Remembering Jack Kirby

Remembering the King, Jack Kirby on his birthday (August 28, 1917 - February 6, 1994).

Here, a portrait of Kirby by Alex Ross, and some of Kirby's own words to remember him by....

"If you look at my characters, you will find me. No matter what kind of character you create or assume, a little of yourself must remain there."

Batman War On Crime

Batman:War On Crime (November, 1999) was the second in a series of treasury comics DC did with art by Alex Ross and written by Paul Dini (after Superman: Peace On Earth) that distill a character down to his essence, and showcase what makes that character special.

Here, it was focused on a short time in the life of Batman, dealing with corporate dealings as Bruce Wayne, and muggers as Batman, and he sees how these slowly relate.

The mugger he caught killed a man and woman at his robbery, with their boy, Marcus, as a witness.  Batman relates to this (having watched his parents die), and it weighs on his conscious.  Next night, stopping a gang, Batman sees Marcus there...but let's the boy run off.  Night after that, Batman confronts the gang again, but this time with Marcus there, and threatening to shoot Batman.  Batman talks him down, saving the boy, but knows there is much more to do.

The next day, as Bruce Wayne, he decides instead of raising the neighborhood Marcus was in to make way for a new project, instead that Wayne Foundation will invest in the neighborhood as is, to improve it for those who live there, showing the basic strength of Batman...not the bat motif, the gadgets or even the billionaire, but that he is just a man, fighting to make the world a better place, one day at a time.

Happy Birthday Artist Alex Ross

Happiest of birthdays to artist Alex Ross.  

Alex has done many covers (and interiors) over the years for DC, and these are two of his more recent, or at least 2 done in the 21st Century, as wonderful homages, based on classic Silver Age covers created when Julie Schwartz was an editor at DC, who used the idea of creating a cover, then building a story around it.

Mystery In Space #82 (March, 1963)

DC Comics Presents: Mystery In Space #1 (September, 2004)

Original cover by Carmine Infantino and Murphy Anderson.

Flash #163 (August, 1966)

DC Comics Presents: The Flash #1 (October, 2004)

Original cover by Carmine Infantino and Joe Giella.

These were part of a group of covers designed to honor the work of Julius Schwartz, and included modern covers by Adam Hughes, Brian Bolland (covering Gil Kane)and Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez.

Alex Ross, among other things, helped complete this painting of the Crisis On Infinite Earths with George Perez.

Thank You Very Much Says Elvis To Captain Marvel Jr

Elvis Presley was a big fan of comics, specifically, those of artist Mac Raboy, and the hero he drew in the 1940s, Captain Marvel, Jr., though it was likely the issues of the later 1940s, drawn by Kurt Schaffenberger, Joe Certa and Bud Thompson that were read by the King.


Elvis even based his hair style on that of his hero, and Elvis' outfits may even look a little like those of old superheroes as well!

In the 1990s, artist Alex Ross drew upon this fact when he did a series called Kingdom Come, dealing with grown up super-heroes, and turned a grown up Captain Marvel Jr into "King Marvel"...


...with Mary Marvel looking a little like Priscilla Presley, the King's wife, as "Lady Marvel"!

Elvis even had the members of his entourage, the Memphis Mafia, take this oath, and gave them jewelry with the TCB logo (TCB for Taking Care of Business, which also had a lightning bolt with it, and referred not only to Elvis' fondness for Cap. Jr., but to his own devotion to karate, being an 8th level black belt, and a bit of a sense of humor):

More self-respect, more respect for fellow man.
Respect for fellow students and instructors.
Respect for all styles and techniques.
Body conditioning, mental conditioning, meditation for calming and stilling of the mind and body.
Sharpen your skills, increase mental awareness, for all those that might choose a new outlook and personal philosophy.
Freedom from constipation.
TCB technique
All techniques into one.
Elvis Presley 8th
Applying all techniques into one.

The logo being invented by Elvis and Priscilla in the early 1970s, when Captain Marvel was enjoying a revival at DC Comics (bringing along Mary Marvel, and Captain Marvel Jr. and the whole Marvel Family as well, all under the title of Shazam!).


Holy Moley and thank you very much!