Tue 19 Aug 2008
Abrams to Publish Simon and Kirby Art Book
Posted by Harry under 2008/08, Odds & Ends, Topic, z Archive
[4] Comments
Comic Book Resources has a commentary on the Jack Kirby Tribute Panel from the most recent San Diego Comic-Con International. Of greatest interest to this blog was an announcement made:
After discussing his recent book, “Kirby: King of Comics,” which he said was doing phenomenally well, Evanier turned the mic over to his publisher, Charlie Kochman from Harry N. Abrams Co., who announced that Joe Simon is opening his archives and Abrams will publish “The Art of the Simon & Kirby Studio” in Spring 2010. The large-format book will have oversize pages, with faithful reproductions scanned from the original art boards.
I am really happy to be able to finally post this. Abrams is one of the largest publishers of art books (if not the largest). The job they did on “Kirby: King of Comics” was just fantastic. I do not believe that any publisher has previously devoted a large book to original comic book art. I cannot begin to describe how excited I am about this project.
August 19th, 2008 at 2:22 am
That sounds very interesting. Good to see that the major books from Titan next year are just the beginning.
I understand if you can’t answer yet, but do you know if this book will have full stories, or just isolated pages? I can see the benefit of either approach, but would prefer full stories (or maybe a mix, having a section of notable single pages to add some variety).
August 19th, 2008 at 11:48 pm
Yes, I really not in a position to provide any more details beyond what was provided in the announcement. All I can say Charlie Kochman did a great job on Evanier’s book and I am fully confident that his efforts on this book will satisfy Simon and Kirby fans such as yourself.
August 22nd, 2008 at 1:56 am
Thanks for the kind words, and the plug, Harry.
BobH, what little we can say is that we want this to be a reading book, and for fans to see Simon and Kirby Studio material in a way that they have never seen before, much like the “Fighting American” story in Evanier’s book.
August 23rd, 2008 at 11:07 pm
That’s good to hear. I like art books just fine, but reading books are so much better. A reading book with the quality of an art book sounds like just what S&K deserve, especially after so many years of mostly being seen through second generation reproductions.