This work by Kirby is hopelessly underappreciated , he was probably the only creator who could tackle the epic scope of this movie, and then expand on it with the ongoing series. 2001 was probably too ambitious and cerebral for a comic book adaption , but I think Jack was up to it. I understood the movie better after reading the treasury when I was a kid.A titanic achievement in comics.
For me personally, Kirby's 2001 adaptation is a milestone in comics. I find this interesting, along with his (never published or inked) PRISONER adaptation. I wonder if he was consciously trying to tell stories that didn't rely on colossal superhero battles. In both instances, I think he proved he could still draw a compelling comic book story without his trademark clobber smash-em-up fight scenes. I also love his sci-fi panoramas from that time period.
Thanks for putting the spot light on this series! I found a handful in a bargain bin in the early 90's. I picked them up and immediately fell in love. It's some of Kirby's finest work IMO.
Excellent choice to do an episode about Jack Kirby's 2001 comics! Those Kirby 2001 comics have always been favorites of mine, overlooked and forgotten gems! It was a perfect fit for the filmmakers and Kirby, both the film and Kirby were highly interested in the eternal human questions of how did we get here, why, and where will we each go, sort of religious quests in a sci-fi format.
Even after all these decades, Kirby's work still takes my breath away. Thanks for doing such an in-depth look and analysis of these. It's amazing that one of my childhoodfavorites, Machine Man, had such an amazing backstory and was (so) interwoven with 2001 Space Odyssey (the movie concept; monoliths, etc.). Its also wild to think that the 2001 story has so much more to it, and its mostly in these Kirby pieces. I'll never look at the movie or Machine Man the same again. THIS is why I love comic adaptations; its the potential for such greatness.
The colour palette of the Treasury comic and the panel compositions are quite faithful to the film itself. Kirby does add his own sensibility, but he stuck close to his source. One point that often gets missed from the film is that the jump cut of the bone being thrown shifts not to the space station, but to a satellite - an orbital nuclear warhead. It cuts from the first tool used to kill to a future upgrade of the same.
Morning coffee goes better with krackle! Man, I thought this was so goddamn weird when I found it. I would just keep staring at it, wondering how such a thing was even possible. How could you resist it's charms? When Kirby starts riffing and creating original material, makes you wonder what Kubrick made of it after going through one of the later issues. He was such a meticulous control freak over every single detail related to his films down to the typefaces on advertising, so you just know there are some long letters in a long-forgotten box somewhere about 'em!
This is one of the truly forgotten Kirby gems. I wish someone would put this collection in a hardcover edition. Please do a review of Captain Victory and the Galactic Rangers soon.
Could you do a review of Machine Man #1-#19 and the 84 4 issue mini-series by Herb Trimpe & BWS. As well as Nova Vol #1#1-#25 and Rom Spaceknight #1-#75 and it's four annuals.
Incredible perspective! What I love about media from those times was that instead of hyper realism and CGI effects, you have to interpret things like the supernatural in your own way. Which makes for some pretty awesome, imaginative effects!
This comic is what inspired my initial uploads of video comics! I figured if one could reinterpret the story elements of a film into a comic, then what if you could reinterpret a comic into a video the same way? Thanks for the video. Subbed.
Sky masters is pretty great! Hermes Press did an awesome hardcover collecting all the dailies. And Wally Wood did most of the inking! Kirby did the strip for three years and ended just months before he would do Fantastic Four with Stan Lee!
Jack Kirby become fascinated with the book Chariots of the Gods and it began to influence his work a lot. Probably one of the reasons he became interested in doing a comic adaptation of 2001 and then the ongoing series. I've read several issues of the series, and they're definitely some of Kirby's more strange work. But in a wonderful way! And issues 8-10 had the first appearances of Machine Man (Mr. Machine.) You can see Kirby's interest in gods from space in his Fourth World books, but also the Eternals and 2001 from Marvel. Heck, even Devil Dinosaur is worth picking up....Especially issues 4-7 with the aliens coming to Earth during the Age of Dinosaurs. All of Kirby's work is worth checking out, but his 1960's-1970's work is just mind blowing! Anyone interested in 2001....Just go to Ebay or your local comic store. Those books are really affordable for what they are and their time. I see issues of 2001 floating around Ebay for next to nothing all the time. Look them up!
I love it. This was very early in Kirby's Marvel return, so Giacoia was inking this Treasury and Captain America, and Verpoorton was on Eternals; a big difference is Costanza and other old pros lettering, before Kirby muscled Royer back in. I think he was wary of letting too much of the production get out of his control and he was right. If you see the contemporary fanzine coverage or columns in Steranko's Comixscene/Mediascene, Kirby's return to Marvel was a monumental event, and the idea of him somehow doing a 2001 series was unimaginable to the point of being disorienting, which is the whole point of Kirby... visualizing the unseen, and doing it spectacularly.
