Fully Authorized $4.95 By The In The US Kirby Estate CELEBRATING THE LIFE & CAREER OF THE KING!

Issue #10, APR. 1996 A special humor issue , exploring the lighter side of Jack!

A funny and Touching interview with Jack’s wife Rosalind Kirby

McCarthy In long underwear? Fighting American

You begged! you pleaded! But he’s still in this issue: Goody Rickels

The creator of Destroyer Duck interviewed: Steve Gerber

Fans & Pros Tell Favorite Stories About Jack Features On: Kirby’s Lockjaw The Alligator, Earl The Rich Rabbit, My Date, Brand Echh, modern art, y b r

Professional i K

sports and more! k c a J

d n a

n o m i S Unpublished Art e o J including Jack’s ©

Pencils From Jimmy y o b

Olsen, destroyer d e e p

duck and Thor S

& Before They Were n a c i

Inked-- And Much r e

More!! m A

g n i t h g i ¬ F

- Raleigh, NC 27605 USA -- phone (919) 833-8092 -- FAX 2 (919) 833-8023 -- EMAIL: [email protected]

. s r o h t u a e v i t c e p s e r e h t © s i r e t t a m l a i r o t i d e l l A . d e t o n e s i w r e h t o s s e l n u y b r i K k c a J © s i k r o w t r a l l A . s e i n a p m o c e v i t c e p s e r r i e h t © e r a s r e t c a r a h c l l A

. 6 9 9 1 , 5 1 l i r p A f o k e e w e h t d e l i a m s a w e u s s i s i h t f o g n i t n i r p l a i t i n i e h T . g n i t n i r p t s r i F . a c i r e m A h t r o N e d i s t u o 0 0 . 4 4 $ d n a , o c i x e M d n a a d a n a C 0 0 . 2 3 $ , S U 0 0 . 4 2 $

: s n o i t p i r c s b u s e u s s i - x i S . a c i r e m A h t r o N e d i s t u o 0 4 . 7 $ , a d a n a C 0 4 . 5 $ , . S . U h c a e 5 9 . 4 $ : s e u s s i e l g n i S . r o t i d E t n a t s i s s A , w o r r o M a l e m a P . r o t i d E , w o r r o M n h o J

. 2 9 0 8 - 3 3 8 - 9 1 9 . A S U , 5 0 6 7 2 C N , h g i e l a R , . t S s ’ y r a M t n i a S 2 0 5 , g n i s i t r e v d A s w o r r o M o w T y b y l h t n o m - i b d e h s i l b u P . 6 9 9 1 . r p A , 0 1 . o N , 3 . l o V , r o t c e l l o C y b r i K k c a J e h T

. c n I , p u o r G t n e m n i a t r e t n E l e v r a M © d n a M T e r a l e g n A d n a n a m e c I , t s a e B , e y e k w a H , m o o l B . r D , o t e n g a M , r e f r u S r e v l i S , s i r a k I , y d e H & y s t a P , l l u k S d e R , n a M - r e d i p S , k l u H

, d i K e d i h w a R , y r u F . t g S , e g n a r t S . r D , r e n i r a M - b u S , r o h T , l r i G e l b i s i v n I , r e v l i s k c i u Q , l i v e d e r a D , n a M n o r I , g n i h T , c i t s a t n a F . r M , l r i G l e v r a M , h c t i W t e l r a c S , a c i r e m A n i a t p a C

, h c r o T n a m u H , s p o l c y C • . y b r i K k c a J d n a r e b r e G e v e t S © e r a s g e l e g n a r t S a n i l b o W d n a a e d e M , e x A e l t t a B , k c u D r e y o r t s e D • . y b r i K k c a J © s i r e b b o b e l z o o G • . o e d i V y a w d a o r B © . s n a f s u l l a h t i w p u g n i t t u p

d n a M T e r a o t n o T d n a r e g n a R e n o L • . c n I , s h g u o r r u B e c i R r a g d E © d n a M T s i n a z r a T • . s l a c i d o i r e P n a m l l i H © e r a y r r a H e t a D - e s u o H d n a e y a D y n n u S , e s a h C y t f i w S , r o t a g i l l A r o f d n a , s r a e y e s o h t

e h T w a j k c o L , t i b b a R h c i R e h T l r a E • . c n I , s c i m o C C D © d n a M T e r a n o i r O d n a n o m e D , e l c a r i M . r M , a n a v i S , n o s t a B y l l i B , l e v r a M n i a t p a C , w o r r A n e e r G , e n a L s i o L , n a m r e p u S l l a ) e v i t c u d o r p & ( y p p a h o s

, a d r a B g i B , m i e h n n a M y l g U , n a i d r a u G , n e s l O y m m i J , s l e k c i R y d o o G , e g d E n a g r o M • . y b r i K k c a J & n o m i S e o J © e r a y a w a e v i G e l c n U d n a y o b d e e p S & n a c i r e m A g n i t h g i F

