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Eric Jansen
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Joined: 27 October 2013
Location: United States
Posts: 2386
Posted: 30 January 2023 at 3:32am | IP Logged | 1 post reply

I'm a little fascinated by Kirby's return to Marvel in the 1970's, especially with all the covers he did.  Besides returning to some old favorites that he helped create, it was fun to see his take on some newer characters he previously had nothing to do with!

GHOST RIDER #21 by Jack Kirby & Al Milgrom
I would have loved to have seen more Kirby Ghost Rider!  And his Gladiator is pretty cool too!

MARVEL SPOTLIGHT #29 by Jack Kirby & Al Milgrom
Very cool to see Kirby's version of Moon Knight, and his Conquer-Lord actually looks formidable!

MARVEL PREMIERE #35 by Jack Kirby & John Verpoorten
It's crazy that the only picture of 3-D Man by Kirby is also probably also the character's best picture!

WOODGOD in MARVEL PREMIERE #31 by Jack Kirby & John Verpoorten
Keith Giffen's Woodgod story art is definitely inspired by Kirby, so it's a perfect marriage that Kirby himself provided the cover.

More coming!


Edited by Eric Jansen on 30 January 2023 at 10:47am
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John Byrne

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Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 133693
Posted: 30 January 2023 at 5:11pm | IP Logged | 2 post reply

We’d all do well to remember this was the period when fans started turning on Kirby. Very much a “what have you done for me lately?” situation.

When I was asked at cons who were my favorite artists, naming Kirby would guarantee pantomime gagging.

Marvel was giving Kirby work despite that.

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Steve Gumm
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Joined: 10 May 2004
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Posted: 30 January 2023 at 5:29pm | IP Logged | 3 post reply

When I was young I mistakenly thought he was a bad artist. He couldn’t draw characters realistically, being 10, I didn’t know it was a stylistic choice and I was sooo wrong. 

It must have been painful to have your success dictated by the artistic tastes of 7-14 year old boys.

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Peter Hicks
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Joined: 30 April 2004
Location: Canada
Posts: 1992
Posted: 30 January 2023 at 5:59pm | IP Logged | 4 post reply

I was 10 when Jack came back to Marvel.   I bought most of his issues of Captain America and a few issues of Eternals.   I liked his stuff fine.
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John Byrne

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Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 133693
Posted: 30 January 2023 at 6:03pm | IP Logged | 5 post reply

One of the few good things Image did was help to “rehabilitate” Kirby in the eyes of their fans. It was all so they could claim to have been as “badly treated” by Marvel as he had allegedly been, but at least it served to get people giving him his due (and occasionally more than his due*).

————

* Which I would not have thought possible, but they did it!

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Joe Smith
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Joined: 29 August 2004
Location: United States
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Posted: 30 January 2023 at 7:09pm | IP Logged | 6 post reply

Born too late in the game to ever see a Kirby run on a current book,
however, treasury editions guaranteed that I got to see the majesty, he
brought to characters like Namor, the Thing, the Hulk, and Thor. Even an
ignorant and uneducated mind such as mine at age 6, 7, and 8 would have
no problem feeling the brute force and power he conveyed.
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Michael Penn
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Joined: 12 April 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 12788
Posted: 30 January 2023 at 8:28pm | IP Logged | 7 post reply

Kirby's return to Marvel came as a surprise to me as a kid -- no internet back then! -- but it was certainly welcome. I had no clue his reputation had suffered by that point -- no internet back then!
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Peter Martin
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Joined: 17 March 2008
Location: Canada
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Posted: 30 January 2023 at 10:44pm | IP Logged | 8 post reply

I'm just enough old enough to overlap Kirby's return to Marvel, but I definitely didn't read any at the time. My exposure to Kirby as a wee child was via hand-me-down Marvel UK reprints and episodes of The New Fantastic Four animated series (and those would have been repeats*).



*Reruns in crosspond-speak.

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Eric Jansen
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Joined: 27 October 2013
Location: United States
Posts: 2386
Posted: 30 January 2023 at 11:00pm | IP Logged | 9 post reply

It was cool to see Kirby's more powerful, later style on these Golden Age 1940's characters--teamed by Roy Thomas as the Liberty Legion.

AVENGERS #153 by Jack Kirby & Al Milgrom
The Whizzer never looked more powerful!

MARVEL PREMIERE #29 by Jack Kirby & Frank Giacoia
I love every one of these poses!  And this might be the iconic Bucky pose!

MARVEL PREMIERE #30 by Jack Kirby & Frank Giacoia
The Patriot looks great!  And Red Raven and Miss America too!  I would have loved at least a LIBERTY LEGION mini-series by Kirby!

MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE #20 by Jack Kirby & Frank Giacoia
Kirby makes these newly created WWII villains look solid and imposing.  Even the floating heads are impressive!


Edited by Eric Jansen on 30 January 2023 at 11:15pm
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Jason Czeskleba
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Joined: 30 April 2004
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Posted: 31 January 2023 at 2:20am | IP Logged | 10 post reply

It's worth noting that most (if not all) of the covers Kirby did at Marvel in the 70s for books he was not writing/drawing himself were based on sketches prepared for him by other artists.  I believe Al Milgrom was one of the main people who did sketches for Kirby.


Edited by Jason Czeskleba on 31 January 2023 at 2:20am
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Robert Bradley
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Joined: 20 September 2006
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Posted: 31 January 2023 at 6:41pm | IP Logged | 11 post reply

Jason - I have read that Milgron did some layouts, as did Marie Severin, Ed Hannigan and Dave Cockrum (and possibly others).
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Ed Fahey
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Joined: 07 March 2005
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Posts: 279
Posted: 31 January 2023 at 7:30pm | IP Logged | 12 post reply

I would love to have seen Kirby's 70's take on Wolverine (or any of the new X-men), but I understand it never happened. Unless there's a con sketch floating around somewhere....
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