Category Archives: Genre

Fantastic Four #167 [1976] – Cover

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I’m not quite convinced by that perspective and proportion on the Gateway Arch. I’m certain the observation deck there must be more than the four feet tall that it looks like.

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But still, the Hulk and the Thing drawn by Kirby and Sinnott, that’s always some fun.

Published 1976

The Avengers #156 [1977] – Cover

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That Doom does get around, doesn’t he? The Doom figure is a little small on this cover, but it gets the point across, and the figures of Cap and the Scarlet Witch are really good (and quite the trooper she is, going into battle with Doom with her arm in a sling).

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Al Milgrom handles the inks for this cover.

Published 1977

Ka-Zar #12 [1977] – Cover

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John Romita inks Kirby on this cover, which also had quite a few bits of re-drawing from the original pencils, in particular Zabu being completely different, as well as Ka-zar’s right arm. Still a pretty decent cover, very bold and popping right out at you.

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Published 1977

Gunsmoke Western #61 [1960] – Cover

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Doesn’t look like Kid Colt is the most popular guy in Gila Pass. But the Kid has fear? A thousand times no! (sorry, been watching a lot of TV recently…)

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Dick Ayers inks over Kirby on this cover.

Published 1960

Tales to Astonish #45 [1963] – Cover

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Well, of course a master plan against Ant-Man would involve an aardvark. They didn’t call him Egghead because of the shape of his head, apparently…

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Or maybe it is the shape of his head.

Dick Ayers inks this cover, which does have a nice ant there, and a good use of a giant needle for perspective. But you can see why Ant-Man only lasted a few more issues before going to the more dynamic Giant-Man.

Published 1963

Strange Tales #111 [1963] – Cover

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God, that’s some awful dialogue on this cover…

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And the Marvel Age wasn’t ushered in in an auspicious way in this particular title, with the debut and final appearance of the Asbestos Man (the Doctor Strange villain who debuted in this issue with no mention on the cover had a lot more staying power). Despite the trivial villain, there is a nice Human Torch figure on this Kirby/Ayers cover.

Published 1963

Tales to Astonish #90 [1967] – Cover

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Kirby didn’t do too many covers for the Sub-Mariner’s solo feature in TALES TO ASTONISH, doing mostly the Hulk issues. This Kirby/Colletta number from #90 is one of them, and works really well. Strong foreground figures and also a lot of expressive and detailed background figures, really draws you into the predicament that our favourite anti-hero finds himself in now.

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Published 1967

Warfront #34 [1958] – Cover

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There’s some disagreement over whether Kirby had a hand in this particular Harvey Comics cover. I tend to go in favour, but not strongly, mostly based on the face of the main figure pointed towards us. That seems to have enough Kirby touches, but the overall piece doesn’t have anything definitive, which could just be the inking. Whoever was involved, it’s a really strong cover, with some nice bold colouring.

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Published 1958

Champ Comics #20 [1942] – Cover

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One of the Liberty Lads covers that Kirby did on the side for Harvey comics while working on the early DC stuff. The Japanese figures are a bit unfortunately stereotypical, as was common at the time, but ignoring that the demons are really good, and the pose and face of the lead Lad smashing through the door is excellent,

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Published 1942

X-Men #20 [1966] – Cover

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Kirby continued layouts for the cover of X-MEN for quite a while after giving up the interiors, though I’m not sure about all the ones he’s credited with. This one, finished up by interior artists Werner Roth and Dick Ayers, seems like a pretty safe bet, though. I like the pose of Professor X in the flashback scene to his awesome origin.

And that’s one really big and well labelled bag of money…

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Published 1966