Free Comic Friday: Jack Kirby - The Epic Life of the King of Comics

Jack Kirby: The Epic Life of the King of Comics
Writer/Artist/Colorist: Tom Scioli
Published by: Ten Speed Press
Released: Sept. 2, 2020

August is being celebrated in some circles of Ye Olde Internet as #KirbyComicsMonth, in honor of the birth of one of the most influential artists in the history of comics. Jack Kirby co-created Captain America, the Fantastic Four, the X-Men and a substantial number of early Avengers and created the Eternals, New Gods and more on his own. He's influenced countless artists, including Tom Scioli, who wrote and drew a comic book biography of Kirby in 2020 via Ten Speed Press.

And in case you're one of those people who is skeptical about a comic that doesn't involve high-flying action, explosions or at least punching, Ten Speed released a 20-page excerpt of the 200-plus-page tome for Free Comic Book Day in 2020. Of course, that was during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, so instead of the first Saturday in May it took place... eventually. I'm not even sure where I picked up this issue.

But pick it up I did and pleased I was with what I read.* It even had some punching after all.

I was not familiar with Scioli's work, though I did buy a trade collection of a Go-Bots series he did at a con earlier this year. I'm slightly more familiar with the Go-Bots, though they remain in a mixture of mystery/nostalgia/curiosity that I may explore at a later date. But we won't get off on that tangent now because I'm pretty sure Kirby never drew the Go-Bots.**

The most effective aspect of the book is that it's told in Kirby's voice. There's a conversational marriage of the words and images that works better than simple recitation and rendering of the events of his life. Not only do you see what Kirby did, you feel like you have an impression of who Kirby was. The picture that's painted is one of an energetic and driven young man who loved his mother and had a keen sense of right and wrong.

The full book, which I haven't read but have Google previewed, starts earlier in Kirby's life than the Free Comic Book Day issue, which opens just before he goes to work for the Max Fleischer animation studio as an “in-betweener,” filling in the moments between the main action drawn by the animators. I wondered if this was the inspiration for the cosmic Marvel character the In-Betweener, but fandom says he's a creation of Jim Starlin, not Kirby.

Anyhoo, through corporate ups and downs and multiple employers, Kirby kept right on drawing, eventually meeting Joe Simon, with whom he would collaborate on a number of projects, including the creation of a certain Star-Spangled Avenger. That happened after Simon brought Kirby on as art director at Timely, which would one day evolve into Marvel.

The comic provides a look at a number of characters, both famous and obscure, that Simon and Kirby worked on while also featuring another historic first meeting – that of Kirby and Timely publisher Martin Goodman's nephew, Stanley Lieber, who would go on to be another comic architect under the nom de plume of Stan Lee.

Scioli's art is unique, reminiscent of a bygone era, and at first seeming almost simple. But it's a stylistic choice that evokes a unique tone and keeps one foot in reality while still saying “comic book” loud and clear. It's perfect for this project, though I am curious to see how it plays in, say, the aforementioned Go-Bots limited series or Scioli's “Grand Design” retelling of the Fantastic Four's history.

It also makes me curious to check out the full story, as well as the biography of Lee Scioli released through Ten Speed this year. I'm not opposed to reading prose biographies, but there is something appealing about seeing the stories of these legends told in the medium they helped soar to new heights.

* - And in Yoda voice I'm writing, apparently?

** - But Steve Ditko did.