The KING and I A Tale of MY artwork: A gift to (and from)... Jack Kirby

---

Jack Kirby at his drawing board, as seen in the documentary:

"With Great Power - The Stan Lee Story"

 ---

Yes, I know… after an attempt to commit myself to posting artwork more often here, than do I seemingly vanish off the face of the Earth. My current schedule of freelancing and "day-job" keeping me quite busy, with no new posts for a year – missing many opportunities, including; Halloween and Thanksgiving.

But what if I tried to make up for it by presenting a blog entry that is part “ghost story” as well as a testament of my deepest thanks? – Both aspects given to me from Jack Kirby – 20 years apart.

This blog entry is a true life story about how I met Jack Kirby, gave him a small gift, and how, over 20 years later, his “ghost” showed up and returned the favor.

…

JACK “KING” KIRBY was not only one of the founders of the comic book medium, but perhaps its greatest talent as well.

The worlds that burst like lightning out of his mind, the fantastic imagery that exploded like a volcano from his hand, likened him to a god; a true “CREATOR”.

But this tale is not one that focuses on the myth of the man, nor on the legend that spawned such descriptors, but instead on a small personal history... and a mystery, sparked by a moment or two in time – one forever in amber within my memory – the other… captured forever on film.

Take a look at the photograph atop this post, of Jack Kirby at his drawing table.

Do you see the drawing of Captain America atop the King’s board?

The one with which he is posed, pen in hand, as if upon which he is putting some finishing touch?

That… is MY artwork.

Ah… I hope that got your attention.

Yes. That is MY drawing of Captain America, one that I gave to the King, when I had the pleasure to meet him at a comic convention back in (late) 1990  (or early 1991).

Not only that, but if you look even closer, you’ll note that the artwork is inside a black matt frame.

That is because when I frequented comic-cons during the late 1980’s and early 1990’s it was as a professional artist (having had some pro work with a few indie publishers) and I would sell my work – some; original art, drawn at request, and some; hand-colored photocopies of previously drawn illustrations, framed in those mats. It was one such piece that I gave to Jack Kirby.

I will provide PROOF of which here.

Here is a photograph of myself, taken expressly for this post, with not only a similar, colored photocopy… not only one in the exact same type of matt… but one that was taken from my flatfile archives, where it was stored away after being colored, matted, signed & dated in 1990! In my other hand is the ORIGINAL pencil artwork, drawn in 1989 (which shows what was obscured by the mat: the Shield & Eagle atop the flagpole and the rest of Cap’s left foot, as well as the remainder of the flag).

Just so you don’t think that I merely photoshopped my work into the photo (or drew it after the fact), please note that I discovered the Kirby photo while watching a documentary, on Netflix, a few weeks ago : “With Great Power; The Stan Lee Story”, which was produced in 2010.

Here’s the pertinent clip from the show that shows the image shown in the photo atop this page:
(if for some reason the video clip doesn't show properly, a link to the YouTube page where I posted it can be found [HERE])

Obviously, I could not have altered the image in an already-filmed documentary, which anyone can now go and verify. The Kirby photo is near the end of this clip (but around the 20 minute mark in the full video).

Now allow me to turn the clock back, for a moment of explanation as to the origins of how Jack Kirby came into possession of my work, and then I’ll turn the clock forward again, to early this month, when I discovered that the photograph of the King with my art even existed…

While I have already written of my meeting with Jack Kirby, back in an old post, a few years ago on my other blog, [HERE], I’ll recap and continue the tale now.

As some readers of this blog may know (as detailed in several other old posts), I was a professional writer / artist for a few independent comic companies in the late 1980’s – early 1990’s (1987 – 1991 to be exact).

I had started out just as a guy with a rented table in the dealer’s room, who would either draw your custom art on the spot, or sell pre-drawn samples and even hand-colored photocopies of my work.

It was in that manner that I was “discovered” by some publishers and garnered assignments for published work. With actual published credentials, I then graduated to a free table in “artist’s alley”, the professional’s room.

Still, I was a young and inexperienced 20-something year-old “kid”, and every once in a while, a “real” pro artist would walk over to (or past) my table and we would get to talk about the industry.

At one weekend show in New York City, I met Jack Kirby. (I also met Stan Lee at the same show, but I've already told that tale [linked to HERE]). Jack was walking through the “artist’s alley” room, with his wife, Roz. I saw him, and immediately felt that I should say something… DO something… to express my gratitude for his immeasurable contribution to the field.

Suddenly, I KNEW what I could do. Like the tale of the “Little Drummer Boy”, I had a gift for the King, and while it wasn’t much, it was all that I had.

