There are few names as synonymous with Marvel Comics and comic books in general as Jack Kirby. WonderCon@Home paid tribute to the late Disney Legend and Marvel Comics artist during a special panel.
- The “Jack Kirby Panel” during WonderCon@Home featured:
- Author Mark Evanier
- TV host Jonathan Ross
- Author Neil Gaiman
- The panel discussed Kirby’s legendary work and shared stories about their experiences with the artist.
- “Nobody else could have drawn these people, have invented these people, have given them this dialogue and have built up something with so much energy and power,” Gaiman said of Kirby’s work. “Encountering that was inspiring.”
- Evanier, who wrote Kirby: The King of Comics, talked a bit about Kirby’s work ethic, saying “There was one day where I looked at Jack and I said to myself, ‘Mark, you’re never going to have the brilliance of this man because no one is going to have the brilliance of this man, but it may be possible to work that hard.”
- “I kind of flinch when somebody says ‘he looks like he was just knocking out, he wasn’t trying hard,’” Evanier continued. “I don’t think that was ever the case with anything Jack did. He gave 110% on every single project he ever did.”
- “I hope he knew how much his work meant to all of us,” Ross said. ”I know he knew that his work would one day be appreciated and be hanging in museums.”
- Ross went on to talk about how Steve Ditko, another legendary artist, lived to see the some of the Marvel movies and expressed his wish that Kirby had gotten to do the same.
- “I wish Kirby had the chance to see just how dominant his idea became in popular culture,” he said.
- You can watch the full Jack Kirby Panel from ComicCon@Home below: