72 YEARS AGO TODAY

The final Kirby covered comic of at least 11 that were released in 1945 was on the racks.

The reason I say at least 11 is because experts disagree on these 6 comics - so it could be as many as 17.

STAR SPANGLED #43 - Kirby or Swan/Brodie? - shipped Feb 2, 1945
BOY COMMANDOS #11 - Cazeneuve or Kirby? - shipped April 27, 1945 
STAR SPANGLED #48 - Kirby or Swan/Kaye? - shipped July 3, 1945
STAR SPANGLED #49 - Kirby or Swan/Brodie? - shipped August 2, 1945
STAR SPANGLED #50 - Kirby or Ray? - shipped September 4, 1945
STAR SPANGLED #51 -  Kirby or Swan? - shipped October 3, 1945

73 YEARS AGO TODAY

The final Kirby covered comic of at least 12 that were released in 1944 was on the racks.

The reason I say at least 12 is because experts disagree on these 9 comics - so it could be as many as 21.

STAR SPANGLED #31  - Kirby or Kane? – shipped Feb 3, 1944 
STAR SPANGLED # 33 :  Fred Ray or Kirby? - shipped April 4, 1944 
STAR SPANGLED #35 : Kirby or Ray? - shipped June 6, 1944
STAR SPANGLED # 36 - Kirby or Ray? - shipped July 4, 1944
STAR SPANGLED #37 - Kirby or Cazeneuve ? - shipped Aug 3, 1944 
STAR SPANGLED #38 - Kirby/Simon or Cazeneuve/Brodie ? - shipped Sep 5, 1944
STAR SPANGLED #39 - Kirby or Cazeneuve? - shipped Oct 3, 1944 
STAR SPANGLED #40 -  Kirby or Cazeneuve? - shipped Nov 2, 1944
STAR SPANGLED #41 - Kirby or Cazeneuve/Brodie? - shipped Dec 5, 1944

75 YEARS AGO TODAY

 

Kirby's last published cover of 1942 hit the stores bringing his total for the year to 36, more than any previous year. 

95 YEARS AGO TODAY THE MAESTRO OF THE MARVEL MULTIVERSE WAS BORN.

"Lee's dialogue was witty and filled with character. Place it over exciting visual storytelling by Kirby or Ditko and you had something very special." - Mark Evanier KIRBY KING OF COMICS

60 YEARS AGO TODAY

The 14th (and final) Kirby-covered comic for 1957 was on the racks.

Kirby also illustrated the 6 page story that the cover teases.

34 YEARS AGO TODAY

The last CAPTAIN VICTORY triptych of 1983 featured two recurring Kirby Archetypes - the blonde hero and the sentient machine.

I'm surprised Jack Kirby didn't create THE WALKING DEAD.

Kirby's genius was converting pop culture into comic book gold. He created an entire series based on a popular Science Fiction movie he had never even seen. He was inspired by the Depression Era pulp sensation Doc Savage to create two series, one in the 1950s and one in the 1960s. When he noticed in the 1940s that women were buying true romance magazines Kirby created the romance comics genre. He even had Captain America punch Hitler before America entered World War II.

Halloween 1968 the movie that was the template for THE WALKING DEAD comic, NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD was in the theaters. Fortunately for Robert Kirkman Kirby must have been too busy creating his Fourth World mythology while simultaneously free-lancing at Marvel to notice.

69 YEARS AGO TODAY

Was Kirby Crime part of your Christmas tradition?

75 YEARS AGO TODAY

The third Holiday season that Kirby was a part of the zeitgeist there was three Kirby-covered comics on sale.

And all three also had Kirby interior art.
This increased Kirby's lifetime total of published covers to 59.

76 YEARS AGO TODAY

It was the second Holiday season that Kirby was a part of the zeitgeist. December 1940 there was only one Kirby-covered comic on display. Christmas time 1941 there was four.

If Santa gifted you every Kirby-covered comic published so far you would have gotten 25 comics.

70 YEARS AGO TODAY

IT WOULD HAVE BEEN A CRIME IF YOU DIDN'T GET THESE TWO KIRBY-COVERED COMICS FOR CHRISTMAS! (one of which is probably Kirby's 150th published cover)

And they also had two Kirby-illustrated stories each, adding up to 41 pages.

77 YEARS AGO TODAY What a great time to be a Kirby fan!

Not only did Kirby's 8th comic cover hit the market place

There was also 63 pages of interior Kirby artwork divided among 6 stories!!!!!

24 YEARS AGO TODAY if you were lucky you would have been still able to purchase Kirby's penultimate comic at your local shop. It had shipped less than a week before.

