Comic Book Resources

Comics College: Jack Kirby

Welcome to Comics College, a (sort of) monthly feature here at Robot 6 where we provide an introductory guide to some of the most significant artists, writers and creators in comics and offer our best educated suggestions on how to become familiar with their body of work.

Little did I know when I chose Jack Kirby as my second entry more than a month ago that his name would be splayed across the headlines of comics blogs and message boards as his family announced their intention to attempt to win back the copyrights to various Marvel characters. Despite the questionable rancor from some parties, the news provides a perfect opportunity to revisit Kirby's work, as he remains one of the great colossi of American Comics, perhaps its most significant creator, depending upon who you talk to. He's certainly one of the most prolific.

But Kirby can be tough for some folks. Modern readers used to the Image school of exaggeration or a more photorealistic (or PhotoShopped at any rate) style of superhero comics tend to balk at Kirby's blocky, dynamic style, especially in his later period when it verged on outright expressionism. What's more, he was always a better artist and idea man than a writer, and his dialogue when working solo can come off as turgid and forced, especially when he's trying to sound "hip" and "with it." I know as a teenager and young adult I found Kirby's work initially too odd and different from what I was used to as a comic reader to enjoy. It wasn't until I forced myself to sit down and immerse myself into his world that I learned to appreciate his oeuvre and became a devotee.

Keep in mind: Kirby's output was so vast that to try to encapsulate it here in a simple blog post is a mug's game. In other words, there are going to be omissions -- volumes left out and series ignored, either due to the fact that I simply haven't read them yet or because I just didn't have the time and space to include them here. I feel confident enough in my recommendations, but feel free to pick on my negligence in the comments section.

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What are you reading?

Labor Days Vol. 2

Welcome once again to What are you reading?, the weekly column where the Robot 6 team runs through what comics and other stuff they've been checking out lately. As Chris is in Bethesda this weekend, I'm filling in for him as your host.

Our special guests this time are Philip Gelatt and Rick Lacy, creators of the Labor Days graphic novels published by Oni Press. Volume two, Just Another Damn Day, is now available in finer retail establishments everywhere. (You can check out a preview here).

See what they've been reading, as well as the rest of the Robot 6 crew, after the jump ...

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Confirmed: Jack Kirby's heirs want a piece of Spider-Man

Amazing Fantasy #15

Spider-Man is, indeed, one of the Marvel characters listed in the 45 copyright-termination notices sent last week by the heirs of Jack Kirby.

With Sony Pictures among the list of recipients -- along with Marvel, Disney, Fox, Universal and others -- it seemed likely that Kirby's four children were seeking a portion of the copyright to the wall-crawler (Sony holds the movie rights to the character in perpetuity). Now The Hollywood Reporter's Heat Vision blog confirms that after reviewing termination notices for Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four.

Wait. Didn't Stan Lee and Steve Ditko create Spider-Man? Well ... yes. However, Kirby was clearly involved in the early stages. The nature, and extent, of that involvement isn't quite so clear.

As Borys Kit and Matthew Belloni recount at Heat Vision, Lee initially approached Kirby to help develop the concept and draw the initial story in 1962's Amazing Fantasy #15. For one reason or another -- Lee has said he didn't like Kirby's muscular, or "too heroic," take on Spider-Man -- Ditko was tapped to draw the story, with Kirby providing the cover.

But some accounts assert that Kirby contributed elements from an unpublished character called Silver Spider that he developed in the 1950s with longtime collaborator Joe Simon. Others say Silver Spider became The Fly, a character created by Simon and Kirby for Archie Comics' Red Circle imprint.

According to the Heat Vision report, Kirby's heirs seek to recapture a share of the copyright to characters and story elements that appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15 -- Aunt May, Uncle Ben, Flash Thompson, etc. -- plus characters and concepts like J. Jonah Jameson, the Daily Bugle, Chameleon, the Tinkerer and the Lizard, most of which debuted months later in issues of The Amazing Spider-Man. (The Daily Bugle first appeared in Fantastic Four #2.)

If the Kirby children are successful, they would reclaim their father's portion of the copyright to key characters and concepts from the Marvel Universe as early as 2017 for the Fantastic Four. In most cases, that would seem to mean co-ownership with Marvel, as Lee agreed to waive claim to any of the characters.  With Spider-Man, one-third ownership could be possible if the Kirbys were to prevail yet the judge recognized Ditko's interests.

Although Disney asserts it "fully considered" the potential copyright claims before it launched its $4-billion purchase of Marvel, this move by the Kirby children surely complicates matters. If nothing else, it provides additional fuel for those who already had criticized Disney for wading into a tangle of licensing agreements that could prevent the House of Mouse from making movies based on Spider-Man, the X-Men, Fantastic Four and other central Marvel properties for years (last link via Dirk Deppey).

