One of the Odd things about the artistry of Jack Kirby is that, not infrequently, people just don't appreciate it, or sometimes even like it, upon first encounter.
Talk to any fair sized group of Kirby fans and you'll find those who merely shrugged or actively disliked his work at first. And then one day - a light goes on and suddenly they connect to it somehow. It happens differently to different people, for different reasons. Sometimes it's a slow conversion, more often there's a single trigger moment that alters perception, and then the conversion follows.
Chris Sims wrote of his experience in some detail, tracking his own unique path to The King. Others have spoken of seeing Kirby's originals and the sudden clarity that strikes them - the power in those panel boards.
I've heard people speak of learning to love Kirby by stealth. They find themselves reading an exciting comic, totally drawn into it. Then they go back to see who it was and are shocked. Only then do they go back and find that something changed without them even realizing that they loved Kirby now, and couldn't say why things were different.
Sometimes, it's a learned response. To many readers of DC comics in the early '70s, Jack's comics felt wrong because he didn't follow the House Style. They had been taught most of their lives that 'this' is what comics are supposed to look like. DC reinforced that perception by having Kirby's art redrawn to make Superman and Jimmy Olsen conform to the house style. This caused a lot of readers to dismiss the work without delving into it personally, thereby never making the connection.
Sometimes it's nothing more than finding the wrong Kirby. Jack did so much over the years, working in every genre and even creating new ones. It's quite possible to first encounter him in ways that have no personal appeal. There are times when Kirby draws 'with the cap lock on', so to speak. For those who haven't learned the language, that can be overwhelming and as off-putting as having someone shouting their thoughts at you. After making the connection at a calmer level, returning to those tales becomes more like someone leading a cheering crowd, rather than screaming in your face.
Personally, my connection to The King was almost immediate. Living in Asia, my perceptions of the range of comic art were rather wide - no house style limitations or that sort of thing. And the first Kirby that fell into my hands was over a dozen issues of early Fantastic Four. Soon after, a batch of his monster comics passed my way.
Jack didn't just win me over to him in that time - he started whispering about art and creation, nudging toward a path unseen before.
...at least, i've tried. But really, as close as i can get to actually following in his path is just coloring his drawings.
FF Scene by Jack Kirby & Joe Sinnott, colours & Kirby's Gate by -3- (2017)
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