54 YEARS AGO TODAY

Hogun establishes himself as a staunch Thor ally in his third "Tales of Asgard" appearance.

from JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #122

Inks by Colletta

47 YEARS AGO TODAY

MISTER MIRACLE #11 exhibits the archetypal opening for a Kirby-crafted 1970s comic, the visual one-two punch of a full page panel followed by a double-page spread.

57 YEARS AGO TODAY

One-quarter of most shops' 40 pocket spinner rack would be displaying Marvel product. 90% of that product had Kirby covers. 80% had interior art by Kirby totaling 121 pages.

Full-time Kirby embellisher Dick Ayers was able to finish 108 of those pages.

Fun fact: "Marvels carrying dates of 1962-1964 featured 3,130 pages of Kirby art plus 285 covers - roughly the equivalent of a book a week." - Mark Evanier KIRBY: KING OF COMICS

Evanier did not quantify Ayers contribution.

ON THE SPINNER RACKS 57 YEARS AGO TODAY

There was 9 comics with Kirby covers available for the discriminating consumer. 

 More than half of those covers were inked by Dick Ayers. 

If you were seduced by this Kirby/Ayers cover into purchasing this comic you were rewarded with 24 pages of interior art by the same team. Their combined talents made it possible for Stan Lee to establish that the Fantastic Four was set in the real world by having guest stars anyone would recognize. For an example of just a few of these celebrities 

click HERE.

ON THE SPINNER RACKS 58 YEARS AGO TODAY

The Kirby/Ayers Age of Marvel Comics continued.

Examples of pre-Sinnott Kirby/Ayers Krackle.

59 YEARS AGO TODAY It was the Kirby/Ayers Age of Marvel Comics.

“As the inker Dick had to do a lot of “embellishing” (in ink, but also in pencil, to bring the drawing up to a finish before inking it). Also a lot of corrections and refinements and added detail were required–probably partly due to how fast Kirby penciled, which was always very fast (as much as five pages per day, I have heard–on a good day the most I could ever manage was three, and not on a regular basis!). Anyhow Dick estimated that the inking took him two or three times as much time per page as it did for Jack to pencil. And he wasn’t bragging or complaining–that’s just how it was in those days.” - Rich Buckler

 
from TALES TO ASTONISH #15

Dick Ayers prided himself in making sure that the period weaponry and costuming was authentic.

Not only did Ayers work his magic on this Kirby cover he also embellished all 23 of the interior pages, five of which were penciled by Kirby.

ON THE SPINNER RACKS 61 YEARS AGO TODAY

Kirby illustrates the danger of changing the channel on someone else's television set!

FUN FACT: In 1958, American shoppers paid $269.95 for Sears’ “best 24-inch console TV” (black and white, of course) 

In 1958 the Average Annual Salary was $5,500, Minimum Wage was $1.00 per hour