k c a J g n i p e e k r o f s k n a h T

y b r i K d n i l a s o R

: n a m e h t d n i h e b n a m o w

g n i z a m a e h t o t e u s s i s i h t

e t a c i d e d y l l u f t c e p s e r e W

. C N , h g i e l a R n i

s n a f y b r i K r e h t o

e h t l l a d n a

r e m r e P b o B

r e k r a V k c i r t a P

i l l e t S d E

l a i s u M n e l G

: s e p o l e v n e o t n i

e u s s i s i h t

g n i f f u t s e l i h w

s t u C r e p a p f o

r e b m u n e g r a l a

t o g g n i w o l l o f e h T

. y b r i K z o R

, e s r u o c f o &

n o t s k a e h T g e r G

a l l e c a P c r a M

e n o b m a H . D

r e b r e G e v e t S

o l l a C n e L

G : ) l u f e t a r

e r ’ e w h c i h w

r o f ( f e i h c s i m

s e n e c S - e h T - d n i h e b

n i d e v l o v n i e r e w

T g n i w o l l o f e h

) ! ! t o n r o e n o t n a w

y e h t r e h t e h w , s t r o f f e

r i e h t r o f e u s s i e e r f e n o

s e v i e c e R r o t u b i r t n o c h c a E (

n i k a Y z e r E

k e c a i W b o B

y l l o h S n o V r e t e P

e n o t i V h c i R

G n o t s k a e h T g e r

o k n a r e t S m i J

d n a l e g n a t S n h o J

t t o n n i S e o J

n a m r e h S e v e t S

S ! w a h S t t o c

n i f a r e S y n n a D

e c i r P t a P

a s o l a n e P d i v a D

o d n a P o e L

M a l l e c a P c r a

a r a H ’ O l e a h c i M

y a M d l o r a H

H y a M d l o r a

n a i s o r e d r a M k r a M

k c i s a L y t r a M

s i k r o K m i J

n a m k l o K d r a h c i R

R r e z u a l K y d n a

n a n r e f f e H e o J

r e p r a H s i r h C

n o t l i m a H d i v a D

r e b r e G e v e t S

J l e g n E m i

r e h c t i e D t r a u t S

i k c e n r a z C l A

e k o o C . B n o J

o t u p a C s a l o h c i N

L o l l a C n e

t r o o v e r B m o T

d y o B y r r e J

n i t s u A y r r e T

J h s a m A m i

: n o i t a i c o s s a y b y t l i u g e r a

s r o t u b i r t n o c g n i w o l l o f e h T

) ! k o o h e h t f f o s ’ e H ( o k u i Z m o T

B : y B e u s s i s i h t d e r o l o C e

o t g n i h t y n a e v a h t ' n d i d e W

l l e w o h d r a h c i R

f ) . r e v o c s ’ o i l o f t r o p e h t m o r : y b d e s s i m e r e w s r o r r e g n i d a e r f o o r P

s l i c n e p d e k n i n u e h t e r a e r e h n w o h S

w o r r o M a l e m a P & n h o J

: f o t l u a f e h t . o i l o f t r o P s k r o w r e t s a M

e r a t u o y a L d n a n g i s e D

9 7 9 1 s ’ k c a J h t i w n o i t c n u j n o c n i d l o s

J w o r r o M n h o

r e t s o p a m o r f t r a e h t s i r e v o c t n o r f r u O (

: y b d e t i d e s a w s s e m s i h t “Don’t Ask! Just Buy It!” The Wacky World of Jack Kirby, Cartoonist by Scott Shaw! he first time I met Jack, I blurted out, “Jack Kirby!?! You’re my favorite cartoonist! ” And surprisingly, Jack seemed quite pleased to TTbe described by that simple term, usually applied to those of us who write and draw nothing but the funny stuff. I suppose that’s because Jack probably saw himself as a cartoonist, too. Most people tend to think of Jack Kirby in melodramatic superlatives. He’s been described as the ultimate comic book artist, a master’s master of graphic fiction, an incredibly talented creator of dynamic heroes, dramatic action and cosmic conflicts. Comics afi - cionados have dubbed him “King” Kirby (a title he wore with some discomfort), and have compared his work to that of Da Vinci, Rembrandt and Rockwell, among other artistic greats. He was, with - out a doubt, the single most imaginative individual ever to work in the field of comic books. He was equally comfortable working in any of the familiar comic book genres of super-heroics, romance, west - erns, science fiction and war, among other dramatic themes. But Jack Kirby was also very funny as a writer, as an artist and as a person, and left behind a surprisingly large body of work to prove it. One of the strangest paradoxes in comics is that most “straight” comic books (in such “realistic” genres as super-heroes, western, romance, war, etc.) are drawn in styles that actually bear almost no resemblance to truly realistic illustration! Yet, many fans (and even editors) of these comics turn up their noses at anything resembling the kind of humorous cartooning sometimes referred to within the business as “big-foot drawing.” In my estimation, Jack Kirby’s art - work somehow bridges this aesthetic gulf. Judging by life-drawings that he had done as a young man, Jack had always possessed a natural ability to work in a much more realistic foreshortening that have become such a Kirby trademark may have been style than that with which he is now usually associated. It appears that the result of a conscious aesthetic decision on Jack’s part. One thing is the exaggerated and dynamic anatomy, poses, design, composition and certain, however; once he began his professional career (under a variety of pen names), no matter what the character or genre, whether the subject was serious or light-hearted, Jack Kirby could only draw like Jack Kirby—and if humorous illustra - tion could be described as an exaggeration of realistic art, then Jack Kirby’s humor work is nothing less than an even greater exaggeration of his normally exaggerated style! Some of Jack’s earliest professional work was doing “in-betweening” on the animated Popeye shorts at the Max Fleisher Studios. Although he soon tired of the job and left the studio, citing that the work was far less than creatively fulfilling, it’s apparent that his experiences at Fleisher’s had some influence on him, because one of his early comic strips was Socko the Seadog , which was a fairly blatant Popeye imitation. But it’s likely that this early animation training also had a long-range effect on Jack throughout his six-decade career. Not coincidentally, in the 1980s Jack found himself back where he started, working in the ani - mation field, doing character designs and concept devel - opment for Hanna-Barbera and Ruby-Spears Productions (including extremely cartoony designs for H-B’s Scooby Doo cartoons!). Here are a few notable examples of prime

(left) S&K’s movie parody as seen in From Here To Insanity #1 (August 1955). (above) Earl The Rich Rabbit splash page from

Punch & Judy Comics Vol. 3, #2 (Dec. 1947).

