Tag Archives: Jack Kirby

Evolution of Kirby Krackle

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Posted in 2011/09, Artists, Kirby Krackle, Kirby, Jack, Simon, Joe, Topic, z Archive and tagged , ,


Fantastic Four #57 (December 1966) “Enter, Dr. Doom” page 5 panel 4, pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Joe Sinnott (from the Marvel Omnibus)

In the 60’s Jack Kirby began to draw clusters of round black dots to depict enormous but not necessarily directed energy, often of a cosmic nature. This simple graphic technique was so effective that it has been picked up by other comic book artists and can still be found in comics of today. The device has been given the name Kirby Krackle. It is an annoying cute* name but one that has become so entrenched that I feel that it must be accepted.

But what are the origins of Kirby Krackle? Some comic book scholars have pointed to a panel from Fantastic Four #46 (January 1966) where the Inhuman Triton is depicted in water surrounded by bubbles and black shapes that look surprisingly like Kirby Krackle. Nothing to suggest energy or anything cosmic but visually similar enough that perhaps it formed the basis for an imaginative leap by Kirby. Old grainy photographs of Quasars (astronomical objects discovered in 1963) have also been suggested to be the inspiration for Kirby Krackle. Because at the time inkers were encourage to embellish the pencils some have even suggested that it was the inker Joe Sinnott that actually created Kirby Krackle!


Blue Bolt #5 (October 1940) last panel of page 4, pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Joe Simon

Such explanations for the origin of Kirby Krackle were all reasonable but those who presented them overlooked Jack Kirby’s long career. Jack had a long memory and old ideas would reappear many years later. There is no better example than Kirby Krackle. The first appearance of Kirby Krackle appears to be found in Blue Bolt #5 (October 1940)**. This really is likely to be the earliest example of Kirby Krackle. Kirby did some previous science fiction stories on his own but nothing resembling Kirby Krackle appears in them. Nor did it appear in Simon’s earlier science fiction nor in the previous issues of Blue Bolt. It is unclear who to credit with this device as Kirby did the pencils and Simon the inking. Unfinished art from later in the Simon and Kirby collaboration shows that while Kirby’s pencils were pretty tight they were line art only with all spotting left to the discretion of the inker. However this example of Kirby Krackle is from early in the Simon and Kirby partnership (which started with Blue Bolt #2, July 1940). This is so early in their collaboration that is would seem reckless to make any assumptions on what were their working methods at that time.

In some respects this is a perfectly acceptable example of Kirby Krackle. But it is not yet the perfected form. While the massing of particles is very much like typical Kirby Krackle the particles are not round but irregular, often angular, in shape. However it is clear that this early example shares the same intent as the caption describes it as having “crackling energy”.


Captain 3-D #1 (December 1953) “The Man from the World of D”, page 2 panel 6, pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Joe Simon

Simon and Kirby did not do much science fiction and it would be years before something very much like Kirby Krackle made its appearance once again. In 1953 Simon and Kirby put together Captain 3-D for Harvey Comics. It was a rush job to try to take advantage of the 3D craze. All the pencils were by Jack Kirby but the inking was done by an assortment of artists which besides Jack and Joe included Mort Meskin and Steve Ditko (for a more complete examination of the inking see Captain 3D). In the origin story, “The Man from the World of D”, a villains uses a special weapon which releases energy outside the actual firing path. The weapon from the Captain 3D story has a cosmic connection as it is described as a gamma ray gun. In some ways this is not as close an example to Kirby Krackle as that found in Blue Bolt perhaps because of the difference between a dimensional doorway and a weapon. The particles are not clumped together as well as in the Blue Bolt example but have become less irregular in shape. While some have become more rounded other particles still are rather angular.

There is good evidence from unfinished art that by this period Kirby’s pencils provided outlines only with only simple lines to indicate things like the folds in the clothing. How the spotting was to be done was left to the inker. Most of this page was inked by Steve Ditko but Joe Simon applied a lot of retouching. While it is difficult to say with any certainty who to should be credited with the inking of the Kirby Krackle the similarity with the next example suggests it was likely Simon who applied the it.


Captain 3-D #1 (December 1953) “The Man from the World of D”, page 3 panel 6, pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Joe Simon

The futuristic gun appears once again in the next page from “The Man from the World of D”. The arrangement of the particles is very much the same as the previous example but the particles themselves have lost any angularity and become more rounded. They would not however be described as truly circular in shape. This page was inked by just Joe Simon and so he was likely the one to supply the Krackle.


Tales of the Unexpected #18 (October 1957) “The Man Who Collected Planets”, pencils and inks by Jack Kirby

Once again the use of anything akin to Kirby Krackle does not appear for some time largely because there were few if any stories where it might be appropriate. After the Simon and Kirby partnership ended Jack began to do freelance work mostly for DC. Something akin to Kirby Krackle appears in the depiction of the alien in a story called “The Man Who Collected Planets”***. While the alien is surrounded by something not dissimilar to Kirby Krackle it covers an uncharacteristically narrow area and the primary purpose appears to be more of a means of providing him with a fiery aura than of suggesting a form of energy.


Tales of the Unexpected #18 (October 1957) “The Man Who Collected Planets” page 3 panel 5, pencils and inks by Jack Kirby

However “The Man Who Collected Planets” contains panels that show something very much closer to true Kirby Krackle than that used in drawing of the alien. Here it truly is energy that is being depicted. The particles have become more varied in size a more clumped together. However unlike typical Kirby Krackle the particles are still not very rounded in shape.


Tales of the Unexpected #18 (October 1957) “The Man Who Collected Planets” page 5 panel 5, pencils and inks by Jack Kirby

This was no accident as the same Kirby Krackle precursor appears elsewhere in the story. Kirby did his own inking for most of the horror or science fiction stories that he did for DC. “The Man Who Collected Planets” is a great example of Kirby inking Kirby. So in this case we can safely give Kirby the credit for this Kirby Krackle prototype.


House of Mystery #84 (March 1959) “The Negative Man”, panel from page 3, pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Marvin Stein?

Further examples of a Kirby Krackle prototype appear in another story that Kirby drew for DC, “The Negative Man”. This story is again about an unearthly being and something similar to Kirby Krackle is used to provide the being with a fiery aura. But once again it is elsewhere where even better examples of Kirby Krackle can be found such as the energy wake left behind the negative man of one panel from the third page.


