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JACK KIRBY FIFTY-THREE $ 10 95 IN THE US Contents THE NEW

The Magic Of LEE & KIRBY, Part ONe! OPENING SHOT ...... 2 (Lee & Kirby together again—and again!) ISSUE #53, SUMMER 2009 Collector UNDER THE COVERS ...... 3 (inking some familiar faces) CRIB NOTES ...... 4 (a guided tour of Stan and Jack’s haunts—be sure to wear your comfortable shoes!) RETROSPECTIVE ...... 6 (when Jacob met Stanley) INCIDENTAL ICONOGRAPHY . . . . . 11 (you’re not getting older, you’re getting better) THE MAN ...... 12 ( speaks!) GALLERY 1 ...... 16 (a look at Kirby’s incredible during the ) JACK F.A.Q. s ...... 24 (’s on hiatus this ish, so we dug up one of his earliest published works to embarrass him) TRIBUTE ...... 25 (the 2008 Kirby Tribute Panel, featuring , and Joe Ruby & ) ADAM M cGOVERN ...... 34 (Jack’s rock ’n’ roll influence) GALLERY 2 ...... 36 (lost and found Four pages ) KIRBY OBSCURA ...... 52 (Barry Forshaw recommends more things to spend your money on in a down economy) MUSEUM PAGE . . . . 55 (visit & join www.kirbymuseum.org) FOUNDATIONS ...... 56 (a silver bullet for your heart) RETROSPECTIVE ...... 62 (Stan & Jack’s genre comics, plus comments for the whole blamed Marvel Bullpen about Lee & Kirby) QUESTIONABLE ...... 74 (a game of “?”) COLLECTOR COMMENTS ...... 78 PARTING SHOT ...... 80 (Stan and Jack and the Surfer)

This issue is dedicated to the very dedicated Jerry Boyd, a man whose energy and devotion to comics history and fandom leaves me in awe. - JM

Front cover inks: GEORGE PÉREZ Back cover inks/colors: Front cover color: TOM ZIUKO

The Jack Kirby Collector , Vol. 16, No. 53, Summer 2009. Published quarterly by & ©2009 TwoMorrows Publishing, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614, USA. 919-449-0344. John Morrow, (above) They aren’t Stan and Jack, but these two men are responsible for the great Lee/Kirby creations of the 1960s. Who are they? Editor/Publisher. Single issues: $14 post - Turn to page 2 to find out! (And then thank these guys!) paid ($16 elsewhere). Four-issue subscrip - tions: $50 US, $60 Canada, $84 elsewhere. All characters are trademarks of their respective companies. All artwork is COPYRIGHTS: Ant-Man, Atlas Monsters, , , , , Black Panther, Black Widow, , , Captain Mar-Vell, , , Dr. Doom, , , , Giant- ©2009 Jack Kirby Estate unless otherwise Man, , , Hate-Monger, , , Him, , Human Top, , , Janus, Ka-Zar, , , , , Modok, Mr. Hyde, Nick /Sgt. Fury, , Puppet Master, , Red , , Sandman, , , , Spider-Man, Sub-Mariner, Thing, , , Two-Gun Kid, , , , X-Men, TM & ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc. • , noted. All editorial matter is ©2009 the , Demon, Forever People, House of Mystery, In The Days Of The Mob, Losers, , TM & ©2009 DC Comics. • TM & ©2009 Jack Kirby Estate. • , , Win A respective authors. First printing. Prize, TM & ©2009 and Jack Kirby Estate. • Captain 3-D, Hi-School Romances TM & ©2009 . • , Ookla, Video Rangers TM & ©2009 Ruby-Spears. PRINTED IN CANADA. ISSN 1932-6912 1 by John Morrow, Opening Shot editor of TJKC

hange of plans! This issue’s theme, “The Magic of Lee & Kirby,” came together nicely with the help of C Jerry Boyd, Kirby fan and TwoMorrows Contributor Emeritus. But after assembling all the usual “must-have” pieces for this issue—columns, galleries, Kirby Museum page, and this page, for what it’s worth—the usual problem set in: There just aren’t enough pages to do justice to the theme! So like many of the Stan & Jack, great Lee & Kirby epics of the 1960s, I’ve decided to make this a two-parter, to be “Continued Next Issue!” (as all those last-page blurbs used to say). I hope you’ll be back for Part Two Together next time. Again —T wice! Now, where do you begin to discuss a creative team as important to the history of comics as Stan Lee and Jack Kirby? At the beginning, I guess. Their first collaboration (if you’d call it that) was when Stan was the office boy at in the 1940s, and wrote a text filler page for Captain America Comics #3. But Jack was already teamed up with Joe Simon, and they both viewed young Stanley Lieber (Stan’s given name) as more of an annoyance than a fellow creator, since Stanley spent a lot of time sitting on desks, playing his ocarina, and distracting Joe and Jack from their work. (Reader Stan Taylor has noted the memorable splash page in Captain America Comics #7, where the Red Skull is causing chaos by playing a flute—he wonders if this was inspired by Stan’s antics.) Simon & Kirby went on to produce a string of hits until the anti-comics backlash spearheaded by Dr. Fredric Wertham’s book Seduction of the Innocent took its toll on the entire industry. Joe and Jack dissolved their partnership in the late 1950s after their company Mainline went under, and Jack was back to freelancing. (above) But due to a dispute with DC Comics editor over royalties for Jack’s Sky Masters , he became persona grata at DC Stan and Jack share a laugh at a 1966 New York Comics, which left (then called Atlas, formerly known as Timely) and editor Stan Lee as one of his few avenues for work. comic convention. (So, here’s a tip of the hat to Mssrs. Wertham and Schiff for inadvertently causing the formation of the Lee & Kirby team; without them, who knows if Stan and Jack would’ve ever crossed paths, let alone created so many classic stories and characters. I’m celebrating both (below) Both men in the men by featuring their mugs on Page One of this issue!) 1970s, after they went their The Lee & Kirby “team” didn’t really exist the way we as fans were led to separate ways. believe in the 1960s Marvel Bullpen and letters pages. (For that matter, there wasn’t really a “Bullpen” of Marvel artists and writ - ers, all working together in one big room, the way it was depicted in the comics.) And as the 1960s drug on, the pair had less and less direct involvement, as both men did most of their respective work from their homes. As tends to happen with many creative successful teams, disputes and animosities arose, and we’ve covered some of that in this magazine’s previous issues. But the focus this time out is strictly to celebrate their achievements, rather than expose any hidden underbellies, or get caught up in a “who did what” melee. Without either gent, result wouldn’t have been the same, and almost certainly wouldn’t be as successful, or commercially viable some 40+ years later. So sit back and relive some of the triumphs of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, from their earliest collabo - rations on Marvel’s monster and yarns, to the creative tour de that was (and still is) the . (And thanks to Jerry Boyd for helping me wrap my head around these two issues, right down to this issue’s cover concept.) #

