The King And Eye!

One hundred years ago today Jacob Kurtzburg was born. He was just one of countless youngsters born among the tenements of New York City, an environment which bred toughness, especially during the dark throes of the Great Depression. Kurtzburg took to comics, especially the luxurious pages of Hal Foster and soon was plying his chosen trade in the rough and tumble world of comic books, a business which was as much scam as industry in its earliest days. He was a worker bee, a guy who kept his head down and did the job through long hours day in and day out. That quality made him a prized resource for publishers voracious for content.

Soon enough Kurtzburg became "Jack Kirby" and he found a reliable partnership with Joe Simon, the "Mutt" to Kirby's "Jeff" and the  truly dynamic duo rocked the comic book world with their patriotic superman Captain America. They followed that success with many others, and bounded around the comic book world trading on their brand unlike almost no others in the business. They worked for everyone even themselves until the time came for the partnership to end as comic books seemed to be giving up the ghost.

Kirby soldiered on and eventually came to Marvel and a new partnership with Stanley Leiber (Stan Lee) and before you can say "Excelsior" the duo had fabricated the Marvel Age of Comics which transformed the industry. Kirby was a savant, a creator unlike any other and he at last took his talents to DC again after many years where he fashioned the "Fourth World", an epic unlike any seen to that time. But sales fell below the value of his talent, and he was left to battle for work and for his reputation. He found some monetary solace at last in animation before his final burst in the direct sales market with Pacific Comics and a few other publishers.

His great talent began to desert him but his reputation grew and grew and finally at long last he began to get his due respect in those years just before he passed away in 1994. And it never stopped. Jack "King" Kirby is still the most potent talent the comic book field has ever seen and his influence as only grown in the quarter century since his passing.

I discovered Kirby when I discovered comics, way back in 1967. He was at that time already entering his fully mature stage, having invented Captain America in the 40's, the Challengers of the Unknown in the 50's, the Fantastic Four, Thor and others in the 60's. He would go on to make the New Gods the best damn comic I ever read and the mythic impact of that robust story lingers in my imagination to this day.

I make a point to read the Fourth World saga again every couple of years just to savor its greatness and some fresh nuance makes its mark each time.  I became a devoted follower of the "King" and while I might trade away most of my comics in due course, I will never part with my original Fourth World books. They are too precious.

Jack Kirby was a talent unlike any I've ever encountered, bristling with creativity and flush with a wisdom born from years of dedication to his family, his country, and to his craft. He's a personal hero for sure, and while I have perhaps maybe the merest mote of his talent, I still know that knocking it out each and every day while you have the chops is the way things get done.

Thanks Mister Kirby. Salute!

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