One thing I plan to do in 2015 is to finish my long-planned and long-in-length biography of Jack Kirby. I started on it when his widow Roz was still alive at her urging and briefly thought I might get it finished while she was still around to see it. That proved to be impossible. She died a little less than five years after he did. That might have been time enough to chronicle the life of an ordinary person but this was Jack and I was still coming across new sources of information at the time we lost her.
At that point, I decided there was no further hurry. I should just keep searching for such sources and I would get the book done whenever it seemed to be done. That could have occurred a decade or so ago but the Kirby family became embroiled in various legal problems and I had to wait until that all got settled. Well, that all got settled so I'm planning to finish the book this year.
That's a goal, not a promise. If it takes longer, it'll take longer but I don't think it'll take longer. My current draft manuscript is at 231,607 words and that just covers Ant Man.
No, seriously, that's the whole thing at the moment but I have many areas to expand on and some that are so trivial, I need to do some heavy trimming. I'm thinking of publishing it in two editions — one for folks who want to know the details of Jack's life without hearing what he ate for breakfast on Tuesday, June 12, 1956 and a fuller edition for those who do. Incidentally, I am not planning on much artwork in it. That's what my first book on Jack was for.
I don't have a publication date yet. I don't even have a publisher, though I've had enough offers that I'm sure that won't be an obstacle. What I think I need now is a number of research assistants to help me as I double-fact-check and fill in some blanks on what I've already written. In a few weeks, I'll be asking for volunteers who want to help me get this thing as right as possible.