2 by John Morrow his issue’s cover is a bit of a “Brady Bunch” riff, utilizing a wide variety of mug shots of various Stan Under The Covers Lee/Jack Kirby characters, all taken from the Valentine’s Day sketchbook Jack did as a gift for Roz TKirby in the late 1970s. While Stan wasn’t involved in the creation of Captain America or the Red Skull, those characters were major players in their 1960s work together, and Stan’s first professional comics work was a text filler page in Simon & Kirby’s Captain America Comics #3 (May 1941). So it seemed only appropriate that Cap got the center “Alice the maid” . When it came time to choose an for this medley of faces, I naturally tried to think of an artist who’s known for working on books that feature large groups of super-characters. It took about two seconds for the name George Pérez to pop in my mind. George is known for his work on the Avengers, Teen Titans, and of course Crisis on Infinite Earths, which featured practically every DC Comics character ever created. So I figured a mere 23-character cover image would be easy for him to ink. Which reminded me of an e-mail George sent me back in 2008 (presented here to give you an idea of the kind of guy George is): “If there’s ever an opening for someone to ink a really heavily popu - lated Kirby cover, please keep me in mind. It would be a real honor.” The honor’s all mine, George! When he saw the pencils, he even asked whether I thought he should try to correct any of the mistakes Jack made, as he didn’t want to be disrespectful by “fixing” Kirby’s work. And in typi - cal Pérez fashion, he turned around the inks in just a few days. (Special thanks to Mike Manley for “bluelining” the pencils for George to ink over.) Then, Tom Ziuko and I felt that this piece was crying out for a more basic, 1960s-style color treatment, so we chose a “big dot” effect, and I worked up a similar look for photos of Stan & Jack to complete the piece. Our back cover is both inked and colored by Joe Sinnott, who should need no introduction to readers of this publication (but just in case you do, check out our Marvel Inkers Gallery this issue for a brief overview of Joe’s career). In the 1970s, Jack did this “Cisco Thing” drawing for Joe’s son Mark, and Joe added his always-lush inking to it, to produce yet another stellar Kirby/Sinnott collabora - tion. (As you can see, Joe’s coloring abilities are as amazing as his inking.) Thanks to Mark Sinnott for sending this beauty in! #

Characters TM & ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.

3 Crib Notes There Goes The Neighborhood

A tour of Lee & Kirby’s New York, by Martin Bartolomeo no steam heat, hot running water, nor even a toilet. Since bath - tubs were placed in kitchens, the lack of privacy tended to make ny true fan of Jack Kirby, by now, has seen his 10-page residents go out to the public baths. Rooftops and fire escapes Argosy piece entitled “,” said to be Jack’s only Below: Lower East Side were the only relief from the summer heat. A typical tenement A) 138 Suffolk Street A autobiographical work. The work includes a double-page flat was about 350 square feet (three rooms), which is the size of B) 147 Essex Street (Jack’s spread which reflects most street photos taken at the time (circa today’s typical one room studio apartment units. birthplace) 1917), that of a busy and noisy street with too many pushcart Jack, a short and stocky scrapper, was a member of the C) 76 Suffolk Street (corner vendors and crowds of people huddled together. This area is of Delancey Street and Suffolk Street gang, one of many kid street gangs that fought referred to as ’s Lower East Side, where most immi - Suffolk Street) every other gang that would come their way, and in one inter - grants coming to New York found themselves in the early part of D) 131 Suffolk Street (at view Jack expresses the fact that he actually enjoyed the almost the last century. It is roughly bounded by East to the Rivington Street) daily experience of street fighting. This rough-and-tumble mind- E) 290 East 3rd Street east and south, East Houston Street to the north, and the Bowery set greatly influenced his future writing and artwork. It came (Boys’ Brotherhood to the west (although historically it included the Bowery, through in the Simon & Kirby collaborations of the “Newsboy Republic) Alphabet City, the East Village, Little Italy, and Chinatown.) Legion,” the Boy Commandoes and Boy Explorers and all through The Kirby the Marvel Age and beyond (don’t forget the one-shot Dingbats of family’s 1910 Danger Street !). The streets also figured into the pages of the Census address Fantastic Four (Yancy Street) and the Fourth World (Armagetto). was 138 Suffolk The cinema contributed to this genre, starting in the 1930s with Street, but Jack the Dead End Kids, later called the Little Tough Guys, later called was at 147 the East Side Kids, and finally called the Bowery Boys. Essex Street on Jack did everything he could in order to get himself and his August 28, 1917 family out of the Lower East Side. His future was in his art. Early (this is the address on, Jack became part of the Boys Brotherhood Republic, a local on Jack’s father’s club at 290 East 3rd Street which served as a haven to keep kids World War I draft out of . (The “BBR” exists to this day.) He later worked card circa 1917). freelance, and did a relatively short stint at the Fleischer The family eventu - Animation offices at 1600 Broadway, as an in-betweener (Jack ally moved two would draw the in-between motion of the characters while the blocks over to 76 head animators would draw the extreme poses). Later he worked Suffolk Street (at for Will Eisner, then located at 202 East 44th Street, and then for the corner of Delancey Street and Suffolk Street, now containing Victor at Fox Studios (480 Lexington Avenue, Room 912 in a building under renovation, which is most likely not the original the same building as DC Comics at the time), eventually meeting building either). Their 1920 Census address was 131 Suffolk Next Page: Manhattan up with artist Joe Simon. Street (at Rivington Street), indicating a lot of moving about, but A) 1600 Broadway (Fleischer The Simon & Kirby team were so prolific that during their always within a few blocks of their previous address. studios) lunch hours at the Victor Fox company, they rented a studio in B) 202 East 44th Street What was life like growing up there? It was rough for Jack one of the buildings in the East 40s known as Place (Eisner & Iger) and the family. Interviews indicate that Jack lived in the typical and moonlighted (between 1st and 2nd Avenues and between C) 480 Lexington Avenue apartment house of the time, the notorious “tenement” building. (Victor Fox Studios, where 41st and 43rd Streets). They produced many innovative titles for Tenements were mostly constructed, with few building code Jack meets Joe Simon; different publishers, with the following being each firm’s address rules, in the second half of the 19th century. Three quarters of also National Periodical during the 1940s: Prize Publications (also known as Crestwood) Manhattan residents lived in them (who were mostly of Jewish or Publications/DC) at 1790 Broadway, Harvey Comics at 67 West 47th Street, and D) S&K Studio at Tudor City Italian descent). Generally speaking, conditions in the tenements most notably Timely (later Marvel) at 330 West 42nd Street (the E) Prize Publications (at 1790 were appalling by the standards of the time, and to modern day McGraw Hill Building). In the second half of the 1950s, Jack did Broadway) New Yorkers, almost unimaginable. Many of the tenements had F) Harvey Comics at 67 West work for National Periodical Publication (DC) at 480 Lexington 47th Street Avenue (currently at 1700 Broadway). Then Stan Lee came into G) Timely (later Marvel) at the picture. 330 West 42nd Street (the McGraw Hill Building) Jack first met Stan around 1940, when Martin Goodman, H) (Park Avenue publisher at Timely gave his relative, Stanley Leiber, work as an and East 47th Street) office “gofer.” Joe Simon was editor at the time, with Jack as art I) Marvel Comics’ 1960s director. Stan started out better—at least in a finer neighbor - address (625 Madison —than Jack, having been born on Manhattan’s upper west Avenue) side. However, the Great Depression forced the family to relocate further north to Washington Heights (upper Manhattan). He attended DeWitt Clinton High School up in (at 100 (right) Jack at work in the late West Mosholu Parkway South and East 205th Street), a school 1940s at his home studio, which also graduated Batman co-creators and Bill 367 Congress Avenue, East Finger. Stan wasn’t a scrapper like Jack, and led his young life a Williston, NY. bit of a loner, with his head in the books. He was very active in (next page, top) Stan, about school, typical of an extrovert, and was part of the law society, age 30, writing at his Long chess club, and the public speaking club among others (and was Island terrace home at 226 nicknamed Gabby). Stan eventually became a writer by just Richards Lane, Hewlett “being there” at the Timely offices, waiting for his opportunity, Harbor, New York. and it finally came. He wrote the text pages for early issues of Captain America, the pages that nobody ever reads, which in turn

