Byrne Robotics: Kirby in the 1970’s

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Jose Zulueta
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Joined: 20 March 2022
Location: United States
Posts: 173

Posted: 03 February 2023 at 6:19pm \| IP Logged \| 1	post reply

Jack Kirby's Iron Man is always fun. Especially from the 70s.

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Rebecca Jansen
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Joined: 12 February 2018
Location: Canada
Posts: 4635

Posted: 03 February 2023 at 6:21pm \| IP Logged \| 2	post reply

The fan artists should get to work with how they think Kirby might've done Alpha Flight. :^)

Ditko did some of Alpha Flight in a Machine Man issue.

You can see the Kirby pencils to some of these covers from photocopies he made before they went off from his studio in California... Avengers #151 is different in pencils as Cap's hand is redrawn by Dan Adkins. It's too bad Iron Man having a nose for a brief time besmirched a couple covers like IM #80.

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Jason Czeskleba
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Joined: 30 April 2004
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Posted: 03 February 2023 at 8:56pm \| IP Logged \| 3	post reply

Here's the layout sketch for what JB called the "feet sell" cover (again from JKC #29). Looks to me like the work of Al Milgrom, but at this low resolution I wouldn't bet money on that guess:

Edited by Jason Czeskleba on 03 February 2023 at 8:56pm

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James Johnson
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Joined: 16 March 2009
Location: United States
Posts: 2174

Posted: 03 February 2023 at 9:06pm \| IP Logged \| 4	post reply

Man-O-Man those 70's Kirby Kovers are taking me back well over 46 years ago.

Penny cookies and a Coke on a Friday/Saturday afternoon.

Gotta find some THOR 70's covers.

Edited by James Johnson on 03 February 2023 at 9:08pm

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Eric Jansen
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Joined: 27 October 2013
Location: United States
Posts: 2386

Posted: 03 February 2023 at 10:55pm \| IP Logged \| 5	post reply

Thanks Jose, for posting those IRON MAN covers! (Now I don't have to!) As I've said before, I would have loved to see a Kirby IRON MAN run! These covers are the closest we ever came to that, I suppose--except for TALES TO ASTONISH #82, where Kirby filled in for an ailing Gene Colan. It was the Sub-Mariner feature, but it was a crossover story with Iron Man and the two heroes just have an all-out battle--and it was glorious!

Of these 70's covers, that #94 with Captain Kraken (with Kirby Krackle!) is extra impressive!

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Eric Jansen
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Joined: 27 October 2013
Location: United States
Posts: 2386

Posted: 04 February 2023 at 3:24pm \| IP Logged \| 6	post reply

Some of my very favorite Kirby covers were for INVADERS. He did 14 in all, (I believe) the longest run for any 70's comic he didn't also write & draw.

INVADERS #5 by Jack Kirby & Joe Sinnott (design by Ed Hannigan)

Boy! What a fantastic cover! Nobody could draw the Red Skull like Kirby! (Also, his Bucky was always the best.) I'd like to see the original--oversize and in b&w! The only flaw is no Toro! (Couldn't fit him in somewhere?!)

INVADERS #8 by Jack Kirby & Frank Giacoia

Such a great intro for Union Jack! Such an iconic pose for the main character and the back-up figures just add to the excitement! Somehow, nobody seems small (except maybe Toro)--how do you fit 5 or 6 figures into one small rectangle and still have them individually pop?!

INVADERS #12 by Jack Kirby & Joe Sinnott

Everything I said about the Union Jack cover applies to this cover introducing his daughter Spitfire too! Two great characters (that JB treated very well in later stories).

INVADERS #11 by Jack Kirby & Frank Giacoia

Another exciting, dynamic, impressive cover! Showcasing a bit of a throwaway villain (I believe Roy Thomas said he was just an Iron Man riff), this cover might have been impossible for anybody else to do and make work! That is a crazy layout--but it works great!

Edited by Eric Jansen on 04 February 2023 at 3:26pm

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Eric Jansen
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Joined: 27 October 2013
Location: United States
Posts: 2386

Posted: 06 February 2023 at 10:57am \| IP Logged \| 7	post reply

Here are some more random characters Kirby only drew for one (or three!) covers.

MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE #27 by Jack Kirby & Joe Sinnott

Here's a cool Kirby rendition of a character that seems right up his alley--Deathlok! (Kirby's DC creation OMAC premiered barely a month after Deathok--both unstoppable fighting machines in the near future with a computer talking in their heads!)

BLACK GOLIATH #4 by Jack Kirby & Joe Sinnott

While both Bill Foster and Stilt Man go back to Marvel's early days, Kirby had nothing to do with them--is this the first time he drew either?

MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE #19 by Jack Kirby & Frank Giacoia

I like Kirby's take on Tigra! (I can place him drawing her on three covers.)

MARVEL CHILLERS #7 by Jack Kirby & Dan Adkins

Kirby's second take on Tigra--a month after his first one! (And Red Wolf and the Super-Skrull to boot!)

Edited by Eric Jansen on 06 February 2023 at 11:02am

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Richard Stevens
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Joined: 04 May 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 1957

Posted: 06 February 2023 at 2:31pm \| IP Logged \| 8	post reply

Tigra vs. Super-Skrull? Talk about two amazing designs on the same page.

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Rebecca Jansen
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Joined: 12 February 2018
Location: Canada
Posts: 4635

Posted: 06 February 2023 at 5:33pm \| IP Logged \| 9	post reply

Kirby did some great covers for The Fantastic Four in the '70s, #180 had Tigra. I agree he did a good job with her! Imagining him doing the FF or Avengers interiors as well then... and his Iron Man would've been a classic run had it happened!

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Darren Ashmore
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Joined: 30 April 2004
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 964

Posted: 06 February 2023 at 6:36pm \| IP Logged \| 10	post reply

Jeez, those covers posted are just beautiful (I'm a 70s kid
so I owned a lot of those comics at one point)

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Jason Czeskleba
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Joined: 30 April 2004
Posts: 4649

Posted: 07 February 2023 at 3:06am \| IP Logged \| 11	post reply

Rebecca, did you know that Kirby and Roy Thomas actually discussed having him do return to doing the interior art on FF, circa 1976? Unfortunately, they reached an impasse over the breakdown of responsibilities. Roy asked Kirby to plot and draw, offering him top billing and a share of the writer's money, but Kirby countered that he wanted Roy to provide detailed plots that broke the story down panel-by-panel, and he (Kirby) would just be art robot. Roy was not willing to accept that arrangement, so it did not happen.

Edited by Jason Czeskleba on 07 February 2023 at 3:09am

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Robert Bradley
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Joined: 20 September 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 4887

Posted: 07 February 2023 at 3:45am \| IP Logged \| 12	post reply

Overall, I wasn't a big fan of Kirby's work when he returned to Marvel. CAPTAIN AMERICA and the Black Panther in JUNGLE ACTION had great runs end abruptly when Kirby took over. And I was a much bigger fan of his 1960's Marvel art (in part because of his work with Joe Sinnott).

That said, I did like THE ETERNALS and MACHINE MAN, and I still like those characters 40+ years later. Nobody cranked out more great character ideas than Kirby.

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