A BIRTHDAY TRIBUTE to the King, who was born 109 years ago, on Aug. 28, 1917…
By PAUL KUPPERBERG
If I have to explain who Jack Kirby is, you’re probably at the wrong website.
Kirby (August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) began making comic books when making comic books was still a new thing. His earliest credit was in Fiction House’s Jumbo Comics #1 (September 1938) as the writer and artist of “The Count of Monte Cristo,” just a few years after National Allied Publications’ New Fun #1, the first magazine to feature all new material instead of newspaper comic strip reprints. His last, 56 years later, was in Image’s Phantom Force #2 (April 1994), and in between, he wrote and/or drew tens of thousands of pages of comics is every conceivable genre… including one or two he had a hand in creating.
You can’t talk about the history of American comic books without Jack. He worked in just about every category in the medium, from newspaper strips and science fiction to crime, romance, war, Westerns, horror, and superheroes. With Joe Simon, he co-created Captain America, Bucky, the Newsboy Legion, the Boy Commandos, and the romance comics format, while producing work for such titles as Captain America Comics, Young Romance, Young Love, Black Magic, Boys’ Ranch, and The Black Rider. In the 1960s, Kirby was instrumental in conceiving the Marvel Universe with Stan Lee, Steve Ditko, and others, co-creating Fantastic Four, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, The Avengers, The X-Men, Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos, and other titles, as well as such characters as Black Panther, Silver Surfer, Ant-Man, the Inhumans, and dozens more personalities and concepts.
Returning to DC in the 1970s, he created his Fourth World saga in the pages of New Gods, Forever People, Mister Miracle, and Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen, as well as The Demon, Kamandi, and OMAC, also taking on the World War II feature the Losers in Our Fighting Forces. Jack’s later projects included the The Eternals, Devil Dinosaur, Machine Man for Marvel, Captain Victory and the Galactic Rangers for Pacific Comics, not to mention his 1980s DC Super Powers miniseries, one of which I was lucky enough to get to write. But even more than the sheer range of characters, genres, and publishing eras he was part of, Jack Kirby’s most lasting contribution may be the number of visual and narrative ideas he introduced into comics and the influence they continue to have long after his stories were published.
No wonder then in 1987, for his 70th birthday, a gaggle of creators, including Mark Evanier, Greg Theakston, Mike Thibodeaux, Steve Rude, Len Wein, Marv Wolfman, Scott Shaw, Richard Howell, “and a host of others,” threw The Jack Kirby Surprise Party on August 8 at the Hotel San Diego during the San Diego Comic-Con.
And I was there!
I think Jack may have been overwhelmed by the event and display of love and respect that the comic book community showed him that night. He wasn’t a naturally gregarious guy, in fact he always seemed to me to be unduly modest, deflecting compliments with growled disclaimers. When I went over to wish him a happy birthday and express my admiration for his work and the thrill it had been for him to draw the Super Powers book, he waved me off and said, “Naw, it’s you young guys doing all the great work these days,” as if the foundation he helped build didn’t matter.
But the contributors to the 16-page, 5.5” x 8.5” Jack Kirby Surprise Party souvenir booklet and the rest of us attending didn’t let Jack shrug off the compliments that night. We were there to pay homage to the King and we made sure he heard us!
Here then, MY 13 FAVORITE 1987 JACK KIRBY SURPRISE PARTY BOOKLET TRIBUTES (all characters and contributions © by their respective creator):
—
The Jack Kirby Surprise Party Souvenir Booklet Cover. If he was good enough to herald the coming of Galactus, the Silver Surfer by Jack and Greg Theakston is good enough for the King!
—
A Man Who Needs No Introduction. Surprise!
—
Who’s the Leader of the Band? Frequent Jack Kirby inker Mike Royer bows to the King.
—
He’s So Rude! Artist Steve Rude brings Orion and Lightray to life.
—
Reasons to Love Jack Kirby. Longtime Kirby admirer, collaborator, friend, and biographer Mark Evanier gives just a few reasons for all the Kirby love.
—
The centerfold! Joe Sinnott and some of Jack’s old friends got back together to wish Jack the best.
—
Stan and Steve… No, a Different Steve. That’s Lee and Gerber, both with tributes to a great collaborator.
—
A Groo-vy Birthday Tribute. Courtesy of Sergio Aragones.
—
Happy Boithday, See? Dave Stevens provides some tough NYC birthday love with this portrait of the Newsboy Legion’s Brooklyn.
—
Magnifique! Frequent Kirby inker Chic Stone and French artist Moebius (Jean Giraud) express their admiration.
—
From Don and the Ladies. John Romita depicts several women who played parts in both their creative lives, while Don Heck draws himself into the work.
—
The 3 Faces of Jack. Tributes from two creators and one attorney.
—
From One Legend to Another. Will Eisner. ‘Nuff said.
—
MORE
— ENTER SANDMAN: The Forgotten Fun of JACK KIRBY’s First Issue in the Dream Dimension. Click here.
—
—
PAUL KUPPERBERG was a Silver Age fan who grew up to become a Bronze Age comic book creator, writer of Superman, the Doom Patrol, and Green Lantern, creator of Arion Lord of Atlantis, Checkmate, and Takion, and slayer of Aquababy, Archie, and Vigilante. He is the Harvey and Eisner Award nominated writer of Archie Comics’ Life with Archie, and his YA novel Kevin was nominated for a GLAAD media award and won a Scribe Award from the IAMTW. Check out his memoir, Panel by Panel: My Comic Book Life.
Website: https://www.paulkupperberg.net/
Shop: https://www.paulkupperberg.net/shop-1
