Author Archives: Rand Hoppe

Kirby’s Real Folks

Click here to view the Real Folks exhibit.page 14

Tom MOREHOUSE writes –
As a lifelong collector of Jack Kirby’s work, one of the things that I always enjoyed is the sense of reality about the universe Jack created. His fight scenes work because as a fighter himself, Jack would think about how (if he had the skills/powers of the protagonist) he would go about taking down his opposition. While some have a problem with how accurately he drew his handguns, Jack’s weaponry & machinery always looked like it should be able to do whatever he wanted us to believe it could. Another factor in conveying a sense of reality to his stories was the inclusion of recognizable "real people", whether it be a world leader or just some kids he met at a convention. Jack’s universe was peopled with real folks and that’s the focus of this exhibit/archive; to gather and document as many examples of these as possible.

So start pouring through your Kirby comic collections and memory banks and send the museum scans of the primary panel/page on which the person appears along with the issue name, date, etc.. If the illustration is from some publication other than a traditional comic book, please include scans of the entire article for reference use. Be sure to identify the figure(s) in the scans. You can contact me at mohavipack@aol.com, or Rand at curator@kirbymuseum.org.

To start things off I’ve gathered examples from some of the more obscure and rare items in my Kirbykrypt collection as well as a couple of examples from standard comics.
– Tom MOREHOUSE

This exhibit/archive is an active, ongoing project – we’ll be adding to it as we go. Click on the Captain America page above to see the whole exhibit. So, as Tom says above, contact us with your suggestions and scans.
– Rand HOPPE

1958 – “The Face on Mars”

The Face on Mars
Story and pencil art by Jack KIRBY and Joe SIMON.
Ink art by Reed CRANDALL.
Color art by unknown.
Lettering by unknown.

Five page comic book story.

“The Face on Mars” Race For The Moon, New York, New York, USA: Harvey Publications, Inc., September 1958 (2).

Jack Kirby on “The Incredible Hulk”

Posted in Video and tagged

In 1962, Jack Kirby and Marvel Comics’ Stan Lee created the Incredible Hulk. In the late 1970s, Marvel licensed the character for use in a television series. Jack Kirby appeared briefly, uncredited, as a police sketch artist in the 19th episode of the second season, the 31st in the series.

“No Escape”
Episode 2-19
First Aired 30 March 1979

Written by: Ben Masselink
Directed by: Jeffrey Hayden

Guest Starring: James Wainwright, Mariclare Costello, Sherman Hemsley, Thalmus Rasulala, Skip Homeier & Howard Bruner

Synopsis: Banner is arrested for vagrancy and meets, in a police van, a mentally ill prisoner who believes himself to be the deceased writer Ernest Hemingway. The Hulk destroys the van, which releases the mentally ill man. Banner tries to find the man before he hurts someone.

Kirby’s Civil War

1961 - The War Between The States splash

1961 – The War Between The States splash

Museum member Tom Morehouse once collected all of Jack Kirby’s US published work. As is the nature of collecting, Tom sold most of his “KirbyKrypt” once it was complete. His interest in Kirby has not subsided, however, as Tom recently provided the Museum with a Civil War focused collection of scans.

Click on the image to the left to see whole exhibit.

Written and produced by Rand HOPPE.

The Tape

Posted in Video and tagged

When Glenn Fleming and a friend visited the Kirby house in Thousand Oaks, California in October of 1991, they recorded some of their visit on video tape. After moving the discussion into his studio, Jack began describing a story he told called “Mile-A-Minute Jones”, published in Our Fighting Forces #159 by DC Comics.

Glenn generously donated the VHS tape to the Museum for its use and Kirby family friend and collector David Schwartz kindly edited the piece available here.

  • Video shot by Glenn Fleming
  • Edited by David Schwartz.
  • Special thanks to All Media Services