House of Mystery #84 (March 1959) “The Negative Man”, panel from page 5, pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Marvin Stein?

An even better example of Kirby Krackle prototype is found in small panel from page 5 where the negative man unleashes his power. The particles are relatively large and not at all circular but the clumping is very much like typical Krackle.


House of Mystery #84 (March 1959) “The Negative Man”, panel from page 2, pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Marvin Stein?

The Kirby Krackle prototype from “The Negative Man” is very similar to that found previously in “The Man Who Collected Planets”. However while Kirby inked his own pencils in the earlier story some other artist inked “The Negative Man”. I am not positive as to who that inker was but the blunt but fluid brushwork looks very much like the work of Marvin Stein so I questionably attribute it to him. The two stories are similar enough that perhaps Stein used the earlier Kirby inked story as a reference when inking this one. Or perhaps Kirby had already begun to include how a story should be spotted in his pencils. In either case the use of the Kirby Krackle in this story should be credited to Jack Kirby.


Fantastic Four #49 (April 1966) “If This Be Doomsday” page 12, pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Joe Sinnott (from the Marvel Omnibus)

While the infrequent use of Kirby Krackle in the earlier publications can be explained by the lack of appropriate stories, its absence from Kirby’s earlier silver age work for Marvel is more difficult to understand. There certainly were a number of stories with subjects seemingly well suited for Kirby Krackle. It would seem that Jack had just forgotten about it. Perhaps there is some truth in the explanations previously used to explain the emergence of Kirby Krackle but not as inspiration for its creation but rather as a reminder to the artist of an almost forgotten technique. Once true Kirby Krackle appeared it was already exhibited the classic clumping of round particles and in this respect it differs from the earlier prototypic versions. Not perfect circles but not the more extended shape of the prototypes.


Fantastic Four #48 (March 1966) “The Coming of Galactus” page 12, pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Joe Sinnott (from the Marvel Omnibus)

While classic Kirby Krackle was used to portray a simmering energy, the same purpose the prototypic form had been put to, Jack also used it when depicting the cosmos. Kirby Krackle always seem to have a cosmic connection but had not previously been used when drawing outer space. I suspect Kirby was using this device to suggest that space was more than vast distances of vacuum but a place filled with potent energy. Certainly with the help of Kirby Krackle, Jack’s astronomical visas became more exciting than any other comic book artists had ever achieved.

P.S.
I have previously written about Kirby Krackle but I have decided to gather it all together with some new information. I will provide links to my previous posts but the reader will find little more than what is covered here (Kirby Krackle, More Kirby Krackle). Shane Foley has written an excellent article available online exploring the appearance of Kirby Krackle in the Marvel comics (Kracklin’ Kirby, Jack Kirby Collector #33). While he understandably failed to make the connection with previous examples of Kirby Krackle, his article does a marvelous job of tracing its use in silver age comics.

Footnotes:

* The overuse of Kirby K… is so extensive that my reaction is to wonder whether the originators of these terms were more interesting in getting credit for coining a cute name than in any serious investigation into Jack Kirby’s artistry.

** I do not know who to credit for first trying to draw attention to this early example of Kirby Krackle. It was brought up on the now defunct Kirby List where the poster provided a page number based on the Verotik Blue Bolt book. Unfortunately that volume lacks paging and the image that at the time I thought was being referenced was not an example of Kirby Krackle. I came across the panel from Blue Bolt #5 during a recent review in preparation for a serial post I hope to do on Blue Bolt. I am sure it is that panel that the Kirby list poster was trying to refer to.

*** The use of Kirby Krackle in “The Man Who Collected Planets” was originally pointed out to me by Ger Apeldoorn in the comments to one of my early posts on Kirby Krackle.

Police Trap #6

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Posted in 2011/08, 6 Mainline, Artists, Featured Work, Kirby, Jack, Meskin, Mort, Periods, Police Trap, Topic, z Archive and tagged , ,

Police Trap #5 (July 1955) was the first issue published by Charlton. It appears to be composed largely of work that was already in the work at the time of the sudden failure of Simon and Kirby’s own publishing company, Mainline. It would expected most of that work would be used up and Police Trap #6 would consists of newly created work. All of the work on issue #6 was drawn by Jack Kirby. Previously Kirby’s involvement was largely limited to providing covers with the only Kirby story appearing in Police Trap #5. Jack’s greater presence can be explained as a means of offsetting recent financial loses. The cost of creating the Mainline comics was covered by Simon and Kirby to be paid back by a share of the profits. However with the sudden demise of Leader News Joe and Jack would not get the money to recover their publication costs. Their incomes from Prize Comics were based on a share of the profits but with all the negative public criticism against comic books those royalties were probably down as well. By providing all the art for Police Trap #6, Kirby probably hoped to decrease the production costs, increase sales (and therefore his share of the profits) but also be paid as the artist as well.


Police Trap #6 (July 1955), pencils by Jack Kirby

The cover of Police Trap #6 is another less than spectacular piece of art. But it is interesting as a rare example of Kirby swiping from another comic book artist, in this case Marvin Stein. This is not a close copy, Kirby did not need any help in how to draw figures. Rather it is the unusual idea that Kirby picked up, that of counterfeiter’s being candidly filmed by the police. I had previously written about this swipe (A Criminal Swipe) where I provided an image of the Stein cover that Kirby swiped. In that post I offered the possibility that it was actually Stein that swiped from Kirby and that this cover was an unused piece left over from Simon and Kirby’s earlier efforts in the crime genre from 1947 to 1951). However I now consider this unlikely as the art for the Police Trap #6 cover does not seem to match
the style used during the earlier period.


Police Trap #6 (July 1955) “The Amateur”, pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Mort Meskin

As mentioned above, Jack Kirby drew all the art for this issue which makes Police Trap #6 a special comic. Needless to say the art is all well done. Kirby had a flair for graphically telling a story. Note the short sequence of story panels at the bottom of the splash page. It starts out typically enough but then proceeds to two panels with captions or speech balloons. Text was not required to explain the story and in fact the lack of text makes the panels even more effective.

