Hey folks, Harry here... Who cares where the Olympics will be hosted? Not me, I'm dying to see the Jack Kirby Museum & Research Center will go! King Kirby - creator of nearly 50% of all coolness ever, the single most influential comic artist in the history of the medium and a fountain of imagination. Personally - both D.C. & MARVEL should give 1% of their collective yearly income to this museum. Wherever this museum goes, so does the hearts of fandom, the comics professionals and untold future generations dreams. I will keep y'all up to date on this Museum - and how we can all help. Kirby is one of the geek gods, he deserves an Olympus!
FANTASTIC FOUR, X-MEN AND HULK CREATOR'S FAMILY ANNOUNCES MUSEUM
HOBOKEN, New Jersey, USA (6 July 2005) - Signifying a momentous step for
comicbook lovers and popular culture scholars worldwide, Lisa Kirby, the
daughter of the late Jack Kirby, artist and co-creator of the Fantastic
Four, the X-Men, the Hulk, Captain America and many other comicbook
characters and stories, today announced the creation of the Jack Kirby
Museum and Research Center (JKMRC).
"My dad's work, starting with Captain America in the 1940s and reaching
a peak with most of the other Marvel Comics superheroes in the 1960s,
had a great influence on our culture, " Lisa Kirby says. "His
imagination, storytelling ability, and prolific output contributed
significantly to making the comicbooks he created among the most highly
regarded in the U.S."'
Although the general public is familiar with some of his work, Kirby
himself is still relatively unknown. "In the years since his death in
1994, there have been a number of high profile movies featuring
properties and characters Dad created, but he has, for the most part,
not been featured in the movies' promotions," Lisa Kirby added, "In that
respect, my family and I were excited by the creation of a non-profit
educational organization devoted to Dad's work."
Spearheaded by Randolph Hoppe of Hoboken, New Jersey, a cartoonist and
web designer who hosts Kirby discussion groups, and supported by the
Kirby Family and John Morrow, the award-winning publisher/editor of the
Jack Kirby Collector magazine from Raleigh, North Carolina, JKMRC is
devoted to promoting and encouraging the study, understanding,
preservation and appreciation of the work of comicbook creator Jack Kirby.
"Our first program is to build an exhaustive, collaborative online Jack
Kirby 'Catalogue Raisonné'," reports Hoppe, referring to the term for a
book of "all the works" by an individual artist. "With support from the
Kirby Estate, TwoMorrows Publishing, JKMRC members and scholars
worldwide, we will take what has been known as the Jack Kirby Checklist
and build it into an invaluable media-rich resource — not just for
comicbook and Kirby fans, but for popular culture scholars, as well. I
hope that programmers who have knowledge of or experience working on
similar volunteer-based online projects will be able to provide some
expertise."
However, the online Catalogue Raisonné is not JKMRC's only project. "We
hope to develop an exhaustive, multimedia Jack Kirby biographical
presentation and to partner with museums, conferences and conventions
around the world on Kirby-related exhibits, papers and more," Hoppe
adds. "But it all depends on how much support we can garner. I know the
first question on most people's mind when learning about a new Jack
Kirby Museum will be, 'where will the building with the collection and
the exhibit space be built?' My cautiously optimistic response is, 'One
step at a time'. At this early stage, it's best to say that anything's
possible with the right support."
For John Morrow of TwoMorrows Publishing, the JKMRC is a perfect fit.
"I've been editing and publishing the Jack Kirby Collector magazine for
more than ten years," Morrow says. "Back in 1995, Rand approached me
about posting a web site for the Kirby Collector – I didn't know what a
web site was. When he told me his idea for a Kirby Museum, I agreed it's
time had come. I'm going to put the full resources of TwoMorrows
Publishing behind this effort." TwoMorrows started with a 16-page
bi-monthly xeroxed Kirby Collector, and is now a thriving operation
publishing trade paperbacks and five magazines targeted at the comicbook
specialty market.
JKMRC will also celebrate Jack Kirby's co-creators and colleagues. For
almost fifteen years starting in 1940, Joe Simon partnered with Kirby,
becoming the top creative team during comicbooks' so-called "Golden
Age". Starting with their work on Captain America, they then worked on
Sandman, Manhunter, Newsboy Legion and Boy Commandos. Simon & Kirby also
invented the Romance comicbook genre with the publication of "Young
Romance Comics" in 1947. “I've had considerable contact with Joe Simon
while publishing the Kirby Collector,” Morrow added. “I hope we can work
closely with Joe on JKMRC programs, too,”
"Most people remember Jack for developing and telling the stories of the
Fantastic Four, the X-Men, the Hulk and more in the 1960s with Marvel
Comics' Editor, Art Director and Writer Stan Lee," Hoppe noted. "Marvel
Comics would not be what it is today without those Kirby/Lee
collaborations. They defined the Fantastic Four in the more than 102
issues they produced together," he said. "We can't celebrate Jack's
1960s work for Marvel without acknowledging Stan Lee's substantial
efforts. We look forward any contributions Stan Lee can make to our
programs.” Lee's partner on Spider-man was Steve Ditko.
“All of us in the Kirby family look forward to the growth and impact of
this organization,” Lisa Kirby stated.
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Mission Statement:
The Jack Kirby Museum and Research Center is organized exclusively for
educational purposes; more specifically, to promote and encourage the
study, understanding, preservation and appreciation of the work of Jack
Kirby by:
* illustrating the scope of Kirby's multi-faceted career,
* communicating the stories, inspirations and influences of Jack Kirby,
* celebrating the life of Jack Kirby and his creations, and
* building understanding of comicbooks and comicbook creators.
To this end, the Museum will sponsor and otherwise support study,
teaching, conferences, discussion groups, exhibitions, displays,
publications and cinematic, theatrical or multimedia productions.
