair which will be occupied by Neal Adams at Van Lente, and Paul S. one thing, and then suddenly he’d be talking about some point, I presume. This is the fine illustrator Mr. Levine. another thing, and another thing. And he put strange Darwyn Cooke. [applause] This is the fine writer Mr. Len associations together. He would make leaps in his logic. Wein. [applause] These are the fine writers and playwrights Crystal Skillman and Fred Van Lente. [applause] This is the fine attorney Paul Levine. [applause] Paul is here because I never go anywhere without my lawyer. [laughter] He’s also the lawyer for—what’s the exact name of it again? I can’t remember. PAUL LEVINE: The Rosalind Kirby Trust. MARK: Thank you, the Rosalind Kirby Trust. When people say “the Kirby estate,” they probably mean the Rosalind Kirby Trust which Paul has represented for, lo, these many years. How long have you been…? PAUL: I represented Jack from ’81 until ’87, and then when I went in ’92, represented him and the Estate. MARK: I ran into, what’s his name, your old law partner person? Anyway… so one of the topics we’re not going to be talking about here, because there isn’t that much to say about it, is: As you may know, the Jack Kirby Estate—i.e., the Rosalind Kirby Trust— there was this dispute between the Marvel Comics people and the Kirbys which in various forms and various shapes went on since about the day I met Jack, which was in July of 1969. And for all that time I felt that Jack was not properly compensated for his work and, he was not properly credited for his work. And I was not the only person who felt this. Insofar as I could tell, every single person who really knew the history of Marvel Comics and knew what Jack had done felt this way. And finally, it was resolved 80 with a very nice settlement.settlement. And I cannot tell you the reelieflief I have felt was one person to have closure on somethingsomething that has been gnawing at meme since July that we kind of of 1969. grabbed onto and were looking at. DDARARWYN COOKE: Can I ask you, Mark… TToo what degree do you think the settlement hhingedinged on Disney’s purchase of Marvel? WWouldould CRYSTTAL:AL: It was you say that was a big part of it? right in my mmind.ind. I had worked withwith him MARRK:K: YYes,, I think it wwas,as, definitely. Anyway, we aren’t ggoingoing to talk two years ago inin a much about that. We are going to talk about Jack, and I was hoping play of mine: Steven Neal would be here so I could start with my main thesis, bbutut before Rattazzi [below]. we get to that, I want to ask each of the people on the ppanelanel to tell us a little about things ttheyhey have done that have touched on Jack Kirby. FRED: Any of you guys Fred, you and Crystal diddid a project. TTellellell us about tthahat. hherere VVenturenture Brothersothers fans? FRED VVAAN LENTE: YYeah,eeahah, sure. I primarily write comics for [audience a living because I’vev aalwalways been interested in comics. But membersmembers cheer] before I even really brookeke into the industry, I became really He pplalays Dr. interested in Jack’s life aandnd was sort of researching a biog- Orpheus. raphy of him just, reeallyally, as a hobby more than anything else. This would be, llike,ike, 1999, 2000. And I was dating this CRYSTTAL:AL: YYes.es. lovely lady here, Cryystal,stal, at the time [CCrrrystalystal waves to the And because I’d audience]. WWee ssubsequentlyubsequently got married. I’m sure that’s not been in a room a coincidence. [[laughter]llaughter]aughter] But she was a playwright, and so I, with him, because I just sort of as a monkey-see-monkey-dmonkey-see-monkey-do thing, I aadapteddapted mmyy research knew he had worworked with on Jack as a play. And wewe did a reading of it, it was fun, bbutut we kind incredible players, I knew the of put it away and it kindkind of sat in a drawer for a while uuntilntil a theater breadth of his wworork, and I that Crystal—[to CCrrrystal]ystalystal] well, why don’t you take it from there? knew that he ccouldould really There was the theaIFt erYO yUouou E wNerJOe YinvEDolved THI iSn PinR ENVewIE YYorWor, k. transform iintonto a character but CLICK THE LINK TO ORDER THIS also really havvee soul, had the CRYSTTALAL SKILLMAN: YYeah,eah, there’s a big movement here,e, sometimes ISSUE IN PRINT OR DIGITAL FORMAT! poetry, of what I felt was the it’s called “geek theater,,”” “comic book theater.” And it’s notnot just New essence of ccapturingapturing Jack YYorork, it’s kind of all ovverer, which is really exciting to naturaallylly see the onstage. And wwee were just so two communities sspeakingpeaking to each other. So in Williamsburg, lucky that he wwasas so taken with Brooklyn, they have a ggeekeek festival at a theater called Broookok Theater. the project. He works mostly off- It’s called the Comic BBookook Theater FFestivestival. And so they wwerere fans of Broadway and Broadway, so he the idea of the play. TheyThey were very excited by it. WWee had done some came on down to Williamsburg. rewrites, so we were very excited to put up the play there. And it was [[laughs]laughs] WWhichhich was very exciting, a really exciting experienceexperience to share the story of this increedibledible man’s and he did a wwonderonderful job. There’s life in this festival for, like,like, 50% of the audience who knew him quite actually also a radio version of it as well or loved him and waswas very excited to see this on sstage,tage, or for well, so yoou—oru—or it wasn’t a radio those who were experiencingexperiencing his story for the first time, aandnd it was version, it was— cool seeing how gratifiedtified audiences were on both sides. FRED: A MMidtoidtown Comics podcast. FFRRREEEDD: Our audience becomes a unique mixture of comics, cute people, YYouou go on ttheirheir iTunes stream and get play people, and all thaKt.tI. RIt’BsY called COL LKKingEingCT KOiriRb #.68 KEY KIRBY CHARACTERS! We go decade-by-decade to exam - it. [Or go to: http://blog.midtowncomics.com/podcast/8544] MARK: Now, telline puivs,ota il tc hraaranct efrors Ja chk ocrweat elong?d throughout his career (includ - ing some that might surprise you)! Plus there’s a look at what CCRRYYSSTTAAL: So you guys can actually hear that ffoor ffrree, you can actually would’ve happened if Kirby had never left Marvel Comics for FRED: It ran inD June.C, how JaWWeck’es wgootrk haas bereeny r enpaicecka gNewed ove rYYork torkhe d eTcaimesdes, reevieview, and hhearear it. it’s going to beM inAR SK eaEVAtttletleNIER aandnd o tChealgarr regulayr cnolextumni sytse, arand. gWaller’ierse o fssuperuper-excited. unseen Kirby pencil art! MARK: Did yoourur actor look at videos of Jack? Hopefully it’ll come to alla(1ll00 o-pfa gyeou. FULL-COLOR mag) $10.95 (Digital Edition) $4.95 FRED: He did. He’s a classically trained actor whowho wanted to make MARK: When yhtotp:u//tw womoerrrowes. cocmasting/index.php?m atinhe_page =rprodleuct_ inofof&c PJaackth=98_5 7K&pirbyroducts_id,= 1wwha240 hat did you the role his own.wn. We got him some videos and audioaudio. He definitely look for? wanted to mmakeake the character his own. I think hehe did a very good job [Neal Adams arrives and the audience applauds] of capturing tthehe essence of Jack. FRED: Jack is a very pphysicalhysical type, particularly in the way he is por- CRYSTTAL:AL: AndAnd also played against— trayed in pop culture, eveneven subsequent to his death. WWee needed FRED: Based onon what I… someone who was tough,tough, I think, was how he came acrooss,, and there

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