I looked at my artworks which surrounded and covered my table, and thought that, most of those characters were co-created by Stan Lee, and would not make an appropriate gift, as they might instead serve to rekindle the heated feelings that Jack Kirby may have had towards Lee and Marvel. No. Instead I would make a gift to him of the one character thereupon that was his – with no ties to Stan Lee…

Captain America.

I quickly grabbed a hand-colored copy of a drawing of Captain America that I had done, and vaulted over my table to go and meet this iconic industry giant.

Gently shaking his hand, I gave him the illustration of the comic character that HE had created - and bestowed upon the world - as a gesture of my thanks and admiration.

I embarrassingly asked for an autograph, but his wife explained that he was under strict orders to rest his hands and that if I gave my name and info, he would mail one to me at a later date.

I happily did so, saying that autograph or no, this was indeed an honor that I would never forget

While I never did receive the autograph, I took some small, humble hope that a piece of my work was in possession of the man. Although, truthfully, even that thought was fleeting, as I wondered why a giant such as he would even bother to keep such an offering. Looking at the illustration with the eyes of a more mature artist, I know that the illustration really isn’t very good. Sure, it has good qualities, but overall, it’s just not all that good. Not good enough for someone like Jack Kirby to keep it for long.

I thought that maybe he’d have tossed it in the back of a closet, out of a kind sense of thankful obligation, sort of how one might keep a received birthday card in a drawer and promptly forget about it for years. Such was the fate that I imagined for my artwork; gently forgotten in the back of a closet, until it would eventually be discarded.

Sadly, within 4 years of our meeting, the King was dead.

I couldn’t help but wonder over the years… Did he keep it? Did he like it? Would it be thrown away with the assorted junk that accumulates on the periphery of our lives?

A gift given. A memory made. And a mystery… in my mind.

Now please indulge me as I flash-forward to the present and my viewing of the documentary.

While flipping through the selections on Netflix, I was in the mood for some comicbook goodness, and thought a documentary would be perfect.
The selection; "With Great Power - The Stan Lee Story" sounded familiar, but I knew I had never seen it. Surprising since it was released in 2010.

It would be less than a half-hour before a point in my life of 20 years prior would leap into my present-day living room.

When the scene in question came on screen, it felt like an electric jolt went through my body. My body went rigid, my eyes opened wide, and my mind… my mind reeled.

I immediately recognized my work. But more importantly than anything, I immediately knew that Jack Kirby had kept my gift.

It was as if I were seeing a long lost friend, contacting me from beyond the grave to answer a question, long thought unanswerable.

To see that the great artist not only kept the piece, but had it close enough at hand for use as a prop in some photo-shoot truly brought a shock to my mind, and a sense of peace of mind as well.

But then it also brought further questions:

WHEN was this photo taken?

WHY? For WHAT purpose?

I can only imagine that when asked to pose for some photo opportunity (a magazine shoot perhaps), the photographer may have thought that a piece of Jack's own original black-pencil artwork might not have "popped" (which is unthinkable), or simply lacked the visual impact that a full-color illustration would instead provide. So the (ignorant) photographer just had Jack place an already-colored piece on the desk.

So, looking around his studio for a suitable image, of a character that would be recognizable, not only for who it was, but that it was one of his characters, my artwork simply fit the bill. Nevermind that it wasn’t drawn by Kirby, as his hand is positioned to block the view of my signature (a ~PCK~ in a scroll with the year beneath it) which I would guess was the photographer's direction; "OK, Jack... just move your hand over a bit...there!" Authenticity may have taken a back-seat to necessity.

I knew that there would only be a few people who could shine any light on these tiny mysteries (perhaps John Morrow from TwoMorrow's Press - publishers of the Jack Kirby Collector magazine, or someone from the Jack Kirby Museum project). However, I also knew that there was one other man who would not only have the best chance of knowing, but who might like to discuss this story with me, and so I contacted Jack Kirby’s long-time assistant & friend, Mark Evanier (who you'll note was shown being interviewed at the start of the video clip I presented above).

Mr. Evanier told me that Jack Kirby kept EVERY drawing that he was ever given by fans. He would keep them nearby in his studio, some hung up on the walls, some down leaning against the walls of the room, and that he would frequently interchange what was displayed on the walls and/or the floor stacks. Everyone got time to shine, and he didn’t judge the works on artistic merit more than the fact that he was thrilled that someone actually took the TIME and ENERGY to CREATE something. He was humbled, and gladdened that he was able to inspire anyone to do so, but it was the act of creation that he most admired and by which he was delighted.

