The Comics Journal Library Volume One: Jack Kirby (2009)

Image credit: Jack Kirby Comic: The Estate of Jack Kirby

RING LEADER Kirby's superheroes get a round of applause

The Comics Jornal Library Volume One: Jack Kirby is an oversize paperback that does justice to the brawny, sprawling work of ''King'' Kirby, the godfather of superhero-comic-book drawing. (Not for nothing did Michael Chabon acknowledge Kirby's influence in ''The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay.'')

In collected interviews, though, it's a crabby Kirby who inveighs against then editor of Marvel Comics Stan Lee for taking credit for the creation of comics like ''Spider-Man'' and ''The Fantastic Four''; Kirby maintains he was the primary author, a dubious claim. Undeniable, however, is the crackling kineticism of Kirby's art, which set the standard for heavily muscled heroes moving through comic-strip panels paced like action movies.