Originally intended to be published by Genesis West, PHANTOM FORCE #1 was published by Image with eight inkers finishing the 22 pages of interior Kirby art. 

Does anything exemplify 1993 more than Rob Liefeld inking an Image Kirby cover?

33 YEARS AGO TODAY

Winter 1984 was a disappointing time to be a Kirby-loving kid. There hadn't been any new Kirby comics since August 1984 (NEW GODS #6 and SUPER POWERS #5) and there wouldn't be any more until the third week of January with the release of WHO'S WHO #2 with its Kirby pin-up pages of Beautiful Dreamer,  Ben Boxer, Big Barda and Big Bear. 

Marvel did not release ANY Kirby comics, new or reprinted, the entire year of 1984. 

42 YEARS AGO TODAY

If you looked beyond the Joe Kubert cover you would have been rewarded with 18 pages of Kirby art.

If not, you would have had to wait 38 years for it to be reprinted.

43 YEARS AGO TODAY

DC delivered a double dose of Kirby covers, story and  interior art at the spinner racks. 

44 YEARS AGO TODAY

Kirby's Christmas treat for his fans was his spin on Watergate.

45 YEARS AGO TODAY

What child wouldn't want a comic with a Kirby gorilla cover for Christmas? 

32 YEARS AGO TODAY

SUPER POWERS II #6, with a cover and 22 pages of story art by Kirby/Theakston, was in the shops.

There would not be another comic with more than 8 pages of new Kirby art until PHANTOM FORCE #1 was released 8 Christmas shopping seasons later. Only 51 pages of new Kirby art, divided among 27 publications, would be published from January 1986 to November 1993.

37 YEARS AGO TODAY

1980 was another of those Holiday shopping seasons when there wasn't any new Kirby comics for Santa to bring to the good little boys and girls. Marvel DID reprint X-MEN #8 (for the second time) in AMAZING ADVENTURES #14 six weeks earlier.

39 YEARS AGO TODAY

The 1978 Holiday Season found the shops devoid of any new Kirby comics. His most recent books, DEVIL DINOSAUR #9 and MACHINE MAN #9  had been released 3 months earlier. 

The only "new" Kirby in the shops was MARVEL'S GREATEST COMICS #82, which reprinted all but one page of FANTASTIC FOUR #102 from eight years earlier. 

54 YEARS AGO TODAY

You might have been 1 of the 73 million Americans who watched the Beatles perform on the Ed Sullivan Show for the first time but if you were one of the more than 100 million that didn't maybe it was because you were busy reading this historic Kirby comic...

48 YEARS AGO TODAY

This Kirby-covered comic brought his year-to-date total for 1969 to 24.

  It also has Kirby interior art.

One more comic would ship before Christmas with a Kirby cover and interior art.

59 YEARS AGO TODAY

These two Kirby-covered comics brought his year-to-date total for 1958 to 23. Both comics also had Kirby interior art.

One more comic would ship before Christmas with a Kirby cover and interior art.

63 YEARS AGO TODAY

The last three of the 24 Kirby-covered comics for 1954 were available for purchase.

1954 was one of the rare years that Kirby did not dominate the spinner rack. Joe Maneely had triple the amount of covers published. (ADVENTURES INTO TERROR #29, ADVENTURES INTO WEIRD WORLDS #26, 27 and 29, ARROWHEAD #2 and 4, ASTONISHING #30, 31 and 34, BATTLE #27 and 33, BATTLEFRONT #22, 24 and 25, BATTLE GROUND #1. BLACK RIDER #24 and 25, COMBAT CASEY #14 and 15, COMBAT KELLY #20, 25, 26 and 27, CRAZY #3, JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #20, JOURNEY INTO UNKNOWN WORLDS #30, JUNGLE ACTION #1 and 2, JUNGLE TALES #1, JUSTICE #44 and 46, KID COLT OUTLAW #40 - 43, MARVEL TALES #120 and 129, MYSTERY TALES #23 and 24. MYSTIC #28 and 29, OUTLAW FIGHTERS #2 and 3, OUTLAW KID #1 and 2, POLICE ACTION #1 and 5, RINGO KID #1, 2 and 4, RIOT #3, SPACEMAN #6, STRANGE TALES #33, SUB-MARINER COMICS #37, TWO-GUN KID #16 - 18, UNCANNY TALES #22 and 26, WAR COMICS #27, WESTERN OUTLAWS #1 and 5, WESTERN THRILLERS #2, WILD #1 and 5, WILD WESTERN #32, 33, 35, 36, 38 and 39, YOUNG MEN #25)

64 YEARS AGO TODAY

The last of the 7 Kirby-covered comics for 1953 was available for purchase.

