Kirby, king of comics
New book details artist's influential career
Norris Burroughs, contributing writer
Issue date: 3/3/08 Section: Book Reviews
When Kirby left Marvel comics to pursue his independent visions at DC comics, he took the mythological concept even further with The New Gods. Some of the concepts introduced in this series made their way into George Lucas's Star Wars epic films. One of the heroes of The New Gods, Orion, was the son of the arch villain, Darkseid, lord of the dark side of the Source, an elemental energy that held the cosmos together.
Evanier explores Kirby's career lovingly, discussing each innovation and offering examples of the King's mind blowing tableaux. Not written exclusively for comic fans, the book is designed to reach a larger audience of art aficionados who may begin to see the work as serious art.
Several of Kirby's concepts have reached the silver screen and it is likely that we will see more. Most recently, a film of Iron Man, a hero Kirby had a hand in creating has appeared, followed by this summer's release of the Hulk. Even the Amazing Spider-man was originally a Kirby concept.
In a prophetic quote from the book, sometime in the early 1970's, Kirby spoke about comics, stating, "It will be where all of Hollywood will come every year to look for the idea for next year's movies."
Jack Kirby passed away in 1994, but his legend and influence will continue to grow as more attention is focused on the truly American art form of comics.
Evanier explores Kirby's career lovingly, discussing each innovation and offering examples of the King's mind blowing tableaux. Not written exclusively for comic fans, the book is designed to reach a larger audience of art aficionados who may begin to see the work as serious art.
Several of Kirby's concepts have reached the silver screen and it is likely that we will see more. Most recently, a film of Iron Man, a hero Kirby had a hand in creating has appeared, followed by this summer's release of the Hulk. Even the Amazing Spider-man was originally a Kirby concept.
In a prophetic quote from the book, sometime in the early 1970's, Kirby spoke about comics, stating, "It will be where all of Hollywood will come every year to look for the idea for next year's movies."
Jack Kirby passed away in 1994, but his legend and influence will continue to grow as more attention is focused on the truly American art form of comics.
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