- . t S s ’ y r a M t n i a S 2 0 5 - - g n i s i t r e v d A s w o r r o m o w o / c - - r o t i d E , w o r r o M n h o J - - ! g n i k e h t e v i l g n o L - -

¬ T 3 “Would You Like To See My Etchings?” Rosalind Kirby Interviewed (conducted by John Morrow on December 12, 1995)

THE JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR: What’s your favorite color? ROZ: Yes. It was the summer of 1940. I was telling everyone I was dis - ROSALIND KIRBY: Yellow. I love yellow roses. appointed. I thought he was going to fool around! (laughter) And 1 from that time on... let’s see, I was 17 ⁄2, on my 18th birthday I TJKC: What’s your favorite ice cream flavor? became engaged. We were engaged for a year, and when I was 19 and ROZ: Choc... no, actually, I like cherry jubilee. he was 24, we were married.

TJKC: Wow, that’s an interesting choice! So where were you born? TJKC: What did your parents think of Jack when they first met him? ROZ: I was born ROZ: Well, they thought, “He’s an artist. He’ll never make a living.” in Brooklyn, (laughter) His parents always wanted him to be a mechanic so he could September 25, make a living. In the Army, he was a mechanic for three months, and 1922. Now you he couldn’t even change a tire. (laughter) I have a little 3" x 3" diploma know my age! from the Army that says “Jack Kirby, Mechanic, U.S. Army.” He didn’t (laughter) even know how to change a tire, so you can imagine...! (laughter) But he always called me a cheap date, because I lived upstairs, and he didn’t TJKC: I won’t do have to go far to pick me up to go out. the math. (laugh - ter) What was TJKC: Did your dad like him right off the bat? your childhood ROZ: They got along pretty well. I was always really ill as a young girl, like? Did you grow and I didn’t do too much dating. Then when I met Jack, we really up in the same became close pretty fast. We just hit it off, that’s all. kind of neighbor - hood as Jack? TJKC: Was he a “Ladies’ ROZ: Jack was Man ”? Did he have lots brought up in the Jack and Roz at home in 1991. of girlfriends? lower east side of ROZ: When I moved in, Manhattan, in tenement houses. I was brought up in Brooklyn in the neighbors had five small, private homes. But my folks were also very poor, and they had daughters, and every a tough life. My father was a tailor, my mother did a lot of work dress- one of them was after making and things. I was very ill as a young girl because I had asth - him. (laughter) It ma. From age eight I was very sick. I used to sit up at night and help was lots of my mother do hand-sewing and I became very good at it. Before I met fun, let’s put it A drawing Jack Jack I was working as a lingerie designer, doing very fine work design - that way! sent to a fan while ing all those pretty things you put on women’s lingerie, and laces and (laughter) stationed at Camp things like that. That’s why I was able to do inking, because I always They all Stewart, GA used a fine pen and ink for the lace work. Right after I graduated high wanted to during WWII. school, I got the job and did it for a few years. marry off their daugh- TJKC: Did the Depression hit your family pretty hard? ters, and ROZ: Well, it didn’t have to hit. There was always a depression for us. they want- It was always pretty difficult for my folks. They worked hard all their ed to get lives. We moved to so many places. When we couldn’t pay the rent, ahold of we had to move to another apartment. But they always managed to a bache- have a roof over our head, and have food for us, and the children lor. always came first for them. They were good parents.

TJKC: How did you and Jack meet? ROZ: That was one of the times we were moving. It was to one of these attached brick homes, and Jack’s family lived downstairs, and my folks rented the apartment upstairs. The first time I came there, he was 1 playing stickball with his friends. I was 17 ⁄2, and Jack was five years older. His parents and my parents were getting acquainted, and he came over to me and started talking. The first thing he says to me is, “Would you like to see my etchings?” (laughter) I didn’t know what the word ‘etching s’ meant, and he said, “My drawings .” So I said, “Oh, sure .” So he takes me to his bedroom, and I thought, “What could happen? My folks are there, his folks are there.” (laughter) And that’s the first time I saw Captain America. I’d never read a comic book in my life.

TJKC: So he was already working on Captain America at the time?

r u o y b e m o c o t e r u s e b d n a , s w o h s e s e h t a s u r o f k o o l o S . r i a F y s a t n a F s a l l a D e h T d n a

¬ t 6 TJKC: How did you know Jack was “the one ”? ROZ: Well, when we started dating... y’know, nowadays the young people want to have their “space.” But we never did that. No matter what we did, we always did it together. We went to movies, went out to dinner, went for walks, bike riding. We were constantly together. I didn’t want to be with anyone else, and he didn’t want to be with anyone else, and that’s the way it was from that day on. It lasted over 50 years.

TJKC: What was the date of your wedding? ROZ: May 23, 1942.

TJKC: Was that right before he went off to war? ROZ: We were married for about a year before he was drafted. He wasn’t drafted the first year because he was supporting his parents, so they let him have a certain time off. Then after the year, all his friends were in the service, so he said, “That’s it” and he went in the year after we were married.

TJKC: When you first met him, had he legally changed his last name from Kurtzberg to Kirby? ROZ: The name was legally changed before he went into the service. We got married with the name Kurtzberg, and it was legally changed right after we got married.

