Monster Zero x SciFi Japan - Archive Only

From AICN:


From The NY TIMES:

[quote="DAVE ITZKOFF"]
The characteristics of a Jack Kirby illustration are easily distinguished: extravagantly costumed heroes and nefarious villains locked in titanic struggles; foreshortened fists, feet and muscles that seem to pop off the page; intricately detailed settings meant to conjure the ancient past or suggest the distant future.

His style made Mr. Kirby a sought-after talent at DC Comics, now a piece of the Time Warner empire, and at Marvel Comics, a recent acquisition of the Walt Disney Company. At Marvel in particular he played a crucial role in creating superheroes like the Fantastic Four, the Hulk and the X-Men — work that is now at the center of a property dispute between the heirs of Mr. Kirby, who died in 1994, and Marvel and Disney.

Those same signature design elements are also vividly on display in hundreds of illustrations for never-produced cartoon shows and toy lines that Mr. Kirby created in the 1980s for the animation studio Ruby-Spears Productions — work that thus far does not belong to any of the media conglomerates and that has been seen by few people.

Now, a partnership between that studio’s founders, Joe Ruby and Ken Spears, and Sid and Marty Krofft, the longtime children’s entertainment producers (“H. R. Pufnstuf,â€

From CA:


From Collider:

Neat. I was planning on watching that anyway, but I didn't know Kirby was involved in any way.

From TCJ:

CBR EXCLUSIVE:

From Hero Complex:

[quote="Geoff Boucher"]
Jillian Kirby, 16, never got to meet her grandfather, but she’s seen plenty of his magic — she’s seen it in the pages of classic Marvel Comics, up on the screen in “The Avengersâ€

I forget if I mentioned it elsewhere, but I not only got to meet him in '84, he was a judge at a yearly sci-fi and fantasy art show that was sponsored by a local comic club. I did for three years running some retro-futuristic city paintings that much to my surprise, won first place each time.....this year, he was talking me up to other judges, Forrest J. Ackerman and Bjo Trimble among them, and Kirby pulled me aside after the show and insisted that I pursue a career in art. Knowing as little as I did at the time about comics and who was who, I wasn't aware who was talking to me. I only learned over the years, and when I opened my studio and gallery in Laguna Beach in '93, I found out that he was living just up the highway in Corona Del Mar....by the time I could locate him to let him know I finally did it, it was too late, he had passed away in '94, and this is to this day one of my biggest regrets; not being able to follow up and say thank you to him.

From CA:






From Newsarama:

The artist who created so many of Marvel's superheroes cast a big shadow on the world we live in today
[quote="Graeme McMillan"]
When I was a kid, I had pretty much decided — using the kind of kid logic that almost always turns out to be undone with age and common sense — that comic-book artist Jack Kirby wasn’t for me.

That I’d made such a decision at all was unusual. Sure, I was a voracious comic-book reader, but I wasn’t one who was particularly aware of who wrote or drew the comics I devoured at that time; that level of fandom was years in my future, as puberty took hold. ( Around the same time I started noticing the difference in the word balloons done John Costanza and Todd Klein—top-level “letterersâ€

Forbidden Planet:


Comics Beat:


THR:

Today would have been the 96th birthday of writer and artist Jack Kirby, who passed away in 1994. In his long career in the comic book industry, Kirby co-created the Marvel Universe and made over and entire medium without breaking a sweat.

After six months of reading, I have finally completed Jack Kirby's "Fourth Worlds" saga and it was truly epic. However, to say it was nothing but sheer perfection would be a lie, as it did have its moments of mediocrity.

First off, I really loved the fact that Kirby was able to create an entirely new universe of characters within the confines of the DC universe. We have ultimately seen where this has led to in the modern world, but I bet it was something truly unique to behold back in the 70s. Kirby's work gave us some of my favorite DC characters of all time, and I have even found favorites that were never prominently featured in the Animated series and movies (Which is where my original introduction to most of these characters lie). Mr Miracle being a prime example of this. He was a cool character in concept, but it was not until I read these stories that I really grew into liking his character as he has a very complex history and is just a down right fun character. Unfortunately, I must say his series got a little rocky in the middle as the stories for issues 11-14 were rather bland and uninspiring as it seemed like Kirby was unsure what to do with his character. Things really turned upward when Shilo was introduced. The best part is, I was expecting him to just be a pointless character who was brought in to up the sales of the comic, but Kirby did quite a bit with the character to make him feel like he belonged there before the series' abrupt end. The only unfortunate part is that Mr Miracle's series really seems to have very little impact on anything that is going on between New Genesis and Apokolips, as they don't even make an appearance during "The Hunger Dogs" story.

