Jack Kirby...and other odds and ends

I just finished reading a great book called Kirby by Mark Evanier. I was a bit of a late bloomer when it comes to Jack, the King, Kirby. I did not start reading or appreciating silver age art until maybe 9 or 10 years ago. I grew up in the bronze age of comics, so of course my heroes were (and still are) Arther Adams, Mike Zeck, Neil Adams, Barry Winsor Smith, and George Perez, to name a few. Then people like Jim Lee started making waves. So of course I (just like everyone else at the time) started trying to draw like him...and I do stress try.

  Once I discovered Gene Colan, I began looking into silver age art. As a child, I had many of his comic books, and it wasn't until a little while ago did I realize who was creating all of those great covers and thrilling sequential art. Still to this day one of my favorite covers is Captain America 116. I started picking up Tales Of Suspense for the Captain America...But it was the Gene Colan Iron Man stories that really sucked me in.

Don Heck was another, there was something about his Tales of Suspense that spoke to me as an artist. So as I started exploring people like Gene Colan, and Don Heck...I discovered people like Joe Kubert, Wally Wood, Steve Ditko, Milton Caniff, And Will Eisner.

Now back to Jack Kirby...It wasn't until I started collecting old Fantastic Four issues did my obsession really take shape. Especially the books between 23 and 108. I watched an interview with Jack Kirby a few months back, it was a great interview...He was so humble  and right on with some of his philosophies of life. It reminded me of Milton Glaser and his life lessons. Two very sound individuals.

In the beginning...

I am in the process of creating a sci fi/superhero based comic strip and I wanted to document the process...I know, Bill Watterson already created such an amazing strip back in the day with a few similar ideas...But mine will be completely different... Bill Watterson's Calvin and Hobbes was something new, exciting, and inventive...While Brownies and Broadswords will be old, tired, and a rip off (I like to aim high)  I am shooting for a January 1st launch day for the strip, with car giveaways and Detective comics #27 door prizes. So it should be a major, major deal! Did I mention, I did get Kim Kardashian to hand out gift baskets!...Not even close to the truth, but I am looking forward to it nonetheless. Also, this blog will give me a change to go on and on about comic books that I enjoy.

So stay tuned, true believers! (I told you...rip off)