KABOOM! Jack Kirby’s LA Tribute Blast Off
Written by Brian Bloss
This summer, Kirbyvision: A Tribute to Jack Kirby was on display at Corey Helford Gallery (CHG) but the legacy of Jack Kirby goes far beyond the walls of the show. Every year unquestionably, one the summer’s biggest smash hits will come from MARVEL STUDIOS. A studio that was in many respects was dreamed into existence in part through the mind and work of Jack Kirby.
For anyone who is not well acquainted with the world of comics, Jack Kirby is the artist behind many of Marvel’s most famous characters. His roster of creations includes Captain America, Thor, Fantastic Four, X-Men, and more. While Stan Lee maintained the over-arching vision of Marvel in many respects people like Jack Kirby had an indelible effect on the image, tone, and philosophies that have become the cornerstone of Marvel.
As Stan’s lead draftsman, Kirby had an enormous influence on the overall look and stylings of characters in all aspects of the Marvel aesthetic. Kirby’s work is embodied with an energy and freshness that truly separated him from his contemporaries at the time. Bruce Helford, co-owner of CHG remembers the first time he picked up Fantastic Four #1 in Dolmar Drugstore on California Avenue in Chicago, with the images standing out to him. “I liked looking at this guy’s stuff. It felt more real because Superman comics were very stiff during that period.”
Kirby was one of the early comic book artists to begin to implement many of the stylistic choices emblematic of comics today. His art contains a fluid dynamic quality in which the characters feel as if they’re in motion. His work heavily pushed perspective and foreshortening with characters in poses in which the characters were leaping out at the viewer, or stretching into the horizon. Creating a sense of action that is so intrinsic to comics today. The feel of his work is overwhelmingly cinematic which is probably why it has been so easily adaptable into several epic movie franchises at this point.
The raw power and imagery of Kirby’s work was so prolific it’s described as the “Kirby Krackle”. The CHG exhibition offered a rare insight into this phenomenon through the massively larger than life replications of some of his comics. The exhibit contains several completely oversized books as well as some floor to ceiling prints of one of his 3D comics, which viewers enjoyed with 3D glasses. In the fine details of these hulking pages the viewer can see the signature effects of ‘Kirby Krackle”. Kirby used combination of hash marks and stippling in his work for shading but also to create the energy flow of super human power. Comics in those days were printed with halftone printing. A process in which various tiny colored dots were printed in close proximity to each other to create different colors and tones. The halftone pattern in Kirby’s work reveals complementary colors like hot pink and sky blues intermixed to create a visual vibrational effect – the secret formula to his “Kirby Krackle”.
Kirby’s work definitely still retains its power and the work seems to almost jump off the wall. The effects weren’t lost on Bruce Hellford, who has been collecting Kirby’s work since age 7. In addition to the artwork, Bruce recognized a difference in the stories as well. “They were just kind of like simple action oriented stories, but not a lot of character building. And, you know, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby were creating all these great characters and attitudes and, and, and they felt like real people.”
Helford, who had career as a television producer prior to establishing the Corey Helford Gallery in 2006 with his wife Jan Corey Helford, went on to work and create several popular television shows including Roseanne, The Drew Carey Show and more. The influence of Marvel comics had an impact on his own work. “I think the idea of imbuing character and how important character is, was definitely something I got from Kirby Comics, because they were very much more emotional than the DC Comics of the time.” Many of the Marvel books feature teams that often have characters that bounce off each other in ways almost as dynamic as their powers.
In fact, comics maybe responsible for teaching Helford how to read. “I really learned to read through comic books more than anything. My brother had books in the house, and I’d read them and try and figure out what the words could mean in relation to what was going on in the picture. So, it influenced me in my writing and influenced me in, in, in actually being interested in reading things.” Although Bruce joked, “I ended up working in comedy, and there wasn’t a lot of comedy in comic books.”
Jack Kirby’s career actually spanned a wide range of books and genres. The exhibit offers are glance at Kirby’s romance graphic novels and a lot of other original pencil sketches. It’s been an illuminating experience for many of the guests. “What I like about this is the kids get to come in, and a lot of kids don’t know how the picture gets from on that comic book page. I think a lot of kids think that the art is what they see in the comic book and don’t realize all the things underneath it, the line drawings, the pencil work, the, you know, coloring comes later.” The exhibit offered rare glimpses of in process work in which speech bubbles and loosely roughed in and left for the letterer to come in later.