TJKC: So when you met him, he was going by Kurtzberg, even though he was signing the comics ‘Jack Kirby’? ROZ: Right. Everyone was starting to call him Kirby, and they’d call his mother’s house, and she’d say, “I don’t know any Kirbys.” (laughter)

TJKC: So you legally changed yours as well. Was it difficult to get used to the new name? You were Rosalind Goldstein before you met Jack. ROZ: Well, it wasn’t difficult, because I wasn’t Kurtzberg that long. It was difficult for Jack because his parents were hurt about it. They didn’t want him to do it. That’s why he never denied it in all those interviews; he said his orig - inal name was Kurtzberg.

TJKC: So he changed his name for commercial reasons only? ROZ: Oh, yes. Remember how many names he Pencils to the inked Fighting American drawing we published in TJKC #5. had when he was doing all those characters? time, if you made a hundred bucks, it was considered a fortune. TJKC: Yes! Jack Curtiss, and all of those. ROZ: Right. When the kids were born, we were legally the Kirby family. TJKC: While Jack was off in World War II, what were you doing? Was your family nearby? TJKC: Where did you and Jack live when you first got married? ROZ: I still worked at the lingerie shop until he came home from the ROZ: We had an apartment in Manhattan Beach, right on the beach. I service. Back then, we all lived nearby, we were all very close. When remember we paid $53 for a tremendous apartment. It was beautiful! Jack went to the service, I gave up the apartment and moved in with But you can’t compare today with 50 years ago. What you earned then my mother so I wouldn’t be alone. wasn’t comparable to what you earn now. A little went a long way. TJKC: I take it you got letters pretty often from Jack during the war. TJKC: At that point, did you feel like you were doing pretty well finan - Was this a weekly occurrence? cially, considering how young you both were? ROZ: Oh yes, most of the time. There were times when he’d be out in ROZ: Yes, considering what he was making. He supported me, he the field, and I wouldn’t hear from him for weeks at a time, and I’d be always helped his mother and father. And we were still able to get a really worried. And finally when a letter came, you gave a sigh of relief.

bond every week from his paycheck, so the money went far. At that I’ve still got all these V-Mail letters, some with pictures drawn on them.

, n o C c i m o C o p a m a R e h T , n o C s e o r e H , n o C c i m o o g a c i h C e h T , n o C - c i m o C o g e i D n a S e h T : g n i r e d i s

¬ C 7 Simon & Kirby’s Early Humor by R.J. Vitone We Rate MY DATE Comics! roduced at a time when the comics industry was in an economic slump, My Date Comics ran its short course and just disappeared back in 1948. At first glance, it was PPan uninspired effort... but it did serve as an important piece of Jack Kirby’s career. When World War II ended, public tastes changed. Comic book publishers saw sales dip sharply, and did what many businessmen had to do to stay in business; they panicked! Titles were canceled. Artists, writers, inkers, and whole production staffs were let go. Entire new titles and concepts were published, untried, and left to sell or die. And the most talented artist/writer team of all had to ride along with the trend. But Jack and Joe never just went along with the pack. Since the superhero market that they helped define was weak, they just created new ones! In the five years after WWII, Simon & Kirby developed, wrote and drew the first-ever romance comic. And My Date was their prototype. (They also revamped crime strips and westerns during this period, but that’s a story for another time.) Hillman Publications was a second-rate comics company headquartered in Chicago. (I live in Chicago, and I have to admit that as a kid I went over to their address in search of a leftover stash of Golden Age treasures. It was still a printing house, but no one

(above) Cover to My Date #1. The teenage conflict was right out of M.L.J.’s Archie. (below) #2, page 9—House-Date Harry will go to any length to invade your home and stay forever. (left) Oversized “Kid Gang” thugs cause trouble... (next page)...but any trouble can be resolved with a crashing bit of Simon & Kirby action!

(below) The entire cast of characters assembles

for the first splash page.

n I . y l t n e n a m r e p n o i t a c i l b u p g n i s a e c t o n e r ’ e ! C I N A P T ’ N O D T U B . f f o e m i t e l t t i l a e k a t o t e m i t s a w t i

¬ W 18 - s - , - d s d . t t i n e k d

g i t e e a n e

r s

r a c m n a e - g a x t . e e h h p e i h m s e o ) e a u a

h

e s k t e r r h S j w f e n , r s , l u

m a

n t a a , g g

s

h c e p

, e n i r g k a e o e r

t o s w h m a t u g

U i b i g

k a l n n e e r

O e

d t l d

( t h e l r n e k i o i y y g

e u s d m

c

d - c e n e p b l m e e g

e c e r d d e s l c y h o p

i h a a

n h a e r o B s t d r a a e e u s a e r e b e d h d t i n s

c a J w t p t g l u

s

e f

. d e o

h g t t d m w e w r i G h b d k a i u a a e

n

s b r t

t u t t r

S

n w o r u h h m m

a d e f n

s a l s s

e i o e o n a k ’ o m R a t a S l

a h n r o M d

n e a e i s p f v

r n

d i o o g i d r T l u t n

’ t d

t

r r n e

e

s

i e J w i k d g C

a e s a d a a . p r

j

d n

k n e n T

s e s o s M a o d w d

. l n c n d h g e

e n e n o e r c n e a e s h a r n a e , n n n s C T e , r A

a e o m o C

o m

e y

n r e a

t o u w

t d n

o e

h t

J w , a n t e t - t a a a o 1 i

l i J k

;

J t f t x r r d e t D o f r h y s i

P o L o .

