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‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ by Jack Kirby


 
If you’re at all aware of comic books history, Jack Kirby needs no introduction. As one of the founding visionaries at Marvel in the 1960s, Kirby’s vital storytelling skills and phenomenal visual energy helped make the X-Men, the Hulk, and the Fantastic Four household names.   

A few months ago we drew your attention to a never-published project of Kirby’s, his adaptation of The Prisoner, the dystopic British TV series starring and co-created by Patrick McGoohan. Today we have a similar treat, one of the very few fully realized stories by Kirby that has never been collected in book form—his mid-1970s adaptation of 2001: A Space Odyssey, originally a short story by Arthur C. Clarke called “The Sentinel” and later a movie directed by Stanley Kubrick.

The movie came out in 1968, but Kirby’s adaptation had to wait until 1976. We can regard that gap as a kind of marker for Kirby’s strong desire to adapt the story even though there may have been little commercial interest in it. Kirby first adapted the movie as a standalone book of 70 pages, and then proceeded to recapitulate the movie’s plot and themes over and over again across 10 issues—except this time with scary aliens with tentacles that have nothing to do with Kubrick’s movie. The resolution of that 10-issue run is a character who is actually oddly resonant with our own times, a human-A.I. hybrid called Machine Man, whose own comic book line, which picked up where 2001: A Space Odyssey left off, lasted for a few months. The character would be fitfully resurrected every ten years or so (1984, 1999). 

Remarkably, Machine Man was eventually made a part of the Avengers, so it’s an accurate statement to say that the Avengers has the DNA of Kubrick and Clarke in it—and for that matter Friedrich Nietzsche, who is never far from my thoughts whenever I watch Kubrick’s masterpiece.
 

 
Kirby’s adaptation of the movie was wildly rethought for the medium of comics. His palette is all over the place, departing vastly from Kubrick’s more stately blacks, whites, and reds. And the action of course is tuned to the entertainment value of a typical 10-year-old rather than a stoned college student—this is echoed in the cover promise that “The Ultimate Trip” would become “The Ultimate Illustrated Adventure!” Kirby dispenses with the three (highly Nietzschean) sections of the movie (“The Dawn of Man,” “Mission to Jupiter,” and “Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite”) with four more hyperbolic sections of his own, which are replete with exclamation points:
 

Part I: The Saga of Moonwatcher the Man-Ape!
Part II: Year 2001: The Thing on the Moon!
Part III: Ahead Lie the Planets
Part IV: The Dimension Trip!

 
Kirby’s fans are said not to be fond of his 2001: A Space Odyssey, but I must say I like it. It’s got not that much to do with Kubrick but that just makes it all the more interesting.

In Kirby’s telling, the so-called “Starchild” infant of the movie’s finale is reconcieved as “The New Seed.” In the feature hilariously called “Monolith Mail” reserved for reader correspondence, Kirby noted of this element:
 

The New Seed is the conquering hero in this latest Marvel drama. Why? Because he has staying power, that’s why. He will always be there in the story’s final moments to taunt us with the question we shall never answer. The little shaver is, perhaps, the embodiment of our own hopes in a world which daily makes us more than a bit uneasy about the future ... in the meager space devoted to his appearance, he brightens our hopes considerably. He is a comforting visual, almost tangible reminder that the future is not yet up for grabs. And wherever his journey takes him matters not one whit to this writer. The mere fact that the chances of his making it are still good is the comforting thought.

 
Some sample images from Kirby’s 2001: A Space Odyssey:
 

 

 
More images from Kirby’s 2001: A Space Odyssey after the jump:

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Posted by Martin Schneider
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03.20.2017
12:19 pm
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African gods and goddesses drawn as ass-kicking Jack Kirby-style superheroes
02.08.2017
01:19 pm
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Oxóssi, a spirit associated with the hunt, forests, animals, and wealth
 
You don’t have to be anthropologist Clifford Geertz to make the connection that the superheroes developed in comic books in the middle of the last century function something like a new American mythology. The Greeks had Zeus, Athena, Poseidon, and Aphrodite; the Romans had Mars, Minerva, Janus, and Juno; and the Norse had Thor, Odin, Loki, and Frigg. In America we have Iron Man, Spider-Man, Flash Gordon, and the Silver Surfer (oh, and Thor too, right). Unlike Zeus and Minerva, our mythological heroes are currently drawing millions of people to multiplexes the world over, for whatever that’s worth. Mythology is breaking box office records!

