I like Jack Kirby. I wouldn’t put him up their with my favourite artists,
mostly because I’m so far removed from it’s original release and
his work now has a legendary status it would be one of the most biased choices
I’ve ever made. Instead he’s up their with Stan Lee as one of the
creators I most admire. Comics wouldn’t be what they are today without
those two men. I refuse to choose between the two in terms of who created who, instead I see them as a team. Sadly, those two couldn't see it the same way.
One common criticism I hear from people who are more used to the 90’s and today’s stuff (which I’ll admit I fall under) is that his art is simple by today’s standards. That is simply not the case. I was looking in the back of my Fantastic Four Omnibuses and looked online at some of his amazing untouched pencil work. The guy put in just as much detail as some artists today.
The reason I think it looks so simple is that it’s been scanned and reproduced from it’s original look and the biggest factor is the colouring. The old colouring was so simple and a lot of the time washed out the detail of the pencil and ink work.
One of the biggest, and perhaps most underrated change to comic books over the past 10 years is the advance in colouring. Colouring adds so much to comic books today and it’s a huge factor in setting the mode and brining life to art. It can make a talented artist a superstar; can you imagine Steve McNiven’s art without his colourist?
What I would like to see in an attempt to show newer fans that Jack Kirby is just as talented as people say and also to show people just how vital colouring is too today’s high standards of art is a one shot reprinting some of Jack Kirby’s pages by today’s top colourists.
I think it would be a unique experiment and very interesting comparison from 60’s art to today’s art.
2 comments:
Nothing against this arena, Crimson, but have you ever thought about submitting some of your articles to CBR? It would give you a much bigger audience that these reflections do really deserve.
I definitely think Kirby's talents would be better shone through better coloring. Kirby was indeed a great penciler, and quite the storyteller. His Sgt. Fury is an example of both.
Honestly Chase I'm slightly nervous about entering an "official" area any time soon... every time I have I end up getting burned and losing friends in the process.
Even though two or three people are reading these, I’m really enjoying it. It’s allowing me to work of the masses of rust I’ve gained from not writing for years.
Maybe one day but I’m enjoying doing it more then anything... which is something I'd forgotten.
Second try: I forgot to say, thanks for the complement
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