From SDCC 1982, Jack Kirby.
If you don't know who Jack Kirby is, you really should not be allowed to attend SDCC. Seriously. If I had my way, everyone who goes would have to take a Kirby Kwiz. If you don't pass, you don't gain admission. It's as simple as that. But how could you NOT know? Jack Kirby is the single most influential and innovative artist who has ever graced the field of adventure comics. You cannot read more than a few without coming across a character he created or a concept he introduced.
But let's just say, for the sake of argument, that you don't know anything about comics, don't know anything about animation, don't know anything about action figures and don't know a thing about movies. But ... you want to go to comic con anyway. Why, who knows? But you do. Okay. Here are the basics:
Jack Kirby was born Jacob Kurtzberg on August 28, 1917, at 147 Essex Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City. Like his contemporaries Will Eisner and Harvey Kurtzman, Jack was born in the early 20th century in one of the worst neighborhoods in New York. Like Will and Harvey, he was raised in extreme poverty, the son of Jewish immigrants fleeing Europe, And like Will and Harvey, Jack had to learn to fight to survive. Also like Will and Harvey, Jack was drafted into military service in World War II. And finally, just like Will and Harvey, Jack saw his love of drawing as a way to lift himself and his family out of their terrible circumstances.
In early 1940 Jack met and began collaborating with cartoonist and Fox editor Joe Simon. A few months later the duo were hired on staff at pulp magazine publisher Martin Goodman's Timely Comics (later to become Marvel Comics). There Simon and Kirby created the patriotic superhero Captain America in late 1940.
Co-creating an icon like Cap should be enough by itself to get anyone elected to the comic book hall of fame. But oh no. Simon and Kirby were not done. They went on to co-create the Newsboy Legion, Boys Ranch, Sandman, Boy Commandos and Stuntman. Then they wrote and drew the very first romance comics and created a whole new genre.
That's gotta be enough right there, yeah? Pfft. King Kirby was just getting warmed up.
The 1950's brought Black Magic, Young Love, Sky Masters, Challengers of the Unknown, Fighting American and Bullseye. And, as with the previous decade, even the books Jack had nothing to do with felt his influence: a great many other artists imitated him and/or were inspired by him.
And, had he stopped right there, never put pencil to paper again, never drawn another comic book, we would still be hailing him as one of the all time greats.
But then the 1960's came along. And a little thing called the Silver Age. And this little thing Stan Lee called the Marvel Age of Comics. Stan and Jack co-created The Fantastic Four, Hulk, Sgt. Fury, Nick Fury, Avengers, X-Men, Ant-Man, Thor, Iron Man, The Silver Surfer, The Inhumans, The Black Panther, Dr. Doom, Galactus, and basically every character in the Marvel pantheon with the exception of a few characters created by Steve Ditko. They also brought back Captain America from the Golden Age. And again, whole hordes of artists came forth, inspired and/or imitating.
And had he stopped right there, ect.
The 1970's and the Bronze Age brought the New Gods. Now, you'd think that an artist , any artist, would have long since run out of ideas. But Jack is the most amazingly creative visionary that ever worked in this field. The New Gods, the Forever People, Mister Miracle, Darkseid, Kamandi, the Demon ...
And then the 1980's. The Copper Age, some folks call it. The whole field of alternative comics got a bang up send off with Captain Victory. And then Jack segued into TV and film work.
Now we can stop. And I want you to think of what the comics industry would look like if this man had never existed. I mean just think about it for a minute. No Marvel. No Marvel Cinematic Universe. No Marvel Legends action figures. No San Diego Comic Con. No Fourth World. Pretty bleak.
Yep, Jack the visionary artist. Jack the creator. But let me tell you two things that I will always remember about Jack Kirby, the man.
