By: Steven Brower
Jack Kirby was one of the most important and prolific cartoonists of the 20th century. The characters he created and co-created now earn billions at the cinema. These include Captain America, The Fantastic Four, The Avengers, The X-Men, The Silver Surfer, Darkseid, Mister Miracle, The Demon, Kamandi, OMAC, Caption Victory, Silver Star and myriad others. Friday, August 28th, would have been his 98th birthday.
A celebration of his work, “Comic Book Apocalypse: The Graphic World of Jack Kirby,” at Cal State Northridge Art Galleries, opens on August 24th and runs through Oct. 10 with an opening reception on Aug. 29. Curated By CSUN English Professor and Eisner award winning author Charles Hatfield, whose “Hand of Fire: The Comics Art of Jack Kirby” is the first in-depth academic exploration of the artist, the show includes over 100 original artworks, as well as many of his published comics. There is a career overview and the work spans his over five decades in comics, from the early 1940s through the 1990s, with an emphasis on the 1960s. In addition there are tablet displays provided by the Jack Kirby Museum and Research Center to enable viewers to see even more art not in the show. On August 31, there is a gallery talk with Kirby biographer Mark Evanier, and on Saturday, Sept. 26, a panel discussion. A 200-page, full-color catalog accompanies the exhibition—sure to become a collector’s item.
Read more about Jack Kirby:
Joe Simon and Jack Kirby’s partnership paved the way for the Golden Age of comics beginning in the 1940s. With The Art of the Simon and Kirby Studio by Mark Evanier, learn more about the duo who invented noteworthy characters like Captain America and Sandman, conceived the idea of romance comics, and created a new standard for the genres of crime, western, and horror comic books. Take a look inside the various aspects of their career, and see some of the works that defined them.