Happy Birthday Jack Kirby.

About time I posted something here, eh? Well, it's for a good occasion, I think. Yesterday would have been the 94th birthday of the Once and Future King of Comics, Jack Kirby. I posted some things yesterday on Twitter and my Tumblr, and I thought it would be appropriate to read some of what I consider Kirby's best comics, his run on Fantastic Four. I found some scans (what- give Marvel some money? For KIRBY comics? What money are they giving his family?) and decided to spend some time yesterday afternoon rereading some of his early-mid 60's efforts, just when he and Stan Lee were coming into their own on the title, and including one of my all-time favorite comics, FF #35.

While it's pretty easy to pick holes in a lot of these stories, one thing is undeniable- the dynamism and imagination Kirby brought to the pages...from the gnarliest alien being to prosaic street scenes, he drew them with flair and commitment. Sometimes he wasn't served very well by the inkers they paired him with; Dick Ayers was good, and I rather like Chic Stone, who doesn't ignore Kirby's detailed backgrounds. George Bell neé Roussos, not so much- his crude line and blocky shapes didn't do Jack's pencils any favors.

I thought it might be fun, and take up a lot of space because I know my infrequent visitors are probably tired of looking at that Gene Colan remembrance, to post a page, chosen at random, some which brought back memories, from each of the comics I read yesterday afternoon. I'm inspired, of course, by Tom Spurgeon's wonderful tribute post, as well as the amazing stuff Bully puts up on a consistent basis.

Roussos inks many of the following pages; Ayers does the first few, and Stone ends the run. I hope you can dig these, and I hope they help get across some of what makes Kirby's art so special.

You may notice that I picked out several pages with Giant-Man in them. This is not coincidental; 5-year-old me insisted. Thanks for checking out my FF gallery, and of course, Hail to the King.

Stan Lee: An Appreciation.

It's Stan the Man Lee's 88th birthday today.

I've held forth before about Stan and what I felt like his role with Marvel was; while I certainly can believe that many, if not most, of the concepts that galvanized everyone so much back in the early 60s were thought up by Kirby, Ditko, and who knows who else, I do believe that Stan's dialogue and plotting skills were very important in shaping those early classics. It seems that Stan was the hustler, the instigator, the shit-stirrer- keeping everybody up, keeping everybody positive, focused, and committed, and coordinating Marvel's ascent back in those long-ago days. It seems like the only thing he couldn't do was keep everyone well-paid and happy, and thus those halcyon days were relatively short-lived. Indeed, once the most-likely more-lucrative Hollywood and the college lecture circuit beckoned, Stan's focus and enthusiasm for editing and scripting seemed to wane...witness how flat and dead the dialogue is on his later issues of Fantastic Four and Thor, especially compared to his immediate successor, Roy Thomas', overheated, hyperbolic prose.

Regardless, at no point in his early Marvel career was Stan's scripting better than on the title in which he took the most pride, I think- Amazing Spider-Man. Yeah, a case could be made for Silver Surfer, but that was much later. One of the first Marvel comics I ever read was ASM #16, in which Spidey teamed up with Daredevil to battle the Ringmaster of Crime (He's been popping up on this blog a lot this year, hasn't he?) and his Circus. The breezy banter between DD, Spidey, and the Crime Circus thugs trying to jack them up delighted me as a 4 year old, and has continued to do so every time I've reread it in the 46 years since. I thought, as tribute, I'd post those pages here so you could read them for yourself. Click to read biggerer, you know the drill:

Now, sometimes Stan could wield the heavy hand when it came to the soap operatics, and often his attempts to provide his godlike and cosmic characters with a profound voice were often stilted and ludicrous. But on Spider-Man, he was on top of his game, keeping the expository dialogue in check and hand-wringing in its proper place, plus, as above, he didn't leave out the humor. I know damn well Ditko did not write that dialogue, nor did Kirby, as anyone who's read his post-Marvel work surely can see, write any in their collaborations either. So here's to you, Mr. Stanley Lieber- when you wanted to, you helped change a lot of lives, including mine, for what I've always thought was for the better, riding herd on those early game-changing days. For that, as well as your current comics ambassador-like station, I think you'll always deserve a lot of credit. Happy birthday, and many more.

