Comic-Con Celebrates the Jack Kirby Centennial with an Exclusive Souvenir Book Cover by Bruce Timm!
Just about everyone who’s seen a Marvel movie since 2000 has seen a creation or co-creation of Jack Kirby. Kirby was born in 1917 and had an amazing career in comic books from the late 1930s up until the time of his death in 1994. X-Men, the Avengers, Fantastic Four, Thor, the Incredible Hulk, and Captain America are just some of the characters co-created by Kirby (with either Stan Lee or, in the case of Cap, Joe Simon). His impact on the superhero comics industry is monumental. His recognition as the “King of Comics” couldn’t be more appropriate.
Art by Bruce Timm; lettering by Todd Klein. Captain America and Thor TM & © 2017 Marvel; Mister Miracle and Kamandi TM & © DC Comics. Click on the image to see it larger on your screen!
2017 marks the centennial of Kirby’s birth and we’re celebrating it at Comic-Con 2017 with a number of panels and a special section in this year’s Souvenir Book. Kirby is in the spotlight on the cover of this year’s book, illustrated by fan-favorite artist and producer, Bruce Timm, who is a guest at Comic-Con 2017. One of the creators behind Batman: The Animated Series and numerous other Warner Bros. Animation/DC Universe animated films and TV shows, Timm has also done work in comics, including covers and the Eisner Award-winning one-shot, Batman Adventures: Mad Love, featuring Harley Quinn, his co-creation (with writer/producer Paul Dini, another Comic-Con 2017 guest). Multi-Eisner Award winner Todd Klein provided the lettering for this year’s cover, which is an homage to Kirby via the artist’s famous cover for Superman’s Pal: Jimmy Olsen #141, which featured comedian Don Rickles (see below for a comparison of the two covers).
The Comic-Con International 2017 Souvenir Book is given free to all attendees (while supplies last). It’s a keepsake, full-color, trade paperback. This year’s edition weighs in at 272 pages, making it the largest book ever produced for the event. In addition to an extended section celebrating the Jack Kirby Centennial, there’s a section on the Will Eisner Centennial, articles saluting other comics creators with special anniversaries in 2017, plus the 75th anniversaries of Crime Does Not Pay and Mighty Mouse; the 50th anniversaries of Batgirl and Marvel’s Captain Marvel; and the 25th anniversaries of Batman: The Animated Series and Image Comics.
More later on this website about how to get your copy onsite and all the other Comic-Con publications to look for at this year’s show!
(Special thanks to DC Comics and MARVEL for their permission to utilize some of Kirby’s greatest creations and co-creations side-by-side in this tribute to the King.)
Jimmy Olsen cover TM & © DC Comics.
Click on the image to see it larger on your screen!