THE EGOS OF KIRBY AND DITKO

71 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.

NEW KIRBY HOMAGES IN YOUR LCS 3 YEARS AGO TODAY

ILLUMINATI #1 

KIRBY MONSTER VARIANT - $3.99

ALL NEW ALL DIFFERENT AVENGERS #1 

KIRBY MONSTER VARIANT - $4.99

ALL NEW HAWKEYE #1

 JEFF LEMIRE KIRBY MONSTER VARIANT -  $3.99

ON THE SPINNER RACKS 57 YEARS AGO TODAY. Kirby or Ditko?

Two Morrow's 1998 FINAL EDITION JACK KIRBY CHECKLIST lists the cover of STRANGE TALES #93 as being Ditko embellishing Kirby pencils. As does http://www.comics.org/issue/16780/ and Mike's Amazing World.

However http://ditkocultist.com claims it is actually the first cover of STRANGE TALES that Ditko both penciled and inked....

Ever wonder why scientists of the 1960 proto-Marvel Universe thought it was a good idea to supersize insects?

Increasing the length of Kirby's giant menace stories to 13 pages made it possible to add such details. This story is from TALES TO ASTONISH #14. Like the previous issue, it also had a Kirby/Ditko cover. 

47 YEARS AGO TODAY

 

 

The equally-sized panel layout perfectly highlights the King's cinematic sensibilities.

Plus the 10 page story from 75 years ago that featured a Pre-Marvel Kirby Thor was reprinted.

57 YEARS AGO TODAY: is this why some critics call Kirby's characters two dimensional?

From TALES OF SUSPENSE #23

57 YEARS AGO TODAY

In slightly less than 3 years 25 issues of TALES TO ASTONISH were published.

96% of the issues had Kirby covers.

88% of the issues had interior Kirby art for a total 226 pages.

96% of the issues had interior Ditko art for a total 116 pages

76% of the issues had interior Heck art for a total 103 pages

32% of the issues had interior Reinman art for a total 38 pages

20% of the issues had interior Sinnott art for a total 25 pages.

Summer 1961 Kirby art from TALES TO ASTONISH #25 with comics' biggest competitor (television, Pong hadn't been invented yet) threatening the world!

The same issue presents a Heck 5 pager about the wisdom of robbing a Gypsy, no matter how isolated his house is. 

And Steve (the closer) Ditko completes the issue with a haunted house five pager.

91 YEARS AGO TODAY

Jack Abel was born. He became a Kirby inker after having been a penciler earlier in his career.

Abel inks Kirby's second Groot cover.

68 YEARS AGO TODAY

Four more Kirby-covered comics went on sale making his total 16 so far for 1950. 

76 YEARS AGO TODAY

Kirby's 18th published cover for 1942 which brought his lifetime total to 43. It was his 6th (consecutive) cover for SPEED, none of which had any Kirby interior art.

11 YEARS AGO TODAY

Marvel reminds Millennials of Kirby's Legacy

from 

MARVEL SPOTLIGHT:

 CAPTAIN AMERICA REMEMBERED 

52 YEARS AGO TODAY

KIRBY COMIC PLOT PADDING 101: the fantasy sequence detailing what will happen if the villain wins.

72 YEARS AGO TODAY

If your New Year's resolution for 1946 was to buy every new comic with a cover by Kirby so far you would have had to buy 11 comics. 

Five of them would have been STAR SPANGLED.

62 YEARS AGO TODAY

4 more Kirby covers went on sale bringing his 1956 total up to 12.

  

All but 3 of them were romance covers.

50 YEARS AGO TODAY

If the action doesn't get you to turn the page the title will!

from CAPTAIN AMERICA #104

6 YEARS AGO TODAY

MARVEL'S THE AVENGERS knocked LETHAL WEAPON 3 off the bottom of  the 200 All Time Domestic Box Office (Adjusted for Ticket Price Inflation) List. LETHAL WEAPON 3 took in $145 million in 1992 which equaled $276 million in 2012 dollars.

MARVEL'S THE AVENGERS is currently at 29, the highest ranking superhero movie on the list.

IN THE SHOPS 1 YEAR AGO TODAY

THE FIFTH NEW KIRBY COVER FOR 2017

BLACK BOLT #1

(10 copy incentive Kirby Variant cover)

50 YEARS AGO TODAY

The Red Skull was a hacker before hacking was cool! Plus the real reason that the Nazi's lost the war. Was that Kirby-suggested dialog or an example of Lee's character-defining writing without which comic characters would be just empty suits?

from CAPTAIN AMERICA #104

In 1963 Marvel published 142 comics.

100 had Kirby covers and 53 had  interior Kirby art totaling 919 pages. 2 reprinted 30 Kirby pages.

One of the 9 Kirby-cover-only issues of  TALES OF SUSPENSE that hit the shops in 1963. (embellishment by Ayers.)

IN THE SHOPS 1 YEAR AGO TODAY

The 4th new Kirby cover for 2017

X-MEN BLUE #1

(10 copy incentive Kirby Variant cover)

56 YEARS AGO TODAY

Low tech subliminal advertising from STRANGE TALES #97's "When A Planet Dies!"

1 YEAR AGO TODAY

ATTENTION KIRBY COMPLETISTS

THE THIRD NEW KIRBY COVER FOR 2017
INHUMANS PRIME #1

(10 copy incentive Kirby Variant cover)

50 YEARS AGO TODAY

1968 was not even two weeks old but already four  Marvel comics had new Kirby art in them. 

Three of them also had Kirby covers. Speedy penciler Kirby managed to keep four inkers employed!

CAPTAIN AMERICA #100 - Kirby/Shores cover
      "This Monster Unmasked" (20 Kirby/Shores pages)

THOR #150 - Kirby/Colletta cover
       "Even in Death" (16 Kirby/Colletta pages)
       "Triton" (Inhumans) (5 Kirby/Sinnott pages)

FANTASTIC FOUR #73 - Kirby/Sinnott cover
       "The Flames of Battle" (20 Kirby/Sinnott pages)

NOT BRAND ECHH #7
       "The Origin of the Fantastical Four" (8 pages of Kirby layouts/Marie Severin pencils/ Tom Sutton inks)

And if that wasn't enough Kirby awesomeness for you and you'd been reading comics for less than five years there were 27 Kirby pages reprinted in MARVEL COLLECTORS' ITEM CLASSICS #14 that would be new to you.