Others say...

"Very Readable History of Jack Kirby and the Comics"
With some hesitation, I ordered a copy of the book "Tales to Astonish" because of both praise and concern in the comic fan world. I found it to be a very readable entertaining book that relates the highs and low points of the modern comic book, from its inception in the late 1930s through Jack Kirby's career.

Criticism of this book are quite correct. There is no artwork, except for a Jack Kirby figure on the front and back. It is all text with no index. However, it is very readable, alternating between explanation, history and dialog between the major figures. This helps to make the story human, and show why and how things went wrong, how people felt, and what was done on both sides.

There were many "a ha" moments for me in this book. The explanation of WHY there were only 8 Marvel comics initially distributed by National and WHY Marvel may not have made their initial superheros LOOK like tradition superheroes is very interesting.

Also, the author has fleshed out some of the critical decisions to form partnerships and break-ups to explain more about the personalities involved. Example: Jim Steranko is a well known figure, but WHERE he came from, and WHY he fought with Stan Lee at the height of his success was very helpful. Jack Kirby's role in supporting this young master develop his form and then resentment at low pay for doing the majority of the layout work makes sense now.

I spotted at least two simple factual errors: DC's Challengers of the Unknown is said to have debuted in Showcase # 7, 11, 12.... but wasn't it 6, 7, 11, 12? Similarly, the author describes the development of "Him" the last Kirby developed character for Marvel in Fantastic Four # 76, but I KNOW it was 66-67 because I bought them as they came out. These small errors make me wonder if the editing was done by a non-comic fan, or someone intentionally fed mis-information to the author.

There is also a complaint that the same point or scene is repeated within a few pages of the book, over and over, being distracting cause you've just read that. I feel this is a linking technique when some additional information from research or interview has been inserted to flesh out a point, or illuminate another aspect of comics, and it derails the central discussion of Jack Kirby. Yes, annoying, but worked for me as it signals a return to the main theme.

All in all, I must agree this is not the definitive work on Jack Kirby, but it is a very good overview of the development of the comic book industry and hits interviews or quotes from interviews from all the major players, from Stan Lee, to Mark Evanier, Gene Colan to Gil Kane, Carmine Infantao to Julie Schwartz, Gary Groth to Greg Theakston. In short, alot of ground has been covered.... and reasonably well.

For a cheap price, this is a very quick, very readable over-view of Kirby's work, accomplishments, heartbreaks and legacy.
I'd recommend it.

"It's Yammerin' Time!"
If one follows Ronin Ro (yeesh! what a pen name!)'s line of reasoning, on the seventh day Jack Kirby would have rested. The hero worship is sophomoric, as is the writing. A more critical enquiry would have saved this book, because despite the teenage adoration of the abysmal and often redundant narrative, it is a fun read and captures a lot of the zeal behind the "glory days" of Mighty Marvel. The critical eye that would have been helpful has been cited by another reviewer, who suggests the need for more balance. This account is as heavy handed as Kirby's figures. Stan Lee is depicted as a weaseley charlatan who appeared to shmooze his way to the top. Could it be that Kirby needed to be reigned in, as seen by his lack of success in solo ventures and frankly incomprehensible storylines (albeit beautiful futuristic panoramas). Kirby's writing does suck, as it lacks imagination. He was always more of an embellisher, but what an embellisher. Not to say that Kirby didn't get screwed as a comic book artist (they all were, except maybe Bob Kane who had moxie and foresight, not to mention marketing mindedness), but to be fair to Stan, I've seen many issues of Iron Man, Daredevil and other titles that share the storyline credit and even use the word "collaboration". Bottom line: a fun read for the die-hard fan, but you have to look the other way more than once to get through this 300 page fan letter.

"Most readers will know more than the author."
And if you're not into comics, you won't care. What was Ronin Ro on?

Aside from glaring proofreading mistakes (on the same page, we are told that Kirby was stationed at an army base in 1945 and honorably discharged in 1943), this writer decides to take one of the most interesting and argued-about subjects in popular culture and present it as one continuous, here's-what-happened narrative, without ever citing his sources. No pictures, no index, nothing's ever sourced, corroborated or contested. Not only are conflicting versions of events never explored, but neither are the various other books and magazines Ro cribbed from ever cited. Hack-work, through and through.

If I sound angry, it's because this should have been great, at least as absorbing as Gerard Jones's excellent book, Men of Tomorrow. A good version of this book can be done, and I'd gladly shell out hardcover money for it. Instead, it's like standing in a comics store, listening to some fool blather on, thinking to yourself, "you don't know that. How can anybody know that? Who told you that? You made that up," and finally, "just ring me up and let me out of here."

"Great Book"
I've been looking for a compelling bio / non-fiction book about the comic trade for a long time, and one on the enigmatic Jack Kirby. I hadn't found one yet, until this.

This book principally addresses the myth of Stan Lee - ie. that Stan did everything in Marvel, but focuses at the other lynchpin that really helped define the Silver Age of comic books: Jack Kirby. Often ignored and little understood because of the hype surrounding Stan Lee and Marvel, Ro tries to set the record straight about Kirby and I'm glad he did.

Ro does a great job in illustrating a picture of the industry and trends through Kirby and cohorts. The book gives as balanced a view as possible by including comments from many other people.

This is a highly readable book - and it doesn't try to address everything but still gives readers a snapshot of how the industry worked and how artists labored to create their heroes. Jack deserved a book like this to tell his tale. Stan Lee's autobiography was too glib for me and disappointing (ie. all PR and little depth) but books like this unearth the real dramas behind the creative process.

I'm still reading it as I speak - any fan of marvel comics especially in the 60s thru 70s should get into this - but for true appreciation, you will need to know enough about marvel comics for the added kick. Those who do don't really need illustrations (the book has none). Those who do, will need to search out the comics!

Comic book collectors should add this to their library. It's a poignant tale of the American dream - and more accurately, of Kirby's dream.

"Really an astonishment!"
Ronin, you coulndn't have done a much better job on this book! The way you put it all together, you really have creativity in this area. I'm really proud to say that you're my uncle, and I wish you nothing but better days ahead man...all love, later