Partly in anticipation of the Thor, Captain America and Avengers films, I’ve been going through some of the Marvel Essentials collections, and one thing I’ve particularly noticed is how distinctive Jack Kirby’s design style is. There’s a certain look to futuristic building, characters, spaceships etc. that just leaps out as “Silver Age Marvel”. It appears in everything from the design of Asgard, to the costumes of Galactus and the Celestials, and all over the Fourth World and Weird Tales-type stuff too.
When I try and articulate what I mean, the first words that come to mind are “rounded cubes” and “big heads”, but obviously, it’s more than that - the eponymous intricately-decorated “Kirby Machine”, “Kirby Mouth”, the elaborate headpieces, the Bruegels-like faces of the lumpenproles…
What I’m trying to find out is what his antecedents are, if these are known to the more history-of-comic savvy amongs us? I can see an influence from Meso-American and South American art (which probably also ties in to his pervasive Ancient Astronaut theme) and a bit of Futurism - a cousin to Googie but without the effete swooshiness of that style and a (IMO) more pleasing solidity to everything (and everyone). What else is there?
I love Jack Kirby’s drawings (especially Silver-Age Fantastic Four), but even I have to say that he makes everything look as if it’s Big and Solid and Made Out Of Rock. Including his women.
But he was great at making things look Cosmic, especially in FF and Thor.
here’s a typically wonderful bombastic single-panel that took up a whole page in FF Annual #5 (turned into a poster, with Day-Glo colors that aren’t what was originally in the comic. I have both the comic and the poster):
I’m sure Kirby had his influences as did anyone. But I don’t think they came out of comics – there’s nothing in the previous 25/30 years of comic book history with the same heft, intricacy, or dynamism. Before Kirby, when I think of great sequential artists, I think of people like Raymond, who were doing just the opposite.
I’ve often thought Kirby art looked like something inspired by a combination of Meso/South American art and hallucinogenics, especially how much “Kirby Dots” look like phosphenes. Like Kirby’s art is the visual equilvalent of Carlos Castaneda, anticipated by a decade.
I can picture it – she’d be Big and Solid and have a squared-off face, and look as if she was made of rock.
And her pal Little Lotta would look like The Thing.
While the Kirby style we’re discussing was most prevalent in the 60’s and 70’s, Kirby actually goes back to the dawn of comic books, drawing some of the earliest comics from the 1930’s. So… in some sense, there wasn’t really anyone to go before him in comics and influence him. He did have some accomplished contemporaries, Bill Everett, Alex Schomburg, and others, but none exhibited the style that Kirby would later adopt.
Due to the above fact, by the time Kirby was developing his famous 60’s style, he was already kinda old! -at least by 60’s hipster metrics. I’ve heard that he never tried any drugs - despite what his artwork seems to show…
Now, check out Jim Steranko… more of a Kirby-disciple then an influence… That man certainly did some psychedelics! Take Kirby, add in some 60’s pop-art aesthetics, surrealism, and LSD, and you’ve got Steranko!
Some early Kirby-esqe work on Captain America and later, starting to get kinda freaky and way freaked out
