New Jack Kirby coffee table art book

The late Jack Kirby created Captain America, The X-Men, The Hulk, The Fantastic Four, The Silver Surfer, Thor, Sgt. Fury, Kamandi, and many other famous characters. He was, and remains, at least twice as good as any other comic book creator I can think of. His groundbreaking innovations in layout, plot, character, and theme have not only influenced thousands of comic book creators, but the movie and animation industry as well.

Kirby: King of Comics, by Kirby's longtime friend and assistant, Mark Evanier, is part biography, part coffee table art book. The text of this lavishly-illustrated, 224-page, large format book runs 35,000 words, but Evanier says he's working on a 500,000 word biography of the world's greatest comic book writer and artist (I'll buy that when it comes out, too).

Not only was Kirby a man of awesome talent, he was also very kind-hearted. I've met a lot of my literary and artistic heroes and many of them didn't seem to be very nice. Not Kirby. I met him when I was 16 years old and I hung around him for three days. I'm sure I was a terrible pest, but he was as genial as could be, and he even gave me his address, inviting me to stay at his house if I ever came to California. What a guy. Link

[#1 posted by Jack , March 7, 2008 12:15 PM]

Oh wow! Oh wow! I need this.

[#2 posted by billy , March 7, 2008 12:28 PM]

oooooooooh!!!!! need a peek at this !

kirbys big flat fingers and toes creeped me out as a kid, now i think he is just marvelous! all that cosmic crackle and machinery, the oddball lingo, the sheer mytho-poetics of his characters !

hey stan ? you listening ??

[#3 posted by g.park , March 7, 2008 12:51 PM]

To quote Monster Magnet:

"...I was thinking how the world should have cried/ on the day Jack Kirby died"

[#4 posted by TomDewitt111 , March 7, 2008 7:56 PM]

Jck Krby ws vgn bstrd!!!

[#5 posted by dculberson , March 7, 2008 9:09 PM]

Enjoy your mom's basement.

[#6 posted by Rob O. , March 7, 2008 9:44 PM]

These were all over Wondercon this year. It's nice to know that hardcore Kirby fandom is more accessible than the TwoMorrows Kirby books, which wonderful as they were, are far too difficult to find.

Also, I see by clicking the link that DC is reissuing a collection of Kirby's OMAC! If only they'd follow up with his Sandman, and if Marvel could reprint 2001, I'd be a happy camper.

[#7 posted by devophill , March 8, 2008 2:14 AM]

Wait, what? #4? Vegan? WTF?

[#8 posted by Rick. , March 9, 2008 11:20 PM]

How many goddamn Jack Kirby books do I have to buy??? One more, I guess...