A artist named Hugo Canuto has recently looked to his own African-influenced culture in Brazil to make a similar connection for figures from African mythology, depicting them as ass-kicking superheroes drawn in the style of the legendary Jack Kirby. Many deities of modern-day Afro-Brazilian religions find their roots in the mythologies of Nigeria and Benin, and these covers reflect that, using specifically local, that is to say Portuguese, spellings of the names.

For instance, the water deity Yemo̩ja is rendered here as Yemanjá, as she is known in Brazilian culture. Oshunmare, god of the rainbow, here pops up as Oxumaré. And Oya, a major Orisha governing death and rebirth, can be found here as Iansã, for that is what she is called on the western side of the Atlantic Ocean.
 

Avengers No. 4 (1963)
 
Last year Canuto reworked an iconic early cover of The Avengers to showcase the major Orishas, called Orixas in Portuguese, which are key elemental spirits of the Yoruba religion. So “The Orixas” is the umbrella category, like “The Avengers,” that houses all of the mythological figures that followed.

Interestingly, in the early 1990s, DC Comics had a line based on Yoruba mythology, called Orishas—it was also known as “Gods of Africa” and featured characters such as Eshu, Ogun, Erinle, and Oshunmare. Anybody out there a fan of that series? I don’t remember it.

You can purchase prints of Canuto’s covers on Facebook.
 

The Orixas
 

Yemanjá, major water deity, mother of all 14 Yoruba gods and goddesses
 
Much more after the jump…...

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Posted by Martin Schneider
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02.08.2017
01:19 pm
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Jack Kirby’s unpublished adaptation of ‘The Prisoner’

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Jack Kirby was the man who imagined our world of superheroes. In partnership with Stan Lee and Joe Simon, Kirby created the likes of Captain America, Iron Man, the Fantastic Four, Hulk, Thor, Doctor Doom, the Black Panther and many, many others.

Kirby’s input had a bigger and longer lasting effect than just the words or concept. His drawings helped shape our worldview—for he was the artist who created the look of these superheroes. When we think of Captain America or Iron Man—we’re seeing these characters through the prism of Kirby’s imagination.

Jack Kirby was born in New York to an Austrian-Jewish immigrant family in 1917. Though life was poor and tough, Kirby had an inkling he was going to be an artist. Hardly the sort of work for a working class kid from the Lower East Side—but Kirby had a compulsion that made him draw. He started doodling, then sketching, and then drawing full comic strips. He knew he would never be a Rembrandt or a Gauguin but he did know that he would become an artist. He took to drawing comics because the comic strip was the art of the working man. Kirby later recalled:

I thought comics was a common form of art and strictly American in my estimation because America was the home of the common man, and show me the common man that can’t do a comic. So comics is an American form of art that anyone can do with a pencil and paper.

His talent for drawing led to his early career as a graphic artist. He created single panel health advice cartoons such as Your Health Comes First!!! and various advisory comic strips. When Kirby switched jobs to Fox Feature Syndicate, he teamed up with Joe Simon—together they created Captain America.

After the Second World War Kirby worked for DC Comics and then Marvel—where his legendary partnership with Stan Lee was responsible for creating our world of superheroes—a world comparable to the myths of ancient Greece. However, disagreements with Lee over credit, led Kirby to quit Marvel and rejoin DC in the late 1960s, where he produced his superb Fourth World series.

In 1968, Kirby became obsessed with a new TV series called The Prisoner. The series depicted a spy relocated to a mysterious island where he is interrogated for information. As an anti-authoritarian libertarian, Kirby identified with the central character No. 6 played by Patrick McGoohan. Kirby said the series represented:

...an individual’s stubborn attempts to wrest freedom from subtle but oppressive power.

This was analogous to his view of politics as well as his creative relationships with others—most notably Stan Lee.

In the early 1970s, Marvel decided to produce a comic book version of The Prisoner. Marvel’s then editor Marv Wolfman set Steve Englehart and Gil Kane to work on it. However, Stan Lee—knowing how much Kirby liked the series—intervened and asked him to work on the comic book.

Kirby produced a complete first issue lifted directly from the series’ first episode “Arrival.” Unlike his other work, Kirby’s The Prisoner is an almost faithful retelling of the TV show. The finished drawings were partially inked and lettered by Mike Royer–but the idea was dropped and the comic never saw light of day.
 
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Read the rest of Jack Kirby’s ‘The Prisoner,’ after the jump…

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Posted by Paul Gallagher
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09.20.2016
09:57 am
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Jack Kirby’s ‘Lord of Light’ artwork gets trippy psychedelic update
07.09.2015
01:17 pm
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Royal Chamber of Brahma
Royal Chambers of Brahma
 
Many of the pieces in comic book artist Jack Kirby and Barry Geller’s collaboration “Lord of Light” have never been seen before. Originally done in black and white, the artwork was recently vividly colorized by artist, Mark Englert.
 