Police Trap #6 is also special in that all the art was inked by the same artist. I’ll explain why I think this inker was Mort Meskin below where his hand is even more obvious but here I will discuss why I believe it was not either Simon or Kirby that did the inking. Normally that might not be too difficult to determine because both Jack and Joe were much better inkers than many of the other artists they used to ink Kirby’s pencils. Here, however, we have a great inking job. Not only that but it is done in what I describe as the Studio style. On this page (and others in this book) can be found shoulder blots, picket fence crosshatching and abstract arc shadows (see my Inking Glossary for an explanation of the terms I am using). But note that the shoulder blots are not done in a manner typical for Simon and Kirby. They are less abstract and more apt to be broken up into pieces. The most glaring example of this is found in the man in the blue suite. There are other suggestions that this was not inked by either Simon or Kirby. Note the simple eyebrows even in the more close-up views provided in the splash panel.

It is unclear whether some of the typical Studio style techniques were done by the inker or instead were added by either Kirby or Simon afterwards. For example the abstract arc shadow in the first story panel is done in a very typical style. My suspicion is that the original inker provided these touches as well as they are so well integrated with the surrounding artwork. If this is true it is another indication on how well acquainted the inker was with techniques previously used in the now defunct Simon and Kirby studio.


Police Trap #6 (July 1955) “The Debt”, pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Mort Meskin Albistur

The story panels for the first page of “The Debt” follows the same pattern as seen in “The Amateur”. First an introduction panel that quickly places the reader into the action followed by two panels without text that show how the action unfolded. The big difference between the two stories is that while “The Amateur” has a typical splash the splash found in “The Debt” is actually a story panel as well. While collaborating with Simon, Kirby worked from scripts created by various writers but which he would then customarily rewrite. It is unclear how much of the published story was rewritten but there are often phrases that sound very much like Kirby. But who can say whether the original writer originated these unusual textless story sequences or that Kirby rewrote them into the script.


Police Trap #6 (July 1955) “The $64 Question”, pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Mort Meskin

The $64,000 Question was a popular game show in the 50’s and even today you occasionally here someone use that term a colloquialism for a significant question. However that show first appeared on television in June 1955 much too late to have influenced this story (whose creation start around February of that year). However there was an earlier game show that was on the radio from 1950 to 1952 that was actually called the $64 Question. Although it was off the air when this story was created I am sure that was that show that formed the genesis of this story’s title.


Police Trap #6 (July 1955) “Only The Guilty Run”, pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Mort Meskin

All the stories in this issue were inked by the same artist. “Only The Guilty Run” is the story that most convincingly shows that this inker was Mort Meskin. Like all the other stories from this issue the inking was done in the Studio style. Most noticeable in the splash is his use of picket fence crosshatching. Of course other inkers used this technique most notably both Kirby and Simon. However Meskin executed picket fence crosshatching with an almost mechanical control compared to the more spontaneous use by Kirby or the more rougher brushwork by Simon. Observe how Meskin’s “rails” and “pickets” are almost consistent in width and the “rails” are placed to almost entirely contain the “pickets”. Other Meskin inking characteristics can be found in the simplified and often angular eyebrows particularly those of the escaping thief in the splash panel. Of course since credits were not provided inking attributions can never be given with absolute certainty but I am as confident as it is possible to be that this inking was by Mort Meskin.

While the art may convince me that Meskin was inking there Kirby pencils I am somewhat puzzled how this came about. While Mort had inked Jack’s work before, generally he was too busy penciling and inking his own work. There were exceptions to this most notably in Boys’ Ranch (1950 to 1951) and Captain 3-D (1953). However in 1954 he had started working for DC. Meskin still did some work for Simon and Kirby but this was largely limited to some covers and nowhere near his prolific output when the S&K studio was going strong. Yet here he is providing a lot of inking for a single issue (plus one Kirby story for the previous issue). Very perplexing.


Police Trap #6 (July 1955) “Third Degree”, pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Mort Meskin

Despite the Comic Code all the stories from this issue are really quite good but I have to admit that I find “Third Degree” the least satisfying. The interrogation of the housewife by the burly police officer seems a bit forced. Still that story and all the others in this issue leaves one with a desire for another all Kirby crime comic. Unfortunately it was not to be, at least for some years (see Jack Kirby’s “In the Days of the Mob”) and never again with Joe Simon.

P.S.
I have had a comment about why I believe this inker was Mort Meskin and not Marvin Stein. For readers who also wonder about this I suggest checking my previous posts Kirby Inkers, Mort Meskin and Kirby Inkers, Marvin Stein.

Police Trap #5

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Posted in 2011/08, 6 Mainline, Albistur, Jo, Artists, Draut, Bill, Featured Work, Kirby, Jack, Periods, Police Trap, Topic, z Archive and tagged , , ,

Police Trap and the other Mainline titles had been distributed by Leader News. During this period there was a renew public protest about the contents of comic books. The publisher that attracted the greatest amount of negative criticism was probably EC and some newsstands refused to accept their comics. Unfortunately Leader News also distributed EC and the boycott lead to their eventual failure. Without a distributor this meant the end of Simon and Kirby’s publishing company as well. But work had already begun on the art for the unpublished issues of the Mainline comics so Joe and Jack looked for a publisher willing to take on the titles. They made a deal Charlton and after an addition two month delay Police Trap #5 finally made it to the newsstands. This was the first issue of Police Traps to be submitted to the new Comic Code Authority although I doubt there was much of a problem with getting approval.


Police Trap #5 (July 1955), pencils and inks by Jack Kirby

Compared to previous issue, the cover was not all that great. I cannot think of a Simon and Kirby cover that I would describe as poor but obviously some were better than others and this one was one of their poorest. I suspect that with the failure of Mainline and the search for a new publisher, Simon and Kirby just did not give the cover art as much attention as they previously would have.


Police Trap #5 (July 1955) “The Gun”, pencils and inks by Bill Draut

Bill Draut had drawn stories for Police Trap #1 and #3 so his presence here comes as no surprise. Draut provides “The Gun” with his usual well crafted art. However coming after his really great work on “Tough Beat” (Police Trap #3) this story can seem to be a bit of a let down. Due to financial problems arising from the collapse of Mainline, Simon and Kirby were forced to close down their studio. It seems that Joe and Jack continued to work together for a time but limited or stopped employing other artists. “The Gun” was probably work already completed before Mainline’s sudden collapse. Simon and Kirby would use some further work by Draut in the coming months but not much. Draut would work for other publishers but with the collapse of the comic book industry it must have been a difficult time for him. I am sure he eventually looked back at his time with Simon and Kirby as the golden age of his career.


