I finally added The Art of the Simon and Kirby Studio to my overflowing home library. I don't really know why I've resisted this one this long, save that perhaps I was waiting for it to show up in a discount book store at some point. But it's been more years than I realized since it first became available and I was able to get a copy from Amazon pretty reasonably.
This volume is exactly what it says it is, a large assortment of scans from original pages of vintage Simon and Kirby artwork along with others who worked inside that studio. We have loads of pages from many projects, including Stuntman, The Fly, and the romance, war and especially the western work.
Science fiction is well represented in the collection with lots of stories and pages from stories included. That was the real surprise for me in this collection, the number of complete stories that it presents. Not only great art, but dandy stories to boot, many of which I either don't have or don't have in any way as nice a format as this.
The real prize in this collection are the sheer number of Boys' Ranch stories included. We have at least three complete issues including some of the finest work the team ever did. Jack Kirby's favorite story from the team's output is included -- "Mother Delilah". The latter is considered one of the finest stories in all of comics history.
So this collection is a real trove, a volume brimming with great artwork from some real masters reproduced at a size at which the skills and craftsmanship and raw talent can truly be appreciated.
I highly recommend this one. Why did I wait so long?
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