We’re at Day 14 of Howard Simpson’s month-long online celebration of the work of Jack Kirby! It’s open to all creatives, and you can find the work people are posting by the hashtag #KirbyArtTributes.
Today’s prompt: “Draw a monster or an alien created by Jack Kirby.” There are many possibilities out there! As mentioned previously with Groot, Kirby did a whole bunch of monsters during the Atlas era. But instead of one of those, I opted for the one you see here: Angry Charlie. His visual called out to me.
Angry Charlie was a Kirby Kreation during his run on the Jimmy Olsen comic for DC, which he’d made part of the titles where he was unfolding his “Fourth World” stories, along with Forever People, New Gods and Mister Miracle. Angry Charlie was a creation of the Evil Factory, which was ultimately destroyed at the end of that story. Charlie wasn’t really bad, and the gang had a soft spot for him, so they took him home with them.
Hope you liked Charlie, and tune in again tomorrow!
Could it be said that Kirby invented the sidebar in story-telling? There are moments when it sure seems like it. Angry Charlie was something. You capture him perfectly. There is an award winning film out there titled “A Chairy Tale” 1957. Music by Ravi Shankar. I got to believe at least in my made up world that Jack may have to some degree been influenced by the film in an obtuse sort of manner. As always thank you.
Glad you enjoyed Charlie.
I don’t know that Kirby invented the idea of the “B” plot in comics, but he definitely used it effectively throughout his career. It’s kind of the classic device: you focus on your main or “A” plot, while you have your “B” plot percolating in the background. Once you finish the current “A” plot, the “B” takes center stage and becomes the new “A” plot, and something else becomes the new “B” plot. Sometimes there are multiple threads (like Angry Charlie) that have the potential to give birth to a new “A” plot.