$10.95 SUMMER 2016 JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR SIXTY-EIGHT 1 82658 00053 0 THE Contents KEY CHARACTERS! OPENING SHOT . .2 (the five keys to Kirby’s character) KEY 1: PATRIOTIC . .4 ISSUE #68, SUMMER 2016 INNERVIEW . .6 C o l l e c t o r (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 (Stan Lee 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 Thena) WORDS . .56 (decoding the road to Armagetto) KEY 4: INNOVATIVE . .62 ?! . .64 (what if JHS@M&WtNGi2tMU?) TECH . .70 (Jack Kirby: writing “Machine”) KEY 5: INSPIRATIONAL . .74 KIRBY AS A GENRE . .76 (Adam McGovern explores Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur) JACK F.A.Q.s . .80 (Mark Evanier moderates the 2015 WonderCon Tribute Panel, with Neal Adams, Darwyn Cooke, Len Wein, Crystal Skillman, Fred Van Lente, 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 If you’re viewing a Digital Edition of this publication, PLEASE READ THIS: Imagine Jack Kirby decided to draw a sketchbook, filled with more than 125 single-page illustrations of all his This is copyrighted material, NOT intended for downloading anywhere except our key characters. Now imagine his family letting you borrow it, website or Apps. If you downloaded it from to scan for posterity. They were either crazy or far too another website or torrent, go ahead and read it, and if you decide to keep it, DO trusting, but we’re grateful they did! THE RIGHT THING and buy a legal down- load, or a printed copy. Otherwise, DELETE The Jack Kirby Collector, Vol. 23, No. 68, Summer 2016. Published COPYRIGHTS: A.I.M., Adventures Into Weird Worlds, Balder, Black Bolt, Black Panther, Black Widow, Blue Diamond, Bucky, IT FROM YOUR DEVICE and DO NOT Captain America, Captain Mar-Vell, Devil Dinosaur, Dr. Doom, Enchantress, Eternals, Executioner, Fantastic Four, Hawkeye, more or less quarterly by and © TwoMorrows Publishing, 10407 Herbie, Human Torch, Ikaris, Inhumans, Jimmy Woo, Karkas, Karnilla, Loki, Love Romances, Machine Man, Makarri, Marvel Girl, SHARE IT WITH FRIENDS OR POST IT Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614, USA. 919-449-0344. John Maximus, Moon Boy, Moon Girl, Mr. Hyde, Mr. Little, My Own Romance, Nick Fury, Odin, Recorder, Reject, Rick Jones, Sgt. Fury, ANYWHERE. 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All characters are trade- Metron, Mister Miracle, Newsboy Legion, On The Road To Armagetto, Orion, Shilo Norman, Slig, Sonny Sumo, Superman, Ted www.twomorrows.com marks of their respective companies. All artwork is © Jack Kirby Brown, Toxl TM & © DC Comics • Captain Victory, Egghead, Klavus, The Ship, The Visitor On Highway Six TM & © Jack Kirby Estate unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter is © the respec- Estate • Futuremen, Harry The Head, Hidden Harry, Turbo Teen TM & © Ruby-Spears Productions • Fighting American TM & © Joe Simon and Jack Kirby Estates • Destroyer Duck TM & © Steve Gerber and Jack Kirby Estate • Avenger, Justice Inc. TM & tive authors. First printing. PRINTED IN CHINA. ISSN 1932-6912 © Street & Smith or successor in interest • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles TM & © Mirage Studios • Iron God, Uncle Sam 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 secret government conspiracies with Hydra. 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 Shield 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 New Gods #6 in the 1970s. That’s as close to Dream, coming from humble beginnings, to become a comment on the Vietnam War 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 film 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 Jack Schiff over Sky Masters, 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 Marvel Comics 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 rage 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 Howard The Duck. The result was the who abandoned his warrior ways in an effort to promote waterfowl patriot Destroyer Duck, a series that helped peace with his enemies. Along the way, Jack created Gerber financially, so he could eventually reach 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 • The Losers been proud of. • Boy Commandos Jack Kirby was PATR4 I OTIC5 Innerview Hour 25 Interview Jack Kirby interviewed by J. 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.