Recently in Jack Kirby Category

On July 4th, I posted a Steranko page from Superman #400.  There were a number of great artists that editor Julie Schwartz snagged for drawing pin-ups in this landmark 1984 issue.  Here are just a few of them...

Howard Chaykin painted a wonderful cover with all the classic elements of Superman's origin.

Here's probably my favorite and most off-beat pinup, by Berni Wrightson.  I always wanted to see Wrightson tackle Superman.  I think he did a wonderful job by focusing on Kal-El's face here.

Jack Kirby provided a nice Superman illustration--inked by Terry Austin.

Brian Bolland's pinup freeze frame's another famous Superman motif--taking off his business man uniform to reveal the S emblem.

John Byrne, a Marvel creator, was even allowed to draw this pinup of his favorite character.  This was a portent of things to come--Byrne would take over Superman just two years later in 1986 with the Man of Steel limited series!

You can see a few more pinups on my Flickr Superman set.  You can also read the story behind Superman 400, plus a number of full story pages, at superman.nu.  I am amazed at how many websites/blogs actually repost full scans of every single page of comics.  Nuff said.

TSOYA.  That's was the display on my XM Radio when I tuned into the channel 133, the PRI station.  TSOYA?  Sounds like a health food product.

No, it's an acronym for The Sound of Young America, hosted by "America's Radio Sweetheart", Jesse Thorn.  I discovered this program a couple of months ago, where I was stunned to hear Thorn interviewing two cast members of The Wire, Andre Roya and Wendell Pierce (Bubbles and Bunk).  After looking at the TSOYA archives, this podcast was immediately added to my Zune RSS feed.  (Yes, I am of those lunatic Zuners.)  Thorn hits my pop cultural G-Spot right on the money with guests like Chris Elliot, Nick Hornby, Ira Glass, Tony Millionaire, Austin Grossman, Elmore Leonard, Steven Wright, etc.  One of my favorite interviews was done last year with Marty Krofft, the producer-creator behind HR Pufnstuff and a gaggle of other Saturday morning shows.  Comics professionals pop into the podcast from time to time.

This interview with Evanier is really good.  I've been pushed over the edge to buy Kirby: King of Comics.  Listening to Mark Evanier talk, I really think he's one of the luckiest guys in the world, to get to know both Jack and Roz Kirby in their home and watch the King create some of the most memorable comics of all time.  Both the podcast and the book bring some new insights into Kirby, something which I didn't think was possible, as I have a ton of Kirby material already from TwoMorrows.  I've flipped through the book at Borders and it's really well done.  It has some amazing Kirby pencils and the larger size of the hardcover makes it easy to appreciate them.

Link: Mark Evanier on TSOYA Podcast, discussing Kirby: King of Comics.

Link: Maximumfun.org, the home of TSOYA.

Link: Mark Evanier's Blog.