, g

t n

e 7 s n s s o

t

a t m s e e o d a e a , o i y m m m h t . h

R h a h b

d l m

n

e a e n u j o

9 e w g

e r e t v

c r r r

i r s l c t

b s s g m

r p s l t o a i p g a m l

a M 1 o

e d b h e A e e e d u

y z j f

a c

e

e

d r

f i a r z n i

s t h o l d S A t o n i k , r z e b

i a p p p e s o d l c a d r t i m c i n o m u r e e t

g

v g r l c c d e i e u a i e e o k e n a u u u n r g n a o e e e e o h h w n n n n i I P o s T d B i S t w i S i p a n a c b r s t d M h a w l r t c M a S i t I

t ! a e h k t i

l

g k n o i t o l s

e r d l e t u n o i

w s

’ t n I a

. e m g t a a k B c

y a b p

r i h c K

a a e

t n a i

h d w e

t f r o e

s d n i i

a r e f r e a

w s

a s d w

r a C c

D f

o e

b s y k c a e d M

. e e h t

m e a r g e

h n w a

e m r r a e

p e v u o S

b e a h

t s

e f c o

a k p c s

a e b t

i e h h t w

e n o h

e T

b !

r o e t g

n n e a s R o

h e c n

s o a L

e w

h ) t

n d a n m a t

a n B a

z n r a w o T

n w k - a l r l e d

w k

c e r a J o

e m e

s e

h o t t

f t e o

g

d u a o e t y

s n n i e t (

f o w

y o r r r e v A

t n o e n e

r s ’

t G

I

t ’ n e v a h I d n a m a P t a h t t p e c x e , s w e n t a e r g ; r a o s r a e y r e n n a b a d a h s a h g n i s i t r e v d A s w o r r o M o w T

¬ f 21 Favorite Stories About Jack

We asked fans and pros tell us stories about their most interesting and the lines of, “Well, you shouldn’t have called then!” What did Jack say? (ofttimes unintentionally) hilarious encounters with Jack, and some of the He said, “Well, I can appreciate that. I apologize for keeping you stories they heard about him over the years. Keep in mind that Jack was not on so long. And listen, feel free to call again anytime!” only a consummate storyteller on the comics page, but in real life as well. He apologized!!!! Since he sometimes tended to exaggerate (making his stories get better as At the time, I couldn’t believe it. Later, I came to realize that it time went on), take his stories with a grain of salt! was typical Jack. He just saw me as a kid that was worried about run - ning up a huge phone bill, and he was simply being sympathetic and considerate. It was Jack demonstrating one simple fact – he cared. King Of His Castle? And that was what Jack was all about. He was a very considerate by Peter Von Sholly man. And I can’t help but smile whenever I think of the time that I visited the Kirbys at their home in 1976 and was duly awed by called Jack Kirby and he apologized for keeping me on so long!! both the array of original artwork on the walls and the incredible II hospitality I was shown. Roz offered coffee and cake and Jack spun stories of World War II, his philosophy, the comics biz, etc. But at one A Puff Piece point, Roz came out of the kitchen and asked Jack to take the garbage by Harold May out! I was stunned. Roz looked at me, smiled and said, “He may be note about Jack’s cigars: The proper name for the cigar company is the King, but I’m the Queen.” And Jack cheerfully took the garbage out. Roi-Tan, and the actual cigars Jack smoked were Roi-Tan Falcons. AA How do I know? When I met Jack in Nashville in 1972, he handed The Phone Call me a 5-dollar bill and sent me out to pick up a couple of boxes for him. by Chris Harper, Editor of The Jack Kirby Quarterly in England n the Summer of 1986, I was 18 years old, and I’d just become a member of the short-lived UK “Kirby-APA.” An APA-Zine is like a II fanzine except there’s only about 10 members/readers, and you all individually produce your own “fanzine” and send it to the “Central Mailer” who collates the ’zines and mails ’em back out. One day, I was with my cousin Steve (a fellow Kirby fanatic) and I had an idle, almost sarcastic thought. I said, “Hey! We could interview Kirby for the next K-APA!!” I think I got a blank expression in response, but what was initially a joke quickly became a (semi-) serious concept. In 1983, Jack had sent me a wonderful 2-page letter which included his personal address. I thought of this and said to Steve, “We’ve got his address. Let’s try paging his number!” Yeah, right. Like, a living legend such as Jack Kirby would be listed. Dream on. At this time, we hadn’t much knowledge of how much phone calls to the US would cost, so we were terrified of the consequence of making a fairly lengthy call to California. On top of that, while we made this call my Mom was sitting a matter of 6 feet away, hearing everything we said and, I imagine, watching the clock very closely. To our surprise we got the number and tried it. A lady answered, who I now know was Roz. I gave her the usual line about wanting to interview Jack, and without question she said, “Hold on.” Was this it? Was I was about to speak to the King himself?!? Suddenly, a voice came over the line – and although I’d never heard Jack’s voice before, I knew who the hoarse, almost whispered, tones belonged to immediately. So, I spoke to him... and I asked him some of the stupidest ques - tions you ever heard. Then I handed it over to Steve, who asked him the second half of our collection of supremely cretinous queries. And he answered them all, patiently and without sign of strain or annoyance. Steve handed it back to me and I spoke to him a while longer. I was well aware of my Mom throughout the conversation, who was let - ting out quite audible groans every time we said something dumb – which was, basically, everything we said. That fact, coupled with my worry of how much the phone call was costing, made me start to panic somewhat. And in the midst of this panic, I came up with one of the most tactless remarks you could ever hope to make. I said, “Anyway, we’d better go now. This call must be costing us a fortune!” My Mom let out the biggest groan yet. I think it was something like, “Oh, God!!!” And I realized what I’d said. I think I could’ve rea -

sonably expected a sarcastic reply from most people; something along

m o o r t ’ n s a w e r e h t o S . e u s s i s i h t o t s e g a p t h g i d d a o t d a h l l i t s d n a , ) y l n o e u s s i s i h t r o f ( n o i t c e s