 

And yes, there was a five page Kirby story that was just as disturbing as the cover!!!
Obviously, other artists had more covers published in 1953
than Kirby. 
Joe Maneely alone had covers published on 17 different titles-  
ADVENTURES INTO WEIRD WORLDS 25 and 26,  
ADVENTURES INTO TERROR #20
ASTONISHING #27 and 30
BATTLE #19 and 22
BATTLE FRONT #11 and 13
COMBAT CASEY #9 and 14
COMBAT KELLY #32
CRAZY #3 
JOURNEY INTO UNKNOWN WORLDS  
MARVEL TALES #116 and 120
MYSTERY TALES #12
POLICE ACTION #1
WESTERN OUTLAWS #1
WEIRD WORLDS #26
WILD #1
YOUNG MEN #25
 
 
 

65 YEARS AGO TODAY

The last of the 16 Kirby-covered comics for 1952 was available for purchase.

1952 was one of the rare years that Kirby did not dominate the spinner rack. Joe Maneely had nearly triple the amount of covers published. (ADVENTURES INTO WEIRD WORLDS #1 and 3, AMAZING DETECTIVE COMICS #13, ARIZONA KID #6,  BATTLE ACTION #5, BATTLE #15, BATTLEFRONT #2 and 7, BLACK RIDER #18, COMBAT #3, COMBAT KELLY #4, 5 and 8, CRIME EXPOSED #8, CRIME MUST LOSE #12, KID COLT OUTLAW #19 - 21, MAN COMICS #16, MARVEL TALES #108, MEN IN ACTION #5, MEN’S ADVENTURES #15, MYSTIC #7, 9 and 15, SPORTS ACTION #10 and 11,  SPY CASES #10, SUSPENSE #13, 15 and 18, TEXAS KID #7 - 10, TWO GUN WESTERN #12 and 13, UNCANNY TALES #2, WAR ADVENTURES #7, WAR COMBAT #3, WESTERN OUTLAWS AND SHERIFFS #71 and 72, WILD WESTERN #20 - 22, YOUNG MEN #15)

66 YEARS AGO TODAY

The last of the 15 Kirby-covered comics for 1951 was available for purchase.

So far Kirby had done all the covers for this title and 80% of the issues, including this one, also had Kirby interior art.

It was one of the rare years that Kirby did not dominate the spinner rack. Kirby inker Chris Rule had twice as many covers published 
(LOVE ADVENTURES #8, LOVE ROMANCES #14 – 19, LOVE TALES #44, 45 and 49, LOVERS #31 – 34 and 36, MAN COMICS #8, MY OWN ROMANCE #14-17 and 19, MYSTIC #1, PRIVATE EYE #1, TRUE SECRETS #4, 5, 7, 10 and 11, WAR COMICS #3, WILD WESTERN #15 )

And the prolific Joe Maneely had more than triple Kirby's amount
(ALL TRUE CRIME CASES #46, APACHE KID #3, ARIZONA KID #4 and 5, ASTONISHING #7, BATTLE #4, BLACK RIDER #12, 16 and 17, CRIME EXPOSED #7, GUNHAWK #13 – 18, JOURNEY INTO UNKNOWN WORLDS #8, KENT BLAKE OF THE SECRET SERVICE #3, KID COLT OUTLAW #12, 16 and 17, LOVE TALES #48, LOVERS #35, MAN COMICS #10 and 11, MEN’S ADVENTURES #10, MY OWN ROMANCE #18, RED WARRIOR #6, SPORTS ACTION #8 and 9, SPY CASES #6 and 7, SUSPENSE #10, TEXAS KID #1 – 6, TWO GUN WESTERN #6  and 11, WAR COMICS #6, WESTERN OUTLAWS AND SHERIFFS #69 and 70, WILD WESTERN #18 and 19, YOUNG MEN #10 - 12)

67 YEARS AGO TODAY

The last two of the 24 Kirby-covered comics released in 1950 were available for purchase.

Both comics also had interior art by Kirby.

74 YEARS AGO TODAY

Kirby's 82nd published cover was in the shops.

It was the 23rd consecutive issue of the title to be Kirby covered - more than any other at that point in Comics History!

All 23 issues also had Kirby interior art.

75 YEARS AGO TODAY

 Kirby's 59th published cover was in the shops.

It was the eleventh issue of the title to be Kirby covered - more than any other at that point in Comics History!

All eleven issues also had Kirby interior art.