{"id":3487,"date":"2020-03-30T10:39:38","date_gmt":"2020-03-30T14:39:38","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/kirbymuseum.org\/blogs\/effect\/?p=3487"},"modified":"2020-03-30T10:39:38","modified_gmt":"2020-03-30T14:39:38","slug":"looking-for-the-awesome-24","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kirbymuseum.org\/blogs\/effect\/2020\/03\/30\/looking-for-the-awesome-24\/","title":{"rendered":"Looking For The Awesome – 24. Once More Into The Breach"},"content":{"rendered":"

Previous<\/strong> – 23. Why Did The Fourth World Fail?<\/a> | Contents<\/a> | Next<\/strong> – 25. Animated<\/p>\n

We’re honored to be able to publish Stan Taylor’s Kirby biography here in the state he sent it to us, with only the slightest bit of editing. – Rand Hoppe<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

ONCE MORE INTO THE BREACH<\/h2>\n

Sometime in the early 1970\u2019s a friend gave Jack a nicely bound artbook with a black blank cover as a gift, for doodling or practice. Since Jack did neither of these he used the book for a different purpose. As a present to Roz, he carefully drew most every comic creation he had had a hand in. The book took on a life of its own. Variously called Roz\u2019s Black Book, or Kirby\u2019s Wonderbook, the creation was a valuable treasure shown only to those close to Roz, Greg Theakston had the luck to see the book in the later 70\u2019s and expressed to Roz that someone should publish it. Over the years several publishers approached to do just that, only to be refused by Roz because she didn\u2019t want to be separated from the book. At some point in the 80\u2019s Greg talked to Roz and after a stern promise not to let any harm come to the book, she allowed Greg to publish it. Greg named it the Heroes and Villains book. Greg lovingly reproduced these pages in a manner fitting the love and graphite Jack put into them. The results were substantial. Greg had to reprint the book several times in order to meet the sales. The book is a cherished part of any Kirby collection.<\/p>\n

Just as Jack made the decision to leave DC, a relative of Steve Sherman\u2019s arranged for jack to meet ex-Beatle Paul McCartney. Paul and his new group Wings had just released a new album which contained a song called Magneto vs. Titanium Man, inspired by Jack\u2019s comic book work. Gary (Steve\u2019s brother) called Capitol Records headquarters in Los Angeles and spoke to the A&R man assigned to McCartney. He told the rep that Jack had done a drawing to honor Paul for the song and wondered if Paul would like to meet Jack. The AR man was well aware of who Jack Kirby was and after talking to Paul\u2019s road people called back and told Gary that Paul would love to meet up with Jack at the Forum pre-show. Gary called the Kirby\u2019s and told Lisa to show Jack the album and have her dad do up a sketch to give Paul. It had to be done quick as the show was in a couple hours and Jack was more than an hour away.<\/p>\n

\"24 <\/div> <\/div>
\"24 <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

Just another day<\/em><\/p>\n

When Gary arrived Jack showed him the sketch, Gary recalls it was great. It was a large size drawing of Magneto holding Paul and Linda while members of the band floated in the air. All of this done during Gary\u2019s trip over to pick them up\u2014not more than 45 minutes.<\/p>\n

Gary piled them into the Kirby car and headed to the Forum, Kirby contently smoking a big ole stogie. Kirby seemed more interested in the chocolate cake promised him for the aggravation. When they arrived they went to the rear entrance where security introduced them to the lovely Linda McCartney who thanked them and gave then a tour.<\/p>\n

Then around the corner came Paul. Gary recalled; \u201cEllo Jack, nice to meet you.\u201d Jack gave Paul and Linda the drawing which they thought was \u201csmashing.\u201d Paul thanked Jack for keeping him from going bonkers while they were recording the album in Jamaica. It seems that there was very little to do there, and they needed to keep their kids entertained. Luckily, there was a store that sold comics, so Paul would go and pick up all the latest. One night the song \u201cMagneto and Titanium Man\u201d popped into his head. The thing about Jack was that within a few minutes you felt as if you were best friends, so Paul too was soon laughing it up with Jack as if he had known him for years.<\/p>\n

Lisa had her camera and snapped pictures of all involved. Paul comp\u2019ed them some tickets and sent them out front sitting nestled between Ryan O\u2019Neal and Michael Douglas. During the show Paul stopped and asked everyone to give it up for Jack Kirby. Jack stood up and waved just as Wings broke into Magneto vs. Titanium Man. After the gala event, as they were driving back to Thousand Oaks. Jack told Gary just how much he appreciated the evening and to show his appreciation he suggested stopping at Bob\u2019s Big Boy for some more chocolate cake.<\/p>\n

It should be noted that the intervening years at Marvel had been tempestuous as personnel came and went, the only new series to really succeed was a tie-in character of the barbarian Conan<\/em> – a pulp character by Robert E. Howard. They were succeeding by quantity, not quality. If one Spidey title had worked, why not try two, or three. Spin-offs and reprints seemed to be the winning hand; new stuff came and went. Stan Lee had jumped around; sometimes as editor, sometimes president, and sometimes freelance contributor. The company though always kept Stan as figurehead\u2014the smiling face that created the comics. They went so far as to place the heading \u201cStan Lee Presents\u201d above all the comic titles\u2014even when Stan had no part in them. Stan got away from the comics and started writing and editing regular books about the beginning of the Marvel revolution. Books like Origins of Marvel Comics<\/em> were big hits yet the titles credited only Stan Lee. Any mention of Jack Kirby was purely as minor as noting who the illustrator was. Jack noted these slights. Roy Thomas says the reason was purely political. Kirby was now a competitor and you don\u2019t highlight competitors. To Kirby, the truth was the truth. Despite his legend as a comic genius, when Stan had the reins of Marvel the company almost went belly up\u2014Stan could not repeat his sales increases once Jack Kirby left.<\/p>\n

Despite its roots as an honorary society, the Academy of Comic Book Arts, under its early president, artist\u00a0Neal Adams, became an advocacy organization for creators’ rights. The comic-book industry at that time did not return artists’ physical artwork after shooting the requisite film for printing, and in some cases destroyed the artwork to prevent unauthorized reprints. The industry also did not then offer\u00a0royalties\u00a0or\u00a0residuals, common in such creative fields as\u00a0book publishing,\u00a0film\u00a0and\u00a0television, and the\u00a0recording industry. Once the ACBA \u2014 riding a wave begun by the mid-’70s independent startup\u00a0Atlas\/Seaboard Comics, which instituted royalties and the return of artwork in order to attract creators \u2014 helped see those immediate goals achieved, it then gradually disbanded<\/p>\n

In 1975, the 1974 ACBA awarded its annual recognition called the Shazam Awards.<\/p>\n

1974
\nPresented 1975<\/p>\n