The treasury is one of the comics I keep looking up on ebay, knowing I can't afford it in good conscience anyway... Maybe one day it will be possible to re-release. I got the Captain America book with the biggest Kirby hand ever pretty cheap tough. That's pretty sweet too.
I was mailed the full run of the 2001 post-adaptation issues by my relatives in the US to the former Yugoslavia...I loved those books so much - almost, if not the best, of Kirby, and they looked gorgeous on that newsprint because of bold big lines and bold color that was best suited for that crap stock. All issues are, sadly, gone, lost in one of my many moves.
Thank you so much for walking through these! They're as crazy as I had hoped and heard they would be. As far as Kirby being straight and creating trippy stuff, I'm reminded of an anecdote from Dave Wyndorf of the band Monster Magnet who said you don't create psychedelic music by doing drugs, instead you imagine what kind of trippy music would come out if you did do psychedelics, and then you go from there.
This video got me to actually start reading the DC Universe Bronze Age omnibus by Jack Kirby i was sent. Thank you for showing me non marvel and fourth world kirby is great too.
If anyone finds an extra one of these huge printings and gives it to a friend, that’s an awesome person. I live in a comics desert and bought most of the Kirby work out of my shop years ago (they haven’t really restocked). Couldn’t find the large format 2001 within 200 square miles.
Man-oh-man, Kirby was MADE for treasury editions, the bigger the better. Certain reprint stuff-the Smith and Buscema/Alcala Conans and Colan Dr. Stranges come to mind-that just benefitted from a larger size. And call me a philistine but as a kid the 2001 movie just bored the pants off me, so guess what? I hear “2001” and I think of two things: Jack Kirby…and Elvis, lol. And, oh, I’ve never cared for comic adaptations of movies. Books to movies or comics is one thing; you’re going from print into visuals and nothing is set on how or what you depict-it’s a clean slate. But movies to comics? Not so clean. People expect see what they’ve already seen and have stuck in their heads, especially with something as iconic as 2001. Kirby, however, being Kirby, went ahead and did HIS version and, boy, is it glorious. The colors for the transformation sequences in the treasury are as powerful and unique and dreamlike as the drawings and make me wish he’d done more of that in his career, not just in his private paintings. And as for Jack being a “square”? Yes, he was very much a product of the Depression era, the tenement he grew up in, the war; he was all about providing for his family and doing the right thing; but from that brilliant, non-stop mind of his came images and ideas that no amount of mind-altering drugs or “dropping out” could provide. Heck, Jack was his OWN drug, lol.
The great comic videos just keep coming. Years ago, I made a slideshow of some of the artwork from this comic. Can't remember where I found the images - Mr. Door Tree's illustrators blog? Don't remember: th-cam.com/video/eFqKmzkBeiE/w-d-xo.html
This is one of my favorite Kirby runs. Made me obsessive about collecting Machine Man and finding all his appearances.
This work by Kirby is hopelessly underappreciated , he was probably the only creator who could tackle the epic scope of this movie, and then expand on it with the ongoing series. 2001 was probably too ambitious and cerebral for a comic book adaption , but I think Jack was up to it. I understood the movie better after reading the treasury when I was a kid.A titanic achievement in comics.
For me personally, Kirby's 2001 adaptation is a milestone in comics. I find this interesting, along with his (never published or inked) PRISONER adaptation. I wonder if he was consciously trying to tell stories that didn't rely on colossal superhero battles. In both instances, I think he proved he could still draw a compelling comic book story without his trademark clobber smash-em-up fight scenes. I also love his sci-fi panoramas from that time period.
That treasury edition is a GAWDAMN MASTERPIECE!
Thanks for putting the spot light on this series! I found a handful in a bargain bin in the early 90's. I picked them up and immediately fell in love. It's some of Kirby's finest work IMO.
So glad to know of others loving these comics too.
Excellent choice to do an episode about Jack Kirby's 2001 comics! Those Kirby 2001 comics have always been favorites of mine, overlooked and forgotten gems! It was a perfect fit for the filmmakers and Kirby, both the film and Kirby were highly interested in the eternal human questions of how did we get here, why, and where will we each go, sort of religious quests in a sci-fi format.
this channel is such a welcome relief!! i love these 'flip thru's'!! thanks, guys!
very cool walk down memory lane thx! wish i knew what happened to my versions of these
I had this as a kid. Wasn't mature enough to properly appreciate it yet. Wish I could get this again now.
