Every sixteen seconds on Facebook (it seems), a discussion breaks out on some comic book forum about why on those rare occasions when Jack Kirby was called upon to draw a cover or a panel or anything of Spider-Man, his Spider-Man did not look like the Spider-Man drawn by Steve Ditko or John Romita. Some folks seem to think there must have been a reason apart from the fact that Jack was not Steve Ditko or John Romita. Hey, when Frank Sinatra sang "I Left My Heart in San Francisco," he didn't sound like Tony Bennett.
I don't really know why this gets discussed so much. All the times Jack drew Spider-Man collectively represent about one-eighty-jillion-thousandth of his career. But I keep finding myself discussing it on forums. A few years ago on a now-defunct forum I wrote a long essay on the subject and I just dug it out and thought I oughta post it.
Since this topic is of interest to only a limited number of those who come to this blog — whereas you're all fascinated by every single other thing I post here — I've put this essay over on its own page which you can reach here. Don't bother clicking if you don't care about this kind of thing. Some of us do, more than we should.