"The Marvelous Art of Jack Kirby" will be exhibited by the Hunterdon Art Museum in Clinton, New Jersey from 28 March through 16 May 2010.

During the opening at 2pm on Sunday, 28 March, artist/instructor/collector (and Kirby Museum member) Charles David Viera will present a gallery talk where he will speak of the many contributions that Jack Kirby has made to American Pop Culture and offer insight to the artwork in the exhibition.

Below is a list of pieces being exhibited. The list is currently incomplete, though; some story page details need to be verified, a Fantastic Four page with ink art by Joe Sinnott is not included.

Stuntman: "Curtain Call for Death!" page 7, 1946
Story and script by Jack Kirby and Joe Simon. Pencil art by Jack Kirby. Ink art by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. Lettering art by Howard Ferguson
First published: Stuntman Comics 2, June 1946 (Harvey Comics).

Bulls-Eye: "Grandma Tomahawk" page XX, 1954
Story and script by Jack Kirby and Joe Simon. Pencil art by Jack Kirby. Ink art by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. Lettering art by Ben Oda.
First published: Bulls-Eye 5, April 1955 (Mainline Comics).

Sky Masters of the Space Force: "Mayday Shannon" strip 46, 1958
Story by Jack Kirby, Dick Wood and Dave Wood. Pencil Art by Jack Kirby. Ink art and lettering art by Wallace Wood.
First published: Sky Masters of the Space Force, 30 April 1959 (Adams Syndicate).

Two-Gun Kid: "The Outlaw" page XX, 1960
Story by Jack Kirby with Stan Lee. Pencil art by Jack Kirby. Script by Stan Lee. Ink art by Dick Ayers. Lettering art by XX.
First published: Two Gun Kid 55, August 1960 (Marvel Comics).

Fantastic Four: "The Micro-World of Doctor Doom!" page 16, 1963
Story by Jack Kirby with Stan Lee. Pencil art by Jack Kirby, Script by Stan Lee, Ink art by Dick Ayers. Lettering art by Artie Simek.

The Kirby Museum is pleased that a small version of Jack Kirby's only solo-produced autobiographical story, "Street Code" (1983) is included in Keith Mayerson's Neo-Integrity: Comics Edition exhibit at New York City's MoCCA (Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art).

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Neointegrity: Comics Edition is an exhibition curated by artist Keith Mayerson that includes over 210 cartoonists, illustrators, animators, and fine artists who work with the spirit and power of iconographic languages. With creators young and old, historic, currently famous, and soon-to-be-famous, the exhibition is also about the community and legacy of iconographic art and its ability to productively influence the world.

Originally conceived as a utopic attempt to begin an art movement, the first installment of the NeoIntegrity show was held in the summer of 2007 at Derek Eller Gallery in New York City. That show incorporated over 180 fine artists, with some cartoonists and illustrators mixed in to breach questions of high and low, rarified and pluralistic. NeoIntegrity: Comics Edition takes the proposal a step further, showing the relatability of creators harnessing the iconographic vehicle to express themselves and to tell stories for a culture to understand itself in order for it to become a better place.

MoCCA on Google Maps

At July 2008's Comic-Con International: San Diego, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund auctioned "The Teacher!", a story Jack Kirby wrote and drew for National Periodical Publications' aborted Soul Love magazine. Inked by Vincent Colletta and possibly lettered by John Costanza, "The Teacher!" was one of six stories Kirby produced for Soul Love.

One of the most striking things one notices after studying Kirby’s work over time is his use of interior and most dramatically architectural shapes to give greater power to his compositions. Kirby used this method fairly early on, but he was focusing most of his attention on figures, and the backgrounds that he used to amplify the motion of his characters were generally given short shrift. Still, the use of the room’s interior here does provide more dynamic energy to Cap and Bucky’s scuffle with the gangsters. When Bucky throws the vase, Kirby uses a simple one point perspective treatment of bricks to give the panel more impact.

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As Kirby’s skill as an artist developed, he incorporated more and more complex background elements into his compositions and these became more significant aspects of his designs. As I have stated in a previous blog, I believe that the inking provided by a draftsman as outstanding as Wallace Wood had a major effect on Kirby’s desire and ability to create three dimensional backgrounds that would bring greater force and- to his drawings. One can see how the structures surrounding the figures in this panel add drama and substance to the narrative.

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As time passed, Kirby grew more daring, until sometime in the mid sixties, he seemed to reach a point where the creation of vast areas of space was a primary goal. This development seemed to coincide with his cosmic period, where he would depict land and space-scapes that would boggle the mind. Growing up in New York, Kirby had always had an affinity for the metropolitan megaliths that surrounded him. With the advent of the Fantastic Four, whose Baxter Building headquarters were located in the heart of town, Kirby brought his treatment of skyscrapers to the level of masterworks.

If I had to come up with of two words that embodied the sixties, they would be “Cosmic Consciousness”. Kirby and Lee’s Fantastic Four, conceived in 1961 at the dawn of the space race, certainly shared in that zeitgeist, but actually ended up in the forefront of the Cosmic movement. The Fantastic Four began their adventures by attempting to journey into space, but, altered by Cosmic Rays they brought space back to earth with them. The team continued to explore intergalactic sci-fi themes in its early years. An intriguing character known as the Watcher was introduced. This benevolent huge headed creature was from a race of beings that could only observe and not interfere. Kirby and Lee toyed with various conventionally villainous bug eyed aliens before bringing us a creature that was so far off the scope of power that he was like unto a god.

Galactus, monstrous consumer of planets was so awesome that the cover announcing his appearance did not even feature him. The cover of Fantastic Four #48, dated May, 1966, showed the shock and awe of our heroes as the Watcher pointed upwards at approaching doom. We could only imagine what could inspire such trepidation.

The story begins in the completion of the previous issue’s tale, as the FF attempt to return to normal life after their encounter with the Inhumans in their Great Refuge. This is not to be. The doorway to weirdness has opened and there is no going back. A small panel at the bottom left of page 7 opens a window to the vista of the infinite cosmos. This is followed by our first view of the Silver Surfer as he zooms towards earth. The camera does not linger. It changes Point of View again to another observer, as the speed trail of the Surfer’s board leads our eye to the nefarious Skrulls who are watching the herald’s approach with dread.

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