Even after all these decades, Kirby's work still takes my breath away. Thanks for doing such an in-depth look and analysis of these. It's amazing that one of my childhoodfavorites, Machine Man, had such an amazing backstory and was (so) interwoven with 2001 Space Odyssey (the movie concept; monoliths, etc.). Its also wild to think that the 2001 story has so much more to it, and its mostly in these Kirby pieces. I'll never look at the movie or Machine Man the same again. THIS is why I love comic adaptations; its the potential for such greatness.
Wow! I've never seen these and it's really blown my hair back! Just so cool and wonderful, thank you Jim and Ed!
2001 issue 9 and 10 are some of my favorite comics.
I never came across this as a kid. That Treasury Edition is amazing!
The colour palette of the Treasury comic and the panel compositions are quite faithful to the film itself. Kirby does add his own sensibility, but he stuck close to his source.
One point that often gets missed from the film is that the jump cut of the bone being thrown shifts not to the space station, but to a satellite - an orbital nuclear warhead. It cuts from the first tool used to kill to a future upgrade of the same.
Morning coffee goes better with krackle! Man, I thought this was so goddamn weird when I found it. I would just keep staring at it, wondering how such a thing was even possible. How could you resist it's charms? When Kirby starts riffing and creating original material, makes you wonder what Kubrick made of it after going through one of the later issues. He was such a meticulous control freak over every single detail related to his films down to the typefaces on advertising, so you just know there are some long letters in a long-forgotten box somewhere about 'em!
i know. i've almost finished his OMAC work this morning.
This is one of the truly forgotten Kirby gems. I wish someone would put this collection in a hardcover edition. Please do a review of Captain Victory and the Galactic Rangers soon.
By this period of Kirby's art, it almost looks like some kind of cosmic Byzantine iconography....and that means awe inspiring.
This is one of the most Kirby things ever made and I frankly love it more than most of his superhero work. It's a legit forgotten masterpiece!
I’m still waiting for a proper omnibus version of this series.
Could you do a review of Machine Man #1-#19 and the 84 4 issue mini-series by Herb Trimpe & BWS. As well as Nova Vol #1#1-#25 and Rom Spaceknight #1-#75 and it's four annuals.
Incredible perspective! What I love about media from those times was that instead of hyper realism and CGI effects, you have to interpret things like the supernatural in your own way. Which makes for some pretty awesome, imaginative effects!
This comic is what inspired my initial uploads of video comics! I figured if one could reinterpret the story elements of a film into a comic, then what if you could reinterpret a comic into a video the same way? Thanks for the video. Subbed.
that cosmic spaceface in issue two, a friend of mine owns that page!
I wish I could find a copy of the Treasury special!
Ebay man. I just bought one there. As well as #'s 1-10.
Never seen that giant issue! One of my favorite Kirby series. Thanks for the great vid, dudes.
I picked the Treasury sized edition at a comic con about 8 years ago. It's crazy! Thanks for the video.
Great vid! These are some of my favorite comics ever!
I pulled a handful of 2001 issues out of a dollar bin last year at a con. I couldn't believe my luck.
Sky masters is pretty great! Hermes Press did an awesome hardcover collecting all the dailies. And Wally Wood did most of the inking! Kirby did the strip for three years and ended just months before he would do Fantastic Four with Stan Lee!
Always fun to get to know more of The King's 70's extravaganzas!
Jack Kirby become fascinated with the book Chariots of the Gods and it began to influence his work a lot. Probably one of the reasons he became interested in doing a comic adaptation of 2001 and then the ongoing series. I've read several issues of the series, and they're definitely some of Kirby's more strange work. But in a wonderful way! And issues 8-10 had the first appearances of Machine Man (Mr. Machine.) You can see Kirby's interest in gods from space in his Fourth World books, but also the Eternals and 2001 from Marvel. Heck, even Devil Dinosaur is worth picking up....Especially issues 4-7 with the aliens coming to Earth during the Age of Dinosaurs. All of Kirby's work is worth checking out, but his 1960's-1970's work is just mind blowing! Anyone interested in 2001....Just go to Ebay or your local comic store. Those books are really affordable for what they are and their time. I see issues of 2001 floating around Ebay for next to nothing all the time. Look them up!
falling in love with a comic💙
Thanks for doing this one guys. These have been my grail collector items for so long.
KAYFABE FOREVER
My favorite Kirby's comic!
Huge Kubrick and Kurby fan, gotta pick these up
The Treasury issue is my White Whale it’s a toughy to find. Great episode guys.
where can i buy a magazine like this?
Got my copy of Red Room in the mail today! It’s outstanding!
😍😍😍 thank you dudes!!!
Work like this is why I got into comics.
Barry Smith did a beautiful job with a mini series of Machine Man !
I cannot keep up with your periodicity! I have work to do!