Chambers of Brahama
Chambers of Brahama
 
The series itself has a rather fascinating history. In 1979, Kirby created artwork based on Roger Zelazny’s sci-fi novel, Lord of Light for Barry Geller. Geller was writing a screenplay based on Lord of Light and tapped Kirby with the job of pulling together the set designs for a theme park that sadly never saw the light of day called “Science Fiction Land.” The film adaptation of Lord of Light was also canned.
 
Science Fiction Land
Science Fiction Land
 
Despite these two failures, Kirby’s creations went on to be used as props in the CIA’s infamous “Canadian Caper” (depicted in the 2012 film, Argo), in which six American diplomats were able to escape Iran during the onset of the Iran Hostage Crisis in 1979 under the guise of a faux film project. It’s fascinating stuff. Now, much to the delight of Kirby devotees, the famed concept artwork for Lord of Light has taken on a new, trippy life thanks to Mark Englert’s masterful colorization that were done on of all things, blacklight screenprints. If these images don’t take you right back to 1983 (or before for that matter), I simply don’t know what will.

The prints were made available exclusively for the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con (which kicks off today) by way of Heavy Metal Magazines’ booth (#1529) for $210 each to attendees who pre-ordered them. Sadly, all the prints appear to already be sold out. The colorized prints will also be featured in Heavy Metal Magazine #276 (out on shelves on August 19th). More images of Kirby and Geller’s super psychedelic screenprints follow. LSD not included (but trust me, you won’t need it).
 
Planetary Control Room one
Planetary Control Room one
 
Planetary Control Room two
Planetary Control Room two
 
Jet Tube Transporter
Jet Tube Transporter
 
Plenty more after the jump…

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Posted by Cherrybomb
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07.09.2015
01:17 pm
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Jack Kirby makes a fleeting cameo appearance on ‘The Incredible Hulk’ TV series, 1979
07.07.2013
04:06 pm
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For fans of Jack Kirby, here’s a fleeting glimpse of the great artist in an uncredited cameo appearance as a police sketch artist in this episode of TV series The Incredible Hulk, “No Escape” from 1979.

Kirby was co-creator, with Stan Lee of The Hulk, the angry, green (though originally gray) alter-ego to mild-mannered scientist Doctor Bruce Banner. The Incredible Hulk comic book made its first appearance in May 1962, and The Hulk was as much inspired by Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde as he was by the fears of genetic mutation from radioactive fallout.
 
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Via Scheme 9

Posted by Paul Gallagher
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07.07.2013
04:06 pm
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Communism’s Mightiest Super-Heroes: What if Stan Lee and Jack Kirby had been Russian?

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The Freedom Collective is a one-shot comic that pays homage to the story-telling and artistry of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, and asks:

What if…those two giants had lived and worked in Russia and shared its hopes and fears of the time?

It’s a neat idea and shows ‘Communism’s mightiest super-heroes, striking at the heart of evil Capitalism for the workers of the world!

Can the Krimson Kommisar, MIG-4, Mastodon, Ajys and Homeland defeat the power of the evil Chief? It is a crime against the State not to buy the comic and find out. And crimes against the State are taken VERY seriously.

Written by Igor Sloano and Comrade Barr, with Art by Domski Regan and Comrade Barr, The Freedom Collective is produced by Rough Cut Comics, and has already received high praise from The Jack Kirby Collector, Grant Morrison and Alex Ross. It is a must-have for all Comrades of Great Comic Art.

Order your copy here, before its too late!
 
Bonus pictures of the Communist Super-heroes in action, after the jump…
 

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Posted by Paul Gallagher
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03.12.2013
08:13 pm
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Comic book couture: Marvel Comics-inspired fashion hits the runways
04.30.2012
11:18 pm
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Sydney-based fashion designers Anna Plunkett and Luke Sales—whose label is called Romance Was Born—showcased their spring / summer 2012/13 collection yesterday at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia.

There’s some debate on the Internet whether or not these designs are Jack Kirby inspired. Maybe the backdrop behind the models?
 