"Still I am Mightiest of Them All!" Part 4.

Continuing my glacially-paced look back at a randomly-chosen run of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's Mighty Thor #'s 144-168 (1967-69).

#147 picks up where the last couple of issues left off, with the now-less-than-godlike Thor in deep doo-doo with the police in the aftermath of the botched Giant Golden Bull Caper, in which the Ringmaster and his Circus of Crime hypnotized him into trying to steal a huge statue from a museum. Pinned by gunfire from the cops (and I'd imagine in his de-powered state, a slug could be fatal), he picks the golden bull back up (and off the trapped Princess Python), carries it laboriously back to its resting place, and surrenders peacefully. The Princess (who seemed to be crushing a bit on Goldilocks) pleads with them not to arrest him, "He's innocent!" she proclaims...but she's also making noise so her giant python can find her and carry her down to the street below the museum, where the Ringmaster and the other Circus members await. The last time we see them, they're hauling ass out of town, claiming it was Thor's fault their plan went all pear-shaped. Meanwhile, the Thunder God is taken downtown and booked...and he even gives up his hammer.

Change of scenery now, as we go to somewhere else in the universe, and find none other than good old Loki, in exile, on a big interconnected asteroid/barren rock-like thing. He helpfully muses to himself (and us, of course) that even though Odin sentenced him to eternal exile on that barren planetoid, he knows that the big guy is a sap and won't leave him there for much longer. And sure enough, on the very next page, Loki feels "stirrings" and disappears, rematerializing in Asgard, in front of Odin. The somewhat random All-Father tells Loki that he is also merciful as well as vengeful, and if Loki promises to be a good boy from now on, then he is free to go (since, after all, if Loki stays on the rock, then Stan and Jack can't use him in new stories!). Loki, in his best Jon Lovitz voice (that's who I'd cast in the role in the Thor movie), promises to be a good boy from now on (you may roll eyes) just as Sif and Balder burst in, and call Odin out on his decision. Now, if we've learned one thing in these last four issues, it P-I-S-S-E-S Odin off when people question his judgement, no matter how cockeyed nuts it may be, so he gets all uppity and reminds them that Thor stepped up to him too, and got depowered and stranded on Earth for his trouble. Sif and Balder take the hint and leave, and Loki slinks off chewing on this new morsel of information about his hated stepbrother. He decides to head to Earth and deliver a little payback to the Thunder God C.O.D. for all the ass-whippings he's suffered in the past.

Meanwhile, in his jail cell, Thor is sitting and talking to his cellmate when the cellmate begins to mess with him, suspecting he's really a plant, a spy of some sort. He even thump's Thor's helmet off his head! (The other prisoners are wearing jumpsuits, Thor gets to wear his costume for some reason, including his hat) Thor does not appreciate this at all, and hoists the con up in the air in order to perform a yea verily beatdown on his butt when he is interrupted by a guard- someone has stood Thor's bail, and he's free to go! As he reclaims his hammer and signs his release, he asks to meet his benefactor, and is greeted by a slim, familiar looking fellow in a fedora and cool shades (kinda resembling Speed Racer's Inspector Detector), who states that he's not interested in gratitude, and will explain his reasons in his car as they leave. As they drive three cars wide on the freeway, Thor puts two and two together and realizes that the man is, you guessed it, Loki- and they proceed to indulge in your basic five-page Lee/Kirby slugfest, with a god-powered Loki beating the crap out of valiant and strong, but mortal, Thor. Much grandiose soliloquizing and shattering of brick walls happens in these five pages, until they are interrupted just in time by Balder and Sif, who have decided to defy Odin and beam down to Earth to help their (boy)friend. Odin looks down and sees what hath transpired, and once more is P-I-S-S-E-D (I wonder if Norse Gods have anger management therapists?) O-F-F, firing a beam of mysterious power down to the planet below. Next month: "LET THERE BE CHAOS!"

