Customer Reviews

The Comics Journal Library: Jack Kirby

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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.

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!