{"id":1013,"date":"2022-02-10T15:47:39","date_gmt":"2022-02-10T22:47:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cantinadan.com\/?page_id=1013"},"modified":"2022-02-19T13:19:32","modified_gmt":"2022-02-19T20:19:32","slug":"the-kirby-counterpoint","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/cantinadan.com\/?page_id=1013","title":{"rendered":"The Kirby Counterpoint"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I<\/mark>t would be dishonest to imply that every creative initiative presented by Jack Kirby was a success. But even a cursory scratch beneath the surface reveals a vast difference in the robust nature of Kirby\u2019s creative vision when juxtaposed with the ideas Lee concocted without Kirby or Steve Ditko. Kirby\u2019s characters had real depth and complicated, yet relatable motivations. Never satisfied with repetitive story-telling and one-dimensional personalities, Kirby can rightfully stand side by side with other creative world builders like Tolkien, Rowling, Herbert, Pullman and Le Guin. His characters, Marvel and beyond, have become fixtures in the popular consciousness. His stories have a profound richness that secures them within the embraced mythology of generations. Jack Kirby was an endlessly curious person with a lifelong interest in science fiction, religion, and mythology, all of which helped fuel his already super-charged imagination as he went about crafting new characters with rich backstories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There exists a thoughtfulness, even a tenderness, in Kirby\u2019s approach to characterization. Even Marvel\u2019s biggest villain, Dr. Doom, is more of a tragic figure rather than a one-dimensional bad guy. As Kirby said in a 1970 interview:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Doom is paranoid. He thinks he\u2019s ugly and he wants the whole world to be like him. Dr. Doom is the fox who had his tail cut off, and he\u2019s trying to talk the whole world into having their tails cut off so when everyone has his tail cut off, he becomes the most handsome fox. That\u2019s ridiculous, because paranoids are insane people who never get their way. Hitler tried it, you know<\/mark> (Morrow, 2019).<\/mark><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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Fig. 6. Jack Kirby. “The Face of Doom.” https:\/\/kirbymuseum.org\/blogs\/dynamics\/2010\/08\/23\/the-face-of-doom\/<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Speaking of multi-dimensional antagonists, when Kirby conceptualized Ego the Living Planet (who observers believe may have been Kirby\u2019s commentary on his boss Stan Lee\u2019s enormous ego) he was not content with \u201ca planet that is alive and intelligent.\u201d He was concerned with:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 how do you relate to it? Why is it alive? So I felt somewhere out in the universe, the universe\u2026 becomes denser and turns liquid\u2013and that in this liquid, there was a giant multiple virus, and if this multiple virus remained isolated for millions and millions of years, it would begin to think. It would begin to evolve by itself\u2026 By the time we reached it, it might be quite superior to us\u2013and that was Ego. That was acceptable because I was answering questions that someone might ask about it. It\u2019s a concept. I feel somewhere\u2013in fact, it almost makes sense\u2013that the universe gets denser and the atoms grow more compact and possibly nothingness becomes something and that something gets bigger\u2026 and it might resolve itself into some kind of liquid atoms. Why not?<\/mark> (Morrow, 2019).<\/mark><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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Fig. 7. Jack Kirby. “Ego, the Living Planet” from Thor #155<\/em>, 1966. https:\/\/kirbymuseum.org\/blogs\/kinetics\/2011\/07\/04\/supernatural-origins-and-transformations\/<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Reading Kirby\u2019s thoughts related to DC\u2019s desire to give a stale Superman a shot in the arm are almost heartbreaking:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Superman, see, he\u2019s an alien in a world of inferiors\u2026 Everybody\u2019s intimidated by him, lots of resentment. In my neighborhood, the toughest guy on the block had a target on his back. Everybody wanted to make their reputation by taking him down. That\u2019s Superman. The finest minds are trying to take him down. And with the way technology\u2019s going, they\u2019re gonna come up with something sooner or later. First thing you gotta do is get rid of Kryptonite. It\u2019s old. It\u2019s boring. You gotta come up with characters that are tougher than Superman, stronger, meaner. My New Gods are a match for Superman. Darkseid could cut Superman in half. Superman\u2019s on the defensive now, and he doesn\u2019t have to hold back, either. And among the gods, Superman finds a place where he might belong. A new home, maybe. People he can relate to. People who know what it\u2019s like to fly with the eagles. But paradise is denied for Superman as long as Earth is threatened by Darkseid\u2019s super war, Superman has to forego his own happiness and stay where he\u2019s needed\u2026<\/mark> (Scioli, 2020).<\/mark><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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Fig. 8. Jack Kirby. “Superman.” Convention Sketch<\/em>, 1970. https:\/\/www.comicartfans.com\/gallerypiece.asp?Piece=625453<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Hardly the Goodman\/Lee approach to content creation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The concept behind characters like Galactus & Silver Surfer seemed just as important to Kirby as their visual designs. His clear disappointment at script changes that altered his concept for these characters would be unusual had he not been the force responsible for their creation (Morrow, 2019).