Brevoort trades his way to Fantastic Four #1

Months of effort, 84 trades and more than 500 comics have netted Marvel editor a copy of Fantastic Four #1, which Brevoort will donate to the Hero Initiative so they can auction it off. Check out the video update from Brevoort below:

Brevoort started trading comics in late 2008 with Marvel fans on his Blah Blah Blog on the company's website, all in an effort to see if he could one day get a copy of his holy grail.

"In all honesty, I was beginning to lose hope that we'd ever successfully complete this journey, especially after the previous near-misses," Brevoort wrote on his blog. "And I have to say, the thing that stands out the most for me about this whole Experiment is the vast generosity of Marvel's fans. Not only did most people offer up better books in Trade than what they were asking for, but a number of guys went even further, out-and-out donating items without getting anything in return outside of the feeling of doing something positive. There's no question, Marvel's fans are the best, as this whole experience proves beyond a doubt."

New Fantastic Four logo is a throwback to a classic

Marvel.com posted the cover to Fantastic Four #570, which features not only a new creative team, but also a new logo that draws from an old classic. As you can see, the new logo is a revamp of the one used on the comic from issue 160 through 217, with the four main characters surrounding the logo:

Fantastic Four #570 and #195

Issue 570 is the first issue of Jonathan Hickman and Dale Eaglesham's run on the title. It's due in stores at the end of August.

Six by 6 | Six comics that made us cry

Tom Strong #36

This week Chris Mautner suggested we share our softer sides and each talk about three comics that broke down our tough-guy exteriors and made us openly weep as we turned the pages. It's a risky venture, to be sure; to some members of our audience, this will destroy the "manly man" image we've worked so hard to build up on the blog, but for others, it will show there's more to who we are than just bad jokes and Shelf Porn.

So here they are -- six comics that made us cry. After reading our selections, be sure to grab a tissue and tell us what comics made you cry as well.

1. "We're brothers, Tom"

I always thought Tom Strong was the weakest of Alan Moore's ABC line (in fact I said so rather openly in issue #231 of The Comics Journal). Oh sure, there were lots of colorful dialogue and zany plots, but I felt the series was sorely lacking in gravitas. The characters seemed too thinly sketched to me and I couldn't find myself forming enough of an emotional commitment to them to care about what happened to them. It kept hinting that there was a lot more going on under the surface, but that's all it would do, hint.

That was until the final issue, no. 36, where, during the "end of the world as we know it" created by Promethea, Tom is confronted by the ghost of his arch-enemy Paul Saveen, who reveals that he is, in fact, Tom's half-brother. What follows is one of the most tender scenes I've ever read in a superhero book ("Jesus Paul" Tom says, breaking down "We tried to kill each other.") When, two pages later, Tom introduces Saveen to a passerby with a simple "This is my brother. This is my brother Paul" well, I just lose it. --Chris Mautner

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Straight for the art | The Phantasmal Four

The Phantasmal Four

DeviantArt user genesischant reimagines the Fantastic Four as "a group that was formed by the eccentric and brilliant Sir Reid Richard after some sort of supernatural catastrophe that occurred at the Van Allen Estate in Britain. It appears that the noted spiritualist attempted via a seance ritual to journey beyond the earthly Veil. The goal was nothing less than discovering a means by which to conquer death itself." Genesischant is also offering to do commissions.

Via Super Punch

What are you reading?

Remake by Lamar Abrams

The weeks go by so quickly now. Welcome once again to What Are You Reading. Our special guest this week is fellow CBR contributor, former Wizard staffer and interview expert Kiel Phegley. Kiel just got back from MoCCA with a passel of books and he's eager to talk about them, as is the rest of the Robot 6 crew. Don't forget, though, to let us know what you're currently reading in the comments below.

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Straight for the art | Tintin + Fantastic Four mash-up

from Fantastic Four Giant-Size Adventures #1

" ... it's what happens when Paul Tobin has 2 extra pages in Fantastic Four Giant-Size Adventures #1 and asks me if I want to do a short homage to Herge."

And Dustin Weaver does a fantastic homage to Herge. Paul Tobin shows a few more panels on his blog.

Fantastic Four Giant-Size Adventures #1 is due in stores June 24.

What are you reading?

Essential Man-Thing Vol. 1

Welcome to What Are You Reading Our guest this week is the blogger and critic Noah Berlatsky.

Click on the link to find out what Noah and the rest of us are currently reading. And don't forget to tell us what you're reading too in the comments section.

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What Are You Reading?

Thunderbolts

Welcome to What Are You Reading! Our special guest this week is Kirk Warren, the brains behind the great blog known as The Weekly Crisis and all-around nice guy.

Remember, we want to know what you've been reading this week as well, so feel free to let us know what comics, strips, graphic novels and other assorted sequential art you've been perusing in the comments section.

