The time I met Jack Kirby and pestered him for 3 days

My friends at Hilobrow are running a really fun series of posts about comic book legend Jack Kirby. It's called Kirb Your Enthusiasm, and each essay is by a different person analyzing a panel from a Kirby title. Posts so far include Douglas Rushkoff on The Eternals, John Hilgart on Black Magic, Gary Panter on Demon, Dan Nadel on OMAC, and Deb Chachra on Captain America.

I lucked out and got to write about Kamandi.

In the summer of 1977 Jack Kirby came to Colorado to make appearances at the three different Mile High Comics stores -- in Fort Collins, Boulder, and Denver. At the time I was 16 years old and worked after school and on the weekends at the Boulder store; I fell asleep thinking about Kirby and woke up in the morning thinking about Kirby. I'd become an instant fan upon discovering Kamandi: The Last Boy on Earth. Before Kamandi, I read Richie Rich and other Harvey titles, but had zero interest in Marvel or DC comics, which were exclusively about superheroes and seemed as ridiculous to me as spectator sports.

Kamandi was different from any other comic. It was about an ordinary boy, with no special powers or skills, surviving on his own in a crazy world taken over by intelligent, bipedal mammals. The series came on the heels of Planet of the Apes -- a movie I watched over and over again in the theater -- and Kamandi was like an improved extension of that world. So when Kirby came to Colorado I was the first in line at all three stores. I hung out at the signing table from the minute he arrived until he left the stores in the evening.

I remember three things about his visit:

1. On the first night, somebody asked him what role Stan Lee played in the writing of the Marvel titles that Kirby had illustrated. Kirby answered, "He didn't do anything. I did the whole damn thing." A few minutes later, he noticed that someone was holding out a small tape recorder to record his answers. He said, "What are you doing! Gimme that." When the guy handed him the tape recorder, Kirby removed the cassette and stuck it in his back pocket. He then handed the recorder back to the guy and said, "Don't do that!"

Read the rest of my essay at Hilobrow.

• [chawke]

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  “Chrowl”

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• [kaijan]

  Jack Kirby’s run on KAMANDI: THE LAST BOY ON EARTH remains one of the most epic storytelling ventures in comics. I grew up reading comics in the 1980s and didn’t understand why Kirby was so popular with comics fans. Of course, all I knew of Kirby at the time was his artwork in one or two SUPER POWERS miniseries for DC, and I also knew some of Marvel’s artists tried to emulate Kirby’s style.

  I remained unimpressed until I began my obsession with buying back-issues. It was then that I discovered Kirby’s New World titles (NEW GODS, MISTER MIRACLE, FOREVER PEOPLE, and a notable run in JIMMY OLSEN), THE DEMON, and KAMANDI: THE LAST BOY ON EARTH. It was Kamandi that finally sold me on the legend of Kirby. Although I only had a few sporadic issues at the time, I was hooked, not only by his artwork (which was so different from my then-favorites Jerry Ordway and George Perez that it took some getting used to), but by the sheer energy and enthusiasm evident in his storytelling.

  I was finally able to read the entire series from beginning to end by reading scans of each issue a few years ago, and it was never disappointing.

  After Kirby’s departure from the series, it wasn’t all that good and was cancelled after a dozen or so issues. And no one’s had any success bringing back the same kind of magic that Kirby invested in the series. It’s a shame, though. I love the characters and want to see more of them.

  I remember that Kurt Busiek expressed some interest in writing Kamandi about ten years ago on the old DC Comics Message Boards. When I asked him about what his take on the character was, it sounded a lot like Kirby’s vision. I hope DC someday takes the chance to revisit the character with the right talent.

• [EvilSpirit]

  Hmm, I wonder if anybody has ever done any text analysis comparing works known to be the sole products of Kirby and Lee with those credited to both.

• [kaijan]

  I forgot to add that I’m vaguely aware that Kamandi was revived for a weekly comic project by DC recently. WEDNESDAY COMICS, I think it was called. I haven’t read it yet.

• [Anonymous]

  Two of my greatest pleasures last year were the Kamandi strips in Wednesday Comics (gorgeous, although owing just as much to Hal Foster as Kirby) and the Kamandi sections (one cold open, one full episode) of the Brave and the Bold cartoon. The last, especially, confirmed my conviction that Kamandi would make a kick ass Saturday morning cartoon.

• [daneyul]

  Don’t know what it was, but of all the thousands of comics I read as a kid, Kamandi stands out as my favorite. Glad to hear it’s not been forgotten.

• [arbitraryaardvark]

  Boing boing once ran a great story about buried treasure in Denver discovered by the mile high books founder.
  http://boingboing.net/2008/03/12/discovery-of-the-mil.html
  During the 1980s I used to buy classic sf pulp magazines for ten cents each at the boulder store.

• [Tony Moore]

  That is a really cool project! i can’t wait to read ‘em all!

  -T

• [Rich Keller]

  When are furries going to start cosplaying this?

• [Anonymous]

  I also loved Thundarr the Barbarian which always seemed like a knockoff of Kamandi to me.

  Kirby apparently did quite a bit of the conceptual artwork:

  http://www.thundarr.com/media/interview.html

• [jonr]

  Tigers my butt. Those are Kzinti!

• [mark zero]

  I must be too much of a nerd; was hoping to read how you were pestering Jack Kilby :)

• [Michaelchr]

  My mom recently found an old box of my Kamandi comics in her garage and transferred them to my garage. I haven’t looked through them yet but I remember loving the series. I’m pretty sure I’ve got them all, but they are so well read as to be worthless for anything except further reading (which is fine by me really). I also loved Thundarr the Barbarian which always seemed like a knockoff of Kamandi to me.

• [mrclamo]

  I know everybody gives Kirby a free pass, but his claim that Stan Lee “didn’t do anything” sounds to me like sour grapes instead of reality. His confiscation of the cassette lends credence to this. Kirby was a good illustrator and a talented plotter, but his “writing” and “dialogue” were embarrassing at best. Make mine Ditko any day of the week.

  PS- that said, Kirby’s late 70′s run on Captain America was pretty boss–Primus, Arnim Zola, Doughboy–it rocked in a very bizarre way…

• [Nadreck]

  I met Kirby once, in the receiving line at his birthday party at a Comic-con. The whole time in the line I rehearsed how cool and nonchalant I’d be when it was my turn to shake his hand. What pithy quips I had ready! When the time came all my plans dissolved into the “We’re Not Worthy” scene from Wayne’s World.

  He didn’t seem to mind; I guess he was used to it.