Jack Kirby RIP

February 6 is the anniversary of the passing of Jack "The King" Kirby in 1994. If you do not know who Jack Kirby is, you don't read comics. Kirby began drawing in the Forties before he went off to World War II. He bounced back and forth between Marvel (then Timely) and DC, where he helped create Captain America in the 40s and The Challengers of the Unknown in the 50s. He worked on The Sandman, The Newsboy Legion, The Manhunter, and The Boy Commandos, as well as helping to create the sub-genre of "romance" comics.

In the early 1960s he teamed up with Stan "The Man" Lee and together they created the entire modern Marvel Comics universe. Very few are the main Marvel characters that he did not have a hand in creating, starting with The Fantastic Four, Black Panther, The Avengers, The X-Men, Daredevil, The Silver Surfer, Galactus, and The Inhumans. In the early 70s he moved back to DC for awhile, where he created Darkseid and the other Fourth World New God characters. He went back to Marvel in 1976, then did some animation work in California for a few years and freelanced for the rest of his professional career. He had an unlimited imagination, too big for one page, one character, or one company to handle. We still miss him, but luckily for us, he is everywhere we look.

REST in PEACE 

JACK KIRBY

(8-28-17 ~ 2-6-94) 

 

The lynch-pin of the Marvel Universe....the Fantastic Four!

 

Most of the characters Kirby was associated with over the years in one place....

The Avengers.....featuring the character he had helped create 20 years earlier!

 

   A self-portrait Jack did while he was back at DC during the early Seventies

Jack asked for the worst-selling "main" title to work on, which is why his NEW GODS characters 

made their debut in Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen!

 Besides THE NEW GODS, while at DC Kirby created characters who became 

staples, such as KAMANDI and THE DEMON

 Jack Kirby returned to Marvel in time to help them celebrate the Bicentennial in 1976. 

Examples of rare "mainstream" DC characters drawn by 

Jack. In general he stayed in his own universe while at DC. 

However, here The King *did* draw DC's Sea King. 

Hooray!