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The Sincerest Flattery: Fake Kirby

This column normally deals with the function of overuse of concepts or outright theft of ideas in comics; however, the subject of derivative art also fits within the view of The Comics Recycling Bin; therefore, let us consider comic art that attempts to imitate or reconstruct another's style, in this case specifically the work of Jack Kirby.

Imitation proves the sincerest flattery in two ways: one, by acknowledging that imitators recognize the work of their prototype as worthy of emulation, and two, by producing derivative work of quality, showing that the strength of the original improves the imitation and that the style one artist discovers may contain the seeds of an entire school of art or craft.

Love or hate of the work of Kirby, or a dogmatic insistence on originality, may make derivative work appear weak, contrived, or unimaginative. However, so many owe so much to Kirby's work across the decades of his career that some temptation must always survive to attempt to reproduce his style, particularly when handling concepts he first brought to life. Furthermore, enough Kirby-like material has appeared on news print from other hands that the faux Kirby style may represent an autonomous school of art these days.

The following samples represent a number of takes on Kirby's work over the years; I make no attempt to create a comprehensive catalog here.

Smith's Kirby

The rarity of Kirby-styled art from the early career of Barry Windsor-Smith attests to its popularity; such scarcity forced me to scavenge for a Francophonic version of a Daredevil reprint for this sample.

Barry Windsor-Smith, who became a comics celebrity with the style he depicted the early Conan comic book, did earlier Marvel work with a distinct Kirby-derived style, even if he adorned this style with clear outside touches (such as a sense of body language that reflected influence from other Marvel celebrities as Jim Steranko and Gene Colan). Only a few Marvel works contained this Smith-as-Kirby style, including pieces in Daredevil and The Avengers. By the time he began Conan, and, indeed, as he handled works such as Avengers #100 and a short run of Dr. Strange stories, Windsor-Smith had abandoned his surreal, fascinating treatment of the idiom of the Father of Comics.

Buckler's Kirby

The mid-seventies saw Jack Kirby return to Marvel, a company in drift from its successful origins. This period saw notable successes for the likes of Jim Starlin and Dave Cockrum, both of whom had hammered out gorgeous styles at one time or another by borrowing heavily from more senior talent; Cockrum had borrowed elements from Russ Manning, and Starlin from Gil Kane.

Rich Buckler, known for later work on DC titles such as Secret Society of Super-Villains and early All-Star Squadron demonstrated a strong way with a faux Kirby style. While this piece does not demonstrate all the strong points of Kirby in a frenzy, it offers a passable imitation that could pass for some of Kirby's later Marvel work.

Frenz' Kirby

Occasionally the Kirby bug infects someone handed duties on a book that Kirby either created or redefined. Such a case defines the Ron Frenz The Mighty Thor, where Frenz strove for a Kirbylike take with the help of stalwart Marvel inker Joe Sinnott.

Frenz managed to approximate Kirby proportions and, sometimes, Kirby's sense of motion; this period did, indeed, offer a window back to the hectic early days of the title, when Kirby seemed able to illustrate everything Marvel put out at the same time.

Bogdonove's Kirby

Bogdonove hides within his hands the ability to dive into other styles without ever completely leaving his own, demonstrating an oddly elastic diversity. His recent Golden Age stylings in one of the Superman titles demonstrate one such mild bend. This Superman, Man of Steel cover demonstrates his ability to render Kirby material true to its origins even during a period when readers could barely recognize the short lived transformed Superman.

Although the contents of this book contain a reworking of some of the Fourth World content (parademons and Boom Tubes), the cover alone acknowledges the stylistic origins of these swarming baddies.

Ladronn's Kirby

Of all the Kirby-imitations, perhaps Jose Ladronn's does the most with a series of conventions including the full-panel extreme closeup and a set of proportions that include the thick limbs and enlarged fists most typical of Kirby's style around 1970. To these elements, Ladronn adds a solid feel for storytelling and the ability to bend his borrowed form to the needs of aesthetics and cinematography. Nor does Ladronn confine himself to "pure" Kirby; he goes for a thinner line, allowing for more detail, and borrows, or thinks like, Barry Windsor-Smith during his Kirby period. The Smith influence appears in the body language of crouching figures and the portrayal of strongly tapered calves an smaller feet than the clublike appendages typical of the chunky era of Kirby's work.

Ladronn demonstrates a versatility in derivative work that includes an excellence that appears in all of his imitative forms. His manga-styled Spider-Boy work for Amalgam Comics retained the strengths of his Kirby-styled work through an altogether different idiom.

The Value of Imitation

Imitation need not represent no more than one creator's lack of imagination that leads to the theft of style or content. Sometimes, works require the handling of other artists to appear in a form that those predisposed against one artist can appreciate. For instance, musical audiences unable to appreciate the music of Bob Dylan owing to his very nasal approach to singing might, nonetheless, enjoy his songs in the hands of different singers who occasionally record his material. Eddy Albert (the actor), Tom Petty, and Sting all recorded performances of his music; with such a wide take on the material, it can reach a much wider audience than those few patient enough to sit through Dylan singing through his nose.

Similarly, other artists' takes on an acquired taste like Kirby's Silver Age (and post-) work can provide different perspectives on what made this work worthy (or unworthy) of attention.