Jack Kirby Pencils and Inks Artisan Edition Hardcover – 20 Dec. 2016

From the latter part of 1971, until after the end of his career in mainstream comics, Jack Kirby was in the habit of photocopying his pencilled artwork, at home, and as he produced it, before sending off the original pages to be inked, lettered, coloured, etc. My understanding is that these photocopies were stored inside his home studio, in a stack of manilla envelopes. From the record provided by them, this book reprints Kirby's near-complete pencil art for the first issues of 'Kamandi' (Oct. 1972), 'The Demon' (Sept. 1972) and 'OMAC' (Oct. 1974) alongside the subsequently inked and lettered pages. The inker and letterer for very nearly all of the work reprinted in this volume was Mike Royer. I ought to add that Kirby wrote as well as drew these comics. My understanding is that he would first draw the comic book from start to finish and then go back and write text and dialogue directly onto the pencilled pages. He did not work from a 'script', in the conventional sense of the term. The only script was the one which existed in his own mind, along with the images to accompany it. However, there are gaps in the record. For example, there were clearly no photocopies available to the publishers of this book of Kirby's pencil art for his double-page spreads to all three of these noteworthy 'first issues'. Neverthless, the book does contain reproductions, made directly from the original pages, of Mike Royer's inks for them all. And like every other inked page which this book contains, these have been reproduced complete with minor production notations and even old sellotape markings intact. The authenticity of this approach is to be welcomed. At least one piece has even been stamped with the legend: 'ORIGINAL ART. USED.' - presumably from a subsequent re-sale...^^Although it is very useful to have Royer's inked pages as points of reference for these photocopies of Kirby's pencil art, there is an immediacy to Kirby's pencilling, undiluted by any inking, which makes it compelling to the eye. And of course there are differences - sometimes subtle and sometimes not so subtle - between pencils and inks. One of the main differences is that of texture - there is a lot more of it on Kirby's pencilled pages than in the sometimes too solid and uniform blacks of their inked counterparts. Plus, of course, Kirby and Royer being two different people means that there are differences of character and temperament; of style, technique and approach between the pencilled and the inked pages. Royer's inked pages may flesh out the record and fill in some of the gaps left by these photocopies, but time and again I found my eyes drawn back to Kirby's originals. There is something compelling about Jack's brand of lightning, and there are significant differences of feeling between the pencilled and the inked pages. Kirby's pencils have a far more spikey and even delinquent energy to them. It is almost as if Royer's inking calmed down and smoothed over the energy conveyed by Kirby's pencil art, in readiness for the printer. And in so doing, at least something of the character of that pencil art is lost.It is a pity that these photocopies of Kirby's pencil art are not of a uniformly high quality. Some of them are good, some of them are very good and others were either made on the wrong settings (too light/not enough contrast) or when the machine was running out of ink. But neverthless, we are lucky to have them at all; and in alliance with Royer's inks they are as close as we are ever going to get to Kirby's raw talent and the creative process by which this work was produced.It would be good to see Kirby's complete run on titles like 'The Losers', 'Kamandi', 'The Demon' and 'OMAC', etc, reproduced in the same, or a similar, format. In particular, I would like to see 'Atlas the Great' in the pencil and ink format. The whole comic. That, and the first issue of 'The Dingbats' too...^^Of the comics included in this book, 'Kamandi' in particular becomes more and not less intriguing with the passage of time. And I mean that in terms of both the comic as a whole and the character of 'Kamandi' in particular. Quite aside from the curious echoes between this work and Voltaire's 'Candide', there is a significant question mark hanging over the title character himself. This blonde-haired youth with the face as pretty as a girl's is something of a recurring motif in Kirby's work. Who is he? Who or what does he represent? To the best of my incomplete knowledge, he first emerges into something like his full form within the pages of 'Boys' Ranch' in 1951. Ten years later he is back again, in more mature form, as 'Thor'. And then, in the early to middle 1970s, he crops