First, he was one of the nicest and kindest comic book creators who ever attended a San Diego Comic Con. I have never seen anyone bend over backwards as much as he did to accommodate the fans. He never charged for an autograph and never refused one. He signed autographs everywhere. At his table, in the aisles, in the lobby, in the courtyard, across the street, down the street and in front of his hotel. He did sketches and answered questions and he did his best to spend as much time with his fans as he possibly could before his wife would chase him out of there. That's just the kind of man he was.
Second, and I swear to God this is true. This was was either at SDCC 1988 or 89 when we had the con at the old convention center on C Street. It was right when the dealer's room had closed so it was just after 7 PM. The sun was getting low. Kirby was standing out in the courtyard looking out at downtown San Diego. As usual he was surrounded by many of his fans who were hoping to hear him say something inspirational or maybe just be close to someone that great. He looked thoughtful for a few seconds and then he said "You know, someday this convention will take over this entire city. It will be spread out all over downtown San Diego. Fans will come out from all over the country and the world to attend. TV and radio will be here in force covering it. Hollywood will be here to show us what will come out next year and to steal our ideas for future years. It will be the ultimate popular culture event." I thought, no way. Listen, I loved Jack. I just adored that man. But I thought he was wrong. I couldn't see it. Comics would always be a niche hobby, I thought. Only a small subset of people would be interested in this little four color world of ours. I couldn't see your average person really caring about the likes of Tony Stark or Bruce Banner.
Well, that's why Jack is the visionary creator of the Fantastic Four and the New Gods, and I'm nobody. Because he called it. He was absolutely right. 130,000 people, the population of a small city, descend on downtown San Diego every summer. Media from as far away as Japan, Australia and Europe are here covering it. Hollywood comes down to show us their latest productions. I wish the King would have lived long enough to see this.
Jack died on February 6th, 1994 of heart failure. He was 76 years old.
And Oh God, the legacy he left behind. Here's what I want you to do. When you go see Fantastic Four this weekend, take a few seconds and think about the man who made it all possible.
Goodbye, Jack. From Asgard to Yancy Street, we had a helluva trip.
I love you.
3000.
1 Day Until SDCC 2025!
If you don't know who Jack Kirby is, you really should not be allowed to attend SDCC. Seriously. If I had my way, everyone who goes would have to take a Kirby Kwiz. If you don't pass, you don't gain admission. It's as simple as that. But how could you NOT know? Jack Kirby is the single most influential and innovative artist who has ever graced the field of adventure comics. You cannot read more than a few without coming across a character he created or a concept he introduced.
But let's just say, for the sake of argument, that you don't know anything about comics, don't know anything about animation, don't know anything about action figures and don't know a thing about movies. But ... you want to go to comic con anyway. Why, who knows? But you do. Okay. Here are the basics:
Jack Kirby was born Jacob Kurtzberg on August 28, 1917, at 147 Essex Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City. Like his contemporaries Will Eisner and Harvey Kurtzman, Jack was born in the early 20th century in one of the worst neighborhoods in New York. Like Will and Harvey, he was raised in extreme poverty, the son of Jewish immigrants fleeing Europe, And like Will and Harvey, Jack had to learn to fight to survive. Also like Will and Harvey, Jack was drafted into military service in World War II. And finally, just like Will and Harvey, Jack saw his love of drawing as a way to lift himself and his family out of their terrible circumstances.
In early 1940 Jack met and began collaborating with cartoonist and Fox editor Joe Simon. A few months later the duo were hired on staff at pulp magazine publisher Martin Goodman's Timely Comics (later to become Marvel Comics). There Simon and Kirby created the patriotic superhero Captain America in late 1940.
Co-creating an icon like Cap should be enough by itself to get anyone elected to the comic book hall of fame. But oh no. Simon and Kirby were not done. They went on to co-create the Newsboy Legion, Boys Ranch, Sandman, Boy Commandos and Stuntman. Then they wrote and drew the very first romance comics and created a whole new genre.
That's gotta be enough right there, yeah? Pfft. King Kirby was just getting warmed up.