The second part of the Inhumans backfeature is quite interesting. The robotic Kree Sentry is shown visiting the city of Attilan, just after their king Randac has exposed himself for the first time to the Terragen Mists. The Sentry was set by the Kree to watch the city, and appear to them when they become advanced enough. As they await his fate, the Sentry informs them that their people were granted superior intelligence by his masters, which explains the reasons why to their satisfaction. Turns out he, too, is there to find out how the mists have affected their monarch. Just then, he arrives and demonstrates, firing a powerful, but ineffective, force blast at the giant robot. The Sentry observes that the mists have given him power beyond any other human, and shall henceforth be referred to as...Inhuman! Randac, for his part, vows to expose the other subjects to the mists, and will live in the Great Refuge. Satisfied with this, he admonishes Randac to tell his people to use their powers wisely, because if the Kree ever does return, they may "meet as...deadly foes". The Sentry departs, "never again to be seen by...the Inhumans". And thus concludes...Thor #147!

Comments: I will say that after the mundane Ringmaster two-parter, the return to the more cosmic godstuff was welcome. Ironically, though, that whole juxtaposition of the ordinary Earthstuff, the reactions of the man on the street to Thor and his friends (well illustrated by this issue's prison scenes, as well as the sight of Thor and Loki driving off in a car), was to me one of the most interesting things about the whole series. I guess, though, that there are only so many double-takes by Joe Blow on the street that one can do before routine sets in, which probably explains the shift to more grandiose story ideas beginning soon. Besides, I'm sure Stan and Jack both realized that the Ringmaster and his cronies didn't belong in this milieu, and that whole thing just smacked of "We need to ground Thor a bit, let's try this", and it wasn't altogether successful, even though I liked Kirby's slimy, reptilian rendition of the Ringmaster. Also, I will hand it to Vince Colletta for a not-bad inking job this time out. Of course, unless one owns a whole set of Kirby Collectors in which a page or three from this might have appeared in penciled form, showing what he left out, we'll never know for sure what might have been.

Next time, we find out exactly what mojo Odin hath cast this time, and how it affects our quartet of battling gods.

"Still I am Mightiest of Them All!" Part 3.

Continuing my glacially-paced look back at a randomly-chosen run of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's Mighty Thor #'s 144-168 (1967-69) . Sorry it's taken me so long to get back to it.

#146: "If the Thunder be Gone"

If you recall, last issue we left the depowered-by-Odin Thor as he was the unwitting pawn of the rascally Ringmaster and his Circus of Crime, who planned to hypnotically enlist Thor's help to steal a gigantic golden bull. This time out, the plan takes place. We see Thor at the beginning, still unaware that he's joined the C of C, rehearsing by lifting a giant barbell, with Princess Python on one end and two of the Acrobats (did they ever get names? I dunno) on the other. The Ringmaster walks up and presents Thor with an unusual gift: a replica of his own costume. However, when the Thunder God dons it, it looks exactly like his own duds. Which begs the question- why couldn't Thor just go back to his house and get his real one? Perhaps he did before the evening's performance, don't know. Anyway, we get a little exposition and also some internal monologuing by our hero; he's bummed that he's been reduced to working in a carny, but he's determined to make the best of it.

Showtime! And another fun Kirby full page panorama:

Now, I don't know much about the business of running a circus, even back in 1967, but I don't see how Ringy ever gets a permit to pitch his tent, given his criminal record due to encounters with at least Spider-Man and the Hulk. Oh, well, I guess he can use his freaky hat and hypnotize the necessary parties, so there's that. Let's assume that's the case and move on.

