Scott Koblish

Kirby week-

A lot of Kirby tributes online this week and I would love to find one that didn't villify Stan in order to raise Jack up. Can't we celebrate an amazingly talented and creative individual without beating down the people he worked alongside? And while we're knocking Stan down in order to prop Jack up, where are these defenders of the artists vision when it comes to the characters that say - Don Heck, or Larry Leiber co-created? I just hear crickets. They weren't ALL dragged out of Jack imagination.

Let's even the atributions out a little bit before we cement the tributes in stone.

And Jack worked at Marvel/Timely for the late 50's and entirely of the 60's for a pretty big reason - the editors at DC thought he sucked. And they would tell anyone within earshot that he sucked and they wanted nothing to do with him. Stan thought Jack was the greatest. Which boss and co-creator would you have wanted? The guy who had a bubbling, contagious excitement and a million ideas who wanted you to expand you art and abilities while he took care of the printing and editing and writing and bullpen, or the guy who demanded gorilla covers 4 times a year and didn't want you monkeying with characters that were etched in stone? Seems pretty clear to me.

I think it was only DC trying to tank Marvel that led them to giving Jack a shot with the 4th World. And even then they leaned on him HEAVILY every time he touched the corporate mascot, having Colletta redraw Superman. And Stan would NEVER have exiled his best artist from the main line of his published books - Jack WAS Stan's main line of books.

Jack was a great artist, and by all accounts I've ever heard -a great man. Lets celebrate that.

posted by Scott Koblish @ 8:55 PM