The 1950's brought Black Magic, Young Love, Sky Masters, Challengers of the Unknown, Fighting American and Bullseye. And, as with the previous decade, even the books Jack had nothing to do with felt his influence: a great many other artists imitated him and/or were inspired by him.
And, had he stopped right there, never put pencil to paper again, never drawn another comic book, we would still be hailing him as one of the all time greats.
But then the 1960's came along. And a little thing called the Silver Age. And this little thing Stan Lee called the Marvel Age of Comics. Stan and Jack co-created The Fantastic Four, Hulk, Sgt. Fury, Nick Fury, Avengers, X-Men, Ant-Man, Thor, Iron Man, The Silver Surfer, The Inhumans, The Black Panther, Dr. Doom, Galactus, and basically every character in the Marvel pantheon with the exception of a few characters created by Steve Ditko. They also brought back Captain America from the Golden Age. And again, whole hordes of artists came forth, inspired and/or imitating.
And had he stopped right there, ect.
The 1970's and the Bronze Age brought the New Gods. Now, you'd think that an artist , any artist, would have long since run out of ideas. But Jack is the most amazingly creative visionary that ever worked in this field. The New Gods, the Forever People, Mister Miracle, Darkseid, Kamandi, the Demon ...
And then the 1980's. The Copper Age, some folks call it. The whole field of alternative comics got a bang up send off with Captain Victory. And then Jack segued into TV and film work.
Now we can stop. And I want you to think of what the comics industry would look like if this man had never existed. I mean just think about it for a minute. No Marvel. No Marvel Cinematic Universe. No Marvel Legends action figures. No San Diego Comic Con. No Fourth World. Pretty bleak.
Yep, Jack the visionary artist. Jack the creator. But let me tell you two things that I will always remember about Jack Kirby, the man.
First, he was one of the nicest and kindest comic book creators who ever attended a San Diego Comic Con. I have never seen anyone bend over backwards as much as he did to accommodate the fans. He never charged for an autograph and never refused one. He signed autographs everywhere. At his table, in the aisles, in the lobby, in the courtyard, across the street, down the street and in front of his hotel. He did sketches and answered questions and he did his best to spend as much time with his fans as he possibly could before his wife would chase him out of there. That's just the kind of man he was.
Second, and I swear to God this is true. This was was either at SDCC 1988 or 89 when we had the con at the old convention center on C Street. It was right when the dealer's room had closed so it was just after 7 PM. The sun was getting low. Kirby was standing out in the courtyard looking out at downtown San Diego. As usual he was surrounded by many of his fans who were hoping to hear him say something inspirational or maybe just be close to someone that great. He looked thoughtful for a few seconds and then he said "You know, someday this convention will take over this entire city. It will be spread out all over downtown San Diego. Fans will come out from all over the country and the world to attend. TV and radio will be here in force covering it. Hollywood will be here to show us what will come out next year and to steal our ideas for future years. It will be the ultimate popular culture event." I thought, no way. Listen, I loved Jack. I just adored that man. But I thought he was wrong. I couldn't see it. Comics would always be a niche hobby, I thought. Only a small subset of people would be interested in this little four color world of ours. I couldn't see your average person really caring about the likes of Tony Stark or Bruce Banner.
Well, that's why Jack is the visionary creator of the Fantastic Four and the New Gods, and I'm nobody. Because he called it. He was absolutely right. 130,000 people, the population of a small city, descend on downtown San Diego every summer. Media from as far away as Japan, Australia and Europe are here covering it. Hollywood comes down to show us their latest productions. I wish the King would have lived long enough to see this.
Jack died on February 6th, 1994 of heart failure. He was 76 years old.
And Oh God, the legacy he left behind. Here's what I want you to do. When you go see Fantastic Four this weekend, take a few seconds and think about the man who made it all possible.
Goodbye, Jack. From Asgard to Yancy Street, we had a helluva trip.
I love you.
3000.
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1 Day Until SDCC 2025!
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