Police Trap #5 (July 1955) “The Test”, pencils and inks by Joaquin Albistur

“The Test” was another fine piece of work by Joaquin Albistur. Albistur only worked for Simon and Kirby for a limited period of time, a little over a year. Probably Joaquin also looked for work after the closing of the Simon and Kirby studio. I have seen some original art for a smaller publisher but I am not sure when it was done. Albistur may have found some work but it does not appear he found much. At some point he returned to his native country Argentina.


Police Trap #5 (July 1955) “Bad Influence”, art by an unidentified artist

I am not sure who the artist was that drew “Bad Influence”. I will not claim he was one of my favorite Simon and Kirby artists but he did a good job on this story.


Police Trap #5 (July 1955) “Short Visit”, art by an unidentified artist

Another unidentified artist only in this case not nearly as talented as the one who did “Bad Influence”. Note the rather awkward pose of the policeman.


Police Trap #5 (July 1955) “Alibi?”, pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Mort Meskin?

Up to now, Jack Kirby’s contribution to Police Trap was limited to the covers, one pinup (derived from an unused cover) and one splash panel. Was “Alibi” originally planned for issue #5 or was Jack filling in for working missing at the time of the collapse of Mainline? Who can say? But it is nice to see a Kirby working on a crime story again since the last one he did back in 1950. The tall vertical splash was rather unusual for Kirby and a reminder that Kirby was comfortable with any panel layout.

I am a little puzzled by the inking of this piece. Previously I have attributed the inking to Mort Meskin and there are parts that remind me of his work. Particularly the elderly woman in the second story panel. However there are other portions that do not look like Meskin’s brush for instance the sleeve of the older detective in the splash panel. During earlier periods I would explain this by the use of multiple artists sometimes used to ink Kirby’s art (describe by Joe Simon as an assembly line). With the bust up of the Simon and Kirby studio this now seems likely that only a single inker would be used (although either Simon or Kirby could be expected to do some touch up work). While I may hesitate to attribute the inking of this piece to Meskin, Mort was the inker for some other Kirby pencils that will be discussed when issue #6 is covered.

Police Trap #3

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Posted in 2011/06, 6 Mainline, Artists, Draut, Bill, Kirby, Jack, Periods, Police Trap, z Archive and tagged , , ,


Police Trap #3 (January 1955), pencils and inks by Jack Kirby

The cover for Police Trap #3 departed from the more serene covers used for the first two issues. Instead PT #3 was a typically well done Kirby slugfest. Such dramatic punches were often found in Simon and Kirby stories but rarely appeared on the crime covers. I can think of only one other case (Headline #45, January 1951) and that one was not nearly as nicely done as this cover. There was another cover considered for issue #3 but in the end never used. The alternative cover featured some motorcycle policeman and while a good cover it was not nearly as dramatic as this one.


Police Trap #3 (January 1955), “Hick Cop”, art by W. E. Hargis

It is always nice when an artist signs his work. Otherwise it becomes difficult to determine attributions since credits were not usually provided. There was also another signed S&K production piece by William Hargis (Young Love #62, October 1954, “Too Darned Innocent” ). I really need to do some careful comparison with some of the other unattributed pieces from this period as it is likely there exists some unsigned pieces by Hargis as well. Still it appears that Hargis only worked for Joe and Jack during a short period. Most of his work at this time seemed to have been for Quality Comics.

A number of artists appeared for a short time in Simon and Kirby productions from this period. Most were not that impressive but Hargis was an exception. He graphically tells the story well and has a pleasing drawing style. Hargis uses details to provide insight into his characters. I love the way that the sheriff has a hole in the sole of his shoe in the first story panel.


Police Trap #3 (January 1955), “The Mountie”, pencils and inks by Joaquin Albistur

Albistur is one of my favorite S&K artists from this period. “The Mountie” is a typical example of his talent. The mounted policemen have disappeared from most American cities but still have a presence, although diminished, in New York City. I have not seen any in the last few months but I would regularly hear them go down my street. It is not at all clear to me whether horses are an effective police tool but they certainly make for great public relations. Whenever I see them they always attract photographers and animal lovers.


Police Trap #3 (January 1955), “Murder At The Frolics”, art by an unidentified artist

AS I have said, there were a number of artists that worked a short time for Joe and Jack during this period. Of course I wish I could identify them all but for academic reasons as frankly many were little more than adequate. The biggest problem with this particular artist is that his figures tend to be a bit stiff as, for instance, in the last panel of this page.


Police Trap #3 (January 1955), “Tough Beat”, pencils and inks by Bill Draut

I really like Bill Draut’s art, at least while he worked for Simon and Kirby. But this particular splash page has got to be one of my favorites. Generally Bill did not do full page splashes and in a way this is not one either. What Draut has done was combine two splashes separated by the title caption. The top shows a deserted neighborhood with only a single policeman in the background. Very simple but lovingly handled with great attention to the tenement buildings. The bottom seems pure chaos but actually is not. Helped by nice work by the colorist, the lower splash focuses on the confrontation between a cop and some locals seemingly concerning some youth the policeman has apprehended. Bill has provided an interesting and varied crowd. The juxtaposition of the quiet and noisy street scenes makes the page all that more interesting.


Police Trap #3 (January 1955), “Tough Beat” last panel of page 6, pencils and inks by Bill Draut

I have seen the original art for “Tough Beat” and the upper portion of the splash page, the quiet street scene, was inked on tracing paper. I found this puzzling until I noticed the last panel of the story was the same street scene with different inking. Apparently Draut placed the tracing paper over the final panel and used it as a guide for working on the upper part of the splash page. Faster than manually copying the art onto the actual illustration board while the use of tracing paper would be undetectable in the final printed version.

Police Trap #1, Title for the Heroes

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Posted in 2011/05, 6 Mainline, Artists, Draut, Bill, Kirby, Jack, Meskin, Mort, Periods, Police Trap, Prentice, John, z Archive and tagged , , , ,



Police Trap #1 (September 1954), pencils and inks by Jack Kirby

Crime comics received a lot of undesirable attention during their heyday. It is generally acknowledged now that this criticism was pretty much unwarranted but at that time it accepted by most of the public. One criticism was that crime comics glorified the criminals. Again any modern reader would see that this clearly was not the case, at least for the great majority of crime comics and especially for those that had been produced by Simon and Kirby. But Joe and Jack were well aware of this criticism and so when they launched their own publishing company, Mainline, they included a title Police Trap where the focus was not on the criminals but rather on the police.


