Jack Kirby was and is the most influential ever on the sequential art medium. My first art heroes will Gil Kane and John Buscema, but they couldn’t have been who they were without Jack Kirby. Countless odes and plaudits have been written to Jack Kirby’s limitless imagination, and they’re all true. In my mind, Jack had a direct line to the super-conscious (which he would have called the Overmind, maybe, or more simply the Source).
Tag Archives: Jack Kirby
This Explains Everything…
I encountered this video on Christopher Knowle’s excellent blog “The Secret Sun.” This quick succession of images covers nicely the majority of my reading material while growing up; it laid deep roots into my psyche, I’ve come to understand, and explains why I’m maybe a little weird. It’s safe to say that my formative years were informed by Jack Kirby, Michael Moorcock, and JRR Tolkien.
I should also mention Gene Roddenberry, whose original Star Trek imprinted up whole generations, and certainly on me.
I am glad to note that I got a notice from Amazon.com that my Grant Morrison bio-pic is on its way–Yay! When it comes to modern comic writers, to be it will always be about Alan Moore, Grant Morrison, and Warren Ellis.
Miscellaneous Musings, the Deluxe Edition
Hi, Folks!
“The Museum of Forgotten Art Supplies” is an eye opener, because I own most of the equipment on this site, and I still use much of it daily. Have computers changed everything that much? Well, yes, as a matter of fact, they have.
I am surprised by how few people my age are online. It seems like a good 90% of the people I grew up with have no web presence to speak of. (I’m a spry 45, for those who don’t know.) I was on the web as soon as it became widely available, and I’ve had a site of some sort since 1996, and I’m not sure how many sites I’m involved with or at least participate in. Probably 20 or 30, maybe more.
I’m looking for an ultrasonic pen cleaner, so I can continue to use my apparently antiquated pens. I found this, and this, and this. I’m not really sure when I’m going to be able to afford said cleaner, but I can be patient. I used to have one some years back, and used it till it burned out, and I really miss the danged thing.
So, I’m reading several books. First up, there is Whitley Streiber’s “Confirmation.” Then, there is Alvin Schwarts “An Unlikely Prophet.” Throw into the mix Jim Marr’s “The Alien Agenda.” I love to read, and I juggle books I’m reading based on my mood at any given time. I’m also re-reading Frank Miller’s and John Romita Jr’s “Daredevil: The Man Without Fear” hardcover.
The Alvin Schwartz book is quite interesting so far, because he wrote the Batman and Superman comic strips for seventeen years in the 1940’s and 1950’s. He has had some mystical encounters in his life, and some odd synchronicities, and the 1990’s he apparently met a tulpa, or being composed of pure thought, a “dreamed up” man. I’m about a third of the way into this one, and I’ve had trouble putting it down, to be honest.
“Daredevil: The Man Without Fear” is outstanding, as those of you who have read probably already know, and it’s created by two masters at the height of their creative power. This is vintage Frank Miller in the days prior to “The Dark Knight Strikes Again,” back when Frank created compelling stories that still affect the way I see comics. John Romita Jr.’s work is a joy to behold: Like Eric Clapton’s Guitar playing, it gives me great happiness. JrJr’s art is not about being polished, or delicate rendering, or the excesses that plagued most other comic artists in 90’s. Romita Jr’s work is about power and force, and about spot-on storytelling. In my book, he handles cartooning like no one since Jack Kirby.
Scott.
Secrets in the Shadows, the Life and Art of Gene Colan
Hi, Folks!
I just finished “Secrets in the Shadows, The Life and Art of Gene Colon.” If you are a fan of the old, so-called Marvel Bullpen, this is a book well worth purchasing.
Gene Colan has always been an odd artist to me. Unlike some, I didn’t care for a lot of his superhero work, but I thought he was absolutely freakin’ brilliant on “Tomb of Dracula” and “Howard the Duck.” This is not to say that his art looked any less odd on ToD or HtD, but that it perfectly fit the dark, quirky nature of these books. Later on, I was exposed to much of the material in Gene’s “Daredevil” run, and I changed my opinion at that time and decided his art looked fine on superheroes too.
Stan Lee wanted all his artists to draw like Jack Kirby. That was the Marvel style, as he thought of it, and all the greats were given the chance to pencil over Kirby breakdowns and study the King’s technique. Not Gene Colan. Stan never asked him to draw in the style of anyone else. It wouldn’t have worked anyway.
I think, therefore I obsess…
Hi, Folks!
What a week! I’ve been burning through episodes, and I’m really proud of what Benita and I have been producing.
I looked through a lot of my trade paperbacks this weekend, the ones I collect and read, and something became obvious to me: most modern inkers do not bother with line width. Indeed, most “inkers” these days are colorists who darken pencils in Photoshop and maybe fill in the black areas, maybe not. What’s worse is that this practice has become so prevalent that I actually got used to it and stopped noticing it.
Assorted Musings
Hi, Folks!
I’m coming perilously close to finishing Johnny Saturn no. 9. It amazes me how quickly these issues come about. It must be a function of updating three times a week.
