Happy Birthday Jack!

In Love #3
In Love #3 (January 1955) by Jack Kirby

I was not planning to do a post tonight but then I remembered it is Jack Kirby’s birthday so I could not let that date go by without something. The cover I have here is for In Love #3 (January 1955). It is special for me because I have the original art signed by both Jack Kirby and Joe Simon. But I also think it is appropriate because it shows a comic book artist, although a rather idealized one. This image is based on what are called progressive proofs. Before a comic is published the cover printer may provide the publisher with progressive proofs. These proofs include pages of the individual colors (cyan, magenta, yellow and black) as well as pages showing how the printing stages would look. If I remember correctly yellow is printed first, magenta second, cyan third and the black completes it. Printed colors change with age. But with progressive proofs it is possible to scan the individual colors and then combine them together. What results is perhaps the most accurate idea of what the cover originally looked like. I did absolutely no touch-ups on this cover whatsoever.