4 Retrospective When Jacob Met Stanley

by Ger Apeldoorn set up his own company with Joe Simon and when that failed he went to Stan Lee. Even Jack himself was guilty of that, putting Compare the timid ecently, Marvel made headlines with a romantic comic together all memories of those four years in one big lump. This romance work Kirby series about a couple of teenagers who meet each other at a article is an attempt to pull all those memories apart again and did for this cover to R holiday camp and get into serious trouble of the relationship see if a detailed look at the work Jack produced in that period can Harvey’s Hi-School Romance #54 (Aug. kind. The series by Mark Millar and Terry and Rachel Dodson give us a clue as to what was going on behind the scenes. Some of 1956, below, courtesy attracted all that attention because it is set ‘some years ago’ and the stuff I came up with is pure conjecture, but all of it is at its of Heritage Auctions) the main characters are called Ben, Richard, Mary and May, leav - very least not contradicted by what we know of the work, the to the action-packed ing open the possibility that this story is about the parents of period and the people involved. splash page for the story “UFO, the Peter Parker, how they met and maybe even how the future We start in 1955, when the collapse of their publishing com - Lightning Man” from Spider-Man was conceived. pany Mainline forced Jack Kirby and Joe Simon to break up their Yellow Claw #3 (Feb. The story we are about to tell here is just as surprising and 15-year partnership as a creative team. They sold some titles and 1957, next page). fraught with emotion. It is about the parents of the Fantastic inventory to Charlton and made a deal to produce at least one Four, how they met and how they conceived an entire universe. issue of From Here To Insanity for them, but that was not enough Hi-School Romance TM & ©2009 Harvey Comics. Yellow to live on. Joe Simon found work as an editor for Harvey and Jack Claw TM & ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc. Kirby had to find work on his own. He was immediately hired by Looking For Work Joe to produce some covers for the Harvey romance and war lines Most books on Jack Kirby or his contemporaries make it and some interior work as well as covers for their horror comic seems as if the period from 1955 till 1959 was one big step. He Black Cat Mystery. This may have been a part of the deal Harvey made with Joe Simon, or they may have not cared who Simon hired. It is not clear if he did all those covers in one go or if they were ordered a couple each month. True Bride- To-Be Romances #19, published August 1956, has a Kirby cover about a trailer bride which does seem to belong to a story called “Trailer Bride” inside, but it doesn’t fit the story in any way. It could have been drawn before or after the story was written. Same goes for the cover for Warfront #34, published much later in September 1958. It seems to illus - trate the story “Tomorrow’s War,” but it has no connection to that story other than the title. So they could have been drawn all at once and assigned to different titles later— which doesn’t answer the of why a story about a trailer bride would be in a title called True Bride-To-Be Romances, but comics historians can only explain so much. At the same time Kirby went back to Prize and started doing romance stories for them again. Together with Joe Simon he had launched the whole romance trend, but at this point most of the life was pressed out of it by the Comics Code and repetition. Kirby kept doing these stories until the late Fifties, so they formed a reliable part of his income, but he was never challenged by them as he was earlier on, and as a whole they were not very interesting. He also stepped up his efforts to get into the newspaper strip business, starting all sorts of strips with different inkers . None of them were picked up, but it did get him some work, first as a temporary replacement for Johnny Hazard and later on as penciler for ’s Johnny Reb. Still, that wasn’t enough. Or the Harvey work slowed down. After drawing a full issue of Black Cat Mystery published in September 1956, it took the company a whole year to pub - lish the next issue. Whatever the reason, Jack Kirby decided to go back to Marvel (or Timely, as it was called then). Inventory Story This can’t have been easy. Joe Simon and he had not left the company in the best of circumstances almost 15 years earlier. After they had found out that they were not getting their full share of the Captain America profits, they secretly made a deal with DC to come and work there. While they were fulfilling their contract at Marvel/Timely, they were starting up the DC work on their lunch breaks. Stan Lee, who was at that moment no more than a young

6 guy doing odd jobs around the office and annoying everyone by playing his recorder, followed them to their KIRBY MID-1950 s ATLAS STORIES courtesy Dr. Michael Vassallo secret hideaway. Years later, Kirby loved to tell the tale of JOB # ISSUE DATE TITLE PAGES how Stan found them out, how he promised not to tell K-282 Battleground #14 Nov 1956 “Mine Field!” 5 pages his ‘uncles’ and how he snitched on them anyway. A very K-651 of the Unusual #7 Dec 1956 “Poker !” 4 pages K-652 Astonishing #56 Dec 1956 “Afraid to !” 4 pages unpleasant meeting with the Goodman brothers was the result and that led to their departure and years of bad K-915 Yellow Claw #2 Dec 1956 “Concentrate on Chaos!” 5 pages feelings between Martin Goodman and Joe Simon. To go K-663 Yellow Claw #2 Dec 1956 “Mystery in Cabin 361!” 5 pages back to Stan Lee and ask for work, must not have been K-648 Yellow Claw #2 Dec 1956 “The Yellow Claw!” 4 pages easy for Jack. He may not have had much reason to hate K-868 Yellow Claw #2 Dec 1956 “Temu-Jal...The Golden 5 pages him after 15 years, but he had no reason to respect him either. But while people of his generation may have had L-67 ? Yellow Claw #3 Feb 1957 “The Microscopic Army!” 5 pages feelings like that, they certainly didn’t dwell on them. So L-68 Yellow Claw #3 Feb 1957 “The Yellow Claw Captured!” 4 pages Jack went to Stan. And he may even have had a good L-69 Yellow Claw #3 Feb 1957 “UFO the Lightning Man!” 5 pages excuse to make the situation a little bit easier. L-70 Yellow Claw #3 Feb 1957 “Sleeping City!” 5 pages This whole article started when someone on the Yahoo Atlas Newsgroup mentioned that the first two L-181 Quick-Trigger Western #16 Feb 1957 “The Vengeance of Growling Bear!” 4 pages stories Kirby did for Atlas (the name given to all Marvel/ L-391 Yellow Claw #4 Apr 1957 “The Living Shadows!” 5 pages Timely titles because that was the name of the distribu - L-392 Yellow Claw #4 Apr 1957 “Five Million Sleep-Walkers!” 4 pages tion company also owned by Goodman) may have been L-393 Yellow Claw #4 Apr 1957 “The Screemies!” 5 pages inventory stories from his Harvey run. These stories in L-394 Yellow Claw #4 Apr 1957 “The Thought Master!” 5 pages Astonishing #56 and Strange Tales Of The Unusual #7 are similar to Jack’s Harvey work in subject and inking style. L-907 Rides Again #1 Sept 1957 “The Legend of the Black Rider 7 pages If Jack had done all his Harvey work in one go, maybe L-986 Black Rider Rides Again #1 Sept 1957 “Duel at Dawn!” 6 pages even including those that weren’t published until a year M-40 Black Rider Rides Again #1 Sept 1957 “Treachery at ’s Bridge 6 pages later, he could have walked into Stan’s office with those pages and said something like: “Hey, Stan. I did these for M-480T #12 Sept 1957 “No One Can Outdraw Him!” 5 pages Harvey, but I don’t think they are going to use them. Is there anything in there for you?” That certainly would M-526 Gunsmoke Western #47 July 1958 “Trouble in Leadville!” 4 pages M-615 Gunsmoke Western #51 Mar 1959 “The Strike!” have made an awkward situation easier. M-556 ? Kid Colt #86 Sept 1959 “Meeting At Midnight!” 5 pages