¬ e 24 If you’re a fan of Fawcett comics (everything from the Marvel Family to Spy Smasher, Bulletman, and all the other greats of yesteryear), I strongly urge you to order FCA (Fawcett Collectors of America). Fawcett Fans!! It’s a fabulous quarterly ’zine, very reminiscent of TJKC in tone, and beautifully and professionally designed and produced. The latest issue (#54—it’s been around awhile!) contains a 1979 interview with C.C. Beck, articles by Trina Robbins, Dave Berg, Golden Age artist Marc Swayze, and more! Don’t Miss This! $2/issue, $8/year (US prices). Contact Paul Hamerlinck at P.O. Box 24751, Edina, MN 55424-0751.

making a surprise visit to Patsy and Hedy’s hometown of Centerville to find a typical American girl to pose for his next Love Romances A Kirby Cameo cover. The two girls stumble all over each other trying to get discov - ered by him, and since they don’t know what Jack looks like, end up Research by David Penalosa spending all their time with a stranger they mistakenly think is him! ou won’t find Patsy and Hedy #88 (June 1963) listed on any Kirby The mistake is understandable though. Artist Al Hartley drew checklist, but maybe it should be. While there’s not one smidgen Jack so generically that Roz wouldn’t have recognized him! But thanks YYof Kirby art in #88 (or any other issue of P&H that we’re aware to Stan Lee’s dialogue, we find out that a bystander the girls com - of), Jack does make a guest appearance! It seems that old Jack was pletely ignored early in the story is really Jack. Their friend Nan befriends Jack and gets to pose for the cover, and Patsy and Hedy are left feeling dejected. (It’s probably just as well for the girls; Love Romances was canceled one month after this story saw print!) The Overstreet Comic Book Price Patsy & Hedy find out Jack’s coming to The two “goops” hatch their scheme to get ...but end up mistaking this guy for Jack. Guide states Patsy Centerville. noticed by Jack... (He does kinda look like an artist, though.) and Hedy #88’s only real importance is that it contains a “lingerie panel” (and a pretty tame one at that). Even with that dubious distinction, it only costs a few dollars in NM condition. If you’re a total Kirby fanatic, you’ll want to locate a copy of this hilarious and undoubtedly hard- Meanwhile, the real (?) Jack is sharing a Patsy (an appropriate name as it turns ...and the real Jack gets his model. (Gee, to-find Kirby cameo.

cab with Nan, a clueless friend of P&H’s. out) discovers her mistake... did Roz know all this was going on?) Good luck!

e r ’ e w d n a , r e h t e g o t e f i l r i e h t t u o b a w e i v r e t n l a n o s r e p , y h t g n e l a o d o t d e t n e s n o c y l s u o i c a r g

¬ i 29 Super-Heroes & Stupid Villains A Look At Fighting American, by Jon B. Cooke

“Fighting American was the first attempt at satire in comics. It was a of Reds as villains was simply because they filled the stock needed at satire — of Captain America. It was very, very funny... It was a period the time. While Jack has said, “My enemies were the commies — I when I really enjoyed doing the comics.” called them commies … Communism became the doorway to chaos, Jack Kirby, The Comics Journal #134, February 1990. and the doorway to chaos was the doorway to evil,” the bad guys in bviously with the forerunning success of Harvey Kurtzman’s bril- F.A. were mostly used for laughs. (Though in one disturbing sequence liant Mad comics, not to mention the long-underweared spoofs S&K give us the nice, happy couple John and Martha as Communist OOSupersnipe and Red Tornado, Kirby was a little off on his comics agents, apparently using the controversial figures of recently executed history. But on the last two points the King was dead-on. Fighting Ethel and Julius Rosenberg as an odd source of humor material.) American was a very funny satire of superhero comics, especially the At best, the comic was all-out burlesque, ridiculing (after a melo - villains, and one Kirby and Joe Simon obviously loved creating. Simon dramatic start) the Red Menace, and presenting probably the oddest & Kirby’s Fighting American came to being in a decidedly unhappy assortment of bad guys to appear in a four-colored title, rivaling the time for both America and its floundering comics industry. The freaks who battled Chester Gould’s Dick Tracy. Their names alone are United States was besieged from within by the Red-baiting Senator now legend among those of us who care: The Handsome Devils, from Wisconsin, “Tail Gunner” Joe McCarthy and his commie witch- Doubleheader, Poison Ivan, Hotsky Trotski, Square Hair Malloy (a hunts. Comics, while just short of being accused of being Marxist, Flat-Top swipe if ever there was one!), Count Yuscha Liffso and his were persecuted as the cause of juvenile delinquency — seducing the diminutive pal Sawdoff, Ginza Goniff, Massamuttin, Doraymirio innocent — by Dr. Frederic Wertham and his ilk. The team of S&K, Wolfirosoff, Invisible Irving, Deadly Doolittle, Space-Face, Round after delving into romance, western, war, 3-D, and horror genres Robin, Commisar Yutz, that trio of Fighting American imposters, returned to what they did best: superheroes. And this time they went Skudnik, Yakfoot and Grummel, and the unforgettable Super- unabashedly back to the template they created: Captain America. Khakalovitch, Hero of the People. It’s reasonable to speculate that S&K were responding to the And S&K had a field day naming the varied assortment of recent revival of their star-spangled creation over at Marvel in the buxom women who cavorted with our heroes: Madame pages of Young Men comics in the fall of ’53. Their response came the Butterscotch, Zuzu Amor, Pamela Hardwhack, Marilyn following winter with Fighting American #1, cover dated April-May Biltrite(!), Charity Bizarre, Scarlet O’Haircut, 1954. “We were determined to make the public forget about Captain wrestler Gorgeous Georgia and neme - America,” Joe Simon wrote in his introduction to the Fighting American collection published in 1989 by Marvel. “This time the copyright belonged to Simon and Kirby.” And they stuck pretty darn close to that template, adding only a few modern, and albeit, bizarre twists. Super-patriot broadcaster Johnny Flagg alerts America to the onslaught of commie Fifth- Joe Sinnott inked Columnists on his TV show. Though ruggedly-built and a war this piece for the hero, Johnny is confined to using crutches due to battle wounds, Kirby Unleashed while his weakling-but-able brother Nelson writes the anti- portfolio. Communist diatribes for the broadcasts. Commie agents beat Johnny to near-death and govern - ment agents recruit the skinny brother to become the “Agent of the Future,” and avenge his brother’s tragedy. In panels, some of which are identical to Cap’s origin tale, Nelson’s mind is trans - ferred into the body of Johnny Flagg to become Project Fighting American. Whatever became of Nelson’s body is never revealed, but regardless, another super-patriot hero is born and now, to complete the rip-off of their own creation, S&K needed a Bucky. Speedboy debuts in the second story, an enthusiastic page boy at the television station who uncovers the newly-rejuvenated Johnny Flagg’s secret. In his seven-issue run (eight if you count the 1966 revival one-shot published by friend Al’s Harvey Comics — emblazoned with the outrageous cover state - ment, “Most Imitated of All!”), F.A.’s strange ori - gin is never alluded to again, and no psychologi - cal complications of such a bizarre creation seem to arise. His background properly disposed of, Fighting American took on the godless

