Sep 15, 2015 Jack Kirby retrospective at CSUN
Jack Kirby was already old-school when I started buying comics in the mid-’70s. My twin brother Greg, our friend Mike, and I bought issues from Kirby’s runs in Captain America, Devil Dinosaur, and Machine Man, as well as the Silver Surfer graphic novel off the stands, and his style already seemed old fashioned. Yet we respected The King, and knew it was a big deal when our parents would drive us down to the El Cortez or old San Diego Convention Center to attend Comic-Con and we’d see him walking around.
That was a great time to be a comic book nerd. Back issues were affordable even for kids, and I was able to acquire key installations of The World’s Greatest Comics Magazine with my meager allowance plus weeding and car washing. Many of those issues actually lived up to the hyperbolic headline–the first appearances of the Inhumans, Silver Surfer, Galactus, Black Panter, Him, and the Negative Zone, for starters. Although we all had different favorite titles, it wasn’t long before all of us agreed that Stan Lee and Jack Kirby (mostly Kirby) were indeed the world’s greatest comic magazine creators.
So it was exciting to learn about Comic Book Apocalypse: The Graphic World of Jack Kirby at CSUN’s Main Art Gallery. I’d only seen Kirby’s original art displayed in Mylar sleeves or gigantic portfolios in San Diego, and to see them properly mounted on a gallery wall is a real thrill. First of all, the original pages are much bigger than comic book size. And then you can see the corrections (not many) and notes (a lot) that never make it to the final printed page. There’s insight into the genius’s mind as well as his hand.
The survey skims the surface of Kirby’s work predating the Marvel Age of Comics–Golden Age, War, and Western publications. And then it dedicates entire rooms to classic runs of Thor and Fantastic Four. These are the Holy Grail for a Friend of Ol’ Marvel like me. How could I not have a picture of my daughter and me taken in front of the gigantic Silver Surfer image?
Hardcore DC fans are sure to drool the Kamandi and New Gods rooms, which are given equal treatment. I never crossed over to read the Distinguished Competition, but have always thought that his sci-fi leanings and creative yearnings to invent entirely original universes rather than trot out the same old superheroes during this period were cool. I should check out some of the anthologies next time I go to the library…
I enjoyed seeing artifacts, too. In addition to the first Comic-Con program, which Kirby made the cover art for, there was a vintage fan photo including a homemade Thing costume. I think it has much more soul than the current movie’s version of Ben Grimm. There were also examples of his collage work. I love his psychedelic Negative Zone splash pages, and it’s a hoot to think that he made such wild pieces on his own just for fun. All hail the King!
Comic Book Apocalypse is showing at CSUN until October 10. The gallery is free and open to the public from Monday through Saturday, noon to 4:00 p.m. (8:00 p.m. on Thursdays). You don’t have to be a comic book nerd like me to appreciate it, but it definitely wouldn’t hurt to have read some superhero comics as well as seen the movies.
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