Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Happy Birthday, Jack Kirby

Jack Kirby, the most influential artist in the history of comic books, would have been 90 years old today. He died in 1994, leaving behind an incredible legacy. Among the hundreds of characters that Kirby created or co-created: Captain America, the Fantastic Four, Silver Surfer, Boy Commandos, Hulk, the X-Men, Thor, Mister Miracle, Darkseid, Galactus, Dr. Doom, New Gods, Forever People, Kamandi. It is said that Kirby, often in collaboration with other comic book notables, such as Joe Simon (during the 1940's and '50s) and Stan Lee (at Marvel during the '60s), was involved in creating more than 400 characters, many of which remain active moneymakers for their companies more than fifty years later.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Um, he also created Spider-Man, but I'm glad Kamandi got a shout out.

buddha

Marty McKee said...

No, dude, Stan Lee and Steve Ditko created Spider-Man.

Anonymous said...

Duh. I realized that on my way home for lunch today.

But you did neglect Devil Dinosaur.

buddha

Marty McKee said...

I do have at least one Devil Dinosaur comic.

I can't believe I forgot to mention Nick Fury, since SGT. FURY AND HIS HOWLING COMMANDOS is probably my all-time favorite title. WAHH-HOOOOOOOOO! And I have every issue of the NICK FURY: AGENT OF S.H.I.E.L.D. series, as well as the incredible TPB of Fury stories from STRANGE TALES. Jim Steranko over Kirby layouts is some of the best comic book art I've ever seen.