Most others sent him drawings OF him WITH his creations. My gift, however, was one of an impromptu nature, given on a chance meeting, and as such, was only of one of his creations.

THAT, it seems is what might have been the reason that my artwork was placed upon his table for the photo. It would be unlikely for a drawing OF Jack and his characters to be drawn BY Jack, wherein my piece featuring only Captain America might have been a better fit for the photographer’s direction. That and/or the fact that without any other figures on the page, the one figure is full-sized and instantly recognizable to the viewer, if not the actual style or the fact that it wasn’t a Kirby drawing.

Sure, when I first saw the documentary photo, my mind had let fly with fanciful notions that maybe Jack Kirby had liked my work... and maybe had it on his desk because he wanted to send me an overlay drawing showing me the correct way it should have been drawn (as I know that it wasn't a great piece)... Or maybe, he saw some spark of talent in the drawing and wanted to mentor me... or maybe someone, somewhere saw this one piece and maybe wanted to contact me for some project...

All fanciful dreams...

The truth is most likely what I and Mr. Evanier both concluded; Jack was a class act and kept all things that fans gave him. His hands wouldn't allow for him to draw anything for that photo session, and maybe the color drawing just fit the bill as a prop.

That I had always sort of wondered whether he kept it, whether he liked it, whether it was lost in time... all those questions were answered by one photograph, over 20 years later. For that I am grateful. For the fact that he used my drawing, my tiny gift, for the photo (even if by random chance)... I am humbly honored.

And so, I just want to say once again, for all the wonders he has given the medium, all the enjoyment that he has given to me, and for the gratitude that I feel knowing that he liked and had my work near to him… THANK YOU, JACK KIRBY.

* UPDATE*

It is my pleasure to state that John Morrow of the aforementioned TWOMORROWS PRESS, has expressed an interest in publishing this blog entry in one of his publications! Most likely The JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR magazine!

He has asked for high quality images for reproduction of all the images seen in this post, so it should look quite nice.

I'll be sure to make the official announcement when the article is published.

*UPDATE 2*

After months of trying to orchestrate an open spot in the JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR, (because, as anyone with even a smidge of publishing understanding knows, space is a premium and stories crop up and drop off constantly,) my tale was published, in a truncated form, in the letters pages of issue #64.

While not the big feature story I was hoping for, it did contain most of the information from this post as well as photos seen in this post. Not too bad.

*UPDATE 3*

(01/01/2017)

While flipping around YouTube a day ago, I found ANOTHER documentary that shows the same photo of Jack Kirby with my artwork. This time, MORE of the photo is shown.

From the 1996 documentary:

 STAN LEE: The ComiX-Man

 (that it seems was broadcast in two segments on A&E)

 https://youtu.be/7vgapiQek7I

The photo is at the 14:52 - 14:55.5

---

*UPDATE 4*

(11/13/2017)

A brand NEW documentary (series) has begun to air last night on AMC (American Movie Classics) titled:

ROBERT KIRKMAN'S SECRET HISTORY OF COMICS

and on the first episode:

The Mighty Misfits Who Made Marvel

,at the 28 minute mark, that image was used, yet again, when speaking of the mistreatment of Jack Kirby, and how, ironically, he wasn't being acknowledged for his artwork.

The episode can be watched for free on either YouTube OR the Google Play app/site.

HOW many documentaries used this photo?

Now, more than before I am determined to find out WHAT this photo was for and WHY Jack chose MY piece with which to pose.

I may never know the answer, but I am filled with wonder.

Thanks, Jack!

To recap the past few months... What's the deal with my new gig?

So, as I mentioned last post, I have found a new job.
One that has been taking up most of my time.

I've been there now for about 2 months, and have a probationary period that ends on January 1st, 2011.
I can't say for sure that I'll still have the job after that, but at least one came along at a time when desperately needed.


After being downsized from my old job, which I had held for nearly 7 years, I was then unemployed for about a year and a half.
The pickings for employment in my area are meager to say the least.
Jobs in my field (as an artist/ illustrator etc...) had been slim-to-none.
Of course, aside from some freelance assignments, I was looking to do anything and everything far removed from an art-based job, as well.
I was looking into everything from customer service to driving a school bus (again).
Not many bites.

Were I to have been more inclined to commute to New York City again, I may have found something sooner, but then a good portion of my paycheck would have gone to the commute, so it seemed best to look in my area for something at a lesser pay, but closer to home.
(Especially, since due to the overwhelming number of applicants-to-job ratio, many positions I was seeing were asking for more experience and responsibilities for far lesser pay-scales than once offered.)