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More after the jump…

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Posted by Tara McGinley
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04.30.2012
11:18 pm
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When Paul McCartney Met Jack Kirby
12.27.2010
07:15 am
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This is the moment Paul McCartney met comic book hero Jacky Kirby in 1975. It was at the Forum, Los Angeles, where McCartney and his band Wings, were booked to play three concerts. This was Macca’s first time back in LA since touring with The Beatles. Wings had just released Venus and Mars, which contained the track “Magneto and Titanium Man”, a song inspired by Marvel’s X-Men created by Kirby and Stan Lee. The pair met backstage at the Forum, where Jack presented Macca with a line drawing:

Then around the corner came Paul. “‘Ello Jack, nice to meet you.” Jack gave Paul and Linda the drawing which they thought was “smashing.” Paul thanked Jack for keeping him from going bonkers while they were recording the album in Jamaica. It seems that there was very little to do there, and they needed to keep their kids entertained. Luckily, there was a store that sold comics, so Paul would go and pick up all the latest. One night the song “Magneto and Titanium Man” popped into his head. The thing about Jack was that within a few minutes you felt as if you were best friends, so Paul too was soon laughing it up with Jack as if he had known him for years.

 
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Previously on Dangerous Minds

Hockey Puck…Jack Kirby Meets…Don Rickles

 
Via Scheme 9
 

Posted by Paul Gallagher
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12.27.2010
07:15 am
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Ben Grimm sez “It’s Hanukkah, time!”
12.01.2010
06:16 pm
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A festive Ben Grimm in a hand-drawn Hanukkah message from the great Jack Kirby. Grimm is, of course, a Jewish super hero. The character’s early life was modeled after Kirby’s own childhood spent in New York’s Lower East Side.

Via the Boing Boing Submitterator

Posted by Richard Metzger
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12.01.2010
06:16 pm
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Hockey puck! Jack Kirby meets… Don Rickles?
08.13.2010
09:00 pm
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Behold what is perhaps the most perplexing comic book cover of all time. In 1971, when Jack “King” Kirby left Marvel for DC Comics, he took over the Jimmy Olsen (“Superman’s Pal”) title. It’s hard to imagine a more dull comic franchise for the co-creator of Spider-man and the Fantastic Four to be assigned, but the story was that Kirby didn’t want to take anyone’s job when he arrived at DC, so Jimmy Olsen is what he got. And then he promptly turned it inside out, as should be obvious from this preposterous cover featuring, uh… Don Rickles??? That’s right HOCKEY PUCK, Don Rickles, who in this (and one more issue) is seen fighting off his alternate world doppelganger, “Goody Rickels.”

So weird. I mean, why Don Rickles and not… like Bob Newhart or Shelly Berman???

Posted by Richard Metzger
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08.13.2010
09:00 pm
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Fantastic Four: Introducing The Black Panther

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Dangerous Minds pal Charles Johnson has posted another tasty classic comics cover over at Little Green Footballs. Wait until Glen Beck gets ahold of this, PROOF that Marvel Comics promotes racism or reverse racism or Communism… or something:

Since the New Black Panther Party has been the race-baiting rage lately, here’s a related cover image from the Lizard Collection: issue #52 of Fantastic Four, a classic released in July 1966, an arguably more innocent and open time. This book featured the first appearance of African superhero Black Panther, who would go on to become one of the Avengers. It’s Jack Kirby and Stan Lee at the top of their talents, drawing on 60s memes and cultural icons to create a new, distinct, and very influential form of pop art.

Posted by Richard Metzger
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08.01.2010
11:16 pm
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Jack Kirby: 2001
05.20.2010
12:29 am
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Posted by Jason Louv
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05.20.2010
12:29 am
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Heirs of Jack Kirby sue Marvel/Disney
03.21.2010
09:22 pm
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This lawsuit from the heirs of the great comic artist Jack Kirby has been a looong time coming. The legal ramifications of this case are immense, considering the billion dollar value of these corporate trademarks. Comic artists often signed away rights to their creations during the “Golden Age” of the industry, putting their signatures on contracts measurably worse than the ones signed by blues musicians.

From the New York Times:

When the Walt Disney Company agreed in August to pay $4 billion to acquire Marvel Entertainment, the comic book publisher and movie studio, it snared a company with a library that includes some of the world’s best-known superheroes, including Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Incredible Hulk and the Fantastic Four.

The heirs of Jack Kirby, the legendary artist who co-created numerous Marvel mainstays, were also intrigued by the deal. Mr. Kirby’s children had long harbored resentments about Marvel, believing they had been denied a share of the lush profits rolling out of the company’s superheroes franchises.

They spent years preparing for a lawsuit by enlisting a Los Angeles copyright lawyer, Marc Toberoff, to represent them. When the Marvel deal was struck, Mr. Toberoff — who helped win a court ruling last year returning a share of Superman profits to heirs of one of that character’s creators — sprang into action.

Pow! Wham! Another high-profile copyright fight broke out in Hollywood, and this one could be the broadest the industry has yet seen.

A Supersized Custody Battle Over Marvel Superheroes (New York Times)

Posted by Richard Metzger
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03.21.2010
09:22 pm
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