To find out what Kirk and the rest of the Robot 6 crew are currently reading, meanwhile, click on the link below:

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Six by 6 | Six comic-related 'mom' moments

Martha Kent

Behind every good man is a good ... mom. Comic books may not always be kind to moms -- just ask Martha Wayne, Mary Parker or Lara-El -- but the moms who do survive their children's origin stories go on to do some pretty incredible things. So in honor of Mother's Day, here are six comic book "mom" moments, where mothers really stepped up to the plate for their kids.

1. Martha Kent knits Superman's costume: I'm not totally 100 percent sure if this is still considered to be in continuity or not, but it's something I always accepted -- that Ma Kent, Superman's adoptive mother, made Superman's costume. That's probably because of my earliest exposure to the character (beyond the Superfriends cartoons, anyway) -- the reruns of The Adventures of Superman I used to watch as a kid. The first episode saw Ma Kent sending Clark off to Metropolis with a suit made from the baby blankets in the rocket that brought him from Krypton to Earth, with the idea that the fabrics wouldn't tear. When John Byrne rebooted Superman in the 1980s, he kept that element, sort of; in Man of Steel, Ma Kent makes Superman a skintight costume out of ordinary Earth fabric, so it will have "near invulnerability through its close proximity to Superman's aura." In any event, a good superhero needs a good costume to wear while fighting evil, and Ma Kent more than stepped up to the job.

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Insider trading: Tom Brevoort brings back a lost art

Fantastic Four #1

Marvel editor Tom Brevoort is using his blog on Marvel.com to bring back the lost art of trading -- trading comics, that is. In a post from late 2008, he explains how the art became lost:

Time was, in days of yore, just about every comic book published was traded. When comics were first invented, at the tail end of the depression, because most kids didn't have much disposable income, they'd buy a comic, then trade it with a friend after they were done reading it. Some publishers even inflated their readership figures using this model, estimating that six kids read each issue for every one purchased.

Most every old comic book dealer has a sign that says: Buying, Selling, Trading. But when was the last time you saw one trading? To each other, I suppose, rotating inventory between shops in different geographic locations. But seldom with a customer.

So Brevoort started an experiment on his blog ... he started off with five random comics that he was willing to trade for other Marvel comics, with the ultimate goal of eventually trading his way to a copy of Fantastic Four #1 (the original Stan and Jack version) by the end of 2009. He plans to donate the book to the Hero Initiative.

He posted his seventh trading update yesterday; currently he has a pool of 18 comics and one hardcover to trade. Which is a pretty nice haul in about two weeks time, as it includes Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1, Amazing Spider-Man #31 and the NFL SuperPro Special. Heck, with that last one, he should be on his way to FF #1 by the end of January ...

This will be a fun one to watch over the next few months.

Quesada talks about 2009 plans in latest MyCup 'O Joe

Fantastic Force

Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada chats with the Hero Initiative's Jim McLauchlin about Marvel's 2009 plans in his latest MyCup 'o Joe column. The chat includes a laundry list of several of their major storylines and initiatives, including digital comics:

The digital world is the great unknown. It could be the promised land, it could be nothing at all. We’ll see. We’re testing the waters, and I will tell you this: I think we’re taking a leadership position in this.

I may be wrong, but I certainly don’t see another comics publisher producing the volume of new material with well-known and established characters for digital first that we are.

So many people seem afraid of it. But I do see it as being an enhancement to our core monthly comic business, much the way I saw trade paperbacks back in the day.

Remember, so many people were just dead-set sure that paperbacks were gonna kill monthly comics.

But it’s really helped monthly comics; it’s provided a new avenue for people to discover them, and get in to these adventures.

In many ways—and think about this—trade paperbacks really replaced the newsstand system, which was the old feeder system to the comic book stores. I certainly see the digital world as very much the same thing, a way of introducing fans to the material who might not be familiar with it, or are lapsed readers, or who might not live anywhere near a comic store. So for those people who might be fearful, I say again: This will not replace the monthly comic. This will accentuate the monthly comic.

The ultimate goal is…man, I tell you, I still hear people who say, “Comic books? I thought they didn’t make those anymore.” The ultimate goal is to make sure no one…ever…utters those effing words again.

He also shares a few pages of script for the upcoming Fantastic Force comic, starring the future heroes introduced in the pages of Fantastic Four (and who you can see in the artwork up top).

I haven't been following Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch's run on Fantastic Four, and I also haven't seen a lot of people talking about it ... at least not at the level that you'd expect to see for a book being done by the guys who brought you Ultimates. I guess it isn't just me, as Tom McLean mentions it in his review of the latest issue (which he really liked). So who out there is reading Fantastic Four? Is it worth picking up in trade form?