Jack Kirby

May 1, 2020
An unauthorized graphic biography of the comic-book artist Jack Kirby (1917-1994). "This is a biography...not an autobiography or memoir," writes Scioli on the first page. "The first-person narration in this work is a literary device. The story is told through 'Kirby's' point of view, adapted from a number of sources, including interviews he gave throughout his life." One of the claims from the protagonist's mouth is that he "saved Marvel's ass." While comic-book aficionados and cultural historians have long recognized Kirby's crucial role in the expanding Marvel universe--and his creative development of Spider-Man, the Hulk, Ant-Man, and Iron Man--he has never achieved the name recognition among the public at large as Stan Lee, with whom Kirby had a troubled, complex relationship as a collaborator and rival. In Scioli's treatment, Lee gets the chance to say his piece, but it is clearly meant to serve as a corrective to restore some critical balance. In a vivid style similar to Kirby's, Scioli brings out his subject as a comic hero himself and gives repeated voice to his complaints: that Lee took more credit than he deserved, promoting himself as a hipster icon; and that as Marvel continued to generate revenue streams through TV and film adaptations and licensed consumer goods, the artist responsible for creating these characters saw little or nothing in the way of either acclaim or money. As the man Kirby knew as "Stanley" promoted his own legend, making himself synonymous with Marvel, his leading artist counters, "It's all lies." Whomever one believes, the book underscores how difficult it can be to assign credit or negotiate a fair deal in a market-driven business filled with copycats, where any popular success spawns numerous imitators and artists borrow or steal from each other regularly. A fast-paced celebration of an underheralded legend within the comic-book industry.

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Starred review from June 1, 2020
Scioli (the Gødland series) injects oomph into the already-energetic life story of the “King of Comics” through sweeping narrative and Scioli’s trademark detailed page layouts. Told from the point of view of Kirby (1917–1994), the biography also acts as a history of the comics industry, from early strips to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Beginning with Kirby’s hardscrabble upbringing in Manhattan’s Lower East Side (remarkably similar to the back history he later gave the Thing, one of his most endearing creations), Scioli extensively documents the artist’s career and personal life through a chummy and casual first-person narrative. Scioli recreates many of Kirby’s panels from superhero, war, crime, and romance comics—threaded through Kirby’s own experiences as a soldier and in love, for example—while his pompadour-adorned, wide-eyed figure of Kirby seems to pop from the page among a more realistically drawn supporting cast, just as his own heroes stood out as larger than life. Fans of Kirby’s most famous Marvel comics will especially enjoy recollections of his collaboration with Stan Lee, which established the Marvel Universe in the 1960s. This is a must-read for Kirby fans, and beyond—it captures the mythos of the of the 20th century comic industry’s golden age. Agent: Bob Mecoy, Creative Book Services.

Starred review from June 1, 2020

In this lively biography, Scioli (Fantastic Four) pays loving tribute to the creator of Iron Man, the X-Men, and dozens more classic characters. As a child living in Manhattan's Lower East Side, Kirby became obsessed with the colorful adventures he discovered in newspaper comic strips. Inspired by these stories, as well as folktales told by his mother and the futuristic imagery he found at the 1939 World's Fair, he began a career as a journeyman cartoonist. After cocreating Captain America with his partner Joe Simon, Kirby was drafted and experienced harrowing combat in World War II. In the 1960s, he began a fertile period that saw him revolutionize the comic book industry, creating a slew of characters who still dominate pop culture. Scioli presents Kirby's story through a carefully researched but fictionalized first-person point of view, capturing his larger-than-life personality and adding extra pathos to his final decades spent struggling to get credit--and compensation--for his massive contribution to American culture. VERDICT Scioli details Kirby's life with the same passion and crackling energy the King of Comics brought to his own work. An essential text for fans of the medium.

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