Behold KIRBY’S MARVEL HEROES AND MONSTERS Artist’s Edition

An EXCLUSIVE INSIDE LOOK at the power of the King…

The absolute best way to get into an artist’s head is to check out IDW’s Artist’s Editions.

These high-end, oversized hardcovers that present impossibly hi-res scans of original art are like a portal into intent and execution. You see the pencil lines, the ink, the mistakes, the corrections. You see an artist in raw.

Every one I’ve seen makes me marvel at the power of creativity and commitment – but few are as astonishing as those that spotlight Jack Kirby.

Big surprise, I know. But to see the King’s artwork as close to its original form as possible is a mind-blower.

IDW has a new edition out 8/1 and it’s a strange one: Jack Kirby’s Marvel Heroes and Monsters. I mean strange in a good way. There’s no real prevailing theme — it’s just an eclectic collection of superhero stories, monster tales, covers, splash pages and pin-ups.

Just check out the three tables of contents that divide the edition:

This is also one of the super-sized editions because Kirby’s art was done in the old-school, twice-up format. This means BIG — 15” x 22”. (The book runs 160 pages and goes for about $150.)

Oh, you want to see some of the art, do you? Well, check out these 13 pages.

And, as I always say when presenting one of these EXCLUSIVE previews, this just scratches the surface:

CAPTAIN AMERICA PIN-UP

THE AVENGERS #16

TALES OF SUSPENSE #78

TALES OF SUSPENSE #81

TALES TO ASTONISH #35

STRANGE TALES #105

X-MEN #7

SGT. FURY #6

STRANGE TALES #75

JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #58

TALES TO ASTONISH #34

STRANGE TALES #89

MORE

— EXCLUSIVE Preview: JACK KIRBY’S FANTASTIC FOUR ARTIST’S EDITION. Click here.

— 13 GREAT PAGES From the JACK KIRBY FOREVER PEOPLE ARTIST’S EDITION. Click here.

Author: Dan Greenfield

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7 Comments

  1. Unless I miss my guess, that’s Don Heck inking Kirby in the Captain America color image. The result is unusual and distinctive, bearing the earmarks of both artists almost equally. I can’t actually recall where Don Heck was assigned the inking chores on a Kirby interior art job at Marvel, although I can certainly think of some examples where Heck provided the finished pencils over Kirby’s breakdown layouts.

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    • Heck inked Jack in the Thor feature in Journey into Mystery #97…I guess in preparation for taking over the full art chores in #98.

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  2. I had a chance to flip through this at SDCC this year, but I passed on it only because I already have three other Kirby editions and as well as several others and these things eat up a lot of shelf space.

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  3. Does look a great selection of pages, will definitely be thinking about this edition but it is quite an addition to the bookshelf if I get it (would love to see it be available as a small artisan edition ? at some point)

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  4. Out of curiosity .. 160 pages but the listing seems to go to Page 175 (Fin Fang Foom). The cover of Avengers 16 has always been a favourite … then again, all the examples here are amazing

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