Jack "the King" Kirby would have been 100 today and though I will be a voice among many I feel I have to celebrate him on my blog too.
I was a fan of Jack Kirby before I really knew his name or paid attention to the names of the people who created the stories and images I enjoyed. Thundarr the Barbarian, one of the Saturday Morning animated shows I loved, was partially a creation of the mind and hands of Jack Kirby who came in to design on the show after Alex Toth left. I also did t know that Jack Kirby was heavily involved in the early animated Fantastic Four series that avoided the Human Torch and introduced Herbie, who was so obviously a Kirby creation looking back.
On the comic stands and spin racks I was drawn to the artwork of the King. I may not have known a thing about the book but they outshone the big names like Batman, Superman and Spider-Man for me. They were dynamic, there was a life and a passion to what was in the King' work. It was weird and funny and disturbing all at the same time. Jack Kirby's books were packed full of ideas, wild ideas pushed to their limits. He was an influence on the development of the sequential story telling art form and so many of my modern favorites were inspired by him.
I fondly remember books like Kamandi 21 that I know had at one time. It was a book I looked at again and again. Mine was battered after years of being flipped through and I loved it all the same...wish I still had it actually. Happy Birthday Jack Kirby.
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