But is there any hard evidence for this, except for a similarity in style? Well, there always are the job numbers. At Atlas, all stories were given a job title, that can usually be found on the splash page (if the coloring or the printing hasn’t obliterated them). For the first 10,000 or so (actually slightly more) they consisted of four numbers. After that they consist of a letter and three numbers. Not all let - ters were used and there are some instances known of numbering going over 999, but all in all it is a great way to track the stories for collectors. The numbers were given out by the Atlas staff for keeping track of the payments, of course. They were given out with story assignments to the writers or when they came in, but they give a rough indication in which order certain artists did certain stories as well. So how can we use them to tell us something about the supposedly inventory stories Kirby did for Atlas? Well, if Kirby brought in the two stories together, completely drawn and written, they would have to have consecutive numbers. When asked in the Atlas Newsgroup, Doc Vassallo provided the numbers for all stories Jack Kirby did in his mid-Fifties run at Atlas (above). As you can see, Kirby did quite a bit of work for Stan Lee in a short period. If Kirby was expecting trouble at Atlas, he certainly didn’t get it. Stan Lee knew a good thing when he saw it and gave Kirby a couple of plum assignments. We are now familiar with the idea of Kirby and Lee working together, but it wasn’t all that logical at that point. Kirby had just come from a long period of working together with Joe Simon. He hadn’t had any big successes in a while. Stan Lee had more than enough artists. And still he took Yellow Claw away from his favorite artist, , and gave it to Jack. When that didn’t work out, he put him at work on a couple of western titles of his own. Stan Lee was a smart man. And he bought two inventory stories and gave them the next two job numbers available: K-651 and K-652. Not only that, he also gave him a war story to do: K-282. This was one of the scripts that was laying on his desk, so the numbering is lower than that of the horror stories, even though they are all published at about the same time. It can’t have taken Jack more than a week to deliver that war story, so that makes sense too. But the job number list tells us more. The Yellow Claw Two other story numbers are close to the numbers the old Harvey stories got: K-663 “Mystery in Cabin 361!,” which was the second story in Yellow Claw #2, which was published at the same time as Astonishing #56 and Strange Tales Of The 7 scientists in the sci-fi films of the 1950s. Johnny’s a typical rock-and-roll loving, hot rod obsessed youngster. Sue’s the domesticated, Code-approved blonde bomb - The Man shell, and Ben’s an atomic age monster. Were any of these comparisons in your thinking or Jack’s as you Team Player began work on the title? STAN LEE: I can’t speak for Jack, but you hit the nail on the head. Your descriptions are just as I thought of them, and just as I wanted them. On top of Jack’s other incredible talents, I think he was also able to read my mind—and then improve on what little he found there. TJKC: Did the success of the Fantastic Four surprise you? STAN: Yes, but not very much. I personally liked the book so much that I’d have been surprised if it hadn’t been well received. TJKC: I remember you having Reed threaten cornered villains with lines like, “Talk! Or I’ll turn you over to the Thing!!” Sometimes Mr. Fantastic would have to restrain Ben from doing bodily harm (see FF #3 for one example) to a beaten baddie. But by the sixth issue, Ben got a real sense of humor and was becoming more ‘cuddly.’ Did you and Jack feel he had to be toned down a bit? STAN: Yes. (How’s that for exercising verbal restraint?) TJKC: You came up with exceptional supporting characters. Did you look at DC’s of America , Stan the Man talks about the Lee and Kirby super-teams for example, and take note that their supporting casts weren’t very Interview conducted by Jerry Boyd strong and then made sure your line-up provided alternatives? STAN: Truth to tell, I don’t remember ever reading any Justice (above) A rarely-seen (Stan Lee is considered by many to be comicdom’s greatest editor (and League comics, although I occasionally thumbed through them to 1960s photo of Stan Lee, you can add this fanzine contributor to that list of supporters) for not see how the artwork looked. I wouldn’t have had any idea who hard at work in his Marvel only his sterling work in overseeing the Marvel Age of Comics, but his their supporting characters were. office. pure instincts in gathering/nurturing talent as the de facto art direc - TJKC: The FF truly became a family after Sue and Reed got married , (below) This Astonishing tor, and his wonderful dialogue and concepts. A hero was a true hero under Lee. Whether it was Kid Colt or the making the Torch and Mr. Fantastic brothers-in-law, and Ben a Ant-Man piece was drawn godfather after little Franklin was born. Before that, there was by Jack and for Rawhide Kid seeking to redeem themselves for their youthful indiscre - promotional use in the tions by taking down the unredeemable outlaws of the Old West, or romantic tension involving —a love triangle. Did you ever early 1960s. Peter Parker fighting off his insecurities to launch himself into a battle consider scrapping the marriage to keep that angle going or only Spider-Man could win, Stan taught his readers responsibility, marrying Reed and Sue off to other characters? (bottom center) Custom strength through adversity, and triumph over pain and loss. The work STAN: No. From the beginning I intended for Reed and Sue to head shots done by Kirby marry. But it was fun letting Namor have a crush on her. I even for the 1970 Marvelmania wasn’t just entertaining, but also inspiring. sticker set. With “King” Kirby, Mr. Lee co-created three super-teams (five if toyed with the idea of Dr. Doom wanting to take her away from you count the Howlers and SHIELD—and this time out, we’ll include Reed, but somehow I never seemed to get around to that. All characters this spread TM & ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc. them). During the 1960s the Lee and Kirby team (a super-team in and of itself!) would not only Meanwhile, At ... invigorate the medium but TJKC: The Avengers ’ success came out of the individual successes show all the difficulties pos - of Ant-Man and the Wasp, the Hulk, Thor, and Iron Man. Was sible for driven individuals this title as much fun for you and Kirby to do as the FF ? Or was it with supernatural assets (super more difficult—due to you having to maintain continuity between powers and super problems). the Assemblers as a team and as acts in their own series? Stan’s very busy these days, STAN: I can’t speak for Jack, who never seemed to have trouble but he has our thanks for graciously with anything art-wise or plot-wise, but as for me, I preferred taking time out to do this new question- and-answer session for the Jack Kirby Collector. This interview was conducted by e-mail in March, June, and September of 2008 and transcribed by Irving Forbush.)

THE JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR: The Fantastic Four came first. At a casual glance, you have who’s all of the tall, square-jawed, pipe smok ing 12 by Gallery 1 John Marvel Age of InkERS Morrow Stan Lee paired Jack Kirby with some exceptional inkers during the 1960s at Marvel, each lending a unique style to his pencils. Here are some of the best. Scans courtesy of Heritage Auctions.

harles Eber “Chic” Stone C (January 4, 1923 – July 28, 2000)

Chic Stone broke into comics in 1939 at age 16, working for comic-book packager Eisner & Iger. In the 1940s, he worked on the original Captain Marvel for , and Boy Comics for Lev Gleason Publications. For Timely Comics, he con - tributed to Blonde Comics, Comics, All Select Comics, and Kid Komics. He left comics during the 1950s to become an art director for magazines, but returned during the 1960s to work for the American Comics Group (ACG) on Adventures into the Unknown. At Marvel Comics in the 1960s, he inked Kirby on Fantastic Four, X-Men, The Mighty Thor, and numer - ous covers. Later he freelanced for DC Comics on Batman, occa - sionally ghosting for artist Bob Kane. He penciled numerous stories for Tower Comics’ T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, worked on Nemesis in ACG’s Forbidden Worlds and Unknown Worlds, plus did work for , Skywald Publications’ black- and-white horror magazines, and in the late 1970s and 1980s, he worked for , including its “Red Circle” and “Archie Adventure Series” lines. Stone was inking for Marvel as late as The Mighty Thor #321 (July 1982). In the early 1990s, he drew com - missioned art in Silver Age Kirby-Stone style for sales through dealers. [: en.wikipedia.org]

(this page) #106 splash page (July 1964).

TM & ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.