Communists almost non-stop. Mostly, S&K’s use

z o R . y b r i d n i l a s o R , e f i l s i h o t h c u m o s d e d d a o h w n a m o w

¬ K 30 TJKC: Can you give us a little background on how The OTHER Duck Man Destroyer Duck came to be? Steve Gerber speaks about working with Jack on Destroyer Duck STEVE: I had filed suit (Interviewed by John Morrow on March 11, 1996) against Marvel Comics over the THE JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR: How’d you first discover Jack’s work? ownership of STEVE GERBER: I going to make a confession. (laughter) I think this is Howard The the only time I’ve ever admitted this publicly. In my entire life, there’s Duck, which only one thing I ever stole. It was the first issue of Fighting American . I had created. An early They had a copy of it at my elementary school, which they used to The lawsuit Destroyer Duck keep in a box in the gym for kids to read during rainy days. I was so was becoming concept drawing. fascinated with this thing that, in the fourth grade, I stuffed it under extremely my shirt and walked out of school with it! (laughter) I’ve been waiting expensive, so about forty years to get that off my chest! (laughter) we came up with the idea TJKC: So Dr. Wertham was right; comics did cause juvenile delin - of publishing a benefit comic for the lawsuit. Dean Mullaney and cat quency! (laughter) yronwode at Eclipse Comics agreed to do it, and all the profits from STEVE: Absolutely! (laughter) That was the first time I’d encountered the book went to pay for my lawyer. (laughter) Jack’s work. I told Jack about it later. The whole notion of the weak - This left us with the problem of what to put in the comic book. I ling, milquetoast brother putting his mind into the body of his dead was willing to work for free, but I didn’t think anybody else would be. older brother freaked me out completely! (laughter) I loved that book. I knew I wanted to do a satire on Howard and the whole work-for-hire business, and Jack and I were both working at Ruby-Spears at the TJKC: Did you read the subsequent issues? time. Jack wasn’t working in the office as I was, but he’d come in once STEVE: I encountered some of them later, and was probably too or twice a week with model sketches and character designs for the young to understand the satire at the time. Now, of course, I think it’s various animated shows. very, very funny. He and I had gotten to know each other pretty well, and I liked him very, very much, and the feeling seemed to be mutual. So I decid - TJKC: How’d you meet Jack? ed to approach the King of the Comics and ask him to draw a 20-page STEVE: Mark Evanier and I are not able to agree on this story, so I’m story for nothing! (laughter) This is not something you do every day. not sure exactly whose idea it was to bring Jack into Ruby-Spears. Joe I was so terrified that I had to take Mark Evanier with me out to Ruby was looking for someone to design the Thundarr The Barbarian Jack’s house for moral support. We went out there and sat down in series. I don’t remember whether I suggested Jack to Joe directly, or the living room. Roz brought us coffee and cookies and all the usual whether Mark had beaten me to it, and Joe asked what I thought of stuff. (laughter) I sat there, pouring sweat, and explained about the the idea. Anyway, I said, “Yes, lawsuit. (laughter) Every time I started to ‘hem’ and ‘haw,’ Mark yes, yes!” (laughter) And leaped in. And we explained to Jack what the lawsuit was all about, that was the first time and that it involved Marvel, and it had to do with character owner - Jack and I worked ship and creator’s rights. We went on for about an hour and a half together, on about this, and finally we got around to the benefit comic book. I Thundarr . said, “I want to do this character called Destroyer Duck. I’ve got this idea for it. I... I... I really, really want to... to... know whether you’d... um... be willing to draw the book... (gulp...) for... nothing.” (laughter) I just waited there with the silence hanging in the air, and Jack kind of rubbed his chin and said, “Yeah, sounds like fun.” (laughter) An hour and a half of blind terror had been completely wasted! (laughter) He probably could’ve drawn two or three pages in that time! (laughter)

TJKC: So he didn’t even flinch? STEVE: No, not even a semi-flinch. He got this weird smile on his face like he’d really enjoy sticking it to them, and then just said “yes.”

TJKC: When would this have been? Around late 1981? STEVE: Probably later than that. The book came out in mid-1982, and we put it together just a couple of months earlier.

