Kirby Kovers Week, Day 5!

We're wrapping up the week-long Kirby Kovers posts today! Next week, there'll be a new week-long post theme, which I haven't decided on yet.


Fantastic Four #52 is a great example of Kirby Tech. Who knows what all this stuff is supposed to do? I don't know, but it looks cool as hell! I love how the FF is clearly on the lookout for something, but they aren't sure what... in the meantime, the Black Panther is about to strike! There are a few things that kind of mar this for me, however... Note the Torch's fire trail. It seems to emanate from within or behind some of the Tech, but that doesn't make any sense. Also, the Panther's figure is clearly larger than the Thing, which would seem to indicate that he's about to land in front of the FF, but with his back turned to them! I can understand why Kirby did it that way, though -- it does add emphasis to the Panther's presence on the cover (as does having him over the FF's logo).

Kirby Kovers Week, Day 4!

It's the penultimate day of Kirby Kovers week here, and let's see what I've got for you!


Here's the cover to Two-Gun Kid #65... and say, just how many giant guys did Two-Gun have to fight, anyway? This is at least the second one! I love the look of contempt the giant Native American has on his face!

Kirby Kovers Week, Day 3!

First up today is Avengers #2, and I have to say, I feel like this wasn't Kirby's best Avengers work. Giant-Man barely seems to fit his name (maybe if there had been zoom lines indicating that he was growing, instead of just being about 10 feet tall here). I've always been fond of the Space Phantom, but I can't imagine him ever having an on-screen part in any Marvel Cinematic Universe movie (maybe we could get a mention of him somewhere, or at least a cameo in the next Guardians of the Galaxy movie?).

Kirby Kovers Week, Day 2!

It's the second day of Kirby Kovers week, and we start with a look at Black Cat Mystic #60!

Of the work that Simon and Kirby did for Harvey, this one looks the least like their work to me. I think the reason this looks "off" is due to the feathering done on the robe of the guy in the foreground, as well as elsewhere on the cover. The giveaway that this was an S&K production, at least to my eye, is on the fireplace and other furniture. What do you think?

Kirby Kovers Week, Day 1!

I'm continuing with theme weeks while I try to get posts further ahead (I've got a vacation coming up with the family in April, so I've got to get ahead while I can), so this week is all Kirby Kovers! Well, it should be... it depends on how many I've got left in my archive that haven't been posted here yet! We'll see what happens!

First up is Fantastic Four #63. By this point, Kirby had really hit his stride on the FF, where he had reached his peak. Since his run as artist and co-plotter/co-writer with Stan Lee, the only times the book really approached this same level of greatness was the John Byrne, Walt Simonson, and Mark Waid runs, in my opinion. This cover is a great example of why Kirby was King at Marvel: There's pretty much no background at all, yet the cover doesn't feel like it was phoned in at all. Kirby let the action speak for itself, between the Sandman battling the Thing and the Torch, and especially with Blastaar battling Mr. Fantastic while Sue looks on. Every character has more or less an equal presence on this cover, and it all fits together very nicely!