up as the adolescent 'Kamandi'. And later still he will re-emerge as 'The Boy' within the pages of 'Captain Victory', subsequently to become Captain Victory himself. I dare say that the sharp-eyed, or those with a better knowledge of Kirby's work than myself, may have spotted yet further incarnations. My own view is that he may represent either an unachieved object of desire - perhaps an ideal of male beauty which is particular to the artist? - or an object of desire once achieved and subsequently remembered within Kirby's work. A memory of someone. Which is another way of saying that he may represent an element of homosexuality within Kirby's nature which is being sublimated into his work and achieving symbolic expression through it. Too Freudian? Perhaps. But until I hear of a better-sourced theory than that, it remains my at least tentatively held view.Using both Kirby's pencils and Royer's inks as points of reference, there is no artistic reason why these comics should not be re-inked, lettered and coloured by other talents. And I feel sure that Jack would have liked the idea of this happening. My understanding is that he made these photocopies of his pencil art 'for the fans', and its survival means that the work can be made the subject of endless re-interpretation by the inker, the letterer and the colourist.Based upon my own (admittedly limited) experience of having inked Kirby's work, from photocopies not unlike those contained in this book, I would say that the line made by his pencil - especially in the detailing - is closer to that made by the pen, or even the marker, than it is to the line which is made by the brush. Reserve the brush for the longer and more flowing of his pencil lines and always try to allow as much light into the areas of shadow (or shading) as Kirby does with his pencil. When approaching his work with a view to inking it, I think it is always worth bearing these things in mind.Had the Kirbys acquired their photocopier at the beginning of 1970, rather than towards the end of 1971, then we would have what we most sorely lack - a record of Jack Kirby's pencil art for those crucial early issues of the 'New Gods', 'Mister Miracle', 'The Forever People' and 'Jimmy Olsen' - unmarred, as the pages subsequently were marred, by inadequate inking and faces and figures redrawn by other hands, in a style which was at complete variance to Kirby's own. My own view is that DC botched Kirby's most ambitious work, before axing it. I have even read one account which went so far as to say that it was deliberately sabotaged. If you want to know what it was that triggered the subsequent 'decline' in the quality of Jack Kirby's artwork, then you need look no further than this. Unless it be to the betrayal by Stan Lee which preceded it, and which perhaps also set the stage for it to happen.To give you some idea of Kirby's output, I have read that in 1962, which was apparently the most prolific year of his career, he produced 1,158 pages of comic book artwork. If you do the necessary maths, that works out at more than three pages per day, based upon a seven-day working week, with no breaks or holidays, for the entire year. And that is before you factor in the margin notes which Kirby was in the habit of writing onto his pages, in this period, indicating to "scriptwriter" Stan Lee what the course of the story and the action were, and what the characters were saying to one another. For this, and many other years, Jack Kirby was practically a one-man comic book company. In her 'Afterword' to this book, Lisa Kirby (Jack's youngest daughter) writes that her father's working day would generally begin in the early afternoon and '...continue through the night, usually until 3.00 or 4.00 in the morning. My mother Rosalind would have to go get him so he could get some sleep - it was hard for him to stop what he was doing.' There is good evidence to indicate that Kirby must have been even faster and more productive than the statistic at the top of this paragraph suggests, because it does not take into account the time that he spent upon his daily duties as a husband and father.This book has an Introduction by Mike Royer, Kirby's principal inker and letterer of the period; an Afterword by Lisa Kirby (Jack's youngest daughter) and it also reprints Kirby's introductory essays to all three of the comic book series' represented within it. At the end of the book, printed directly above Lisa Kirby's Afterword, there is a charming colour photograph of Jack with his wife, Roz Kirby. I had not seen this particular photograph before.For the aspirant comic book artist; for the hobbyist, for the 'professional' and for the fan alike, I think this handsomely produced volume is a very significant book.