Oddly enough, I almost didn't reply to the ad for this new position, as a printing "pre-press" technician, as it is a bit "afield" of my more traditional artist abilities. It's more "art-adjacent"- with some actual design and creative opportunities here and there.

However, after reading the ad, and quickly researching the company online, I redesigned my resume' to look similar in look and feel to their web-presence.

Sending my resume off on a Wednesday afternoon, which I thought was going to be a day too late to be taken seriously, I was amazed to receive a call the next morning asking for me to come in for an interview.
A Monday morning appointment was scheduled and the meeting went well.
Well enough, in fact, that the next morning I was called again to see if I would be willing to come back to show them what I could do on the computer (Apple Mac) and if I could handle the programs (Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator).
So, the next day I went in, and after spending some time learning their processes, ended up pitching in to help them meet a deadline - learning and working (pro-bono) from 11am - 5pm!
With that positive experience behind me, I wasn't surprised that the next morning I was asked to come back in for another meeting - so that on Friday, the job was mine to take.
(The entire process went by so fast, I never had the opportunity to send in the oft-touted traditional "Thank You" letter for the initial interview.)

Supposedly, the ad for the position drew over 200 applicants.
More than 50 of which were called in for interviews.
The final pick was between myself and two others.
I won out.

My new position (at a company whose name I won't disclose, as there is a lot of non-disclosure info that I needed to swear to) is as a pre-press artist/ designer / technician.
I'm pre-flighting artwork and designs that are sent in, recreating some designs, and the occasional complete original work-up, while producing printing plates for these - which will grace products and print work that will be seen and purchased by many the world over.

Through channels there, I also managed to get a side-line into a small print-firm with a facility of high-quality over-sized printers, vinyl plotter/cutters, multi-color/station silk-screen machine and more.

I was worried that if a position that paid enough was not found, we could conceivably be forced to give up our house. You may recall that in preparation for that looming possibility, we had packed the whole place up to move to a slightly more affordable rental.

What many do not know, is that I had indeed MOVED more than half of our belongings to the new location, but within a few days of that - while prepping the rest of our stuff for the journey - I received a call telling us that the rental property was no longer going to be available to us as it was instead going to be sold off.

So, I then had to move ALL that stuff BACK here - and still had to find a job - after losing valuable time which I had spent packing the house and looking for work in the new area.

Anyway, I finished the last of the re-move the day before my new job began, loading up the basement with every box and bauble (and desperately needing to organize it all again).
The place looks like the warehouse scene from "Raiders of the Lost Arc".
We basically have to move in - all over again, but, as the gig has been very hectic, I have had zero time to do any of that as of yet.

So, while I AM employed and can try to enjoy blogging - with a lighter heart - once again, I DO still have a LOT of technical stuff to learn at my job (keeping my mind occupied) and a ton of things to organize around the house (keeping my body busy) for the foreseeable future.

I'll still be blogging when I can, and hope to get back up to a ratio of more frequrnt entries, but until then, know that I'm "on the job" (both figuratively and literally).

---

MANY THANKS go out to all of you - my friends and followers on the world wide web for your positive thoughts, wishes and prayers.
The universe has answered.
Thank you.

The ART of the Journey...

Well, it seemed that, for all intents and purposes, anyone looking at this blog would think that I had stopped blogging here (which explains why some of my "followers" have since pulled out from following).


I assure you, I shall continue.

My absence is explained by a (not-so) simple tale of job-loss, packing up the house and proceeding with a relocation, and then, after finding that the new location was no longer to be available, RE-locating all the stuff BACK to our original home.

That took months.
The journey of which could be an epic poem... or, at least could be represented by a Sisyphean-themed Rube Goldberg machine.

Well, now that it seems we are here to stay (since I have once again found employment as a Full Time in-house artist - which I will blog about next) I need to get back to showcasing some of my old (and also the new) works.

I am still in the UN-packing stage of things, and with the new F/T gig, time is against me for the nonce.
But, in time,  (hopefully soon,) I plan on dredging out many more hoary old projects, and creating new ones, to showcase to you all right here.


Thanks.

~P~

An Introduction

WELCOME!

My "nom de plume" is PTOR, and I have been a professional artist and writer for over 25 years.
For much of that time, I have worked out of a "studio" of my own that I named;

MIDNIGHT IMAGES.

That's my OLD logo up top of the page.
I'm redesigning a newer logo, but that one still has a place in my heart.

The "Midnight Images" name came about because back then, my "nom-de-plume" was Peter Knight.
I took the "Knight" part and combined it with the fact that much of the images that I was producing (keeping up with tight deadlines and such while going to school or working a day job) were being worked on at... yup, you guessed it... Midnight.

