Book Review: Jack Kirby: The Epic Life of the King of Comics by Tom Scioli

Jack Kirby: The Epic Life of the King of Comics by Tom Scioli

Jack Kirby, most famous as a comic book creator who teamed with Stan Lee, had an amazing life. He grew up in New York during the Depression. He started working in comics and animation in the 1930s and was drafted to fight in World War II. When he got back, the grim experience of being a soldier convinced him that the horror genre of comics was of no interest. He returned to comics writing in New York, working with Joe Simon (a pre-war collaborator) at various companies. He had a lot of creative output and was able to transition from superheroes to other comics (like romance or westerns) as the public's tastes changed through the years. He wound up working with Stan Lee and they revived superhero comics with the introduction of Marvel's classic heroes--Fantastic Four, Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, The X-Men, etc. Kirby had a lot of tension with Lee, who was more of a publicity guy, about credit for the creative work. With a family to support, Kirby often had to make hard choices about what work to accept and when to stay at a job that had less and less satisfaction for him. He led a full life and was appreciated by fans up to his death in 1994.

This biography tells Kirby's story from his point of view in this graphic non-fiction. Kirby was a creative genius but also had a lot of angst and a big chip on his shoulder. Very early on, Kirby gets peevish about other comic creators taking his creations or his ideas and running with them. Later, he feels ripped off by various publishers and collaborators but has a hard time fighting back because of family obligations. All the while he says that the work he is doing is the best and he is under-appreciated by his peers and the comic-reading public. The book shows this inferiority complex by drawing Kirby as smaller than other characters in many of the frames. And yet he has the face and hairstyle of The Fantastic Four's Reed Richards--the brilliant scientist who funds their amazing adventures with royalties from his many patents. By the end, the reader gets the sense that this book is the truth but not the whole truth of Kirby's life.

Recommended for fans of comics, it is probably of less interest to others.