In the nearly fifty years since artist Jack Kirby's exit from Marvel Comics sometime in 1970, the company has seen so many changes in both its creative staff and its financial status that such a high-profile departure has perhaps become almost like a footnote to those of us who look back on it. And to those who now man the helm of the juggernaut that Marvel has become, that point in time in the company's history may well seem like little more than an afterthought, since Marvel itself had become a subsidiary several times over before its current status as a Disney holding. Even here at the PPC, the subject of Kirby's circumstances at the company has certainly been explored often enough that it seems fitting after all this time to finally put the issue to bed, as it were.
With that in mind, I found myself looking at some of the final issues of those books which Kirby was the banner artist on regularly--Mighty Thor (the character he also drew in a number of issues of Journey Into Mystery)... Fantastic Four, which he'd been with since the title's beginning... and finally, his brief stint on Captain America, which continued from Kirby's mostly unbroken run on Cap's stories in Tales Of Suspense. Kirby reportedly began laying the groundwork for his departure in 1969--and so I began lingering over those last issues from each title, not from the perspective of a reader but from that of an aggrieved artist who was bringing his career at Marvel to a close. Seen through those eyes, Kirby's work takes on an interesting aspect--particularly those full-page renderings he indulged in during 1969, which could have been tailored to smaller panels but for whatever reason merited a more dramatic presentation in order to fit the story playing out in his mind.
Curiously, Kirby's work for Captain America ended quite early in '69, well before his work in both Thor and Fantastic Four came to a close (around August of 1970), for reasons which aren't clear. His exit from the book coincided with litigation against Marvel initiated by Joe Simon over the ownership of the Captain America character, with Kirby agreeing to take Marvel's side in the dispute while also signing over to Marvel any rights he had in regard to Cap--yet we can only speculate as to whether there was any connection between that matter and Kirby's abrupt withdrawal from the book. Regardless, Kirby turns in some impressive full-page work during his brief stay on the title (only nine issues, as well as the album issue which gave fill-in artist Jim Steranko a breather).
And in the other titles, there was more to come.
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