Daily Archives: September 15, 2004

Black Goliath #4 [1976] – Cover

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From time to time just to keep up the posting frequency I’ll throw in one of the many books Kirby just did covers for (about 100 at Marvel in the 1970s and maybe twice that in the 1960s, so there’s a lot to choose from). Minimal comments on those, since you can see the Kirby content and the stories they’re wrapped around often aren’t worth re-reading, and aren’t on-topic here anyway. The 70s covers aren’t always Kirby’s strongest art, since he was often clearly working over layouts from New York (and sometimes slightly re-drawn back in New York), but they’re fun, often have the only example of Kirby drawing a particular character, and have some nice inkers (a lot are Sinnott or Giacoia, both great, but there are a few unusual ones).

BlackGoliath4_23.jpg

This one, inked by Joe Sinnott, is kind of fun just because Stilt-Man gives me a bit of a chuckle. As does Black Goliath. I guess this would be the only time Kirby had the dubious honour of drawing either of that pair of winners. And check out that trademark Kirby squiggle on Stilt-Man’s leg. That’s one of the longest of those you’ll see.

Published August 1976

–Link– Kirby in the Marvel Universe

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This is a nice write-up about Kirby in the format of entries about the many characters he created, and looking at the numerous times he’s appeared in Marvel comics, starting in FANTASTIC FOUR #10.

http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix/kirbyjack.htm

Destroyer Duck #1 [1982] – It’s Got the Whole World…in Its Hand!

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DESTROYER DUCK #1 is a bit of an angry comic. With good reason, given that writer Steve Gerber was engaged in a lawsuit with Marvel regarding another Duck (for which profits from this book were earmarked to support), and Kirby was had his own issues with the company.

But clearly anger works as a motivating force, since this is a really good story. The analogy is obvious enough, with Duke “Destroyer” Duck going on a mission of vengeance on behalf of “The Little Guy”, a talking duck who was exploited, cheated and ultimately killed by the monolithic GodCorp. Kirby’s got an interesting funny animal style that he only had a few chances to use in his career, and this is a nice mix of that and his traditional action art. That works well with the slightly off-kilter, cynical satire of Gerber, who’s rarely been better than he is here.

DesDuck1

DESTROYER DUCK is one of the most wholly successful of Kirby’s 1980s books, and well worth picking up. It would be nice to some day see a reprint of the whole series.

The inking on the story is by Alfredo Alcala, and it’s really good. I wouldn’t have thought the combination would work, since Alcala can be a bit of an overpowering inker sometimes, but the end result is very nice, with a bit of an echo of the linework style from the S&K work circa 1950. The cover is inked by Neal Adams.

Published 1982

–Link– Evanier’s Kirby stuff

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This is a link to the Kirby related stuff on Mark Evanier’s website. Evanier was, of course, Kirby’s long-time assistant, friend and (eventual) biographer. A decent Kirby FAQ and an essay about the Kirby Memorial from a year after his death are great reading.

Check out the rest of his site and other sites for great articles about comics, TV, movies and just about everything else.

http://povonline.com/Jack%20Kirby.htm