It’s now Day 17 of Howard SImpson’s month-long tribute to Jack Kirby! Can you believe it? If you’d like to see what others are posting in order to participate, you can find that work on your favorite social media platforms by the hashtag #KirbyArtTributes.
Today’s prompt is Big Barda. Part of Kirby’s Fourth World saga at DC, she was a key supporting character in Mister Miracle, first appearing in issue #4. Raised on Apokolips to be part of a group of warriors called the Female Furies, she later met Scott Free (Mister Miracle) and fell in love with him. Eventually, she followed Scott to Earth.
Barda’s battle armor is one of those Kirby costumes with a lot of detail. It’s consistent in the broad strokes, but has a tendency to morph a bit from page to page or panel to panel as far as the specific details go. I like how it looks, and thought a straight-ahead presentation from the front would be the best way to show it.
Hope you like it, and please come back again tomorrow.
Looks just like Melissa!
Great job on this, I am having fun guessing who you will do next. Are you going to collect all of the portraits in one big poster? I think it would look cool.
I dare you to show Melissa your comment!
Glad you’re enjoying this stuff. I actually do have in mind to assemble these into something like that, but am not sure yet what I would do with it beyond putting it all together.
I was expecting to hear, “Coming from Jack Kirby, that’s a compliment.”
Whatever you decide to do with this, I am interested in the outcome.
Now I am thinking about the unrealized potential of Big Barda being in a film. Oh well. I will settle for your image as a cool second. As usual, your dailies get me out to look for more of what I do not know about the characters you bring to us. The story I am reminded of is the potential that some of the characterization of the dynamic between Free and Barda was based on his own marriage interactions. As it has been said the guess has already begun on who tomorrow. Thanks much.
Glad you like what I did.
Apparently there was briefly some kind of thought about spinning Barda and the Female Furies off into an additional comic! There’s what appears to be a quick cover layout generated by Kirby for this. John Morrow had it fleshed out and turned into the cover of The Jack Kirby Collector #73.