Kirby’s vision seems to extend beyond the page and into time and space itself. It’s uncanny how many of the things foreshadowed in his work seem to now be very real in our present. Some of his books feature X-51, who was essentially an all-mechanical version of Iron Man, who now seems eerily similar to the omnipotent ever-looming threat of AI. Also present in his work is a strong sense of ethics or fair play, “I think because he experienced World War II personally and what was going on with dictatorships and people being brainwashed into believing that dictators were heroes and all that, I think that really affected him,” Helford offered. This too seems to be curiously similar to our own political environment which is becoming growing more divergent and with undercurrents of authoritarianism. “And I think he was very much a guy who wanted to kind of foretell or warn people about just following things and being aware of the dangers of the future, of machines, of keeping things human and all that.”
Kirby’s work is distinctly human, yet with underlaying obsession with things that are superhuman. Which apparently appealed to a lot of readers as well, “I was always leaning toward people that we’re not just humans. They were always people who were beyond. I always wanted when I was a kid, when I read the Fantastic Four, I just wanted to burst into flames so bad.” Whether working with then cutting-edge technology like 3D imagery to creating beings from the far recesses of space or to the evolutional and political nuances of the X-Men, Kirby was always exploring a new horizon.
It’s refreshing to see a gallery embrace the pop art sensibilities of comic books, which may be snubbed elsewhere. “Creating art is an experience beyond just going into a gallery or like that, that seeps into your brain and, and you want to keep, you want to invest more of it around you in your life, because I think it’s really healthy for people.” Bruce Helford said in regards to the gallery.
Complimenting Kirby’s work in s a reflection of modern works. In the adjoining gallery the exhibition also features Kirby inspired art from about 40 other artists. Including work from David Mack, Carlos Soca, and Stephen Bliss. SKINNER also contributed a central Galactus mural, one of Kirby’s more intergalactic creations. Demonstrating how Kirby’s work and legacy continues to inspire and drive artists to this day.
“Tying today’s contemporary artists with Jack Kirby’s creative output illustrates how influential his vision was and continues to be,” said Tom Kraft, President of the Jack Kirby Museum. “Putting together this selection of amazing Kirby original comic art has been an absolute privilege, and it couldn’t have happened without the contribution of the private collectors who generously allowed this work to be displayed.”
Kirbyvision: A Tribute to Jack Kirby was on display at Corey Helford Gallery from June 29th to August 3rd in Downtown Los Angeles. For inquiries, reach out to Corey Helford Gallery.
The full artist roster for Kirbyvision: A Tribute to Jack Kirby features:
Sunter of Kai & Sunny
Aaron Noble
Alban Ficat
Albert Reyes
Ana Bagayan
Andrea Mutti
Andrew Brandou
Anthony Ausgang
Ashley Dreyfus
Atta Boy
Bennett Slater
Bob Dob
Bruce Simon
Carlos Soca
Caroline Gaudreault
Cat Staggs
Charles Glaubitz
Chen-Dao Lee
Ciou
Daniel Harms
Dave Pressler
David Mack
Dena Seiferling
Eric Joyner
Erika Sanada
Ezra Brown
Harald Austad
Hikari Shimoda
Ian Dorian
Invisible_Touch
Iskar
Jackson Rabinoff
Jesús Aguado
Jodie Royak
John Walker
Krk Ryden
Li Shanmei
Luke Chueh
Mariko
Mark Badger
Mark Frauenfelder
Martin Meunier
Mike Kazalah
Mike Stilkey
Nonamey
Olivia
Patrick Mcdonnell
Peca
Reedman
Richard Ahnert
Richard P. Clark
Robert Palacios
Ryan Heshka
Scott Shaw!
Sergio Mora
Shaky Kane
Shinnosuke Hariya
Simone Legno of Tokidoki
Skinner
Stefano Pavan
Stephen Bliss
Steve Seeley
Sydney Heifler
Sylvia Ji
Tetsuji Aoyama
The London Police
Tim Seeley
Tom Morehouse
Travis Lampe
Xue Wang
Yulia Pustoshkina
Zoé Byland
Brian Bloss is a Los Angeles based artist, writer, and photographer. He enjoys long walks on the beach and anything wrapped in bacon.