<\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026I was looking for a new type of super-villain\u2026 So I created Galactus. And, of course, Galactus was an omnipresent thing\u2026 he was a variation of God\u2026 Because the devil isn\u2019t supposed to be omnipotent. He\u2019s got a weak spot somewhere, see, and we\u2019re supposed to be able to outwit him in some way. Well, you can\u2019t outwit God. And I felt that way about Galactus\u2026 I thought, well, as long as I\u2019m going to do that sort of thing, I\u2019ll include the fallen angel. And I got the Silver Surfer out of the fallen angel of Galactus \u2026 So I created the Silver Surfer, and I gave him the role of fallen angel, and Galactus banished him to Earth, which God did to the devil \u2026 that was the original role that I intended for him, although he isn\u2019t an evil character \u2026 Galactus eats entire worlds, he eats entire planets. It\u2019s an omnipotent type of thing, which, you know, the more ordinary super-villain can\u2019t engage in.<\/mark> (Morrow, 2019).<\/mark><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

As many fans know, when Stan Lee first saw Silver Surfer in Kirby\u2019s penciled pages for Fantastic Four #48, he derided him as a \u201cnaked nut\u201d and exclaimed, by his own account: \u201cJack, you\u2019ve got to be kidding!\u201d Of course, Silver Surfer went on to become one of Marvel\u2019s most beloved characters, which did not go unnoticed by Lee, who quickly did an about-face. But then, despite Kirby\u2019s clear attachment to the character, Lee announced a contest for readers that was no more than a solicitation for Silver Surfer origin story ideas, as if Kirby did not already have that mapped out. To add insult to injury, Lee tapped newcomer, John Buscema, to draw a new Silver Surfer solo comic, that he and Lee would write. Later on, Kirby was quoted as saying: \u201cSilver Surfer was taken out of my hands. I originated it because I had a reason for the Silver Surfer. Nobody else had a reason for him; I knew the Silver Surfer. Nobody else did\u201d (Morrow, 2019). <\/mark>Jack was a tough guy and not particularly emotive in his language when being interviewed, but the hurt here is palpable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Fig. 9. Jack Kirby. “Galactus” from Thor #167<\/em>, 1968. https:\/\/www.comicartfans.com\/gallerypiece.asp?Piece=625453<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As a devastating counterpoint to Stan\u2019s gimmicky approach to creating comic book characters, Kirby\u2019s epic New Gods and Fourth World storylines are dense with unique and memorable concepts and characters, occupying entire Kirby-imagined worlds (Scioli, 2020). This was a story, told across multiple comic titles, of total war, led by one of DC Comics most memorable villains, Darkseid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026 was there ever a villain in comic-book history like Darkseid? Not even Dr. Doom, \u2026 was capable of uttering some of the worldly-wise, iconoclastic, amoral lines that passed through Darkseid\u2019s cracked granite lips, lines that were not expressed in hysterical rants or pompous speeches, but rather with lofty coolness, commanding knowledge, and a laser-guided relevancy, so that even his most disturbing comments, so contrary to the notions usually affirmed in comic books, have the dissonant ring of truth<\/mark> (Well, 1995).<\/mark><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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Fig. 10. Jack Kirby. “Darkseid” unused page from New Gods<\/em>, as published in Mark Evanier’s Kirby: King of Comics<\/em>. 1971 http:\/\/toobusythinkingboutcomics.blogspot.com\/2015\/08\/who-was-jack-kirbys-darkseid-part-1.html<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Even the heroes break from the now-familiar formulas, standing equal to the relentless conquest of total war and exhibiting a battle-hardened edge, perhaps not achievable but by an author who\u2019d witnessed the brutality of war first-hand. Fascinating concepts and technology like Mother Boxes, anti-life equations, and Boom Tubes add a richness to this world not often observed in the comics of other, less imaginative creators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jack Kirby was not shy about confronting ideals he viewed as faulty and, true to fashion, waged his counter-attacks in creative ways. Disgruntled by the popularity of Ayn Rand\u2019s Objectivist philosophy, Kirby crafted a story that cleverly presented the dangers of that worldview. In the tale, well-intentioned scientists set out to create a superior human that operated solely on reason and saw the world in black-and-white. The experiment backfires when this being attacks its makers due to their inferior humanity, governed as it is by emotion and imperfect logic. Kirby was intent on conveying the message that \u201cpure reason, removed from forgiveness and accommodation for imperfection, can be destructive\u201d (Riesman, 2021). <\/mark>Stan sabotaged the lesson by writing in a well-worn story of bad-guy mad scientists getting their comeuppance for trying to take over the world (Morrow, 2019).<\/mark> This episode encapsulates the clash between Kirby\u2019s big-picture motivated creativity and Lee\u2019s simplistic and formulaic approach, and exacerbated the break in their working relationship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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