16 aul J. Reinman P (September 2, 1910 - September 27, 1988)

Paul Reinman entered comics in the 1940s at All-American Comics (which later merged into DC Comics) working on such characters as the Golden Age , Wildcat, The , Starman and . He also worked for MLJ on the , the Hangman and the Wizard. Golden Age work for Timely Comics included Human Torch and Sub-Mariner stories in Captain America Comics and elsewhere. He worked in other genres for Marvel’s 1950s predeces - sor, Atlas Comics. In the late-1950s, Reinman became a fre - quent inker of Kirby’s work in Strange Tales and Journey into Mystery , as well as on the espionage series Yellow Claw . He would eventually ink Kirby on numerous landmark Marvel books, including Incredible Hulk #1, X-Men #1-5, and Avengers #2, 3 and 5. In 1965, Reinman and created The for Archie Comics’ short-lived superhero line. He also produced work for the American Comics Group, and remained active through at least the mid- 1970s, penciling Ka-Zar #1 (Jan. 1974) and assist - ing John Romita on the pencils of Amazing Spider- Man #132 (May 1974). [source: en.wikipedia.org]

(this page) Journey Into Mystery #102 “Tales of ” splash page (March 1964).

TM & ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.

17 Tribute 2008 Kirby Tribute Panel

(Conducted Sunday, July 27, 2008, at 10 a.m. as part of Comic-Con Levine, folks. (applause) International: , and featuring legend Jerry I’m going to start this by talking at some length about Jack, Robinson and animation producers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears. and a thought that occurred to me. A lot of people here did not (below) Left to right, Kirby attorney Paul S. Levine was also present on the panel, but time have the opportunity to meet Jack; that’s one of the reasons we that’s Jerry Robinson, Joe Ruby, and Ken restrictions limited his input. Moderated by Mark Evanier, and do these panels, so those of us who did can pass on that won - Spears. Photos by the transcribed and edited by John Morrow.) derful little glow we got from being near the man. When you incomparable Chris met Jack, you might come to him and say, “I want a sketch of Ng, who’s always on MARK EVANIER: In honor of Jack Kirby, will you all please set the Thing” or “I want an autograph.” What you got that was hand to snap shots your cell phones on “explode.” (laughter) This is the annual Jack most valuable—he usually wouldn’t do a sketch for you. He for our use; thanks as Kirby Tribute Panel, so inevitably I’m Mark Evanier. (applause) would sometimes autograph, depending on how his drawing always, Chris! I’d like to apologize for the hour; I do not make the schedule for hand was at the time. But what you got from Jack, if you were this convention, I just live in it. We’re gonna divide this into perceptive enough to receive it—which many people were three chapters. The first part is going to be a brief rambling by not—was always a philosophical concept. Because the most me, kind of a “state of Kirby” speech. Then I’m going to have valuable thing Jack had, even more so than his ability to draw announcements, and if you have a Kirby-related announcement great looking monsters and such, was a perception. you’d like to make, that’d be the time to do it. The third part is You’ve heard me talk or write in the past about how Jack we’re going to be talking to these gentlemen about Jack and predicted this and that. People have asked me if he had psychic their relationship to him. Let me introduce them to you. powers. I don’t believe in psychic powers; if I ever did I would On my immediate left is one of the great legends of the believe that Jack had them. I still don’t believe people have psy - comic book business. People have been coming up to me for chic powers, but I do believe that some human beings on this several days at this convention, saying, “I can’t believe I just met planet are just smarter than other people, and some of them are the guy who created the Joker, and drew all those neat Batman more perceptive than other people, at least in certain areas. stories.” When they gave the Bob Clampett Humanitarian Those of us who knew Jack can itemize areas where he was not Award to this man, that’s what it was meant for. When they perceptive; this is a man who could not drive a car because he gave it to me, they made a mockery of it. (laughter) This is Mr. would drive off the road inevitably. But when it came to grand Jerry Robinson, ladies and gentlemen. (applause) visions of the future—where something was going—he didn’t As we’ll discuss when we get to Act Three of these proceed - know where he was always going, but he always knew where the ings, Jack had a lot of career turmoil in the late 1970s and early future was going. One of the concepts Jack gave me to think

1980s. He felt very alienated from the comic book business. He about a lot—he’d throw out new ways of looking at it over the was unhappy in it for a number of reasons—not the least of years—was something that might be called “the passing of the which was that it was still the comic book business after all torch.” I met Jack in July of 1969; it is scary to me—and one of those years. He found an escape route; Mister Miracle managed those thoughts I can’t quite wrap my brain around—that at that to get out of the comic book business and the prison that it was point, Jack was younger than I am today, by a couple of years. for him, and worked very happily in animation for many years. He seemed old to me; not old in a bad way. He seemed like an He worked very happily for these two gentlemen, who had and adult, an experienced guy with years and years on him, and I still have a very fine animation studio named Ruby-Spears. was this stupid, geeky kid who knew too damn much about These are Mr. Joe Ruby and Mr. Ken Spears. (applause) comic books, and look where it’s got me. (laughter) And I don’t On the far end is the Kirby family attorney. Jack had two feel like I’ve changed, but obviously something has changed. wonderful lawyers working for him during the original art battle This is my 12th panel of this convention, and I have five in which you all know about, and some of the other battles he a row today. It dawned on me as I was looking at my schedule— fought. Now this represents the Kirby Estate and the next panel in this room is a tribute to a man named Dave many other people you know, even me. This is Mr. Paul S. Stevens. Dave was even younger than I am, and we lost him this

25 if you want it to, it doesn’t work that way. So Jack the encouragement he gave to a girl named Wendy was very supportive in an amazing way, of the new Fletcher, who’s now known as Wendy Pini. And it generation. was a different kind of encouragement, in many I met Dave Stevens at Jack’s house around 1971, cases an encouragement not to get into comic books — and Jack was encouraging him. Now, Jack encouraged not to think that inking Spider-Man was a life goal. everybody. You could come to Jack with the worst Jack would say to them in various permutations the artwork in the world, and Jack would say, “You’re phrase, “I’ve done about as well as you can do in great! Keep at it! Keep working hard!” (laughter) comics, and it ain’t all that fabulous.” On one of Because even though he might not believe in your these panels years ago, Wendy Pini said Jack, when artwork, he believed in energy, and youthful enthu - he saw her work, said, “If I catch you working for siasm, and human spirit, and he believed that it Marvel, I’m gonna spank you.” (laughter) Because should never be squashed or discouraged. So there he believed that so many other things were possible . was no way Jack ever discouraged anyone. But Jack He was very frustrated that, for him, working at DC had two kinds of encouragement. He had the and Marvel were the only options for so long, until encouragement he gave to everybody off the street he met people like Joe and Ken here. who came to him with stuff scrawled on the back of I have no real finish for this, other than it loose-leaf notebook paper—these bad tracings of seemed like an appropriate thing to mention, Fang Foom. “You’re great! Keep at it!” And he because after this is over, we’re going to have to sit Mark Evanier moderated the panel. had the encouragement he gave to people with gen - here and talk about Dave, and Dave was a guy Jack uine talent—the encouragement he gave to Dave was very proud of. year. We also lost a friend of ours—a friend of Stevens, the encouragement he gave to Scott Shaw!, We have in the room a person or two who are Jack’s, who we’ll be talking about a little later today, because he worked with Ruby-Spears a lot—named . It is stunning to me that I am presiding over memorial services for people like this. It’s one thing to post on my weblog that Creig Flessel has left us; Creig Flessel was what, 94? It’s sad when you lose these people, but 94 is not a bad age to go these days. (laughter) In your fifties—Steve Gerber was just barely 60—that’s kind of jarring, especially for those of us who are 56 years old. (laughter) I’m conscious of the fact that Jack was one of the few guys when I got into comics in 1970, who really embraced that idea that it was time for his generation to step aside, and a new generation to take over. There were lots of people in comics who loved the fans, as long as they stayed fans. The unspoken sentiment, or occasionally spoken by a couple of people out loud, was, “You’re not here to replace us, you’re here to appreciate us. You’re here to support us, you’re here to buy our stuff, you’re here to slobber over us. But you’re not going to replace us.” Jack’s attitude to every new kid who came to him was, “Welcome to the business. It’s going to be yours any day now.” One of the comics Jack did at the time I first knew him was a book called The Forever People. Of all the comics that Jack did during our association, where I feel that I have a certain understanding of what he was going for, the one that I think least came out the way he intended was The Forever People. He was having a lot of trouble with and Mister Miracle , because he was getting all this strange input from different sources, and he had too damn many ideas to cram into too few issues. But in Forever People , what he envisioned was not the comic he did. Forever People —you can see some of this between the panels, and it’s in some of the panels—was a book about the passing of the torch. It was about how the Old Gods had to step aside to make way for the New Gods; not because they wanted to, but because that’s just the way it works. Jack quoted to me one time a line that was, I think, attrib - uted to William F. Buckley, who also just passed away. It said, “The job of a political conservative is to stand astride history and yell ‘Go back in the other direction.’” (laughter) And Jack’s answer was, “What a stupid idea,” (laughter, applause) if for no other reason than that it never works that way. Even

