May 24, 2010

Kirby Flyby

Another example of a spectacular Kirby flyby. From Fantastic Four # 89 (1969), full-page splash, pg 16. The first image is a scan of the original art, and the second is from the published book.

Zooming-in, look at the detailed Sinnott inks on the Human Torch. In my opinion, Joe set the gold standard for comics inking excellence with his work on this series.

There are so many terrific examples of flawless craftsmanship in this book, but I'll only pick one more. This is one of my favorite images of Jack's Crystal -- explosive energy flying out of her hands (page 5, panel 3).
Amazing how Jack and Joe could create so much force and impact with a few well-placed lines. I love Crystal's uniform, with the little "4" on the belt. I would think these books must have been a huge influence on contemporary comics artists who read the original publications in the 1960s, and the Marvel's Greatest Comics reprints in the 70s.