Comics History 101
K I R B Y: KING OF COMICS B Y M A R K E VA N I E R With this inaugural issue, Comic-Con Magazine introduces a new feature, “Comics History 101.” This regular series of articles will explore various aspects of the incredible history of comics, from the dawn of American comic strips and books to the comics of today. There’s no better way to kick off this series than with an article on Jack Kirby, one of the most influential storytellers in the history of the comics medium, and a dear friend of Comic-Con. We’re proud to present an exclusive excerpt from Mark Evanier’s beautiful new art book on the comic legend, Kirby: King of Comics, just released by Abrams. Special thanks to Mark and editor Charles Kochman for allowing CCM to present the preface from the new book.
Jack Kirby didn’t invent the comic book. It just seems that way. It’s 1939 and he’s still a few years from establishing himself as one of the most important, brilliant innovators of an emerging form. He isn’t even Jack Kirby yet. He’s Jacob Kurtzberg, from the Kurtzberg family on Suffolk Street in not the best part of New York. At age twenty-one he’s trying to do the most important thing he believes a man can do: provide for his family, bring home a paycheck. Nothing else matters if you don’t manage that. Much of the work in comics is done in “shops”—cramped quarters where artists toil at rows of drawing tables. The money isn’t good, but it’s good for a young man whose neighborhood has yet to see evidence that the Great Depression is ending. It at least beats selling newspapers or several other alternatives he’s tried.
So Jacob joins the throng of young artists wandering the streets, all toting large black portfolios crammed with samples. Most of the samples are variations (or outright plagiarisms) of the newspaper strips that had initially moved each to pick up a pencil. Eventually, the young men all seem to wind up working for Victor Fox . . . at least for a few weeks, until something better comes along. Legend has it that Fox had been an accountant for Harry Donenfeld, publisher of Detective Comics and Action Comics. One morning, the story goes, sales figures came in on the first issue of Action, which featured a new strip called “Superman” by Jerome Siegel and Joseph Shuster. Fox saw the numbers, quit his job, rented an office in the same building, and by close of day was hiring artists as the head of Fox Comics, Inc. A great story. It’s probably not true, but it’s a great story.
Fox is an old-time hustler/financier who’s spent years sprinting from one dubious enterprise to another. Most of the early funnybook publishers are like that— hardscrabble entrepreneurs lacking both class and capital. What will turn some of them into multimillionaires—and, ipso facto, into legitimate businessmen—is if they get their fingers on a smash hit. Say, if someone sends them a Superman or if Bob Kane walks in with the beginnings of something called Batman. Or if, in years to come, they hire Jack Kirby. Victor Fox will not be so fortunate, even though most of the great creative talents will pass through his office, some at full sprint. At first, he buys stories from a studio run by Will Eisner and Jerry Iger. After Eisner goes off and creates The Spirit, Fox sets up his own operation, placing ads in The New York Times
Excerpt from Kirby: King of Comics by Mark Evanier. Introduction by Neil Gaiman. Gatefold by Alex Ross. Published by Abrams. Captain America, Thing, and Hulk © & ™ 2008 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Orion, The Demon, and Mr. Miracle © 2008 DC Comics.
24 Comic-Con Magazine • Winter 2008