26 actually related to Jack Kirby, but in a certain sense we are all second cousins and nephews of this guy. You know the reason we do these panels? I like spending an hour with people who are smart enough to appreciate Jack Kirby. (applause) If you want to get applause in a room, you just compliment the audience. (laughter, more applause) Anyway... To the extent that I can leave you with a philosophical concept the way Jack always did—and I’m nowhere near as good at it as he was; nobody is as good at it as he was—if you stay for the Dave Stevens panel, or you have to leave and you can just think about Dave and Steve Gerber and people like that, remember that the future only works in one direc - tion. One of the geniuses of Jack was that he was always running out to get ahead of everybody. He would take you back to World War II gladly, but he didn’t want to live there. It was a cautionary note; World War II was a very important metaphor in Jack’s life, so it couldn’t be forgotten, the way you shouldn’t forget the Holocaust, or you shouldn’t forget things that destroy people’s lives, and their world, and make sure you don’t replicate them—because God knows we don’t want to get into an unnecessary war again. (groans from audience, laughter) The thing that you need to remember, if you think about Jack, was there’s always a bigger picture, and the world keeps expanding, and getting bigger. And the only way to aspire to what Jack did is try to keep getting out in front of it, and being ahead of everybody. In Jack’s case, he sometimes got a little too far ahead of everybody, but that was what I thought I should say today at this panel. Thank you. (applause) We are now going to segue to the Kirby Announcements section; I have a couple. One is that Lisa Kirby, who could not be with us today, wanted you to know that there is another volume of Jack Kirby’s Galactic Bounty Hunters in the works, coming soon to a bookstore near you. We are so happy to see the new work being done in the Kirby tradition and the Kirby name, the Kirby milieu. Last year on this panel I was sitting with , and we got to talking about our favorite work, and Neal and I share a mutual love for a book Jack did called “.” There was a gust of enthusiasm in this room for “The Losers,” and in the back of the room, a man named Bob Wayne hauled out his Blackberry, texted DC and said, “We’ve gotta reprint ‘The Losers’ next.” (laughter) DC is going to reprint “The Losers” next. (applause) I have a prediction I have made—and please understand this is my prediction; it’s not an official announcement— that everything major Jack ever did will be in print within five years. They’re going to get to it, and we’re going to announce a few more before time is out here. The only exceptions might be things like 2001 or Justice Inc. where there were licensing issues involved. I suspect even those will eventually be surmounted. My prediction does not (previous page) Dave include those, although it would not surprise me if those were out there. He is as Stevens’ gorgeous inks commercial as he’s ever been; the books that Jack did that were considered failures at and colors, which we the time are now hits; this is the most amazing legacy to remember about Jack. ran as the centerfold of I am now going to play Oprah here, and segue out into the audience. I’d like you to TJKC #19. meet Jack’s grandson Jeremy. (applause) (above) Splash page JEREMY KIRBY: Hey, how’s everyone doing? (applause) On behalf of the whole family, pencils from #154 (April 1975), I’d just like to thank everyone for being here; it’s great to see the panel growing in size featuring the Losers. every year. So on behalf of the entire family, including my sister who’s about to give Check out DC’s new birth, we all say “thank you,” and it’s heartfelt. Really, thank you so much. (applause) Losers hardcover collec - Of course, Mark Evanier who puts this on every year, this is just amazing. We love him; tion for some of Kirby’s he’s just as much a family member as I am to my grandfather, so thank you Mark. best 1970s work.

(applause) And the other panelists up here, thank you, guys. We appreciate it, and I’m Captain America and Bucky TM & excited to hear everyone speak. (applause) ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc. Losers Jack’s grandson, Jeremy Kirby. TM & ©2009 DC Comics. 27 Gallery 2 FF Lost & Found

n 2008, Marvel Comics I released Fantastic Four: The Lost Adventure, wherein editor brought to fruition his grand plan of getting Stan Lee and Joe Sinnott togeth - er to complete all the Kirby pages we’d assembled from Jack’s rejected story, originally planned for FF #102. Parts of it had been rejiggered and sand - wiched together with art to make FF #108, after Kirby had already left Marvel for DC in 1970. But Tom had seen the pencil page reassembly we’d attempted here in TJKC, and figured it would be cool to present it in finished form for the world to see. Only problem was, try as we might (and believe me, I did!), there were still one full page and random panels missing from Jack’s original story. So Marvel had draw some bridge artwork to fix the gaps where the missing art went, and with Joe Sinnott’s inks, it held together pretty nicely. I highly recommend you pick up a copy if you haven’t already. But as luck would have it, a short while after Marvel released FF: Lost , the missing pencil page from that story surfaced, and I’m delighted to present it as this issue’s centerfold. And in the spirit of the Thor reassembly we did last issue, I figured it was time to re-present our detective work on this lost issue at larger size than we’ve run it before. Enjoy! If you know the whereabouts of the remaining missing panels of Kirby pencil art, please let us know, so we can eventually get the complete story totally reassembled. #

Fantastic Four TM & ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.

36 Barry Forshaw Obscura

A regular column focusing on Kirby ’s least known work, by Barry Forshaw

A MUST FOR YOUR KIRBY LIBRARY know times are tough. Most of us I live in a heightened nervous state, not sure whether or not we’ll have Looking for inexpensive jobs tomorrow—so we ’re perhaps less reprints of the stories inclined to splash out on luxury purchases. featured this issue? Sorry, But even if you have to go without food, any Win A Prize #1 and #2 self-respecting Kirby aficionado will need to buy (1955) haven't been The Best of Simon and Kirby , which has just reprinted , but House of appeared in a sumptuous hardback from Titan Books. Mystery #85 (April 1959) (Actually , the book is reasonably priced —and isn ’t was reprinted in DC really a bank-account-busting item .) This is the first Special #11 (March 1971). volume in The Official Simon and Kirby Library, the only collected editions authorized by Joe Simon and the estate of Jack Kirby, showcasing the work of the most acclaimed creative team in the checkered history of the comics medium. Painstakingly overseen by Joe Simon himself (and studded with his observations and behind-the-scenes revelations), this bumper-sized, glowingly full-color hardcover boasts some of