The crowd is skeptical that it's the real Thor they're seeing, so Ringy has him throw his hammer through a granite barrier. Even de-powered, Thor has the strength to shatter the target, but when the crowd keeps heckling, asking why Thor's hammer doesn't return, Ringy hypnotizes them all into seeing it fly back into his hand. I suppose he suggests it to them, though Lee didn't have him actually speak the words. While scanning the crowd, Thor sees Jane Foster, who, if you'll recall, was Don Blake/Thor's love interest for the bulk of the early issues, before Kirby and Lee really got cosmic and mythological. She's with another guy, though, but since Thor's had some Sif action, he's not all that concerned, instead thanking Odin for "(managing) to ease the aching of her heart". Nice guy, that Thunder God. After the show, Ringy gets down to business and tricks our guy into looking at his hat once more, putting him in a trance so he'll help them steal that gigantic golden bull. The heist itself is a nifty example of Kirby action; while I'll always associate Ditko with the Circus of Crime, Kirby draws them in action very well. Here's how it goes down, click to see jumbo elephant size:



The guards finally extricate themselves from the coils of the Princess' python, and open fire. Ths shots startle Thor and break the hypnotic spell, and he drops the statue, pinning Princess Python against the wall. And that's how this issue ends- the police warning Thor to give up, or they'll fire; Balder, Sif and Odin looking on from Asgard (and Papa pretty much washing his hands of the outcome, nice parenting skills there), and the Princess kinda yelling/asking him to kindly get the two ton bull off her. Next issue: "THE WRATH OF ODIN!", which prompts me to ask exactly what he's got to be pissed off about.

If you'll recall, the Tales of Asgard feature ended last issue, and rather than continue it, Stan and Jack decided to showcase the still-fairly-new Inhumans, who they had introduced in 1965 but really, other than a few appearances in Fantastic Four, not much had been revealed about their beginnings. We see one group of humans (?) that are far advanced in comparison to their primitive fellow beings; eventually it's shown that they had to hide themselves away, creating a super-advanced city, yeah, that's right- Attilan, a city dedicated to research and knowledge. The whole Terrogen mist as a power-activator notion is shown here as well (for the first time? I'm not 100% sure but I think so), as we are privy to a conversation between two scientists and their leader Randac. The scientists can't decide if unleashing the mist on the primitive people will advance them or kill them all in a horrible plague...so Randac volunteers to step into the mist. No mention of the Kree connection or any of that stuff, so I'm assuming that all was thought up later. This is all Lee dialogue, for sure, but I think it's fairly obvious that Kirby's responsible for everything else...if you squint your eyes, this looks (and reads, just without the normal Kirby dialogue) like an early issue of New Gods or 2001- see example at left. Not long ago, I read a couple of the Inhumans' later exploits, credited to Kirby on both art and script, that wound up in Amazing Adventures around 1969 or so, and I was surprised by how different the dialogue scanned; it didn't read like Lee's at all, but wasn't like the Kirby dialogue style we all have come to know so well via his Fourth World series and subsequent efforts. Maybe someday I'll get around to putting some pages from them here. Anyway, that has nothing to do with the issue at hand except to show how restless the King was getting, even as far back as 1967, and I'd say that these were the first few steps towards his declaration of independence from Marvel.

Next, we find out if the police shoot Thor full of holes, and if Princess Python ever gets out from under the bull.

"Still I am Mightiest of Them All!" Part 2: Mighty Thor #'s 144-168 (1967-69)

Continuing to look back at some 1967-1969 issues of The Mighty Thor that I recently read.

#145 picks up where last issue left off, with the aftermath of Thor's battle with the Enchanters (two of them anyway), and dealing with being stuck on Earth with Sif and Balder, powerless
and unable to return to Asgard to aid Odin in his battle with the third member of the terrible trio.

