Marvel are starting to pay tribute to Jack Kirby with the release of a King Size Kirby hardcover collection. Details here.
After decades of trying to pretend that the entire Marvel Universe emerged, fully-formed, from the forehead of one man, Stan Lee, Marvel are finally putting the co-creator of much of the Marvel Universe you know and love in the spotlight.
The King Size Kirby Hardcover Collectionisn't exactly what you'd call a gateway drug for folks interested in Jack's legacy. At 800 pages and presented in Marvel's "adamantium format," the slipcased hardcover may be a little bit pricey for folks looking to get a taste of what Kirby did for Marvel. It's like a "greatest hits" collection that spans four decades of his work, from relatively obscure Golden and Silver Age titles to all time classics like "The Galactus Trilogy" from Fantastic Four.
Nevertheless, that's a lot of Jack in one place. Check out the selections:
KING-SIZE KIRBY collects material from RED RAVEN #1; MARVEL MYSTERY COMICS #13; CAPTAIN AMERICA COMICS (1941) #1, 7; TALES TO ASTONISH #5; RAWHIDE KID #17; AMAZING ADVENTURES (1961) #1, STRANGE TALES #89, #94 and #114; TEEN-AGE ROMANCE #84; FANTASTIC FOUR #1, #48-51, #57-60 and ANNUAL #5; INCREDIBLE HULK #3; TWO-GUN KID #60; LOVE ROMANCES #103; AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #8; SGT. FURY #6 and #13; AVENGERS #4; TALES OF SUSPENSE #59; X-MEN #9; THOR #134-136 and #155-157; NOT BRAND ECHH #1; AMAZING ADVENTURES (1970) #1-2; CAPTAIN AMERICA’S BICENTENNIAL BATTLES; CAPTAIN AMERICA (1968) #200; ETERNALS #7; DEVIL DINOSAUR #1; and WHAT IF? #11
This marks the latest in a series of public tributes to Jack Kirby that Marvel have made in the wake of a settlement with the Kirby Estate after a long, bitter battle over matters of compensation for Jack and his heirs. For one thing, the Kirby name has begun to appear prominently in the credits of books featuring characters Jack created or co-created, and the other was a nice tribute to Jack on Marvel.com that ran on Veteran's Day in celebration of his service in World War II.
You can read a transcript of Kirby's own statements about the nature of his contributions to Marvel over at The Jack Kirby Museum.
Check out images from the book!
Mike Cecchini has been known to enjoy a Jack Kirby comic or two, and has even volunteered for the Kirby Museum. You can find him on Twitter.
