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Posts: 7802
Apr 28 14 2:10 AM
Personally, I'm a huge Kirby fan and I have no hesitation in acknowledging his enormous contributions to Marvel in particular and the comics medium in general.However, in terms of his enormous reputation as the best comics artist of all time by far, I think he his over-rated.Most influential comics artist of the 60s and early 70s, a resounding YES!Best of all time, noooo. As much as I admire him, he doesn't even make my top ten.I'm not saying my all my favourites are better, but I prefer their styles.
Let me put that in some kind of perspective. Let's take Wally Wood as an example.I don't think Kirby did anything that came close to the quality of Wood's best work at EC and I think Wood was a much more accomplished artist than Kirby in every respect.However, I much prefer most of Kirby's work from 65-approx. 74 to most stuff Wood did in the same period.
Another example: Jim Starlin has always been a quirky and flawed artist, who obviously couldn't hold a candle to Kirby in his command of the rudiments of their craft.And yet, I prefer his Captain Marvel and Warlock runs in the 70s to anything Kirby did at the time, with the exception of the first half dozen issues of New Gods, Mr. Miracle and Forever People. I'm talking about the art specifically here; despite all his flaws, Starlin's art at the time crackles with innovation and experimentation, which still keeps it fresh and exciting. Kirby's art was fine to great, but even though he was clearly inspired by his move to DC, it was predictable.
Irony and subtly are the first casualties in the eternal battle of wits between people divided by a common language. So read between the lines or you'll fall through the cracks...
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