So as you know if you were checking in all last month, I made it all the way through the 3rd annual Jack Kirby Tribute Month. For awhile, I wasn’t sure I was going to get them all done in time, but I did! And just like in past years, I’ve combined all the pieces into one big image.
It’s interesting to see the characters all together now in this context. It definitely hammers home the point that Fantastic Four in Jack and Stan’s hands generated a huge cast of interesting characters. The list of 30 prompts hit many of the high points, but the fact is that there were many more characters that could also have been on the list. I know that the cover copy, “The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine!”, was Stan Lee using his usual gift of hyperbole in promoting the comic, but I think you can genuinely make a case that those first 100+ issues were, at the very least, in the running for that award!
Along the way, I also came to realize (firsthand) that the list included some of the most detailed and visually complex characters Kirby ever came up with! I tried to do them all justice.
That’s about all I have to say. Hope you’ve enjoyed my tribute to (and celebration of) the King this past month.