A Moment of Comics

Proof that crapping on poets is a time honored tradition in comics. Bernard the Poet would be Bernard the Tortured Poet if written today. This page was printed in X-Men #7  by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby with inks by Chic Stone. Hope you enjoyed this National Poetry Month selection.

A Moment of Comics

Since Trump won in Iowa, here's the front cover of Captain America Comics #1 by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby with Cap punching Hitler. Hey, did you know that Simon and Kirby received death threats for this cover? I know right? America supporting Nazis? Who Would have thought? Ah, history.

Truth

 Comics writing can break your heart faster than comics itself. 

A Moment of Comics

This panel will likely resonate with the currently striking members of the Writers Guild of America. Godcorp's President Ned Packer and his thoughts on creatives from Destroyer Duck #1. Words by Steve Gerber, Artwork by Jack Kirby (!) and Alfredo Acala.

A Moment of Comics

Maybe Jack Kirby wasn't firing on all cylinders in the eighties, but he didn't deserve this treatment. Here in issue #5 of Secret Wars 2 we have Jim Shooter's Beyonder character (drawn by Al Milgrom) bitch-slapping all the Celestials from his Eternals opus. Given that the issue of Jack Kirby's unreturned artwork was ongoing, this seems like a less-than-subtle "screw you" to Kirby and his later creations.

 

It seems that anything Jim Shooter created at the end of his tenure as Marvel's Editor-in-Chief was meant to be an alpha in whatever fictional universe he was working in. Of course, he'd have his comeuppance later, but that's another story. Maybe for another month.

A Moment of Comics

Here's a big two-page spread from the opening of Thor #388. I loved the early part of this book's run by writer Tom DeFalco and artist Ron Frenz (well matched here with inks by Bret Breeding). I think the duo's run was seen as one huge aping of Jack Kirby, but for someone who didn't grow up reading Kirby right away, this collaboration was a lot of fun and an education in why Kirby's methods were still being copied decades later. Their story line with the Celestials was  one of my favorites. Very respectful to Kirby's creations. Unlike another example that I'll post next week.

A Moment of Comics

Jack Kirby's Eternals one last time. Here's the big "group shot" that Kirby loved doing. Still, I wonder if Kirby was forced to both draw this scene and to integrate these characters into the Marvel universe. It's only after getting halfway through this collection that any Marvel reference (S.H.I.E.L.D.) is even mentioned. I'll be doing some research later.

 

A Moment of Comics

Still slowly reading through Jack Kirby's Eternals. Forgot about this piece of Marvel history where Eternal Icarus leads Noah's Ark to land (remember that this book eventually became canon in the main universe, though that's not apparent in the early issues at all). The racist overtones of the Deviants are still bothersome, but it's fun to see Jack Kirby retcon the Bible. 

A Moment of Comics

I'm reading the first chapter in a collection of Jack Kirby's Eternals. Sadly, it's already a slog. The opening sentence on the very first page--"Is man alone in the universe?"--disappoints. Readers of comics are always ready to acknowledge aliens and gods. Especially Marvel Comics readers. The line just doesn't excite the way the first sentence of New Gods does."There came a time when the old gods died!" has way more of a kick to it. 

Imagine if Kirby had fit that line about gods dying in a book set in the Marvel Comics universe, where every mythological figure is also an entry in their Official Handbook series. People might have lost their minds.

A Moment of Comics

The first page of New Gods #1 by Jack Kirby. It begins with, of all things, an epilogue: "There came a time when the old gods died!" The first time I read this series was as a cheap black and white reprint, and I was still hooked! I'm about to read Kirby's Eternals. Kind of like New Gods, it's Marvel. I already have a sad feeling that nothing in it will even come close to what Kirby first attempted over at DC.