Though August is over and it’s now Sept. 1st, I have an established tradition of taking all my Kirby Tribute Month images and putting them together into one big poster image. This year is no different.
Though I drew them all and know each image well by this point, I get a different perspective when I combine them after the fact like this, appraising the work I did from an overall view.
This is now the fourth year that I’ve done Jack Kirby Tribute Month, and it’s interesting to see how much more detailed and involved these small illustrations have become each year. That’s nothing to do with the prompts themselves (though those can create their own challenges). It’s more to do with feeling the need to move beyond just straight portraits, to come up with something that feels like there’s a story to it.
That’s about all there is to say. I always learn something when I do these, so hopefully you’ve enjoyed this year’s journey.
Another month’s worth of beautiful drawings, Mark. Honest to god, I don’t know where you get the energy. If I don’t get 16 hours of sleep a day, plus two naps and four hours of executive time, I’m a bloody zombie.
But why stop at Jack Kirby? Walt Simonson’s birthday is in September and you still have ten hours to knock out the first of 30 Thor and Manhunter tributes.
Tick tock, Mark. Tick tock.
Jim! I am hugely flattered and touched that you took the time to look in and comment! Thanks for the kind words.
The idea of launching into another tribute month right away is exhausting. I wasn’t sure for a bit whether I was going to hit all the deadlines and make it through this Kirby Tribute Month or not! I know there’s supposed to be some kind of a Ditko tribute going in October, but thus far, I haven’t had the energy to do that too.
One grows into another. Very cool, Stompa growing out of Hela. There certainly is a rhyming going on, particularly since Bernadeth and Karnilla, the Norn Queen and her pet look on, neither being startled nor encouraging but stoic. This layout suggests many stories. You have succeeded. Congrats.
Thanks!
Part of the way I’ve challenged myself since the first year is to try to come up with single images that feel like they could be in the midst of a story, or that a story could flow from them. Which when you think about it, kind of also used to be the goal of comic covers. Grab your potential reader with one image, make them feel like they gotta spend their allowance to find out what happens!