Unfortunately, the Jimmy Olsen series is where the books were kind of uneven. There was nothing ultimately wrong with the Olsen stuff, except they were convoluted and felt out of place at times. For example, Superman is with Jimmy during the nonsensical DNAliens plot, but at the same time, Superman is there to greet the Forever People when they first appear on Earth. That does not make sense since both events are supposed to occur at the exact same time. Nevertheless, the whole clone story arc with the Newsboy Legion that does not work for me. Everyone seems way too happy to learn they have been cloned and there is never any real explanation on what is going on at all. The stories in Scotland were interesting, but then the one with the shrinking horror movie watchers made very little sense. There was also never any pay off with the Morgan Edge subplot.

Thankfully, the majority of the stories found in "The Forever People" were well written, but even that had its dull stories. The issues that dealt with the gang being captured by Desaad and placed in an amusement park made little sense and it felt like there was more to the story that was missing than explained. On the other hand, the gang being separated and traveling through time was well done even if it should have been longer. Once again though, the series took a turn for the worst when Dead Man was brought in and like the Morgan Edge subplot in "Jimmy Olsen," it was just dropped for a final issue that still had no true conclusion.

The highlight of the series truly comes from "The New Gods" series. Outside of one confusing issue, everything found in this series was fun, energetic, action packed, and well written. It featured a new side of Orion never seen in other mediums before along with a great deal of focus on Lightray. The grand battles between Kalibak and Orion were nothing short of fantastic. Every issue seemed to out do the one before it, but the masterpiece of the series, and of the entire "Fourth Worlds Saga" is the issue titled "The Pact." Not only did it shed light on the grand origins of New Genesis and Apokolips, but it also featured seeing Darkseid before he was the cruel dictator we all know and love (or hate) along with the young man who was destined to become High Father. Add on top the trading of children and Kirby gave us one of the most detailed tragic origins in the history of comics. It also was amazing to read this issue just a few weeks after reading DC's origin of the New 52 version of Darkseid, which feels like an insult to Kirby's vision. It is unfortunate that Kirby never had the chance to really conclude his saga until a decade later, as the finale issues feel off.

I'm not sure if it is because of the time period they were written in, the fact that he had to take more than ten years to finish his story, or if it is the horrible art work, but the final two stories, "Even Gods Must Die" and "The Hunger Dogs" just feel wrong on many levels. The biggest issue is how everyone just feels out of character. Orion is out for blood on Apokolips and wants his mother freed. The people of Apokolips are suddenly uprising against Darkseid. The Furies are working for Darkseid again. Darkseid now wants to rule with an army of machines AND has the ability to bring all of his soldiers back from the dead (who only appear for like two pages as it is). Finally, we know next to nothing of what happened with Mr. Miracle, Big Barda, the Forever People, etc. It is just a mess and feels like Kirby was just laying down the cliff notes version of his finale in a book just to get his inconclusive conclusion out of his head instead of making sure it was well written and made sense. Not to mention Orion just suddenly loses his desire to kill his father because he found love (off-screen and from a character who just shows up out of the blue in "The Hunger Dogs").

Overall, despite its negatives, Kirby's "The Fourth Worlds" series was well worth finally reading and is one of the best things to come out of the traditional world of comic books. Kirby not only gave us iconic characters, but also ones that go beyond a simple "His world was blown up as a baby" or "His parents were killed when he was a child" origin story. Many of the characters found within this universe have gone through hell and beyond go get where they were, and still have to go through more hell even afterwards. Darkseid may be a ruthless maniacal tyrant, but he also showed sides of compassion and honor in unexpected places, making him more than just a one dimensional villain. The interesting aspects of The Forever People were getting to see essentially children entering a new world for the first time and getting to see their views of life different from their own. Mr. Miracle was a man programmed to be a killing machine and wanted more with his life. Finally, reading Orion's struggles as Darkseid's son with the impulses for war, but wanting to know peace instead defined his character as well. Even the negatives found in Jimmy Olsen's storyline had different aspects and gave us a different side to Olsen's character that you normally would not see. What Jack Kirby gave us was a grandiose world with complex characters and stories and as time has shown, they continue to live on to this day. I give the entire series an 8/10 stars.

^I liked that very much. Can't wait to read some of those comics. Just so happens I'm reading some of Kirby's Captain America ('60s) right now.