Recap: Having bested Brona and Magnir in battle, Thor turns the equally powerless pair over to the police. We then abruptly head back to Asgard, and witness Odin, last seen rocketing through the cosmos in a fireball with Forsung, the third Enchanter, standing over his vanquished foe, just like that, and loudly proclaiming "you better recognize", or at least what passes for that in Asgard. I mean really- check these pages out for some truly epic chest beating:

Now that is some cold blooded shit right there. Having dispensed righteous godly justice, Odin turns his attention to his son and his entourage, restoring their powers and summoning them home. But.

Thor isn't so sure that he should go back home, because he has grown attached to Earth and believes (rightly so) that he can do much good as Dr. Donald Blake, and says as much to Odin, which pisses Odin off no end because he's just got done kicking Enchanter butt and doesn't want any lip from his wuss of a son. In another ongoing theme that was happening before this run and probably continued for a long time after, Odin decides to teach Thor yet another lesson and says "OK, fine, you want to stay on Earth? Then you can stay- but without your powers! Because I don't want any more of your lip!" And that's just what happens. Now, I don't really understand why Thor just couldn't get a haircut and continue to practice medicine as Dr. Blake, but apparently that's out of the question so he decides to go out and find a job, no easy task for a long-haired young man in 1967. But look who Thor winds up running into:

Yep, the freaking Ringmaster and his Circus of Crime! Small world, isn't it? Thor is apparently unaware that the Circus of Crime and its slimy Ringmaster have battled the Hulk and Spider-Man, this being the Marvel Universe of 1967 and not the Marvel Universe of 2010 (crossovers were more limited, even then), so when they ask him to try out for the vacant strongman position, he is more than happy to oblige and demonstrates his might for them:

The Ringmaster, slimy bastard that he is, returns the favor by hypnotizing Thor with his hat, and instructs him to carry a giant bull made out of lead (colored brown by the colorist- oops) for fifty paces before setting it down. Thor succeeds, of course, and Ringy reveals his true plot- they want to steal a giant calf made of solid gold, and need someone strong enough to lift it, then carry it to a waiting conveyance. More on the actual heist next issue, next time.

The Arabian Nights-inspired "Tales of Asgard" backfeature concludes this issue, as Thor and the Warriors Three, with the help of Prince Aladdin, I mean Alibar, use magic and might to defeat the evil wizard Mogul and rescue Hogun's people in the land of Zanadu. Volstagg gets to carry his big-ass cannon around for a while too. Ya gotta love Volstagg- check out the page at right, and the aftermath of the abrupt defeat of Mogul:











Comments: I'm a father, I understand a little about parenting, but the constant "gotta teach Thor humility" events that were a hallmark of this comics' golden era kinda strained the old disbelief meter a bit. Still, this was 1967, and the Generation Gap, with parents and their difficulties with their kids (and vice versa) was very much on everyone's minds at that time- and of definite interest to the Counterculture crowd that Marvel was aiming at in those days. So Thor kept getting "bugged at his old man" for a long, long time.

Boy, talk about odd dramatics- the sudden end of the Odin/Forsung battle came across almost as an afterthought. I would have thought it would have been stretched out for more drama, but I guess that wasn't the case. I wonder if Kirby drew a battle, but they decided to leave it out because of space considerations?

It shows how used to today's comics I am, I suppose, that I find it hard to believe that Thor didn't recognize the Ringmaster and his outfit...I mean, he was in the Avengers, for heaven's sake, and I know it was early on but surely they had files on all the costumed creeps, even then!

Kirby's art is often very powerful in places this issue; I was especially impressed by the staging and the bulky, strong figures of Odin and the fallen Enchanter on page 3. I liked his Ringmaster, as well- Kirby drew him fiddling with his gloves a lot, and generally made him look as unctuous as he could be. I usually associate the character with Steve Ditko, since they were regular Spidey foes for a while there, but I guess Kirby was first, when they appeared in an early issue of The Hulk.

Next time, will Thor help the Ringmaster get his golden calf, and what will replace the Tales of Asgard?