The reaction I got to my post on whether Kirby was the “author” (the auteur) of the comics he has done did not surprise me.
I learned that some Kirby advocates hate being called advocates, yet that’s exactly what they are. I said this from the beginning and I feel more strongly about it than ever: Since the Kirby Estate has lost their lawsuit (see my upcoming post discussing that), certain advocates wish to rewrite Marvel’s history to diminish, or even eliminate Stan Lee’s great accomplishments and enlarge Jack Kirby’s. Also, some people even criticized Stan Lee’s role as movie producer, something I never brought up that has no place in a discussion of 1960s authorship. But the movies are doing great!
These advocates keep redefining terms to fit their purpose. For example, they write that Kirby was the sole author of these comics claiming that pencilling a comic is like directing a silent movie. By comparing comics to a silent movie they get to eliminate the dialogue writer completely. Some want to invent new definitions for the word “Auteur,” one site giving three examples. They want to change the definition of a word so that it can fit where they needed to fit. That is like going to a shoe store and trying on new feet to get one to fit into the shoe that you want. These Kirby advocates, the Kirby One Percenters, are just promoting Kirby and diminishing Stan.
Mainstream comics are a collaborative effort. Jack Kirby’s work looks different when inked by different people, Vince Colletta, Joe Sinnott or Steve Ditko, and Kirby had no say in that selection. Of course Kirby didn’t write the dialogue, or even place the word balloons and sound effects, nor did he even look at it when it was done. So how you give him authorship?
There are also some other points here that are important:
- Instead of discussing Kirby’s complete career, including his work at DC, or with Joe Simon, the advocates just go after Stan Lee, over and over again.
- They never mention, that starting with Fantastic Four #56, the credits no longer read “Written and Drawn by… ” But “Conceived and Created by ” or “Produced by ” Lee and Kirby. This acknowledges their partnership.
- At no time are we presented with any real evidence, or testimony, that Jack Kirby was the sole author of any of these Marvel projects. These groups offer only speculation and conjecture.
The silliest thing I hear is that somehow he is the author of Spider-Man. This was a project worked on by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, whom the Kirby Advocates, you would think, would be promoting as the auteur but they rob him of this distinction. They still claim, somehow, that Kirby’s rejected work is responsible for this character. As shown in my book, there were 25 versions of a “Spider-Man” since comics were created.
By that same logic, we should give Derek Jeter an assist for striking out just before Alex Rodriguez hits a home run. The logic here, is that Arod got to study the pitcher while Jeter was batting and therefor Jeter deserves some of the credit for a home run. Kirby’s work was rejected.
Most of the communication I have received was in support of what I wrote. Some Kirby advocates wrote me, but more often posted on their private sites and the posts were referred to me by other people. This is certainly okay this is the way the world works now. A couple of commentators insulted me and claimed I wrote my piece as a direct response to their posts, which was just not true. In fact, I went out of my way after hearing that, NOT to read their blogs.