The SPIRIT WORLD Of JACK KIRBY...



The new book.  Art by Neal Adams (based on Kirby design)

What can one say about JACK KIRBY that hasn't already been said by those far more proficient at bending words to their will than I'll ever be?  I'm a huge fan of the man and his work - but without the tendency to deify him in the way that some fans do.  You know the sort of thing I mean - "Jack's art should have been printed directly from his pencils", "Jack should've been allowed to be his own editor", "No one else should've been allowed to dialogue his stories", etc.  You've heard it all before, I'm sure.

The fact was however, that Jack - although he was a brilliant storyteller when it came to laying out a comicbook - had a tin ear for dialogue, making his scripting somewhat less than the dynamic, pulse-pounding match for his pencilling that it should've been.  Also, Jack's artwork in later years sadly began to suffer from an accumulation of 'shorthand' techniques he'd developed to allow him to draw so many pages on a monthly basis throughout his long career and not miss a deadline.

The original magazine

Over time, his rendition of musculature and anatomy departed from any semblance of reality as his figures became squat, stocky and far less fluid than had once been the case - while shadows cast on any floor bore absolutely no discernible relation to whatever object was supposedly responsible for them.  Say what you like, but the pinnacle of Jack's career was the work he produced with STAN LEE at MARVEL COMICS, when Stan was responsible for 'punching up' the stories with his scripting, and capable hands like JOE SINNOTT, VINCE COLLETTA and DICK AYERS (to name but three) added their not inconsiderable talents to softening some of the harsher 'eccentricities' of Jack's art while enhancing its strengths.

Which finally brings me to DC's recent release of Jack's SPIRIT WORLD one-shot magazine from 1971.  This was a companion mag to In The DAYS Of The MOB (which I hope DC will also reissue in the same deluxe format), both of which were attempts by Jack to venture beyond the boundaries of mere comics-for-kids with proper, 'legitimate' magazines that grown-ups would buy.  MARK EVANIER reveals the details behind those attempts (and their failures) in his informative introduction to the second portion of the book, so I won't spoil your anticipation of reading it for yourself (if you're going to buy a copy) by repeating them here.

Interior page from magazine.  Inked by Vince Colletta

I'm lucky enough to own both of Jack's DC/HAMPSHIRE mags from the '70s, but the draw for me with the deluxe edition of Spirit World was that it also contains material originally prepared for what would've been the second issue of the mag (which, sadly, was never published).  These tales were later re-sized (on some pages), coloured, and then printed in some of DC's monthly supernatural/mystery themed comicbooks.  It's not recorded whether Jack or MIKE ROYER was responsible for the 'drawing up' (re-sizing) which is evident on various panels, but some of it is rather clumsy.

However, nice as it undoubtedly is to see these other tales, I have to admit that they're somewhat underwhelming in both the artwork and writing departments.  Mike Royer, while himself an accomplished artist and inker, was under instruction to render Jack's pencils just the way they were, with no changes or alterations - so it's hardly his fault that the pages are very far from examples of Jack's art at its best.  The scripting is dull and leaden, and does nothing to lessen the commonly-held perception that Jack's strong points did not include dialogue and exposition.  One can't help but wonder what these stories would've been like had Stan or ROY THOMAS been in charge of the writing duties.

Please, DC - this one next

Having said all that however, the book is a nice little addition to any Kirby fan's library (despite its somewhat distracting inability to maintain the density of tone from page to page - especially on the b&w ones), but sadly it doesn't represent Jack at the top of his game.  It has to be said though, that Jack not at "the top of his game" usually still offered something worth looking at.

One final word - I'm surprised that DC chose to publish Spirit World first, instead of In The Days Of The Mob, which is the more interesting of the two magazines in my opinion.  (Though that could be due to the nostalgia factor associated with me actually owning the latter in the early '70s, whereas I didn't obtain the former 'til many years later when I was an adult.)  Regardless, let's just hope that sales are good enough to warrant DC releasing the companion publication in the very near future.