House of Mystery the most striking stories ever told in the graphic medium, TM & ©2009 DC Comics. lovingly restored by Simon & Kirby historian Harry Mendryk. Fighting America, Young Romance, Win A Prize TM & Compiled by editor and friend of Joe Simon, Steve Saffel, the ©2009 Joe Simon & Jack collection showcases the team ’s groundbreaking work in Kirby Estate. every genre of comics, including super-heroes, science- fiction, war and adventure, romance, crime drama, westerns, horror, and humor, and e ach section is accompanied by a brand new intro - duction by Kirby Collector ’s Mark Evanier (whose own Kirby: King of Comics is a necessary adjunct to this book). The choice of material reprinted here (while mostly exemplary) is open to argument, but more on that later. The Best of S&K sports the duo ’s most famous characters, notably Fighting American, Stuntman, and The , along with choice selections from such groundbreak - ing titles as Black Magic , Justice Traps the Guilty , and the industry ’s first romance title, Young Romance . There are also pieces from the team ’s years at Timely Comics: “Captain America and the Riddle of the Red Skull” (from Captain America Comics #1, March 1941) and “The ” (from Marvel Mystery Comics #14, December 1940), along with two stories from their move to DC Comics: Sandman in “The Villain from Valhalla” (from #75, June 1942) and “Satan Wears a Swastika” (from Boy Commandos #1, Winter 1942). As you may have noticed from this column, I consider some of Kirby’s finest work to be done for such companies as Harvey in the 19 50s, and I ’m naturally a little disappointed that the glorious Race for the Moon is represented by only one story—and though “The Thing on Sputnik 4” is excellent, it ’s by no means the best work the team did on the title (I ’d have sacrificed one or more of the earlier, cruder pieces S&K did in the 1940s—full of energy, but lacking the finesse of their later work). However, the riches here are abundant, and the large format does total justice to the matchless artwork . Even if you 52 Foundations Black-&-White Magic

Art reconstruction, color, and commentary by Chris Fama

n late 1950, Young Romance and Young I Love were already very successful monthly titles for Simon & Kirby. But weren’t the only successful genre on the stands; horror titles like Tales from the Crypt were also making a splash. Simon & Kirby’s Black Magic began publication in late 1950, competing against EC titles later considered some of the best comics ever produced. If you compare this story to Young Romance #30, both cover dated February 1951, the dif - ferences are remarkable. While the Young Romance story is very formulaic artistically, “A Silver Bullet For Your Heart” is Simon & Kirby firing on all eight cylin - ders. All you need do is look at this splash to see two men raising their own artistic bar to new staggering heights. This may also be one of the first uses of (see page 7 of the story). #

TM & ©2009 Joe Simon & Jack Kirby Estate. If you enjoy these amazing vintage Simon & Kirby stories, look for many more of them—in full-color—in Titan’s Best of Simon & Kirby (out now), and the subsequent follow-up volumes coming soon.

