Excerpts from an excellent, telling Joe Sinnott interview in THE JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR #9 edited by John Morrow: TJKC: After inking a few more monsters and westerns, howd you get put on inks for FANTASTIC FOUR #5? JOE: When Stan sent me the pages for FF #5, he didnt even tell me what it was. I didnt even know the FANTASTIC FOUR existed, because I didnt go to the newsstands and buy books. When you went to Stans office to give him the work youd completed, he had a rack on the wall with maybe 20 books in it. Youd look to see if your latest book was there, and if it was, Stan would let you take a copy. But you couldnt take anybody elses books, so I never looked to see what anybody else was doing. I wasnt aware the new age was coming. But I couldnt have been more impressed when I saw it. It knocked my socks off! It seemed like Stan was really hitting his stride as a writer. The characters were so great, even though you saw similarities between the old Human Torch and Johnny Storm, and Reed and Plastic Man. The way he put them together was just unbelievable. TJKC: Ive always wondered what you worked on between FF #6 and when you came back to the book on #44. JOE: Its funny. You do so much, you forget what youve done. I did a few Thor stories in JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY. (Editors Note: These were in #91, 92, and 94-96.) At the time, the rates at Marvel were terrible, and I was really rushing my work. Not that I wasnt trying my best at Marvel, but I did the best I could with the limited time we had. My main account artistically was Treasure Chest. Looking back I wish Id done better work on THOR, but at the time it was just another job, and I certainly didnt think the character was going anyplace. At the time, I was probably penciling and inking one page of THOR a day, doing three or four pages of romance for Vince Colletta, and squeezing in some ARCHIE after supper. TJKC: As a kid I always wondered why his art didnt look that good in the other books! (laughter) Now I know it had a little to do with you. But how much fixing of Jacks work did you do when you inked? JOE: Well, Stan told me anytime I wanted to take any liberties with Jacks work, to do it. Originally, I thought I was fixing his ears, or making his women a little prettier, or a little leaner in the hips. But I realized later, that was Jacks style, I shouldnt be doing it. Even when Jacks eyes werent on the same plane, this was Kirby. So I reverted back, but probably not soon enough. Instead of drawing my Alex Raymond ears, Id draw Kirby ears. But there were things that I really did spruce up, like Reeds hair for example. I really got in there and made it nice, fine, wavy hair. Jack was a little heavier on his pencils. I used a little more finesse than Jack used in his pencils. I fine-tuned him, so to speak. Everything was there certainly; I just made it a little slicker. TJKC: In FF, was there one character you particularly liked inking more than others? JOE: Far and away, I liked working on the Thing, no matter what he was doing. Even though he was time-consuming; the mechanics of doing the Thing took time. But he was fun to work on. I loved working on Dr. Doom. I like flowing things; I like capes and robes. I liked the Mole Man because of his flowing tunic. I didnt like Galactus for that reason - Im only talking from an artists standpoint. He took time to do, and he was so metallic-looking. I never liked Iron Man for that reason. I didnt like drawing those disks on his shoulders and his chest. And: KIRBY: Well, they associated me with Ben Grimm. I suppose I must be a lot like Ben Grimm. I never back down from a fight; I dont care what the odds are, and Im rough at times, but I try to be a decent guy all the time. Thats the way Ive always lived. From COMICS JOURNAL #134, a hugely valuable interview with Jack Kirby with Roz Kirby riding shotgun by Gary Groth. Kirby & Sinnott. Nuff said!
Posted on: Fri, 28 Nov 2014 23:19:10 +0000
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