"JACK, I AM WHAT YOU MADE ME"

ITEM! Didja know that you don’t have to wait another four months to get the latest issue of the Jack Kirby Quarterly? That’s how long it’ll take for the slow boat from Great Britain to get ‘em over here in U.S. comic book shops. But you can get yours the same way your Uncle Stanley got his copy. No, no, you don’t have to become the idol of millions or sign your name on everything in sight. Relax. All you have to do is to get on the ebays and order a copy shipped directly to your hot little hands! No need to thank me, pilgrims. Spreading the faith, keeping the flame alive, and shamelessly promoting anything that mentions Yours Truly in it by name is just what I do.

This latest effort from editor Credible Chrissie Harper and contributors like Marv Wolfman, Greg Theakston, Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird (to name only a few) is packed with more and better info on Jolly Jack than you can shake a Boom Tube at! There are things in this mag that even Yours Truly was surprised to learn (or re-learn as the case may be). When you have the long-term memory capacity of a shot-gunned sieve, you do the best you can! Marvelous Marv talks about originally plotting the first Fantastic Four/Terrax storyline for the King to draw, only to have that plan fall through at the last minute. Greg Theakston recalls — with far greater clarity than I do — the reconciliation hug between the King and I. And the Kirby family allowed the publication of some Kirby art that I’ve never even seen before... and believe me brother, I’ve seen more than my fair share! Check out the semi-autobiographical pencil drawing hand-colored in ink dyes by the King himself (see below).

If sales of this issue warrant it, editor Chrissie Harper promises a much-more-aptly named next issue of the Jack Kirby Annual some time in 2009 — so go support the cause, pilgrims! You will be rewarded in ways you’ll never know. To quote the King, “Don’t ask! Just Buy!”

Excelsior!

Smiley