A Brief Matter…

This is probably not necessary but I just might need to clarify something. All weekend at the New York Comic Con, and in a number of other recent venues, I've been asked by impatient folks when some favorite Jack Kirby comic will be reprinted in a new, worthy-of-the-name-Kirby volume. Here is roughly how I answer this question every time…

While there are no official announcements I can make, I am predicting that every major Kirby work that hasn't been recently reprinted will be reprinted in the next few years. The demand is there and it's merely a matter of not flooding the market with too much at too rapid a pace. The folks at DC want to reprint all that Jack did for them, the folks at Marvel feel the same way, and there are offers aplenty for the material that is neither DC nor Marvel. They can't shovel it all out onto the marketplace as swiftly as you might like but right now, it's just a matter of what order they'll do the books in and how they'll space them out. Personally, I'd rather they took their time because if they did saturate the racks, the material might stop selling and then they would stop issuing Kirby reprints. But I don't think that's going to happen. I think it will all (or nearly all) get reissued.

That's approximately how I always say it. It is then usually quoted as Evanier revealing that DC (or Marvel) has committed to reprint everything Jack ever did for them. No, no. no. First off, I am but a freelancer. Those companies will announce what they announce when they announce it. Secondly, there's a difference between a prediction, even an informed prediction, and an actual press release. Please understand that difference. They'll put out Kirby stuff as long as it sells. I just happen to think it'll continue to sell well enough long enough for everything to come out.