Police Trap #1 (September 1954) “The Capture”, pencils and inks by Mort Meskin

Mort Meskin was one of the “usual suspects” of artists that contributed frequently to Simon and Kirby productions. He not only arrived in the studio in time to provide art for some of the crime comics produced by Simon and Kirby but he also continued to supply art for the titles even after they were no longer put together by Joe and Jack (Criminal Artists, Mort Meskin). However this would be the only piece that Mort drew for Police Trap. In fact Meskin typically prolific output seems to have decreased greatly at about this time. He would continue to supply work for the Prize romances but very little for any of the Mainline titles.


Police Trap #1 (September 1954) “Masher”, pencils and inks by Bill Draut

“Usual suspect” Bill Draut drew and inked “Masher”. Draut is most famous for his romance art but he does a fine job on this story. This is probably the most unusual story of this issue and certainly my favorite. The main protagonist is a female police officer. On a personal note my great grandmother was one of the earliest female detective of the New York Police Department. Unfortunately I know very little about her career but among other things she was used as a decoy. She was not very tall but when it came time to apprehend someone she would hold on to them so tightly that the suspects would be unable to escape before her backup arrived to secure the arrest.


Police Trap #1 (September 1954) “Beer Party”, pencils and inks by John Prentice

John Prentice was also a regular contributor to Simon and Kirby productions which means this issue of Police Trap has all the usual suspects. Prentice first work for Joe and Jack appeared in a May 1951 issue of Young Love and he continued to provide art up until the end of the Simon and Kirby studio. John was used primarily for romance comics but he did provide some art for Black Magic. Unfortunately Simon and Kirby were no longer producing crime titles at the time of Prentice’s first appearance but John did so some really nice work in the crime genre prior to that. So “Beer Party” marks a much appreciated return of Prentice to crime. With some nicely handled action and such beautiful art, what is not to like? I particularly love the splash panel. Nobody appears in the splash but it still is a marvelous portrait. Missing plaster and cracked walls show how run down the police station has become. If anything the minimal decorations seem make the room even more depressing. The title captions talks about a shindig but obviously this was going to be a rather small affair. But could you image having a beer party inside a police station today?


Police Trap #1 (September 1954) “The Grafter”, art by unidentified artist

At this time Simon and Kirby were producing four Mainline and four Prize titles. Most of the titles were bimonthlies except for Young Romance and Young Love which were monthly. I suspect producing these titles and running Mainline required a lot of effort for both Joe and Jack. The amount of art that Kirby penciled seems to have dropped and his only contribution to this Police Trap issue was the cover. Further artists new to Simon and Kirby productions make their appearance. One such artist provided the art for “The Grafter”. I cannot claim to be very excited about art but he did an adequate job.


Police Trap #1 (September 1954) “The Beefer”, pencils and inks by Joaquin Albistur

I have recently discussed the part that “The Beefer” played in relationship to the pinup used in Police Trap #2 (The Police Trap Pinup). This story and two others that appeared in Young Romance and Young Love marked the first appearance of Joaquin Albistur in the Simon and Kirby studio. Most of the artist that appeared during this period made rather limited contributions to Simon and Kirby productions but Albistur would provide much work for the relatively short period that he was employed by Joe and Jack (13 months).

It Ain’t Soup

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Posted in 1 Early, 2011/05, Artists, Kirby, Jack, Odds & Ends, Periods, Topic, z Archive and tagged


Wilton of the West, pencils, inks and letters by Jack Kirby

Mark Evanier provides an image of a Campbell’s Soup on his blog can when he announces that he is too busy to continue normal posting. It seems I have developed my own tradition, one where I use a scan of a Kirby page from Jumbo comics (see A Brief Pause and Another Brief Pause). Last weekend found me struggling with some particular difficult restorations while remaining determine not to let my schedule slip. In the end I kept to my schedule but was left without any spare time to initiate a post for this blog. So instead I provide a scan of Wilton of the West. This was one of the syndication strips that Kirby did for the Eisner and Iger studio. Some were used in early issues of Jumbo Comics but the image I provide was scanned from a presentation piece which provided higher quality reproduction.

I find Kirby’s work for Eisner and Iger particularly interesting because they show Jack in the process of learning his trade. I know there are some fans who continue to insist that Kirby had already reached a high level of skills but to me this was clearly not the case. Had Kirby’s comic career ended with his work for Eisner and Iger he would have become nothing more than a footnote in the history of comics. Talking heads dominate this page which would have presented a problem for any comic book artist. Kirby tries to keep it interesting by changing the viewing distance as well as adding various props. Jack was not completely successful in this attempt but you can tell he is trying. The page ends with a fist fight. Kirby was famous for his slugfests but here the depicted punch seems rather awkward. The inking is improved over the last page I presented. Kirby varies his inking depending from darker panels such as the first and fourth to simpler lighter ones such as the eighth panel. Here Kirby is still a long way from his mature inking style but that is what makes these pages so interesting. Jack did the lettering as well. Kirby’s lettering here is adequate but nothing more. While his lettering would improve somewhat, Jack never became a master letterer. But then again I cannot think of any golden age comic book artist that was good at both drawing and lettering.

My schedule will remain pretty tough over about the next month so I cannot guaranty that I will not be forced to put up a Jumbo scan again. However I hope that will not be the case because my recent post on the Police Trap pinup reminds me that I have not yet covered that title.

The Police Trap Pinup

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Posted in 2011/05, 6 Mainline, Artists, Kirby, Jack, Odds & Ends, Periods, Police Trap, Topic, z Archive and tagged ,

For the most part pinups did not play an imported role in the Simon and Kirby repertoire. The most import exception was Boys’ Ranch where double page and inside cover pinups were present in each issue. Other than those from Boys’ Ranch there were only two other pinups that I can think of. One appeared in Win A Prize #1 (February 1955). I have discussed that one previously (The Wide Angle Scream, Almost an Afterthought). While I would not dismiss out of hand Joe’s explanation that the piece was originally meant for Captain America #11, there are a number of details that suggest a later date. Therefore the genesis behind that piece of art remains an unresolved issue.


Police Trap #2 (November 1954) “It’s Your Police Station”, pencils and inks by Jack Kirby

The other Simon and Kirby pinup appeared in Police Trap #2 (November 1954). It is a great pinup with a marvelous cast of characters. Each person depicted in the foreground was given a distinct personality. A complete story is presented in this single panel with the added touch of Simon and Kirby humor. Kirby not only drew the art but did the inking as well. I believe it is one of the relatively few pieces that Jack also did the outline inking, a job normally assigned to others.

