Royer Revisits the Past
Mike Royer's reinterpretation of Jack Kirby's cover to Charlie Chan, issue 3 cover, originally published in 1948.
http://www.whatifkirby.com/creations/charlie-chan-issue-3-cover
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This research and educational website celebrates the work of Jack Kirby, comic book creator and artist for over six decades. For more information on Jack Kirby, visit Jack Kirby in the artists section.
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After I wrote this article and posted the versions for Cap that Pete Von Sholly provided, I received some additional insight from WiK members about what Jack Kirby might have meant buy the strange pose in Tales of Suspense page laid out by Kirby and penciled by Dick Ayers.
First I'd like to mention that my account of Stan Lee wanting Jack to do layouts for other artists was corrected by Patrick Ford:
By the mid-60s Jack Kirby's output reached a feverous pitch. Stan Lee demanded more and more from Kirby in order to distill Kirby's powerful style as Marvel's house style. To get more out of Kirby and train Marvel's other artist, Stan Lee had Kirby do quick pencil layouts for artists such as Dick Ayers and John Romita, among others, to finish Kirby's designs with their pencils and thus, learn his style. In most cases, as Kirby laid out the page he plotted the stories leaving his notes in the margins.
Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas today and a happy holiday season. Hope your presents include some Jack Kirby treats!
Some 25 years ago, Jack Kirby's art was finally returned to him from Marvel, well at least a fraction returned. In the late 80s, collectors could purchase art directly from the Roselyn and Jack Kirby and later, in the 90's and after, also through Mike Thibodeaux. New art was periodically being released to the market through the then new, Jack Kirby Collector magazine and comic cons, especially the San Diego Comic Con International well into the 2000s.
Last week we all received the news on Thursday of Joe Simon's passing on Wednesday, December 14th. There are many great articles written and about his life and incredible contributions to the comic book industry such as the LA Times and the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. Joe was a native of my hometown, Rochester NY.
Wonder what Mike Royer would have done with the 1960's Captain America? Find out what if!
The WiK comic art Gallery contains hundreds of pages of Jack Kirby comic art to explore and discover. With WiK membership you can see high resolution, zoomable images, so sign up now!
Wally Wood inked Kirby's pencils during many important periods of Jack's career including the late 50s for the Sky Masters Strip. Learn more about the artists that have worked with Jack Kirby.
