PART TWO Of KIRBY'S CAPTAIN AMERICA COVER GALLERY...

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

JACK KIRBY did his best with CAPTAIN AMERICA (& The FALCON) when he returned to the title in the mid-'70s, but rumours persist that he was sabotaged from within.  Kirby reportedly felt that a disproportionate amount of negative letters were published in the mag, something to which he objected and complained about, 'though, as editor, one would think he had the power to prevent.  Obviously not, as he was based out in California, and the letter columns were put together in New York as a simple matter of expediency.

It's also rumoured that some of the new young turks openly scoffed at Jack's pages when they arrived in the MARVEL offices, being less than impressed with them in comparison to the work of other artists in the fabled BULLPEN.  As I said, he did his best, but the odds seemed stacked against him from the start.  His art was less fluid and graceful than it had been in his heyday, and his style of scripting appeared out of sync with then-modern sensibilities.

STAN LEE apparently interceded on his behalf, requesting that more positive letters were chosen over less-flattering ones, but by then it was too late.  Jack was demoralised, and when his contract ended, he presumably chose not to renew it, and to seek employment elsewhere.  A once mighty giant was at the end of his run, and never again created anything that resonated to the same degree in the comicbook field as his collaborations with 'Stan the Man'.

Jack returned to DC COMICS for a spell and completed his FOURTH WORLD 'epic', but it was an unsatisfying anti-climax that didn't really bear scrutiny.  It's sad to see how age and illness took its toll on the man who was once the 'King' of comics, but he belonged to a vanished era, the likes of which neither he nor we would ever see again.  Such is life.

However, let's not end on a downbeat note.  There's still much to admire in the second set of 11 covers from his '70s run on Cap, so admire away! 

PAST IMPERFECT, BUT WELCOME NONETHELESS...

Here's a curious tale which I can't actually recall if I've recounted before or not, although I've meant to for a while now.  Back in August of 1999, myself and a young lady were spending the day in Glasgow and decided to drop in to the Gallery of Modern Art in Royal Exchange Square.  One of the exhibits we looked at was a 'kinetic sculpture' by EDUARD BERSUDSKY, entitled An Autumn Walk in the Belle Epoque of Perestroyka (Meta-Tinguely).

It was scheduled to begin at a certain time, but with a dozen or so people seated and expectant, the minutes crept past the anointed hour without the demonstration of the complex contraption commencing.  The girl I was with (who, for the purpose of this tale we'll call Sally) went off to enquire about what was happening, only to find out that it had been cancelled due to some kind of technical fault.  (A sign at the entrance informing us of the fact would have been appreciated.)

Anyway, disappointed, we filed out to look at other exhibits and soon forgot about what we'd missed.  Not long after, Sally returned to her own country for a while, although I saw her again on two more occasions when she was back in Scotland some time later.  However, she doesn't feature in the rest of this story, so exit Sally, stage left.  Well, in an odd kind of way, that's not quite true, but let's take each step as it comes.  (The best way to take steps, I believe.)

Eduard Bersudsky's 'kinetic sculpture'

A year later to the very day, I was in Glasgow and decided to revisit the Gallery once more.  Much to my surprise, the exhibit that had been out of order twelve months before was still on display - and just about to begin.  I entered the room and, believe it or not, the exact same two seats at the far end of the row that Sally and I had occupied were empty, so I parked myself on the very one I had sat on previously.
 

For the next several minutes, the audience sat in rapt attention as the display went through its preordained mechanical repertoire.  When it had completed its revolutions, I instinctively turned to Sally to  ask her opinion of what we had just witnessed - only to be surprised for a split-second to find her chair empty.  Then reality kicked in and I realized my mind had automatically jumped back a year, momentarily duped by the near perfect re-creation of the previous year's events.

Bizarre I know, but for a moment I had experienced something extremely akin to time-travel - even if it was only in my mind.  Has anyone else ever had a similar experience?  Feel free to share.