The Comics Journal Library: Jack Kirby [Paperback]

Milo George (Author)

Book Description

Series: The Comics Journal | Publication Date: July 2002

This monumental book collects a variety of Kirby-related writings from The Comics Journal, with rare and full-color art, exclusive interviews, fascinating essays, and an overview of his long fight to get his original art back from Marvel Comics.

Like any popular medium, comic books in the 20th century were marked by trends. Unlike music or film or television, comics can point to a small handful of men who, through a combination of imagination and artistry, dictated those trends. Chief among the idea men was Jack "King" Kirby. Kirby's dynamic art and limitless imagination were responsible for much of what made comics great from the 1940s through the '70s. With early collaborator Joe Simon, Kirby created Captain America in the World War II era and, after the war, the romance comics genre that dominated the industry in the '50s. As the creative vision behind Marvel comics in the '60s, Kirby (with writer Stan Lee) rejuvenated superheroes with such characters as The Fantastic Four, The Hulk, Thor, and The X-Men. In the '70s, Kirby's ambitious "Fourth World" series of comics for Marvel's rival DC set a new standard in epic comics storytelling; today it is widely believed to be the inspiration behind George Lucas' Star Wars mythos.

In The Comics Journal Library: Jack Kirby, the first of a series of collections of interviews and essays from The Comics Journal—the field's premier magazine of comics news and criticism for the past 25 years — Fantagraphics Books presents a comprehensive look at the man and the creator through a series of in-depth interviews and critical essays. In his own words, Kirby describes the circumstances of the creative process, his many contributions to the comics medium, and candidly discusses his personal and professional triumphs and disappointments. Jack Kirby is published in an oversized art book format of 12" x 12" in order to show off Kirby's artwork as well as his words.

Color and black-and-white illustrations throughout

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Jack Kirby launches, in oversize format, the Comics Journal Library, meant to collect interviews and essays from throughout the magazine's 25-year run. Kirby (1917-93), perhaps the most influential of all comic-book artists, is best known for his lengthy stint at Marvel Comics, where, with scripter Stan Lee, he defined the modern superhero with such creations as the Fantastic Four and the Hulk. His career began in the early 1940s, when he co-created Captain America. It has been estimated that he drew some 25,000 pages over the course of half a century. In addition to three sizable interviews with Kirby and his wife, the volume includes critical assessments and four pieces covering Kirby's battle with Marvel over creative rights and ownership of his original drawings. His distinctively dynamic artwork appears on nearly every page of this overdue tribute that, like the latest special edition, demonstrates that comics can sustain the same sort of critical and historical treatment as other art forms. Gordon Flagg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

An oversize paperback that does justice to the brawny, sprawling work of "King" Kirby, the godfather of superhero-comic-book drawing. -- Entertainment Weekly, Ken Tucker

Reproductions of Kirby's dynamic artwork make for a handsome coffee table book, while interviews and essays provide a fascinating account. -- The List, 3 October 2002, Miles Fielder

[Kirby's] distinctively dynamic artwork appears on nearly every page of this overdue tribute. -- Booklist, 1 September 2002

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 120 pages
• Publisher: Fantagraphics Books (July 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1560974346
• ISBN-13: 978-1560974345
• Product Dimensions: 12 x 11.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,187,734 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars The Comics Journal drops the ball, August 5, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Comics Journal Library: Jack Kirby (Paperback)

It is ironic that The Comics Journal, a critical journal which holds other publishers to such stringently high standards, should produce such a flawed publication as this. A frustrating collection of superb text and wretched production values, THE COMICS JOURNAL LIBRARY: JACK KIRBY is "the first of a series of coffee table-style volumes devoted to the life and work of exceptional cartoonists." The text is roughly a 50-50 mix of interviews (conducted over a course of 20 years) and essays. While the essays provide a level of serious analysis rarely encountered in the fan press, Jack Kirby was far too prolific a creator for his life's work to be summarized in one slim volume. The latter portion of the book chronicles Kirby's battle for the return of his Marvel artwork in the late '80s. The majority of illustrations are poor-quality black and white reproductions shot from comic book pages. The use of a gray background behind the text imparts an overall dull look to a book about one of comics' most energetic stylists. The 12"x12" format puts a lot of stress on the binding, and the cover stock kinks and creases easily; a hardcover would have been a more sensible choice for a book of these dimensions. Despite its grievous shortcomings as an art book, THE COMICS JOURNAL LIBRARY: JACK KIRBY is the most serious critical attempt to come to grips with the sprawling visual genius of the creator of pop culture icons such as Captain America, the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, the Hulk, the New Gods, the Silver Surfer and many more. Let's hope that future volumes of THE COMICS JOURNAL LIBRARY are preceded by an open call to the comic art collector community for illustrations.

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Germinal Genius Behind The Marvel Universe, March 28, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Comics Journal Library: Jack Kirby (Paperback)

This book, a critical introduction to Kirby, sets the stage for future volumes in the series. (It is not at all intended as a posh coffee table book of the man's art. For great samples of Kirby's art, there are still many places you can go.) It cleaves, more or less cleanly, into three sections: interviews, critical appraisals/appreciations and the last section, devoted to Kirby's battle with Marvel over the return of his original artwork.

One of the most satisfying and essential parts of this book is a 1989 interview in which Kirby takes off the gloves and asserts unequivocally that one man created the stable of characters that made Marvel the power it has been for the last 4 decades, and further that that man IS NOT the one taking all the credit, the one you may think it is.

The history of popular culture repeats scenarios like this over and over again. When all the legends of New Orleans jazz were dead and buried, truly marginal figures who could have never made it in Chicago or New York crawled out of the woodwork, claiming a bigger part in the music's history than they actually played. And fans, far enough removed from the era when the epic figures roamed the earth, ate it up as gospel. The same thing happens now. With Jack Kirby gone, a certain one remaining can claim the truly preposterous: that he was something more than a mere editorial front man for the publishing house. Having believed his own overblown PR for decades, the party in question finds himself in a position where few can contest any claim he makes. In such an environment, this book becomes critical to understanding an important truth: Jack Kirby was the Genius Originator of modern Marvel. Say it again: Jack Kirby was the Genius Originator of modern Marvel. It is time the record is set straight.

The other guy (let's bestow on him the kind of appellation he might relish, and even claim credit for if someone else came up with it: Doctor Disingenuous) has always publicly rounded off the corners of the truth. He seeks furiously to hide the fact that he was a mere nepotistic beneficiary, a 'personality' man, a cheesy emcee and carney barker in the scheme of things.

Give yourself a special no-prize if ya read me, Tiger!