"The Whole World Shoulda Cried The Day Jack Kirby Died"
Author: Ink-Stained Wretch
JACK KIRBY
Aug. 28, 1917 - Feb. 6, 1994
Wakin' up, I watch another sun go down
Another day spent underground
In my world of pills
And I was thinkin' how the world should have cried
On the day Jack Kirby died
I wonder if I'm ill
I'll never trust myself again
But I don't care
Just set that plastic soul on fire
And watch it melt
- "Melt" by Monster Magnet
Damnit. I wish we could reply with images...
I have some great Kirby scans from my collection.
Speaking of Comics...
did you hear that Ambush Bug will return in a six issue series
this July.
Somebody better warn 'ol Sups.
Ambush Bug Returns
BTW, I want to know more about
the freaky, disembodied, double
jointed woman emerging from
the TV set. What's up with that?
Makes me want to read it.
G-TOWN: YAY!!!!! New Ambush Bug. You made my frikkin' day. And Please, Please post some Jack Kirby madness.... I always love the really wacky stuff from the fringes of his career.
RE: The Monster Magnet song... Not exactly my favorite band in the world, but this song has a particular significance that I relate to.... Once upon a time, I was in a bit of a dark funk myself, and in the mail arrives the Marvel Comics 2001 Treasury Edition. An utterly bizarre collision of talents... "Let's unleash Jack Kirby, with all his raw, crude, volcanic energy on the most slow, icy, intellectual movies ever made." And it's hysterical watching how Kirby engages with the material -- to him, the Big Ideas are explosions of pure raw energy, rife with conflict and confrontation, primordial Universal forces bubbling up, getting bigger and more COSMIC as his career went along. Behold, GALACTUS, Devourer of Worlds!!! Tremble before EGO, the Living Planet!!! Beware DARKSEID, ruthless despot of APOKOLIPS, terrorizing the Earth in his relentless quest for The Anti-Life Equation!!!
2001: A Space Odyssey was definitely Jack's meat, but in his hands, it's tight, concise, the panels full of energy, the faceless functionaries and plastic astronauts of the Space Age sequences transformed into Kirby-esque square jawed heroes: determined, steely-eyed, undaunted. Even when they stare at the Wonders of the Universe, slack-jawed, mouths agape, the thick, inky black lines of their bodies seem poised for action.
The back cover is an explosive collage of purple nebulae, howling primeval monkey-men, starships comin' at ya. Even in translating someone else's work, Kirby's energy is so profound, so vital, so utterly unvanquishable, that he's an antidote for all the forces that make life seem gray, meaningless, dull. A compulsive mythographer, Kirby dives with both hands into the raw stuff of the cosmos, wielding the powers of creation with his bare hands as his trademark Kirby Crackle energy dots come bursting from his arms.
Jack Kirby: a medicine for melancholy, packaged in four color doses. Consult your Doctor for appropriate dosage.
Kubrick vs. Kirby
Just to play the Advocate El Diablo...
here's a rather respectful, slash and
burn commentary on Kirby's 2001...
I think this guy crawls into it
a little too far, but some interesting
nuggets fall out of the conversation.
A commentary on Jack Kirby's adaptation of "2001: A Space Odyssey" by John P. Alexander
To some extent, the slings & arrows of the revue in question are dead on: this is mid-70s Kirby, on the decline, long past the technical brilliance of his late '60s Marvel work and his pinnacle of pure, sheer invention in his early '70s DC work... but that's half my point. Even when his powers are ebbing, even when he's playing with somebody else's toys, there's a sense of sheer, raw power that comes through -- evident in the pencil-work of the cavemen vs. warthog scene glimpsed in the review you linked to...
Half the fun of reading Kirby's 2001 stuff is imagining Kubrick popping a vein as he catches a glimpse of this stuff... I think most of the reviewer's notes about the deviations from the film are kind of pointless and wholly specious. Just as Arthur C. Clarke's novel/novelization/whatever-the-hell-it-is of 2001 is a different animal than the movie, so is this. It's a distinctly Kirby-ized take on the movie and its themes.
Definitely not recommended for the serious 2001 buff, or for the Kirby novice!
I concur, the minutia of
semantics into which
Alexander dives is a
little much. Interesting
read non-the-less.
Reminds me, The Count
has this pretty cool poster
at his place celebrating
the more psychedelic ad
campaigns behind 2001 (the film).
I also must mention his collection
of rather dope deco, Hammer-esk
monster artwork. Hey Count any
chance of posting some snaps
of these here? They are quite
awesome!
Just got back from a short trip outta town and finally got to dig into this thread. First of all, hell yeah I'll get some pix of the 2001 print.
The guy who designed the Universal Monster Posters is Tom Whalen, an awesome Philly illustrator who has a site/blog @ strongstufftom.blogspot.com. Check out his Godzilla prints as well, which are fucking great!