TRIBUTE
2013 Kirby Tribute Panel
Held at Comic-Con International: San Diego at 10:00am on July 21st, 2013. Moderated by Mark Evanier, with guests Paul S. Levine, Neil Gaiman, and Tony Isabella. Transcribed by Jon Knutson, and edited by Mark Evanier and John Morrow • Photos by Chris Ng
(this page, top) The Black Racer’s first appearance from the cover of New Gods #3, and (below) Jack’s reimagined version for DC’s Super Powers toy line in the 1980s. (next page) Kirby pitched art for a Big Barda & Her Female Furies series prior to Barda’s first published appearance in Mister Miracle #4. Having based her image on a Playboy feature on actress/singer Lainie Kazan (shown here), Jack may’ve originally had some mildly racy themes in mind for her (Lashina and Gilotina could certainly be considered a little kinky). The character “The Head”, the shirtless “Apollo”, even “Beauty Rock” headquarters (which doesn’t in any way fit how Jack eventually used the concept) don’t seem to be exactly mainstream comics fodder. And who knows where “The Lump” came from, but his visual (colored fleshy pink) could be construed as something more fitting in Galaxy Green than Mister Miracle. Whatever the original idea was before being abandoned, other characters from the concept drawings were also worked into Jack’s strips later (“The Lump” in Mister Miracle #7, “The Head” in Mister Miracle #10, and “Apollo” in OMAC #7).
MARK EVANIER: If you never believe anything I tell you, believe the following: I’m on my way here, I am limping from knee surgery I had three weeks ago, the crowds out there are terrible, I got detained by the Westboro Baptist Church Klingons outside. (laughter) I get to this door, there’s one line of people trying to get in—it’s about an hour line to get in. I go to a door that’s closed, it’s exit only, and the man says, “You can’t come in here.” I said, “I’m a Guest of Honor of the convention.” He says, “You can’t come in here.” I said, “I’ve had knee surgery, I’m limping, I can’t wait.” He says, “You can’t come in here.” I said, “I’m hosting a panel that starts in ten minutes.” He says, “You can’t come in here.” I said, “Please, I’ve got a whole room full of Jack Kirby fans up there waiting to hear this panel,” and he says, “Jack Kirby? Come on in!” (laughter) There are occasional perks to being around Jack. (laughter) I am Mark Evanier, obviously. Who else would be running a Jack Kirby Tribute Panel at this convention? The gentleman to my right, your left, is the Kirby family attorney— full disclosure, he is also my attorney—this is Mr. Paul S. Levine. (applause) For legal reasons, Neil [Gaiman] has every moment of his life videotaped, and I have my attorney constantly at my side. (laughter) Over on the other side there is one of my best friends, one of the top writers in the comic book business; will you welcome Mr. Tony Isabella. (applause) To my left is my friend of lesser years, but still valuable ones. A New York Times best-selling author, Mr. Neil Gaiman. (applause) Let me introduce a few people in the audience; you are all subscribers and dutiful readers of The Jack Kirby Collector, published by Mr. John Morrow. (applause) My partner at the time I worked for Jack Kirby... Steve Sherman, ladies and gentlemen! (applause) Those of you who’ve read of Steve’s problems on Facebook recently will be very pleased to see that he’s here, he looks as healthy as he’s ever looked, even better! You look terrific. (applause) VOICE IN CROWD: Live long and prosper to Steve. MARK: Live long and prosper to Steve. Yes. May you last longer than Star Trek. (laughter) I want Steve to stay healthy for two reasons: one is he’s a hell of a great guy, one of my best friends, and secondly, I need a witness when I tell people some of the things Jack said. They look at me like, “He didn’t say that,” and I have Steve to corroborate most of them, because he was present. Steve was present, I believe, the time that Jack attended the second or third San Diego Comic-Con, and as huge as it was—I think there were a thousand people there— Jack said, “Some day, that convention’s going to take over the city of San Diego.” And, he said—I swear to you, this is almost a direct quote—he said, “It’s going to be the place where Hollywood comes every year to sell what they made last year, and find out what they’re going to make next year.” (laughter) Remember that, Steve? And Steve remembers this too; we gave him a look like, “Yeah, sure, Jack. Is this anything like the Black Racer, a black paraplegic guy on skis?” He was serious about it, and once 80