Jack-Outta-The-Box

Here's a real good article in Forbes by Rob Salkowitz about how Jack Kirby, my one-time employer, is finally getting some of his due.

There are some very ugly arguments to be found on the 'net between folks who want to believe Stan Lee was the sole genius behind the Marvel heroes and others who argue that Jack was. It leads to the kind of ugly that causes most rational folks (or informed ones) to steer clear. I know: I've been attacked by both sides — by the Lee partisans (who forget I also worked for Stan) for my relationship with Jack, and by the Jack defenders for not savaging Stan at every opportunity.

But I am certain there is a dispassionate, evidence-based way of looking at the Lee-Kirby body of work and I hope to present it in the big biography of Jack I'm trying to finish in time for the centennial of his birth in 2017. For now though, read Rob's piece. He knows what he's talking about. And there's a show on ABC tomorrow night about Captain America that I assume will properly acknowledge Jack as more than just a guy who drew up other folks' ideas.