I just approved the proofs for Johnny Saturn no. 8, and I will say once again that Ka-Blam is a great POD printer! I’ve never gotten a messed up or poorly printed order from them, and I’ve used them exclusively for several years now. If you are a cartoonist looking to self publish, please check out Ka-Blam first.
Today, as you probably already know, Rich Johnston of Lying in the Gutters at Comic Book Resources ends his seven year run of writing this column. Over the years he’s reported good and ill about many people I know, and I am going to seriously miss LITG. Frankly, it’s been a long time since I’ve done much work for the print comic industry, so I’m not really sure what my relationship is to it anymore. Still, LITG was a juicy little lifeline to that world for me.
I’ve been thinking about artistic styles lately, and my development as an artist. All artists are works in progress, and they keep changing and being affected by the world around them. For ages, my goal has been to make my comics as real as possible. This means that I looked to creators such as Alex Ross, Bryan Hitch, and Brent Anderson for direction. I still do. Yet, I have continued to be intrigued by the purely graphic elements of comics, things like speed lines, sound effects, Kirby crackles, and all the iconic symbols used to tell a story. I recently did an in-depth study of Jack Kirby’s Fourth World Saga, volume 1, to get a handle on and perhaps categorize Kirby’s incredible symbolic language. Maybe someday I’ll post my findings.
Consequently, I still want my characters and scenes to be as realistic as I can make them, but I also want the maximum storytelling impact of those great graphics.
Scott.
Inside The Book No. 35
At this point in Elect’s development, I was aiming for a Jack Kirby-like design, and a suit that was so over-developed that Elect could barely move. Such was his power, he didn’t NEED to move! I proposed at this time that his power was so tremendous that he had to wear the suit as a containment unit. Eventually, a bit of that idea survived into the concept that Elect always wears goggles because his eyes are so bright that no one can look at him without them.
Inside The Book No. 34
As the concept of Elect developed, I began to go for a bulkier, more Silver Aged look. I had in mind the terrifically powerful images of Jack Kirby’s Celestials, or some of the other tremendous science fiction designs he produced, such as Orion or Darkseid.
Writing Prose vs. Writing for Comics
Hi, Folks!
This is a short presentation Benita and I brainstormed to be delivered at a recent Writer’s Retreat. This might be of some assistance to those prose writers who are looking to break into the graphic novel or webcomic scene.
Writing for Comics:
By Scott Story and Benita Story, © 2009
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN PROSE AND COMICS WRITING
Whereas prose is very descriptive, establishing the narrative through words and the theater of the mind, comics are primarily a visually based.
When we say comics are visual, this doesn’t mean the writer is unimportant—in fact, he is just as necessary as ever. But, the comic writers’ role is different than that of the prose writer.
Consider this: With prose, you establish a mental picture or emotion in the reader’s imagination; in comics, you present a mix of images and words that instantly elicits a response from the reader. A non-fictional variant of this would be the word “Stop,” and then seeing a red stop sign. The word intellectually tells you to stop, but the stop sign downloads directly and creates an instant mental response (hopefully followed up by a physical stop!)
Continue reading
Mystery Men & Lobsters
Hi, Folks!
It’s the week of Christmas, so I don’t know how many people will be keeping up with blogs. I can only assume that some of you are busy doing last minute shopping, or traveling, or decorating, or what have you.
I week or so ago I purchased “Lobster Johnson: The Iron Prometheus,” written by Mike Mignola. This is a fun book, yet Mignola has gotten so much cache nowadays that it’s not a “guilty pleasure,” per se. It’s all mystery men, zombies, Nazis, dragons, Asian crime lords, and action. The writing is very spare, and it seems that the only words that made it to the page were those absolutely necessary for telling the story.
(In fact, Lobster Johnson reminds me a lot of Johnny Saturn. Both are tough, humorless, laconic tough guys. This is no surprise, because both characters are pulled from the same hard-boiled genre.)
This leads me into an appreciation of Mike Mignola, the cartoonist. The original draw for me was his art—I assume everyone here is familiar with his style, but if for some reason you live under a rock here is his website. Adjectives for his beautiful work would include: moody, Gothic, abstract, chiaroscuro, and Jack Kirby-like. His dead-weight line art and copious use of black make his art less than appealing on most mainstream superheroes (other than Batman, of course), but it is perfect for nourish supernatural tales.
As a writer, Mike Mignola has an odd style that is hard for me to pin down. As I mentioned, his language is sparse, reminding one of Robert E. Howard’s Conan and REH’s muscular writing. His plots are often simple to the point of absurd, and often reminiscent of old fables and folk tales, but with special Mignola twist. My favorite thing about his writing is that monsters are people until proven otherwise. Really, you could summarize his whole Hellboy arc as one of Nurture, not Nature.
Incidentally, if your knowledge of Hellboy depends on the Guillermo Del Toro Hellboy movies, this is not a substitute for Mike Mignola’s own work. The Del Toro Hellboy is good (especially the first movie), but your research cannot end there.
Mike Mignola is big time, and it’s very unlikely that he would ever read these words. But, if you haven’t yourself explored Mignola’s work, and you enjoy Johnny Saturn, then I really strongly suggest you pick up some of the Hellboy graphic novels. It is, after all, the week of Christmas.
Miscellaneous Musings--A Personal Process Blog 