I need to get my hands on that treasury special next to fantastic four :) great video guys :)
TASCHEN has a relationship with the Kubrick estate and Marvel. Why don’t you gentlemen propose an oversized collection?
I love it. This was very early in Kirby's Marvel return, so Giacoia was inking this Treasury and Captain America, and Verpoorton was on Eternals; a big difference is Costanza and other old pros lettering, before Kirby muscled Royer back in. I think he was wary of letting too much of the production get out of his control and he was right. If you see the contemporary fanzine coverage or columns in Steranko's Comixscene/Mediascene, Kirby's return to Marvel was a monumental event, and the idea of him somehow doing a 2001 series was unimaginable to the point of being disorienting, which is the whole point of Kirby... visualizing the unseen, and doing it spectacularly.
The treasury is one of the comics I keep looking up on ebay, knowing I can't afford it in good conscience anyway... Maybe one day it will be possible to re-release. I got the Captain America book with the biggest Kirby hand ever pretty cheap tough. That's pretty sweet too.
I was mailed the full run of the 2001 post-adaptation issues by my relatives in the US to the former Yugoslavia...I loved those books so much - almost, if not the best, of Kirby, and they looked gorgeous on that newsprint because of bold big lines and bold color that was best suited for that crap stock. All issues are, sadly, gone, lost in one of my many moves.
what a wonderful comic - masterful!! great video guys!
Thank you so much for walking through these! They're as crazy as I had hoped and heard they would be. As far as Kirby being straight and creating trippy stuff, I'm reminded of an anecdote from Dave Wyndorf of the band Monster Magnet who said you don't create psychedelic music by doing drugs, instead you imagine what kind of trippy music would come out if you did do psychedelics, and then you go from there.
Makes you wonder if Jaime's Penny Century Hero fantasies were influenced by 2001 issue 5.
This video got me to actually start reading the DC Universe Bronze Age omnibus by Jack Kirby i was sent. Thank you for showing me non marvel and fourth world kirby is great too.
the only original issue i have from this series (so far) is issue 7 "the new seed". that one alone was for me an absolute revelation
If anyone finds an extra one of these huge printings and gives it to a friend, that’s an awesome person. I live in a comics desert and bought most of the Kirby work out of my shop years ago (they haven’t really restocked). Couldn’t find the large format 2001 within 200 square miles.
Kubrick had Clark make the book
Kubrick was most likely inspired by Kirby as well in making the film
Wish i could get a copy
I forgot much advertising was in a comic from the 70s
Will his run ever get published as a trade ?
How have I never heard about this?
I had some issues as a kid. Someone needs to collect this. If not Marvel, IDW maybe? As an artists edition?
Man-oh-man, Kirby was MADE for treasury editions, the bigger the better. Certain reprint stuff-the Smith and Buscema/Alcala Conans and Colan Dr. Stranges come to mind-that just benefitted from a larger size. And call me a philistine but as a kid the 2001 movie just bored the pants off me, so guess what? I hear “2001” and I think of two things: Jack Kirby…and Elvis, lol. And, oh, I’ve never cared for comic adaptations of movies. Books to movies or comics is one thing; you’re going from print into visuals and nothing is set on how or what you depict-it’s a clean slate. But movies to comics? Not so clean. People expect see what they’ve already seen and have stuck in their heads, especially with something as iconic as 2001. Kirby, however, being Kirby, went ahead and did HIS version and, boy, is it glorious. The colors for the transformation sequences in the treasury are as powerful and unique and dreamlike as the drawings and make me wish he’d done more of that in his career, not just in his private paintings. And as for Jack being a “square”? Yes, he was very much a product of the Depression era, the tenement he grew up in, the war; he was all about providing for his family and doing the right thing; but from that brilliant, non-stop mind of his came images and ideas that no amount of mind-altering drugs or “dropping out” could provide. Heck, Jack was his OWN drug, lol.
What else was happening in 1968?
Westworld 1973 - Futureworld 1976
I am amazed you're touching these 40 year old comics...
Nice
They're way too $$$ on ebay. I've gotta find that treasury
The great comic videos just keep coming. Years ago, I made a slideshow of some of the artwork from this comic. Can't remember where I found the images - Mr. Door Tree's illustrators blog? Don't remember: th-cam.com/video/eFqKmzkBeiE/w-d-xo.html
Don't need it up.
Y’all all trippin’! This ain’t all that. Who is this Kirby guy anyways? I do want to say that I really like the inking on the treasury.edition.
Hey I’m an old soul, Frank Giacola maybe the best inker. I’m an old soul, shoot me.
as much as I love Kirby, and especially the work discussed in this video, that Treasury cover is absolute crap
no way
Hey don’t take away my thunder of being a contrarian.