I need help with a story, and would like to hear some characteristics of Jack Kirby stories, in art and drawing. I'm trying to create something that encompasses Kirby......isms.
Jack Kirby
Person » Jack Kirby is credited in 3373 issues.
One of the medium's most prolific artistic legends, Jack Kirby, "The King of Comics," was an artist, writer, and editor whose work spanned the Golden, Silver, Bronze and Modern ages of comics. Kirby created and co-created a multitude of Marvel and DC's most popular characters and many others, too. Kirby was one of the most respected artists of his time (though he didn't have personal knowledge of that, until later on), and remains so today.
Jack Kirby characteristics
Highly dynamic poses and action scenes.
Less than completely accurate anatomy.
Lots of detail on every panel.
The use of oodles of "Kirby dots" to illustrate the gathering, leaking or using of energy-based power.
Use of perspective that both breaks the rules but is still pleasing to look at.
@powerherc: Ha, I had no idea they were called Kirby Dots. That's great.
Probably the biggest recurring plot point he liked to use was ancient aliens, or god-like beings tied to advanced/alien technology. There were The Kree planting their Sentry robots on Earth and turning early homo sapiens into The Inhumans, The Celestials also tampering with humans to create The Eternals, the whole idea of The New Gods essentially using technology and superhero tropes to fill a pantheon, the scientists who attempted to breed the perfect being, only for HIM (later renamed Adam Warlock by Roy Thomas) to be a messiah figure beyond their comprehension and control, many of his later depictions of Asgard became more technologically based, and even a majority of aliens like Galactus, The Silver Surfer and The Watcher essentially being like humans, only from a great beyond, and more powerful than any human could possibly imagine.
Of course, he also did a lot of more grounded work, dealing with major concerns from the early 40s to mids 70s. Very anti-Hitler, anti-atomic testing, anti-red scare, pro-civil rights.
The characters themselves tended to be either incredibly fit (Captain America, Thor, Nick Fury, Black Panther, OMAC, HIM, most of New Genesis), freakishly bizarre (Fing Fang Foom, The Thing, The Watcher, Groot, Ego the Living Planet), or some combination of the two (The Hulk, The Beast, Galactus, most of The Inhumans and Apokolpis). With the more fit characters often appearing as straightforward positive role models, while the more freakish tended to still be sympathetic, but feared, misunderstood, and hated by society. Though a lot of thatcould also come from Stan Lee.
And a few unique naming conventions, the easiest to spot being that groups often had a rare adjective used as a noun, with a "The" in front.
@powerherc: Ha, I had no idea they were called Kirby Dots. That's great.
No kidding? They've been referred to as "Kirby dots" at least since the 70's. Maybe even the 60's.
Talk to Erik Larsen. Link
Less than completely accurate anatomy.
Take your work and Show it to Stan Lee so he can take credit for it.
Hah! Good one. Appropriate, too.
@powerherc: Ha, I had no idea they were called Kirby Dots. That's great.
No kidding? They've been referred to as "Kirby dots" at least since the 70's. Maybe even the 60's.
Huh, my father's been calling it "Kirby Matter" for the longest time now...didn't know the name was that simple.
@armiv2: Kirby Krackle it is called Kirby Krackle
@turoksonofstone: Oooooooooooooh.
Creative brilliance.
Being the Ingmar Bergman of comics.
Being so far ahead of your time that only a very few writers now can see what he you were trying to do.
@turoksonofstone: Boom tubes?
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