Museum member and writer Russell Payne is a guest at the Northants International Comic Expo (NICE) this weekend in Wicksteed Park, Kettering, Northamptonshire, England. He’ll be promoting the museum and sitting on a special Jack Kirby panel alongside artists Doug Braithwaite, John Watson and Shaky Kane discussing “Jack Kirby’s Influence On Modern Comics”. Come along and chat to Russell about Jack and the Kirby Museum and he’ll give you a Jack Kirby sticker!
Sunday! The Kirby Museum will be at Red & White Calgary Comic & Toy Expo
Steve Coates will be manning a Kirby Museum booth at the Calgary Red & White Comic & Toy Expo this coming Sunday. If you’re going to the show, stop by and say hello, why don’t you?
It was 95 Years ago today…
…in a tenement apartment on New York City’s Lower East Side, Rose Kurtzberg gave birth to her son Jacob…
…who became Jack Kirby, visual storyteller, comic book genius, more than just a comic book artist, one of the foremost influences on our culture.
We celebrate Jack Kirby every day at the Kirby Museum, even opening on this date seven years ago.
Here are some things we recommend for today:
As I mentioned in my previous blog entry here, Kirby’s granddaughter Jillian has started the Kirby4Heroes campaign, which supports the Hero Initiative in its effort to create a safety net for yesterday’s comic book creators. Additionally, the Hero Initiative has recruited comic artists to “Wake Up And Draw” a birthday card for Jack. Follow the fun at #WakeUpAndDraw on Twitter.
Help us open a Jack Kirby Museum for three months on the Lower East Side, by donating to our Brick and Mortar Campaign. We are thankful for the all of the support that has brought us to 50% of our $30,000 goal.
Read Steven Brower’s “The Genius of Jack Kirby“, posted on The Kirby Effect.
Visit the Kirby portrait gallery that Jason Garrattley has compiled on Kirby-Vision.
Watch videos on the Kirby Museum’s YouTube channel.
Join the Kirby4Heroes campaign!
Jack Kirby’s youngest granddaughter, 16 year old Jillian Kirby, has announced Kirby4Heroes in a video on the LA Times’ Hero Complex, accompanied by an article from Geoff Boucher.
Jillian’s idea is that on her grandfather’s 95th birthday, which is on August 28th, comic shops in California, as well as Midtown Comics in NYC, will donate a portion of sales to the Hero Initiative. The Hero Initiative is a wonderful non-profit organization that creates a financial safety net for yesterdays’ creators who may need emergency medical aid, financial support for essentials of life, and an avenue back into paying work.
If you can’t make it to a participating comic shop, a direct donation to the Hero Initiative tagged with Kirby4Heroes would be very welcome.
San Diego report?
It’s hard to believe it’s taken me this long to post the San Diego recap, but believe it, I must. The calendar does not lie.
The Kirby Museum had a wonderful time, with Lisa Rigoux-Hoppe in full time booth-volunteer mode, Charles Hatfield setting down daily for signings of his Eisner Award winning Hand Of Fire: The Comics Art of Jack Kirby (published by University Press of Mississippi), Rand Hoppe (your correspondent) alternating between scanning Kirby original art for the OADA and general kibitzing, and Arlen Schumer in seemingly non-stop salesmanship of his “The Auteur Theory of Comics” 16 page, full-color booklet (published by the Kirby Museum)!
Speaking of Arlen, a limited number of signed, first editions of “The Auteur Theory of Comics” are still available for $25 US ($30 International), with funds designated to our Brick & Mortar Campaign.
If you’re in the USA, click here to donate $25 and we’ll send you “The Auteur Theory of Comics”.
If you’re not in the USA, click here to donate $30.
Many thanks to Arlen for his generosity and hard work on behalf of Jack Kirby’s legacy and the Kirby Museum.