TJKC: Jack was pretty adamant about writing his own books after leaving Marvel in 1970. How did it feel to be one of the few writers he An early concept had worked with? drawing of Ned STEVE: I was very flattered. You know, I don’t think Jack felt any dis - Packer’s mother, dain toward writers. I think he felt that some particular writers he’d The Battle Axe. been working with weren’t really holding up their end of the partner - ship. And to a certain extent that’s true. Stan would give him 2-page plots, or they’d talk out a story in the office, and Jack would just make

notes and go home and draw it.

- r e p u s d e c a l - t h g i a r t s y l l a e r a g n i t c e p x e s a w . 6 6 9 1 m o r f t o h s - e n o y e v r a H e h t n i n a c i r e m A g n i t h g i F

¬ I 38 STEVE: Oh, hysterical! Absolutely hysterical! A good number of the jokes in the book are his. The “Grab It All, Own It All, Drain It All” slogan of Godcorp was his. The designs of the Godcorp complex were his, and virtually all of the visual gags in that first issue. My contribution tended to be the verbal stuff.

TJKC: So as far as the look of the entire book, that was Jack? STEVE: (laughter) When you’re dealing with Jack, how can you dictate the graphic look of anything ? We discussed what Destroyer Duck’s build would be like, and the fact that he’d be gray instead of white or black or yellow. I probably described him as “Charles Bronson as a duck.” (laughter)

TJKC: Did you give him a full script to work from? STEVE: No, a detailed plot. I’d break it down by page, and in some instances by panels. Jack, being Jack, did whatever he felt he needed to with it. He added some things and dumped others. He adapted it to the way he draws.

TJKC: Did you both see eye-to-eye on where the book should go? How well did he convey your ideas? STEVE: Well, you know what you’re going to get when you have Jack Kirby draw a comic book. (laugh - ter) If I’d wanted any other look, I’d have gone some - place else. What I got was exactly what I’d hoped to get — a Jack Kirby comic book. And it floored me. Although I did manage to find the one object in the universe that Jack Kirby could not draw: a car - toon duck beak! (laughter) We were constantly having the inker fix the duck beaks. Everything else was pure Jack, and absolutely pure wonderment, as everything he ever drew was. But he could not get that beak right. (laughter)

TJKC: Whose idea was the dislocated spine? I mean this as a compliment: I think it was one of the most disgusting things I’ve ever seen in comics. (laughter) STEVE: That was mine. But I couldn’t dictate the look of it. I could tell Jack, “The spine curls up and bursts out of the guy’s back, and slithers off down the street.” (laughter) From there, it was Jack’s job to turn Medea pounces in these Destroyer Duck #2 pencils! The victim’s face was altered when inked. it into a visual, which he did, and it came out looking exactly the way I expected it to. And yes, it was seri - That’s not meant to disparage Stan Lee, by the way. I think he ously gross! It was supposed to be. (laughter) did make a vital contribution to the work he and Jack did together. I just think Jack contributed almost equally to the stories, particularly TJKC: How did Alfredo Alcala get put on the inks? Was he your in terms of pacing, fight choreography, and, of course, the creation of choice? characters. Stan had an incredible resource in Jack, an artist with an STEVE: (pause) Yes, probably my choice. He was inking Jack’s sketch - instinctive understanding of story, and he used it. In and of itself, es at Ruby-Spears, so we knew what that looked like. Jack knew him there was nothing wrong with that. The problems all arose as a result obviously, and was happy with his work. The look of Jack’s work of Marvel’s work-for-hire arrangement, which rewarded Jack’s creativ - changes, depending on who inks it. Sinnott’s inks look very different ity, and that of all the other artists, with, essentially, nothing. from Colletta’s, and both of them look different from Dick Ayers or Anyway, the plots for Destroyer Duck were running anywhere George Roussos. I wanted a distinctive, and different, look to this. from 6 to 10 pages long, single-spaced. I was really writing the book, Obviously, there’s no way to disguise ‘Jack Kirby,’ (laughter) and only while also trying to give Jack as much freedom as I possibly could to a fool would want to, but I wanted an inker who’d bring out some - interpret the stuff. I think Jack felt pretty strongly that Destroyer Duck thing different in Jack’s pencils. was a genuine collaboration. TJKC: What were the specific people or events that inspired you to TJKC: Who inked the cover of #1? create the characters in the book, like Ned Packer? Or would reveal - STEVE: Steve Leialoha. ing that get you in trouble? STEVE: It probably would get me in trouble. It’s interesting that you

TJKC: What was Jack like to work with on the book? mention Ned Packer, because I’m told Jim Shooter believed that char -

w a s t s r i f I . ) n e s l O y m m i J f o s e u s s i s l e k c i y d o o G e h t n i y l r a l u c i t r a p ( s e k o j e h t g n i t t e g t o n

¬ R 39 IF YOU ENJOYED THIS PREVIEW, CLICK THE LINK TO ORDER THIS ISSUE IN PRINT OR DIGITAL FORMAT!

KIRBY COLLECTOR #10 Humor Issue exploring the lighter side of Jack! A funny and touching interview with Jack's ROSALINDwife KIRBY; Fighting American; Goody Rickels; interviewSTEVE with GERBER, the creator of Destroyer Duck; fans and pros tell favorite stories about Jack; unpublished Art including Jack's pencils from Jimmy Olsen, Destroyer Duck and Thor before they were inked, and much more! (44-page magazine)$4.95 (Digital edition)$1.95 http://twomorrows.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=98_57&products_id=284

Here is Jack’s rendition of an intergalactic football game, as published in a 1972 edition of PRO Magazine, the official publication of the National Football League. See page 34 for the full story on this great piece of Kirby art.