As I posted before, Kirby NEVER signed any contracts with the companies he worked for. Also Kirby was never happy with the arrangements. It came down to the simple fact that he was afraid to risk losing his paycheck. Kirby started helping to support his family at age 13. Early on (49's) Creators including Kirby did not think to much about the stuff they were making. IT was a childs medium. That is why so many like Kirby and Lee and others used false names on their work.
It wasn't until later that Kirby actually realized how much money was being made off of his creations that it began to affect him.
The man could not even walk into a toy store without being sickened.
Seriously, I recommend you read the book I keep siting before responding. I understand your opinion and all that, but your a bit off base in your assumptions.
Regarding Neal Adams, Neal had larger Ideas that what the comic Industry and the big two were Interested in. That is why in the Mid 70's he created Continuity Studio's.
There he could work in Scholastic education books, Comics, Cartoons, Film titles and numerous other creative areas.
It was Neal Adams that actually payed the Lawyers and pushed the Issue of Creators rights which changed the Industry for all of its creators and It was done for the specific purpose of getting Kirby compensation.
Ask ANY creator that has worked in the Industry for at least 10-20 years. They will all site Kirby.
Fantastic Four-vs-Plastic man:
Plas; He is a thief who gained the ability to mold his body into any shape he could think of. Plas is a very tongue in cheek character who wasn't designed to have much depth.
The FF: A Family* who through an accident gain powers that are based off of the 4 elements*. They become a team of Adventurers who happen to be a family*
Reed: Element Water: Water expands and can take on the shape of any surrounding. It expands itself in whatever capacity it needs. (Reed is a scientist with an incredible Intellect. When He is solving a problem, It is as though his brain can expand to any level he needs to solve his problems.
Sue: Element Air: Sue is Invisible because the character was an Introvert that always felt Invisible around others. So she turned Invisible.
Johnny: element Fire; He is young, rash, hot headed, always ready to tear it up.* This is His personallity and therefore the power he gets matches it.
Ben: Element Earth(stone) He is solid and dependable. Stoic, a man of principles and firm beliefs, hence his rocky exterior.*
*= the original differances.
Its more of a crime to claim to know the depth of Kirby's influence on this Industry and not really know it.
Shakespeare is considered the penultimate Dramatist. the originator of all of the sotry plots that are built upon today in all media.
Kirby, is the Shakespeare of Comics. All comics are built off of what he created. The visual language. The radical Ideas, the Explosive Energy character Ideas. so many things lead back to him. Even moreso than those that came before him.
If you go to Pixar and Talk to John Lassiter, He will tell you that Jack Kirby is the reason he made Pixar. (He said it in an Interview)
The Incredibles, was Brad Birds love letter to Kirby and also the Family dynamic created by the Fantastic Four. He said this also in an interview.
The Adventures of Cavaleer and Clay by; Michael Chabon has main characters that are a mix of Seigal and Shuster and Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. In fact, one of the main characters IS Jack Kirby in all ways except name.
Did you know that Kirby did all of the design work for Thundarr the Barbarian?
Did you know that Kirby created the Visual look of Scooby Doo? and all of those characters?
Kirby started off as an animator for Popeye back in the 30's.
When he joined Hannah Barbera in the late 60's, he was treated as a God by all of the creators there. They had been doing swipes of his stuff for years.
BTW, Kirby like most artists of the 40's was getting about $3 a page for his work.
In the 60's he was making maybe $10 a page. You wonder why the guy did so much work? He had a family to feed. He couldn't afford to stop. He did over 3000 pages in a two year period.
I cannot even wrap my head around that kind of output. And that might not even be all of it.
Artists now are getting an average of $150 per page. And that is for the nobodies. Michael Turner was getting about $3000 for a cover. The average is about $1000.
Kirby never saw money like that. Ever.
Kirby and by extension Roz his late wife never truly saw the compensation they deserved. Hell even Stan Lee gets a million dollars a year for the stuff that Kirby primarily created.
Really, take the time to read that book.