The top caption declares this is the first of series of Police Trap pinups of various police officers. However no further pinups were ever placed in the subsequent issues. Nor were pinups found in any other Mainline titles (Win A Prize was published by Charlton). The natural question is why this one?


Police Trap #1 (September 1954) “The Beefer”, pencils and inks by Joaquin Albistur

The explanation can be found in the first issue of Police Trap. That issue contains the story “The Beefer” with art by Jo Albistur. Albistur was from Argentina and seems only to have worked in the United States for brief period. His time working for Simon and Kirby lasted a little over a year but it was very productive period for him. Frankly I am unimpressed by some of the art I have seen that he did for other comic book publishers but he is one of may favorite Simon and Kirby artists. “The Beefer” opens with constant complaining of an arrested street peddler. Kirby would often create a cover based on a story from the same issue but illustrated by another artist. The similarity between “It’s Your Police Station” and “The Beefer” indicates that is what happened here and this pinup was originally intended as the cover for Police Trap #1.


Police Trap #2 (November 1954) “It’s Your Police Station”, pencils and inks by Jack Kirby, original art

The original art for this pinup still exists. It is very unusual for work by Simon and Kirby in that art was constructed from three pieces. The top caption, the art, and the bottom caption are on different illustration boards taped together on the back. In the future Joe Simon would frequently construct art from various separate sources but up to this point such techniques were rarely used. The explanation in this case is that since the art was initially meant for a cover the original top probably had the comic book title. Probably as an expediency this was just cut off. Since Joe and Jack often recycled their work this title may have been used for some other cover. The original art for some of the Police Trap covers still exist and it would be It would be interesting to see if any of them were constructed from two pieces of illustration board. The original bottom of the art was probably not sufficient for the desired caption so it was trimmed as well.


Police Trap #1 (September 1954) “The Beefer”, pencils and inks by Jack Kirby

The Police Trap #1 cover that was published in place of “It’s Your Police Station” is certainly a fine piece of Simon and Kirby art. The portrayed scene shows a multitude of characters each carefully handled. The caption actually seems a little superfluous since the art is all that seems to be needed to tells the individual stories. Yes, this is cover art at its very best. That is not to say that the art for “It’s Your Police Station” was any bit inferior. The most distinct disadvantage for the pinup had was that it was very specific to a single story, “The Beefer”. While Simon and Kirby often took that approach to a cover, they undoubtedly considered that the new comic should be launched with a cover that reflected on the theme of the title and not a particular story. With all the criticism cast at crime comics, Simon and Kirby wanted to emphasize that the police were subject of this new comic not the criminals. This police centric theme is superbly provided by the published cover.

True Kirby Kolors and Simon Too

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Posted in Kirby, Jack, Simon, Joe and tagged , ,

It has been a couple of years since I discussed the topic of Kirby Kolors (Kirby Kolor, a Kirby Myth and Kirby Kolors, Revisited). Here I though I would write about some true Kirby Kolors, although they are rather special cases.


Prize Comics Western #88 (July 1951) pencils by John Severin


Prize Comics Western #88 (July 1951) pencils by John Severin, original art colored by Jack Kirby

Recently Kirby scholar and former assistant Steve Sherman sent me some scans of comic art still in the possession of the Kirby family. The one I show above was the original art for the cover of Prize Comics Western #88 (July 1951). This art was not done by Jack Kirby but instead was penciled by John Severin. Bill Elder inked much of the work that Severin did for Prize comics but I cannot say if that was the case here. But the thing that makes this work truly unusual is the coloring that has been applied. The color guides provided to the printers were originally done on silver prints of the line art, not on the original art itself. That this was true in for this cover can be seen on the many differences between the art and the published cover. For instance the original art shows American Eagle with a bright orange band in his head piece that was colored blue or cyan on the published cover. The teepees in the background of the art show a variety of colors while on the actual cover they are all light orange. The bush in the lower right corner has three colors in the art but a single green on the printed version.

The original art for the #88 cover has an overall reddish tone. This was not the original intent of the colorist but is the result of deterioration over time. The colors were applied to the art using dyes as opposed to a pigment based material. While direct sunlight should always be avoided with colored art, those based on dyes are particularly susseptical to damage by light. The presence of matting in the above image suggests that is what happened here. While there is good reason to believe that originally blue and green played a much more important part presently only some limited areas of green are left and even they seem to be rather dingy. I believe that the very faint pink band in American Eagle’s head piece was originally a bright blue.

While the colors have changed there is still much that can be seen in the original art. In particular notice how American Eagle’s skin tone is varied to suggest volume. Volume was also suggested in the published cover although the details are very different (as I said the coloring of the original art was not done as a color guide). Such use of gradient coloring was not that unusual for comic book covers at that time as the greater quality printing of covers allowed for such effects.
 

Prize Comics Western #89 (September 1951) pencils by John Severin


Prize Comics Western #89 (September 1951) pencils by John Severin, original art colored by Jack Kirby

The original art for the Prize Comics Western #89 cover (September 1951) is similarly colored and shows the same deterioration. Again it is the blue and perhaps green colors that were most affected. Note the soldier that has collapsed at the bottom of the image. His uniform appears grey except for the lowest part of his left arm where the blue survives.

It may seem odd that Jack Kirby would have these two pieces of art in his own collection. After all it does not appear that Simon and Kirby had produced the art for Prize Comics Western other then supply a couple of covers (for PCW #75 and #83, April 1949 and August 1950 respectively). However Prize Comics did not have a seperate bullpen. The colorist that Prize employed, Joe Genalo, did his work in the Simon and Kirby studio. I suspect that art for Prize Comics Western was delivered to the studio as well. Jack would certainly have a chance to see that art and pick up a couple of nice covers after their usefullness to production had ended. Original art was not highly valued at that time.


