Kirby Firsts (1971-1994)!

Jack Kirby left Marvel in 1971 when he was a man in middle age who was seeking a better situation for his talent to express itself and for he and his family to benefit financially from the fruits of that talent and his work. He at first found purchase at DC and stayed for five years launching many new concepts. He then returned to Marvel for a time, but soon left comics all together, but not really.  He kept his hand in with new concepts for Indie publishers like Pacific and Eclipse. New number one issues appeared with Kirby artwork right up to the time of his passing in 1994. Here are are the covers of the many number one issues that Kirby had a hand in over that time from the Fourth World and beyond.

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Jack Kirby's Secret City Saga!

After the initial burst of one-shots featuring Captain Glory, Bombast, and Nightglider (all derived from Kirby drawings and ideas) the heroes worked together in the Secret City Saga, a four-issue limited series (with an addendum number zero to boot) that chronicled the fate of the Ninth Men. The artwork was by Steve Ditko for the limited with Walt Simonson doing the honors on the zero issue debut. These are old-fashioned superheroics, a lot of fun, but alas they didn't find much of a market. Written by Roy Thomas these stories feel like throwback Marvel tales from the Bronze Age. I still remember this last blast of Kirby brilliance fondly though.

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Kirby Is The Topps!

Above are Jack Kirby's covers used to kick off Topps Comics "Kirbyverse". This was a pretty impressive attempt to give the "King" another ride by taking some of his later concepts and getting other folks to bring them to the page. The likes of Don Heck, John Severin, Dick Ayers, and Steve Ditko are on hand to handle the art and Roy Thomas, Gary Friedrich, and Gerry Conway take on the scripts.

This is the kind of project Kirby wanted to have ultimately at DC when he first left Marvel at the height of his fame and influence. It didn't work out, but we get a glance of what a "Kirbyverse" might've looked like in the 90's. These aren't great comics, but they are fun and entertaining, a virtue rare in the modern comics market.

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