Today is the day we celebrate The King. No, not Elvis…the King of Comics, Jack Kirby.
Kirby, for my money, is the single most important figure in comic book history. More important than Superman creators Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel, more important than Bob Kane and Bill Finger, the brains behind Batman and more important than even Will Eisner, the man who brought The Spirit to life.
If you’re a fan of any Marvel movie, you owe a debt to Jack. After all, he co-created almost the entire Marvel Universe. Jack is responsible for Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, The Fantastic Four, The X-Men, Doctor Doom, Loki, Magneto, Red Skull, Black Panther, The Avengers, Silver Surfer, The Inhumans, Namor, Devil Dinosaur and Moon Boy…the list is nigh endless. I’d try and name more, but I don’t know that Nerdspan has enough bandwidth for me to complete the list.
He created an entire world at DC, the Fourth World, which gave comics perhaps its greatest villain, Darkseid. He’s also the man behind The New Gods, Etrigan the Demon, the Challengers of the Unknown, OMAC and Kamandi, who was post-apocalyptic before post-apocalyptic was cool. Also, he drew Captain America punching Adolf Hitler. He deserves reverence for that alone!
Jack’s style was unconventional. He drew his characters with square fingers, which made them uniquely his. One need only say “Kirby Fingers” to evoke images of square digits. He also perfected the Kirby Krackle, aka Kirby Dots as an effect. He was truly one in a million.
We lost Jack in 1994, and it’s still hard for me to believe that it’s been 21 years. In the pre-Internet dark ages, we had to wait for comic news from magazines like Wizard and Hero. When I saw in my now dog-eared copy of Wizard that Jack had passed, it was like a part of my childhood was gone. I was a fan of Jack’s when I was younger, but over the years I’ve become an even bigger fan. I liken Jack to Led Zeppelin…I was always a fan, but it took some aging on my part for me to truly appreciate the genius behind the art.
Today would have been the King’s 98th birthday. As a lifelong comic fan, it’s the perfect day to celebrate the life of the man who, for decades, entertained millions with his vivid imagination and his magical pencils. Quite simply, without Jack, the comic industry wouldn’t be where it is today.
Happy birthday, King!
