Jack Kirby thought big — literally. Some of Kirby’s most memorable characters were space giants, sea monsters, orange freaks, and cosmic colossuses that towered over his other characters, who weren’t exactly teacup poodles. But even Ben Grimm is an ant compared to Galactus. I feel small lately. 2018 has been a parade of small minds, nonexistent…
KIRBYOLOGY!: The Glory of Jack Kirby and Geof Darrow’s Mad Machinery
My favorite comic artists are Jack Kirby (duh) and Geof Darrow. Aside from their prodigious, unearthly imaginations, they wouldn’t seem to have a lot in common — though they did share a workplace for a while, toiling in animation for Hanna-Barbera. The experience wasn’t a creative peak for either, athough it honed Darrow’s skills and…
KIRBYOLOGY!: Holy Krackle! 9 Jack Kirby-Inspired Religions
Like so many smug liberal snowflakes, I hate religion. Not that I want to. My inner abyss is as bottomless as a cup of diner coffee. I’d love to fill it with something other than beer and comics. And maybe someday I will. Some folks have sustained brain damage that made them more religious afterwards,…
KIRBYOLOGY!: 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, and the Relief of Not Knowing It All
I saw 2001: A Space Odyssey for the zillionth time recently (at Chicago’s wonderful Music Box Theater). As usual, I loved the film. My only regret? Not being high. As this classic tale of ape people, less-hairy ape people, insane computers, and mysterious monoliths unfolded, I couldn’t help thinking about Jack Kirby’s massive treasury adaptation…
KIRBYOLOGY!: Ed Piskor on Jack Kirby, His Inkers, and Things You Can Only Do in Comics
One of the highlights of Ed Piskor’s X-Men: Grand Design is a vibranium-fueled panel featuring Jack Kirby’s most famous creation: In my Kirby-centric conversation with Piskor — Part 1 is here — I expressed admiration for this Nazi-bashing scene. To me, this action-packed panel is like a window into an alternate universe where Piskor did Captain…
KIRBYOLOGY!: Ed Piskor on X-MEN, Flea Markets, and Gangsters
As a wee lad and puny teen, I loved the X-Men. I haven’t given a mutated shit for decades. Well, the movies are pretty good. But X-Men comics? Eh. Yet somehow, I am once again geeked beyond reason for an X-Men comic: Ed Piskor’s X-Men: Grand Design, which retells the X-Men saga in the style…
KIRBYOLOGY!: Walter Simonson and His Irrepressible, Cosmic, Fantastic Four
Walter Simonson is, by any measure, one of the greatest comic book creators ever. He also might be the best post-Kirby creator on Kirby’s best creations: especially on Thor in the 80s and Orion in the early aughts. Both runs are classics. For my money, which I spend on too many comics, I don’t think…
KIRBYOLOGY!: The Patron Saint of Nazi-Punching
Most of my Jack Kirby enjoyment is part of a solo escape attempt from this turd of a planet. Since boom tubes aren’t available, I spend hours flipping through Devil Dinosaur, rereading OMAC, boggling at images from The Demon, or reading the latest issue of the always wonderful Jack Kirby Collector. But sometimes I get…
KIRBYOLOGY!: The Sublime Joys of Jack Kirby’s Names
Jack Kirby is my religion, and like all religions, Unorthodox Kirbyism can be a strange duck. And I’m not talking about Destroyer Duck, created by Kirby and Steve Gerber. Let’s talk about Kirby’s character names—in all their Ugly Mannheim glory. For some, names like Scott Free and Baron Von Evilstein are evidence of how much…
KIRBYOLOGY!: The Most Kirbyesque Comics of the Year
This was a year of many great comics. I adored Moon Knight by Jeff Lemire and Greg Smallwood; Shaolin Cowboy: Who’ll Stop the Reign? by Geof Darrow; COPRA by Michel Fiffe; and The Wild Storm by Warren Ellis and Jon-Davis Hunt. But anyone can pick the best comics of the year. My job — as…