Bullseye #5 (April 1955) “Tough Little Varmint” page 2, art by unidentified artist


Bullseye #5 (April 1955) “Tough Little Varmint” page 2, art by unidentified artist, original art colored by Jack Kirby (image provided by Steven Brower)

The Severin covers were not the only pieces of art from Jack Kirby’s collection that had been colored. The first two pages from “Tough Little Varmint” (Bullseye #5, April 1955) were also originally owned by Kirby and had been covered. Fortunately the dyes have not deteriorated very much if at all. A comparison with the published version shows even more clearly that the coloring was not meant for use as a color guide. Not only are there some rather unusually coloring present there is also frequent use of different color tones on what normally have been a single color. For instance the pants of the man in the background of panel 1, the face of the eating man in panel 2, or the face of the background man in panel 4.

The case that the above works were colored by Jack Kirby is not completely air tight. However there are other pieces that pased through Jack’s hands that are similarly colored so it seems quite likely that he colored all of them. Nor was it only other artists that Kirby colored, he did so on some of his own pieces as well. A nice Boys’ Ranch double page pinup can be seen in that great site What if Kirby (see the site’s Boys’ Ranch #4).


Fighting American #1 (April 1954) “Break The Spy-Ring” page 7 panel 3, pencils by Jack Kirby


Fighting American #1 (April 1954) “Break The Spy-Ring” page 7 panel 3, pencils by Jack Kirby, original art colored by Joe Simon

There is another Simon and Kirby piece of original that has been colored. The above Fighting American art was originally conceived as a cover for the first issue but instead ended up as an oversize story panel. Some have claimed that this piece also was colored by Kirby but there are problems with that attribution. When Simon and Kirby’s collaboration ended this piece belonged to Joe Simon. Joe eventually reworked the image to use as a cover for Sick #42 (February 1966). But the proof of the correct coloring attribution comes from a photograph that Joe Simon has showing him at work coloring it. An examination of an enlargement of the photo shows that coloring was not yet finished with the blue missing from Fighting American’s costume. The coloring of the original art must have been done prior to the Sick cover since except for the replaced Speedboy the coloring between the two are identical.

Jack Kirby’s “In the Days of the Mob”

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Posted in 2011/04, Artists, Kirby, Jack, Odds & Ends, Topic, z Archive and tagged ,

Simon and Kirby produced crime comics during two periods; for Prize and Hillman (1947 to 1951) and for their own publishing company Mainline (1954 to 1955). Perhaps the genre was already in decline but after the introduction of the Comic Code crime comics all but disappeared. I know that Justice Traps the Guilty continued to be published until 1958, but were there any other crime comics that lasted long under the Comic Code? It would seem that crime was pretty much a forgotten comic genre until Jack Kirby did In the Days of the Mob for DC in 1971.

Was In the Days of the Mob ahead of its time, another example of Kirby’s visionary genius? It, and the sister publication Spirit World, were very different than all the other comics released at the time. Different in size and printing. Not the normal comic book size but that of a magazine. And not the normal comic book coloring but all with tones of black. Mark Evanier, an assistant to Jack at that time, has said that it was Kirby’s idea to produce a more adult oriented comic. The magazine size therefore makes sense since it would allow the title to escape the Comic Code censorship. Which was clearly necessary if the stories were going to be anything stronger than the mild superhero comics that dominated the industry at that time. Evanier has also said that Kirby’s intentions were that In the Days of the Mob would be printed in color and that the gray wash that the magazine was subjected to was DC’s idea. It certainly seems like a visionary idea since In the Days of the Mob was years ahead of Heavy Metal (first appearing in 1977) another magazine size comic for a more adult audience.

But what about the stories? Was Kirby looking at the future there as well? Right away the reader is presented with Warden Fry, warden of Hell. Fry will introduce the stories and provide a link between each. Using a character as a spokesperson for a comic had been done before but perhaps not always so well as In the Days of the Mob. The interior is largely one long graphic sequence. Page numbering is for the entire magazine and not for the individual stories. Only the splash pages give notice of the start of the next tale. This is a magazine meant to be read in the order that it is produced.


In the Days of the Mob (Fall 1971) “Ma’s Boys”, pencils by Jack Kirby inks by Vince Colletta

The first story is “Ma’s Boys” a tale of Ma Barker and her criminal sons. Jack had told this story before, or more accurately Simon and Kirby had. “Mother of Crime” had appeared in Real Clue Crime Stories (volume 2 number 4, June 1947). I have briefly discussed it before (Crime’s Better Half) and it was include in Titan’s “The Best of Simon and Kirby”. Since these stories are supposed to be real, it would not come as much of a surprise that there are similarities between the old and the newer versions of the story. But actually it is obvious that there is much more than a casual connection between the two because in the Simon and Kirby version Ma Barker relates her story from hell. Undoubtedly in 1971 Jack’s inspiration came from the Simon and Kirby story. He not only retold the story he expanded the use of hell from this single story to become a theme for the entire magazine.

The story of Ma Barker as gang leader may have been fiction but one that did not originate from Simon and Kirby. While Ma traveled with the gang, surviving members insisted she took no part in the planning or executing the crimes. They claimed that such matters were not even discussed in her presence. It was said that the story was fabricated to protect the public image of the FBI after it was found that they had killed an elderly mother.


Real Clue Crime Stories v. 2 n. 4 (June 1947) “Mother of Crime”, pencils and inks by Jack Kirby


In the Days of the Mob (Fall 1971) “Bullets for Big Al”, pencils by Jack Kirby inks by Vince Colletta

The next story from In the Days of the Mob is about Al Capone. It turns out that Simon and Kirby had done a story about Capone as well called “The Case Against Scarface” (Justice Traps the Guilty #1, October 1947). However the story that Jack did for In the Days of the Mob is not the same one covered by Simon and Kirby. So while the older story might have gotten his creative juices flowing, Jack ended up with an entire new tale. By the way “The Case Against Scarface” also appears in “The Best of Simon and Kirby”.


Justice Traps the Guilty #1 (October 1947) “The Case Against Scarface”, pencils and inks by Jack Kirby


In the Days of the Mob (Fall 1971) “The Kansas City Massacre”, pencils by Jack Kirby inks by Vince Colletta

The third story, “The Kansas City Massacre”, was also one covered by Simon and Kirby (“The Strange Aftermath of the Kansas City Massacre”, Headline #26, September 1947). Solo Kirby concentrated on the massacre itself while Simon and Kirby covered that and also the events that followed. Kirby’s later version went in more detail than what was done earlier by Simon and Kirby but basically it is the same story.


