Yep, the King is dead

I come from a sort of “new generation” of comic
book readers. As a youngster, I only read superhero origins as
summaries for a larger comic book story. It took me a long time before
I ever sullied my hands with reprints.
I say this because it’s at
the root of a terrible, terrible secret that I possess. It’s one that
will cause many to cringe, but I gotta say it.
 I’ve never really liked Jack Kirby’s art. (GASP!)      
Like
I said, an admission like that could get me shot in many fan circles
and I bet there’s one or two board members already in the process of
flaming me, but please, I implore you keep reading.
Before I go much
further, I’d like to state that I understand fully well what Kirby’s
accomplishments are and his contributions are to the medium, but I just
can’t help my general distaste for his art.

• I always thought he drew women with a somewhat shapeless and un-delicate manner.
• His perspectives, lauded by many for their originality, leave me wondering “what’s the matter with Captain America’s hand?”
• Most
  of all I can”t stand his heavy use of blacks. The thick lines just
  oozed off every page. I’ve always hated the way he was inked.

When
I was younger, I just couldn’t stand his stuff. As a teen, when I
looked through DC’s Who’s who, I couldn’t help but shake my head at how
he had “ruined” the illustrations of all those cool characters like Mr.
Miracle and Demon.
Now as an adult, who’s interested in the history
of comics, things are much clearer. I can see he’s the king, even if
I’m not one of his loyal subjects.
Now I’m most impressed by his
character and technology designs – look at Dr. Doom, his armor is a
magnificent symbol and then look at all those great gizmos, like the
Ultimate Nullifier or Psycho Man’s emotion control box.
I can look
through a Marvel Universe or a Who’s Who and say “Kirby” and “Not
Kirby” to each character.  His designs, with all their tubes and discs,
are simply some to the best and that’s what I DO like about Jack Kirby.

Historical
note: Most of that entry was from an entry I made about six or seven
years ago in the ORCA APA. I still in the “not a fan” camp.