Yet another excellent Artisan edition. I was really getting a little concerned that the Wally Wood artisan edition was going to be the first and the last artisan edition but I was mistaken and a new volume (and a few additional ones have been announced such as Rocketeer and Teenage Mutant etc) appears and what an excellent book with the pencils and also the inks for the same pages (should be half price) but no, it is some truly fine Kirby priceless artwork and the only thing missing being the scripts and the rough scribbles and notes (guess not everything can be saved). This is a hefty book with some really wonderful artwork throughout and a pleasure to read again and again

Nice volume. I am not a big fan of Kirby, mostly because of ignorance but this may change with books like this.As the title says you have the pencils (on the left) and the inks (on the right) which gives a nice contrast.One thing that I do not understand is why this is a HC while the Wally Wood Artisan edition is SC.

I really should have read the blurb on this more carefully before buying it. I'd assumed it would be a collection of Kirby artwork from across his career, with his pencils alongside versions inked by a number of different inkers who worked with him over the years, like Joe Sinnott, Chich Stone, Dick Ayers, the much-maligned Vince Colletta and others. Instead, it turns out to be Kirby pencils alongside pages all of which are inked by just one artist, Mike Royer. Now, I've nothing against Mike Royer, who seems like a great guy and who inked Kirby's work more faithfully then any previous inker had. But there's the problem. I'd love to have seen a comparison of how different inkers approached working over Kirby's pencils, maybe with accompanying interviews and recollections. Being limited to one inker and one period in Kirby's decades long career limits the potential interest of the book. It's still an interesting book, and it's still full of Kirby artwork, which can only be a good thing. It's just not as interesting as it would have been had it been the book I'd expected it to be. Maybe IDW will step up to the plate and provide such a book before too long. How about it guys?

This was a gift for my dad. He loves the book. He looks at it constantly.

Un livre bien dessiné qui ne saurait décevoir.Celui à qui je 'lai offert ne l'a aps été en tous cas.

This is an incredible book, showcasing some of Jack Kirby's finest work in both its original pencil form and with inking by his most faithful and talented collaborator, Mike Royer. The design and production values are absolutely first-rate as well. An A+ effort in every way, it will leave you clamoring for more!

Jack Kirby è considerato universalmente un maestro e grande innovatore nel campo dei comics. Il suo stile oggi potrebbe far storcere il naso ai più giovani ma la potenza delle sue illustrazioni rimane ancora valida ed un termine di paragone per molti disegnatori.Questo libro propone alcune storie del Re in doppia versione. Solo matite ed a fronte inchiostrate da Royer. Sono una manciata di storie molto significative per l'opera di Kirby. Troviamo Etrigan Demon, Kamandi e Omac oltre ad una gallery.Il bello di questa edizione è che le pagine sono riprodotte in maniera fedele agli originali. Segue la linea tracciata dalle Artist's Edition dell'Idw. Cerca cioè di ridare al lettore il feeling di trovarsi davanti le tavole originali così da poterne apprezzare tutti i dettagli. Per questo si possono trovare segni di bianchetto, note a lato della pagina, vignette incollate sopra la tavola originale, ecc.È, secondo me, una vera manna per chi volesse godere del piacere della tavola originale senza spendere un patrimonio. Qui le tavole riprodotte sono in formato leggermente ridotto rispetto agli originali (al contrario delle Artist Edition) e soffrono un po'per la qualità degli originali del tempo ma mantengono il loro fascino.In definitiva se siete interessati al genere e state pensando di acquistare una Artist Edition, questa, insieme aWally Woody EC Stories Artisan Edition) sono un buon punto di partenza ad un prezzo decisamente minore.Altamente consigliata ai fan del Re Kirby è degli appassionati di fumetti che cercano sempre artbook e simili dei propri disegnatori preferiti!

Libro muy muy interesante. Recoge páginas dibujadas por Kirby con las tintas de Mike Royer. Lo interesante es que contraponen a la izquierda los lápices y a la derecha la tinta, con lo que se puede comparar sin darle la vuelta a la página el original y la tinta. No es un libro grande (como los Artist Edition) pero no necesita más tamaño, se ve todo perfectamente. Un libro muy muy recomendable para todo fan de Jack Kirby