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I’m surprised to find myself with a bit of superhero news, but I was walking through PC World’s art department today, and saw this nifty booklet of blown-up images from (mostly 1960s) Marvel comics. Turns out that Corbis–the image archive owned by Bill Gates–has acquired the rights to Marvel graphics for licensing as fancy clip art. This booklet was something they’d sent to us to promote their wares. It’s well done, eye-catching, and probably a minor collector’s item–and this copy is mine, since (sad to say) PC World is unlikely to illustrate anything with vintage Marvel images.
The best thing about the booklet: It’s maybe the only Marvel product I’ve ever seen that doesn’t mention Stan Lee but does give prominent credit to Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, John Buscema, and others for the images it touts. (It doesn’t give them, or their estates, money, I suspect–but credit’s a lot better than nothing.)
As I was shrinking this art down for this site (violating Marvel’s copyright, no doubt), it struck me that one of the many strengths of this art is that it looks great in oversized form (as in the booklet) but also reads extremely well at a small size (the Surfer and Captain America images you see here are only 125 pixels across apiece). Those guys really knew how to draw for legible, impactul reproduction,
You can browse the available Marvel art at Corbis’s fancy-schmancy Marvel section. Note: The site, unlike the booklet, is rife with recent, unremarkable Marvel art–in most cases, you need to scroll to the right to see the vintage stuff.
Kirby is usually cited for the dynamic qualities of his art. His line is energetic and he certainly knows how to draw action sequences. However, the more I look at his work, the more I’m impressed by his compositional abilities. Kirby panels communicate very clearly. He knows how to draw panels that are easily comprehended and are graphically clear. His ’70’s work at Marvel isn’t admired as much by fans as his earlier work, but I find that the compositions in these comics are excellent.
I’m glad that Kirby, Buscema, et al are getting credit for the images, but money would have been nicer. Even in a work-for-hire situation, there should be a royalty for using the work in ways that are different from what was originally commissioned.
Given that Siegel and Shuster were given pensions by DC comics and their estates are negotiating to regain copyright to Superman, I think that Jack Kirby’s lack of financial compensation has taken the title for the greatest tragedy in comic book history.
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