56 The King had to contemplate the stability of his reordered field and decide which company or Retrospective companies could best serve his needs and that of Genre Comics his growing family. His clients in the latter part of the decade would include Harvey, Atlas, Charlton, and DC, An overview of the Lee and Kirby forays into fantasy but a conflict with Jack Schiff would eventually exclude the latter. (below) “Groot,” one by Jerry Boyd Charlton paid less than any other publishing house and their of a seemingly end - less stream of would- distribution was shaky. Harvey was marginalizing the type of be world-conquering imon and Kirby had made a commendable effort into self- heroic adventures Jack was keenly adept at, and would come to monsters from Lee & publishing, but the comic landscape of the mid-’50s was be dominated by funny animals and funny kids and funnier Kirby. This splash S rapidly changing, and their titles, while memorable and often devils, , and witches, etc., as time went on. page is from Tales To wonderful, didn’t garner the readership of earlier successes at Martin Goodman’s Atlas Comics wasn’t a top payer either, Astonish #13 (Nov. Timely and National. 1960), with inks by but Goodman had weathered the also, so Kirby went to Dick Ayers. Other From Here to Insanity, Fighting American, Black Magic, and their offices and shook hands with Stan Lee, the sole editor-in- artists did monster others had to fight for exposure on the overcrowded newsstands chief of the comic line in 1955, and began doing stories. By 1961 stories, but few did and spinner racks. Newer readers were taken with EC Comics it would pay off handsomely in terms of stability and creativity ’em as eye-catching and the pressure of PTA groups and socio-political watchdogs and take both men into a universe neither one could’ve seen in as the King. had been a threat to creativity that made many creative types go the making at the time they began work together. (next page) Detail of a into hiding, or advertising… wherever their talents could thrive. hard-riding Two-Gun Jack Kirby was still determined to go on to new heights in Kid from Kirby’s final the comic industry. Like other , he had to be shaken Monsters, Aliens, and Robots— issue of the character, by the angry backlash that spawned the Comics Code and its Fantasy As You Like It! #62 (March 1963). (sometimes ridiculous) restrictions, but he’d weathered worse The moviegoers of America were tantalized by monsters trials. He’d survived the Great Depression, and the combat zones Characters TM & ©2009 Marvel throughout the ’50s, but with television sets becoming more Characters, Inc. of Western Europe near the end of WWII. He’d get through this. prevalent by the end of the decade, something slightly different was in the air. Television stations were hungry for product to fill the air - waves. Movie studios, finally realizing that TV was here to stay, decided to play ball, and sold their film libraries to these stations and networks. Old movies (and even ones that weren’t that old) got shown on “The Late Show” and “Afternoon Theater.” (In my , a local station from the city of Durham broadcast a “Jungle Theater” in the early ’60s that specialized in any old feature with , Jungle Jim, and so on in it.) Others focused on horror, sci-fi, and fantasy films. Their gore-shocks were banned in comics, but welcome to squealing young viewers who’d never seen such cinematic thrills before. Was Stan influenced by any of this? “Of course we were,” he told me by e-mail. “We were influ - enced by everything that went on around us…” Journey into Mystery, Strange Tales, , and all began as horror and science-fiction anthologies in the 1950s. But if youngsters were running to movie houses to see towering monsters like Godzilla, Konga, and Gorgo (just to name three), then Stan would give ’em towering monsters. Giant creatures were Code-proof. Stan had done them before the comic watchdogs had come around, so it’d be a simple matter to continue them. This time, Lee had the makings of what would be the “founding fathers of Marvel” with him. , , Joe Sinnott, , , , Dick Ayers, and Jack Kirby became the new regulars on these monster books and others. Taking a cinematic cue from “The Late Show,” Kirby drew an astonishing amount of brutish behemoths that came from within the earth’s innermost recesses, beyond the galaxy’s farthest reaches, and wherever else his collaborations with Lee would place them! Martin Goodman’s company once (before the infamous Atlas implosion—see Kirby Collector #18) put out plenty of comic magazines. But the Code, lowered sales, and Goodman’s distribu - tion deal with competitor DC left the line-up depleted. Happily for Jack and Stan, the four aforementioned monster books and additions (which began in 1961) and (1958-59) were there to add to their paychecks. Though letters columns were not de rigeur during the late ’50s at Atlas, Stan noticed that the distinctive styles of Ditko and Kirby were drawing readers in. Kirby got more cover assignments and the two artists often shared space in the same mags. Ditko occasionally inked Kirby’s pencils. This winning combination 62 was not lost on Stan, who continued this “Marvel team-up” into the ’60s. others got their fair share, as well.) The formula of the monster books was fairly simple. A formidable creature Kirby told Comic Scene Spectacular in ’92, “It was the names of the monsters would, in the course of 6-8 pages (or a expanded multi-parter, if Jack and Stan that struck me funny. It would be names like ‘Bazoo.’ It was that kind of time— really wanted to stretch out!) announce his designs on conquering our hapless the 1950s, when the adventure stories weren’t selling. But horror always sells.” world. As the tension and action mounted, a tall, lean, pipe smoking (a pipe Stan recalled, for Marvel Spotlight: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby (2006), “I think smoker was automatically believed to be a ‘wise man’ in the ’50s/early ’60s) with the monster stories that I did with Kirby, those crazy titles, I think there I scientist/doctor/researcher would discover a way to utterly defeat the diabolical would just say, ‘Jack, get a guy who crawled out from under a rock and he’s 20 feet giant and restore order. (David and Goliath were at play here.) The gargantuan tall and we’ll call him Gazoom and we’ll…’ and then he did the rest of it, and I put usually towered way over the Earth people they encountered and were so in the dialogue.” sure of their eventual triumphs that they gloated with supreme confidence along Time travelers offered all types of possibilities, also. Some journeyed forward the way. And then the Lee and Kirby team defeated their aims through their pipe into the future for knowledge or power. Others sought to use their knowledge to smoking proxy, and often through simple ruses. dominate the past. Lee sent Heck, Ditko, and Kirby out to visually imagine the Stan was so obviously taken with the EC Comics-style “twist ending” that had variations on that H.G. Wells-type theme. Sorcerers and fantasy tales had to border served , Bill Gaines, and so well in their wildly success - on the fantastic and away from the realm of vampires, werewolves, and zombies ful horror, crime, and sci-fi yarns years earlier, that he made it a point to end that had helped create the Code. Dr. Druid (born “Droom”), in Amazing Adventures , many of his stories the same way. , for example ( Tales of Suspense #9), was a was somewhat of a precursor to the forthcoming Dr. Strange. gigantic smoke-thing, seemingly impervious to harm. Though he sent thousands With Rod Serling’s exemplary TV hit The Twilight Zone into panic-mode by blanketing large areas with his dark vapors, one imaginative garnering critical and audience applause, Jack and Stan’s human made him go far away just blowing out the smoke from his cigarette variations on the “situations monster-ous” were also worthy lighter and announcing he’d do the same to Diablo, unless…. of accolades in the early ’60s. The creatures the men “Spragg, Conqueror of the Human Race!” ( Journey Into conceived of could be formulaic or they could have Mystery #68) mass-hypnotized his human slaves into building his depth, reason, and angst. The time for one-dimen - mountainous frame a huge platform from which he could move sional ho-hum style storytelling in sequential art beyond Transylvania (that’s right, Transylvania) and subju - could be discarded and improved upon, if only it was gate all of mankind. The hero, putting his pipe aside, was executed properly. able to fight off the hypnotic powers of his enemy and But how? And in what genre? The monster titles were instead set the platform’s controls to jettison Spragg far out solid sellers for Atlas, but the Kirby-Lee team grew a little of Earth’s atmosphere forever. Other creatures were similarly tired of them as the ’50s gave way to the ’60s. Their monsters, outwitted by “puny humans.” aliens, futuristic spacemen, and robots could be good and they Sometimes these yarns became morality plays. could be evil, but there was only so much the guys could do Aliens from beyond weren’t always despotic in with this particular genre. Any other nature or would-be rulers of earth dwellers. In “A creative prospects would have to present Martian Walks Among Us” ( Strange Tales #78), themselves elsewhere. Still, for the the sinister Martian invasion scout is thwarted moment, Jack had to be somewhat by a benevolent Venusian, who just happens pleased. Five full years had passed since to be our unheralded, unseen aide. Tales to the Comics Code had transformed the Astonish #30’s “The Thing from The Hidden industry, but Jack had found work within its restrictive Swamp” told of a plain but pleasant-tempered perimeters and made a new niche for himself. Atlas spinster who does a good deed for an alien had solid winners in their monster/mystery line-up, stranded in a bog, spacecraft and all. For and he was a large part of its success. helping him, er… it, she’s rewarded with beauty to match her selfless compassion for others. Good things happen to good folks. Western Gunsmoke Robots could be good and bad in Stan Shortly after the end of the American , a battle- and Jack’s worlds. “Mr. Morgan’s Monster” weary nation turned its eyes to its western frontier. Many (Strange Tales #99) was a sophisticated citizens packed what they had left after living through four humanoid created to convince a skeptical years of the national conflict and left their war-ravaged regions populace that robots could still be benefi - for a fresh start. Once again the west seemed the place to go, cial to society. Morgan kept his intimidating farm, and find riches, and the promise of excitement and adven - (but inwardly heroic) creation hidden until the ture co-mingled nicely into that prospect. time to unveil him was right. Unfortunately, some of The frontiersman had been a subject of fascination since those pesky outer space power seekers came to our world and Daniel Boone and Andrew Jackson captured their young nation’s tried to seize Morgan’s invention to learn its secrets. The creature attention in the early 19th century. Trailblazers like Kit Carson and Davy fought back. He held out long enough for the sleeping townspeople to rally and Crockett followed. But it was Wild Bill Hickok, who was interviewed in Harper’s investigate the noises of the strange battle. The aliens, thwarted, scurried to their Magazine a few years after the war, that sealed the deal. Hickok, a former Union starships, escaping without the “monster.” Sadly, Morgan’s girlfriend tells him scout and Pony Express Rider, came off like a longhaired, buckskin-wearing that since his creation was found in the streets outside of its safe haven (where it who’d already mastered the sweeping vistas, wild animals, and warrior was ordered to remain), it has proved its “unreliability.” The monster’s energy Indians of the Great Plains and beyond. The fact that Hickok was also a dangerous fading, its last actions reveal… a lone tear. In just a few pages, Jack and Stan could gunman only added to his reputation. pull on your heartstrings as well as any team in the business. Wild Bill was the template for the legendary gunfighter where myths, lies, Other robots, however, were out for themselves. In “Beware! He Isn’t Human!” and truth converged in plays, pulps, and Wild West shows eagerly consumed by (Journey Into Mystery #77), an egotistical movie monster creates a robot to Americans who wanted to feel good about the promises of their country again. destroy a woman who’s jilted him. Twist ending—the woman’s a robot, also, and After Hickok, stylish gunmen/gamblers like , Bat Masterson, and thanks to the movie man, she’s got her ideal mate. The two humanoids edge would emerge. And then there were the ‘kids.’ There was a real Texas toward the special effects man until he falls out of an open window. Kid, a real (Atlas had non-Kirby stories about these two), the Lee had a ball with the names of his co-creations. Zzutak, Gor-Kill, Titan, Sundance Kid, and the biggest of them all—. Rorgg, Lo-Karr, , , the Creature from Krogarr, Trull, Moomba , Stan edited or wrote as many gunslinging kids into his western books for Groot, Monstrom, Sporr, Kraa, Bruttu, Goom, Oog, and Googam, Son of Goom Atlas as possible. For the aforementioned special ish of Marvel Spotlight, the Man (!) were all monikers to give readers reason to pause! (Ditko, Heck, Ayers, and later recalled, “It’s funny, my publisher, Martin, he loved the word ‘Kid.’ I mean

63 David Folkman submitted this wonderful sketch, about which he said: “Jack gave me the Silver Surfer softcover graphic novel Parting Shot he and Stan did together and drew the pencil sketch on the opening blank endpaper. Stan signed it for me when he attended our National Society chapter holiday brunch at the Friars Club in Beverly Hills, 1997.” Silver Surfer TM & ©2009 Marvel Characters, Inc.

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KIRBY COLLECTOR #53 THE MAGIC OF STAN & JACK! New interview with STAN LEE, walking tour of New York where Lee & Kirby lived and worked, re-evaluation of the “Lost” FF #108 story (including a new page that just surfaced), “What If Jack Hadn’t Left Marvel In 1970?”, plus MARK EVANIER’s regular column, a Kirby pencil art gallery, a complete Golden Age Kirby story, and more, behind a color Kirby cover inked by GEORGE PÉREZ! (84-page tabloid magazine) $10.95 (Digital Edition) $3.95 http://twomorrows.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=98_57&products_id=787

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