Fortean Times – September 2019

FT383 25

every step of his military

service and its impact on his

subsequentœuvre, fromBoy

Commandosin theForties to

The Losersin the Seventies,are

recounted in detailby Marc

Azéma andJean Depelley from

Passé Simple.The pair have

also produced an accompanying

documentary. While there are

no original artworks on display,

the high-qualityreproductions

of comic-book covers and

panels, andrare photos and

drawings, including some of

Kirby’s illustrated letters home

to his wife, make this show

immersive and compelling.

Nearby in Cherbourg, as part

of their Ninth Biennale of the

Ninth Art (theFrench termfor

the comics medium), the Musée

Thomas-Henry is presenting

over 200 pieces of original

artwork (until 29 September)

inJack Kirby:The Superhero

Galaxy, the largestexhibition

ever staged inFranceabout

Kirby and hisforebears, peers

and successors.The opening

galleryexamines hisformative

influences in newspaper

strips likePopeyeandFlash

Gordon. Most notable is the

1937 episode of HalFoster’s

sumptuous mediæval Sunday

page serialPrinceValiant,in

which the hero uses a goose’s

plucked skin and claws to

disguise hisface as a demon

and terrify a villain to death.

This striking scene seems

to have stayed with Kirby,

because in 1972 he designeda

verysimilar-looking monster

to star in his DC horror series

The Demon. Foster’sown

influences probably included

the Swedish silent supernatural

documentaryHäxan(1922), and

Kirby may have also seen this

himself when itwas re-released

in the US in 1968 asWitchcraft

Through the Ages.

The following galleries

in Cherbourgchart Kirby’s

trajectory from theForties to

the Eighties and his impact on

other artists to this day. The

King’s sheer imaginative output

month after month comes

across whenyou see a whole

wall fi lled with almost all 20

original pages fromFantastic

Four#54 (Sept 1966), one of

over 100 issues heworked on.

Kirby is in fullfl ow here as

both writer and artist, drawing

panelby panel in pencil and

writing notes on the story in

the marginsfor Stan Lee to

dialogue and complete. Kirby’s

cast includes African technocrat

the BlackPanther, hidden alien

race the Inhumans and the

resurrection of the legendary

PresterJohn. Equally striking

are twowalls in the penultimate

Fourth World gallery presenting

an entire issue ofForeverPeople

and every page from ‘Even

Gods May Die’, his prequel to

theNew Gods’ conclusion,The

Hunger Dogs.Twenty-five years

since his death, Kirby’s legacy

to popular culture is more vital

and inspiring thanever.

Kirby’sWar: http://www.les7lieux.fr/

les-temps-forts/66-l-exposition-

evenement.

Jack Kirby: The Superhero Galaxy:

http://www.cherbourg.fr/infos-services/

culture-et-loisirs/musees/musee-

thomas-henry/les-expositions-

temporaires-1736.html.

PRIV

AT
E COLLECTION

GALERIE 9E AR

T,

PA

RIS

STRANGEDAYS

ABOVE LEFT:A page fromDemon#5, January 1973, DC Comics, written and drawn by Jack Kirby and inked by Mike Royer.ABOVE RIGHT: The splash page fromForever

People#7, March 1972, DC Comics, written and drawn by Kirby and inked by Royer.ABOVE RIGHT: Kirby’s cover forFoxhole#1, October 1954, Charlton Comics.