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Topic: Jack Kirby’s Jimmy Olsen (Topic Closed Topic Closed) Post ReplyPost New Topic
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Mike Norris
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Posted: 25 April 2016 at 2:16pm | IP Logged | 1  

Just re-read Kirby's Jimmy Olsen run for the first time in decades. Noticed some of Kirby's favorite themes were in them. The Project plays with genetics, something Kirby covered at Marvel with the X-Men and the Inhumans. The Project was also similar to Kirby's later Eternals concept with three branches of humanity: regular humans, the hyper intelligent Hairys and the "monster like" D.N. Aliens.  

The book kind of ran out of steam after the Project storyline. the Transilvane and  Victor Volcanum weren't quite on the same level. I did wonder if there was a connection between the Project and Transilvane since some of the science involved was similar. 

Even after all these years I question the redrawing of  Superman and Jimmy's faces. It was really jarring back then and now. And at times inconsistent. Sometime they were totally redrawn, other times it looked like they were inking Kirby. Made me wish Anderson was doing a faithful inking of Kirby instead of redrawing,  The "on model" argument falls flat when I look at the issues that followed with Sekowsky drawing Superman and Jimmy in his own style that was no more "on model" than Kirby's. 
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Brennan Voboril
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Posted: 25 April 2016 at 2:43pm | IP Logged | 2  

Love love love the Jimmy Olsen series from Kirby.  It was just bursting with wild ideas.  Tales of the DNA Agents back-ups were great too.  I wish this series had gone on forever.  

Yeah, the heads are weird.  I used to be more bothered by them but it seems I've grown to accept them over time.  Odd how that worked. 


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John Byrne
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Posted: 25 April 2016 at 3:09pm | IP Logged | 3  

The story at the time was that there were those among the Powers That Were at DC who had it in for Kirby, and did everything possible to mess with him.

True? All parties who might have been actually involved are dead, now, so there's really no way to be sure.

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Richard White
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Posted: 26 April 2016 at 3:58am | IP Logged | 4  

Any inkling JB why, if that was the case, they had it in for Kirby?
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John Byrne
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Posted: 26 April 2016 at 4:01am | IP Logged | 5  

Ancient jealousies, as best I could ever determine.
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Steve Gumm
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Posted: 26 April 2016 at 5:45am | IP Logged | 6  

I can understand the general public looking at his later work and seeing it as primitive in comparison to say you or Neal Adams more realistic depictions. I felt that way as a teen, but have grown to appreciate how truly powerful his style was. One would think those in the biz would have respected the heck out of Jack's work and his contributions to their industry!
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John Byrne
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Posted: 26 April 2016 at 5:57am | IP Logged | 7  

…in comparison to say you or Neal Adams more realistic depictions…

••

The fan inside me just swooned.

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Steve Gumm
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Posted: 26 April 2016 at 9:33am | IP Logged | 8  

...The fan inside me just swooned.

....

JOHN BYRNE comments on my posts, the fan inside ME just swooned.

Thanks as always!
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Jason Czeskleba
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Posted: 26 April 2016 at 12:37pm | IP Logged | 9  

It's worth noting that some of the artists drawing Lois Lane during the same time period also had their Superman faces redrawn.  So it does not appear to be a case of Kirby being singled out for unique treatment.  For some reason, during that period DC seemed to be especially worried about Superman appearing "on model."

And of course DC was not the only one who did this to Kirby.  As we all know, pretty much every time Kirby drew Spider-Man or Peter Parker in the 60s, the faces and figures were heavily redrawn.  And you can sometimes even spot random Romita-redrawn faces of regular FF cast members during Kirby's run on that title.


Edited by Jason Czeskleba on 26 April 2016 at 12:38pm
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Eric Jansen
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Posted: 26 April 2016 at 3:26pm | IP Logged | 10  

I just bought the SILVER AGE JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA trade paperback and I would almost swear that Ross Andru drew all the Wonder Woman faces throughout the whole run.  Either that or Mike Sekowsky copied him exactly.

I'm still amazed that the most famous Starlin CAPTAIN MARVEL pin-up/cover had an obvious Romita face!  And it looks great!


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Eric Jansen
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Posted: 26 April 2016 at 4:50pm | IP Logged | 11  

Hmm...here's a "one changed face" instance that leads directly to our host...

Apparently, Stan Lee didn't like the face Neal Adams drew for a monster in X-MEN #65 and had it changed.  He liked monsters with somewhat human faces and the one Adams drew didn't follow that "rule" and he had Marie Severin re-draw the face.  Now I love Stan Lee and will usually side with him on anything, but that was a big boo-boo!  If Neal Adams is willing to draw your lowest-selling book, you don't rub him the wrong way!

This one editiorial decision (according to Roy Thomas' intro in the MARVEL MASTERWORKS edition) led to Neal Adams quitting the book.  I would say Neal Adams quitting the book led to its cancellation.  (Though the delayed sales figures on his issues led to the book not being cancelled immediately, but turned into a reprint mag for a while, because "kids didn't know any better.")

If the book hadn't been cancelled, it might never have risen like a (ahem) phoenix from the ashes!  If there was never a need to create a new X-Men team, and the book just moseyed along as a middling book (after Adams' eventual, natural departure), it might never have been a place for John Byrne's plotting and art skills to shine!

Stan Lee changing that one Neal Adams face might have contributed to John Byrne's superstar status!
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Jason Czeskleba
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Posted: 26 April 2016 at 5:25pm | IP Logged | 12  

 Eric Jansen wrote:
I would say Neal Adams quitting the book led to its cancellation. 

It wasn't just a redrawn face.  In the issue in question (X-Men #65) Adams had drawn a doglike monster, and Stan had it completely redrawn as a humanoid-type monster.

At any rate, Adams' departure from the series could not have been a factor in its cancellation, because the decision to cancel the book was made before sales figures on Adams' final issues had come in.  The decision was in fact made before the one post-Adams issue (#66) had even been published, since the cancellation is announced on the letters page of that last issue.  So at the time of cancellation they had no way of knowing how Adams' departure might affect sales.

(edit to correct issue numbers in the above).


Edited by Jason Czeskleba on 26 April 2016 at 9:08pm
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