I believe I am the only person alive — and one of the few who ever lived — who worked for both Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. I liked both of them but I was sometimes disappointed in Stan for, to put it bluntly, taking credit for things that others did. Jack never disappointed me in any way and I believe he was the major creative force behind the Lee-Kirby creations. Even Stan would sometimes admit that, though not in print or anywhere it could be heard by those who might keep him employed or negotiate his future contracts.
Jack, who was born this day in 1917, was the greatest creative force in comic books…or at least the kind of comic books he did. And the kind of comic books he did turned out to be the kind of comic books most people did, following the influence of Jack and often working on characters and concepts that began with him. That influence was not just confined to super-heroes. When I walk around a comic book convention these days, I see Kirby everywhere — not just books he started or the way he drew anatomy but his whole approach to design and storytelling and infusing energy into any kind of creative work.
He was also an amazingly nice and ethical man as well as being the hardest worker I've ever known. He could have made way more money in comics if he'd spent less time drawing a page and less time thinking about what could appear on that page that would thrill readers and boost sales for his publishers. He was not always paid or credited for that extra effort but "knocking it out" would not have taken comics to the next level and that's what Jack was all about: Taking things to the next level. When I hear someone say, "Well, I liked the way Someone Else drew the Silver Surfer better," I think, "This person is missing the whole point of Jack Kirby." Jack didn't just draw the Silver Surfer.
If it sounds to some of you like I talk about Jack constantly, that might be because I do. I certainly think about him every day. He had that kind of impact on my life as he did on so many others, including many who never had the honor of meeting him. But the work sure endures. Even comics he did that were proclaimed failures at the time are in their umpteenth printing, often with the kind of fancy reproduction and binding that Jack predicted would happen. He really was an extraordinary man.