Headline #26 (September 1947) “The Strange Aftermath of the Kansas City Massacre”, pencils and inks by Jack Kirby


In the Days of the Mob (Fall 1971) “Method of Operation”, pencils by Jack Kirby inks by Vince Colletta

The final story that Kirby did for In the Days of the Mob was an unusual one called “Method of Operation”. The story is about a gangster whose fondness for fishing leads to his arrest by the head of the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover himself. The oddest thing about the story is Jack refers to the criminal as “country boy” and nowhere does Kirby actually identify him. However there is no doubt that country boy was Alvin Karpis. By this point it should come as no surprise that Simon and Kirby had previously done a story called “The True Life Story of Alvin Karpis” (Justice Traps the Guilty #2, December 1947).

The official story is that J. Edgar Hoover did in fact arrest Karpis, grabbing Karpis before he was able to get a rifle from the back seat. However Karpis claimed that Hoover never appeared until the FBI agents already had him safely in custody. However the fact that the car Karpis was driving did not have a back seat certainly casts doubt on the FBI version of the story. Of course this awkward detail never made it into either the Simon and Kirby or the solo Kirby stories.


Justice Traps the Guilty #2 (December 1947) “The True Life Story of Alvin Karpis”, pencils by Jack Kirby

It seems clear that with In the Days of the Mob Jack Kirby was looking back to when he was collaborating with Joe Simon. This is not at all surprising. Kirby came to work for DC because he did not receive the credit he felt he deserved during his time at Marvel. Further Kirby was unhappy with the changes that Stan Lee would impose on some of his creations. Kirby sought and obtained from DC a greater control over what he produced. The sort of control he had while he was collaborating with Simon. So it was natural for Kirby to think about and use as inspiration some of the more successful Simon and Kirby efforts. That is not to say that In the Days of the Mob were just a repeat of the Simon and Kirby crime comics. None of the specific text or imagery for Kirby’s crime magazine appears to have been lifted from the earlier Simon and Kirby efforts. Kirby completely redid the stories to fit his 70’s vision of how comics should be done. His art is full of impact. As for his writing, well let us just admit that his scripting was not, as still is not, universally admired. With In the Days of the Mob, Jack Kirby was both a visionary looking forward to a new market and a reactionary looking back on successful early creations. What Kirby was not, in this case, a man of his time. DC did not know what to do with Kirby’s new crime magazine and had no faith in it at all. The title was cancelled before the second issue was ever printed.

In closing I would like to add a note about the inking of In the Days of the Mob. Vince Colletta has been criticized, quite rightly in my opinion, for the liberties he took in erasing pencils in order to speed up inking. However Colletta’s inking in this title seems very solid and not at all overbearing. I like it very much. Which is more than I can say about the final ink wash used.

Tom Field has written about In the Days of the Mob as well (Jack Kirby Collector #16). Also Bob has covered it in The Jack Kirby Comics Weblog.

Criminal Couples

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Posted in 2011/04, 5 Studio, Artists, Kirby, Jack, Odds & Ends, Periods, Prize, Topic, z Archive and tagged , ,

I had previously discussed how crime by women was handled by Simon and Kirby (Crime’s Better Half). However here I would like to briefly discuss the criminal couple, much rarer perpetrators of crime in Simon and Kirby or real life. The most famous today would be Bonnie and Clyde. Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow and other members of their gang were active between 1932 and 1934. It was the fact that they were a couple that projected Bonnie and Clyde into national infamy. The gang really were not very talented criminals. They only rarely robbed banks and never got much for their efforts for their few attempts. Generally Barrow gang robbed smaller institutions like grocery stores and gas stations. They were cold blooded killers quick to use their weapons against lawmen or civilians alike. Frankly the Barrow gang without Bonnie would not a received much attention outside of Texas.


The real Bonnie and Clyde hamming it up (1933)

During one quick get-a-way, the Barrow gang left behind a some rolls of film. The photographs that came from the developed film were sensationally. Among them were shots of Bonnie holding up Clyde at gun point and another of Bonnie with a cigar and a gun. These photos of the gang fooling around were just that, nothing more than fiction. Bonnie did not participate much in the actual crimes and she did not smoke cigars. But the photos provided a lot of national publicity and played an important part in the legend that followed.


Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty from Bonnie and Clyde (1967)

And Bonnie and Clyde did become a legend with two movies and one made for TV movie; the Bonnie Parker Story (1958) and the more important Bonnie and Clyde (1967) and Bonnie & Clyde, the True Story (1992). Eighty years later they are still well known.


Headline #27 (November 1947) “The Bobby Sox Bandit Queen”, pencils and inks by Jack Kirby

While Bonnie and Clyde may have been the most famous criminal couple Simon and Kirby never featured them in any crime comic. There was, however, another criminal couple that were made into a Simon and Kirby story; Stella Mae and Bennie Dickson in “The Bobby Sox Bandit Queen” from Headline #27 (November 1947). Stella and Bennie were not as famous (or infamous) as Bonnie and Clyde. They were reported in the press of the day but as far as I know no movies were ever made based on them. But in many ways they were a much better criminal couple then Bonnie and Clyde. For one they were much more successful in robbing banks. In one bank hold up they got away with about $47,000. Not bad by today’s standards but pretty good during the depression and much better than the Barrow gang ever did. One bank robbery by Bonnie and Clyde got them $115. And while Bonnie posed with a gun for pictures but was not really participate much in the actual crimes, Stella was very handy with a gun and a big asset in the robberies. In fact her sharp shooting of a police car’s tires during a chase allowed the criminal couple to make a clean get-a-way.


Stella Mae Dickson

It is easy to see why Simon and Kirby picked Stella Mae and Bennie for a story but why did they never do a story on Bonnie and Clyde? Could it be the rather gruesome end that Bonnie and Clyde had under a barrage of bullets? Seems doubtful since Joe and Jack had depicted similar deaths in the past and did show Bennie Dickson’s comparable end. No, I think the real reason Bonnie and Clyde were off limits as far as Simon and Kirby were concerned was due to their marital status, or more precisely lack thereof. Stella Mae and Bennie were legally married, Bonnie and Clyde were not. That Bonnie and Clyde were unmarried, romantically involved and living together added spice to their story. But while that sold papers it was not the sort of thing that many would consider appropriate for a young audience. Dr. Wertham may have declared that comic books corrupted their youthful readers but Simon and Kirby were really more careful about what they included in the comic stories they created than their critics would admit. Still I would have loved to have seen what Simon and Kirby would have done with Bonnie and Clyde.