I was going to call it MidKnight Images, but that would just confuse people more than was necessary.

Still, I was working professionally under that name, producing, among many projects; storyboards, interactive children's projects, book covers, shirt graphics and much more - including, for a couple of years working as a writer / artist for professional comic book companies.

I used to tour the US going to Comic Conventions (ComiCons - as they are more referred to) and had a table in the "artist's alley" of each selling my own original works and working on custom-drawn commissions that fans would request.

After years of this style of working, I walked away from the freelance biz and was, for the past (almost) 7 years, an in-house artist for a major New York housewares company.
Not the most "creative" outlet for my abilities, but I would always try to add a little something to each project, even if it was just a creative new way to produce the work.

Still, there's something to be said for a steady paycheck and a benefits package.
That, and I was fortunate to have worked with some truly wonderful people - some are counted as being my closest friends today.

My job was originally to be a Product Renderer, basically drawing items which hadn't been created yet, to show to sales agents and other vendors to boost their interest in ordering the new products.

I was hired, initially because I actually knew HOW TO DRAW, unlike many artists these days who rely on computer programs and "tracing" photographs to produce work.
I started off working on realistic 3D-looking hand-drawn illos, colored with markers with a technique that really made them seem more like photographs than "marker comps", and slowly, eventually transitioned into coloring them in Photoshop.

For insanely tight deadlines, I also would work up what I called "Frankensteins", which were that I would take photos of many separate items, from disparate sources (hopefully some from similar products) and using photoshop, make a composite of those elements into a photo-realistic representation of the new, not-as-of-yet-manufactured item.

Other items I would work up exclusively in Photoshop to create photorealistic images that looked as if they were real 3-dimensional items.However, nothing about those illustrations existed in the real world.

More times than I can count, sales reps and others would wonder why they just couldn't be shown the actual item in question. Because, as they would say; "Well, you have a PHOTO of it right here!", not knowing that the "photo" in question was really one of my phony composites or Photoshop images.

Still later, my job description grew to include producing detailed line-art which was used as how-to instructions for care and use of items. To this end, I added Adobe Illustrator to my toolkit and used that quite a bit.
I love that program. Very clean. Very precise.

Among my other duties there, I would produce graphics which were to be used either on the products themselves and/or their packaging or for use as giant signage at trade shows or in showrooms. By that time, I would frequently interchange between hand-drawn, Illustrator and Photoshop and/or a combination of those (and other) techniques and programs) to achieve my goals.

Always up for a challenge, I would meet each and every deadline head-on, working directly with Category Managers, sales force leads and Division heads to give them exactly what they wanted.
Striving to give each art request my best and full attention, I would do all that I could to treat each category manager or their assistant as if theirs was the only project on my plate. Sure, I was juggling multiple tasks and assignments, but I knew that I could give each person exactly what they wanted and help to alleviate their worries over if their stuff would be completed on time or not.

My track record of meeting deadlines (no matter how tight) was just about 100%.
(Sure, I may have been a day or two off on a couple of projects, but only if I knew for a fact - and was told so by the manager - that there was a buffer of a few days. Usually, they were the ones telling me not to go too crazy.)
More often than not, I was turning around completed Art Requests overnight.
(This was made possible by the situation that happened gradually, where I was granted the ability to work from my home office and submit my work via telecommute and uploading my work to their servers. Suddenly, I was able to work as early or as late as was needed, and frankly, I didn't mind it because I was working from the comfort of my home. "You want that tomorrow morning? No problem!")

Still, nothing good lasts forever, and sadly, on April 30th of 2009 I was downsized from my position because of the economic downturn of the USA (as well as the world, really).
I wasn't being reprimanded or replaced. More to the point that they were going to try to eliminate the need for my position entirely by a combination of photography and the other "general" graphic artists and/or the design team artists.

I'm still on very friendly terms with most of the people who work there (if someone has a problem with me I've never been made aware of it), but it's been nearly a year now and the slim chance of my being asked back doesn't look all that likely.

As for this blog, I've been meaning to start up an art-blog for ages, and have only now realized that if I want to do it, I just need to DO IT.

So, while I intend to eventually work up a new template and overall layout for this blog, this will do for now.
(I should note that someone took the blogspot url of "midnightimages" already, but they're not using it. It's been blank since 2007. I'll look into getting that one as well, if I can. But for now, remember that mine has the "-" (hyphen) between the two words, which you see in my blogspot url.)

Look for me to post old and new art, stuff from my old job, new pieces and I'll even toss my resume up here as well.

Come back for a visit any time.
I hope to be seeing you soon.

Now, back to the old drawing board!
~P~
PTOR