There were Kirby panels hosted by the Institute for Comics Studies, the first being “The Auteur Theory of Comic Books” by Arlen Schumer, who offered a visual extrava-fantastic presentation followed by comments from John Morrow, Charles Hatfield, Craig Fischer and this writer. While the Museum recorded the event with help of Tom Kraft, the Comics Journal captured it as well. The second Kirby panel was “Jack Kirby, Modernism, and Abstraction” with Dr. Andrei Molotiu and Mark Badger offering their individual presentations. Fascinating, engrossing Kirby material the like of which the Kirby Museum will continue to support and encourage. Thanks to all involved, especially Peter Coogan and the ICS for making it happen.
Comic Arts #7 from The Comics Journal on Vimeo.
Our booth location improved somewhat this year, being diagonally across the aisle from the booth of John Morrow’s TwoMorrows Publishing. Some guy was walking around holding a delicious treat that, when John Morrow pointed it out, I found hard to resist.
We also had the pleasure of visits from Mark Evanier and Tracy Kirby with her kididdles.
Trustees also confabbed.
And last, but certainly not least, was the very well attended Annual Jack Kirby Tribute panel hosted by Mark Evanier, with guests Stan Goldberg, Charles Hatfield, Paul Dini and Paul Levine.
That’s it for now. Thanks to everyone for all your support.
Charles Hatfield “Hand of Fire” signing times update
Charles will be at the Kirby Museum booth at these times:
Thurs 5:00-6:30
Fri 4:00-5:00
Sat 3:30-4:30
Sun 11:30-12:30
That’s booth 5520, along the wall as part of the Golden and Silver Age pavilion.
See you there!
Kirby Museum’s heading to San Diego (booth 5520)
C’mon by and say hi to the Kirby Museum at booth 5520, in the Silver and Golden Age Pavilion diagonally across from Trustee John Morrows’ TwoMorrows Publishing booth at 1310. If you can, please bring your Kirby original art; we’ll have our scanner (as will trustee Tom Kraft of WhatIfKirby.com at Bechara Maalouf’s Nostalgic Investments booths (1006 and 4415), as we continue to build our Original Art Digital Archive.
This year, we’re proud to offer “The Auteur Theory of Comics”, a special 8.5″ by 11″ 16 page visual extravaganza by pop historian and graphic artist Arlen Schumer, in return for a donation to the Museum of $10 or more. “The Auteur Theory…” is a print version of the presentation and lecture that Arlen will offer on Friday, July 13th in Room 26AB from 1:30-2:30, and a discussion afterwards with John Morrrow (see above!), Charles Hatfield (author of “Hand Of Fire: The Comics Art of Jack Kirby”! More about Charles below!), auteur film theorist Craig Fischer (Appalachian State), and Rand Hoppe (writing this blurb!). Be sure to stay put, because after the Auteur panel, Andrei Molotiu, Mark Badger and some special guests will be on a panel titled “Jack Kirby, Modernism, and Abstraction.” Special thanks to the Comic Arts Conference for supporting these great Kirby panels.
We’re also thrilled to be hosting signing sessions for Charles Hatfield at our booth. We’ll have copies of “Hand Of Fire” available for your donation of $25 or more. The schedule currently stands at: Thursday from 5-6pm, Friday 4-5pm, Saturday 3-4pm, and Sunday Noon-1 (right after The Annual Jack Kirby Tribute Panel).
The Annual Jack Kirby Tribute panel will be hosted, as ever, by Mark Evanier. Mark’s guests this year include Herb Trimpe, Stan Goldberg, Paul Dini, and as mentioned above, Charles Hatfield. That’s on Sunday at 10 am in Room 5AB.
Looking forward to seeing you there, as we continue to build support for our Pop Up Kirby Museum in New York City. We’ll have posters, prints, stickers, and more to exchange for your donations and membership dues.
It’s Independence Day, U.S.A.!
Introducing Kirby to Middle Schoolers
The Kirby Effect begins
In addition to all the personal blogs the Kirby Museum hosts, I’ve just fired up “The Kirby Effect“, which I’ve designated “The Journal of The Jack Kirby Museum”. I hope the The Kirby Effect will be become a rich offering of papers, articles and media presentations. Consider this post the requisite Call For Papers. I have a few things in the works for the Effect already, but they won’t last, so I look forward to hearing from you.