There's a cool graphic circulating on the internet right now. I saw it being liked on Facebook.
It's a cool blue ghosty portrait of the late Jack Kirby surrounded by the ghosts of the chacters that he drew/created. The picture is by Alex Ross and is credited.
However, I have a few questions on who some of these characters are/were.
Most are extremely identifyable.
Captain America
Thor
The Thing
The Black Panther
The Wasp
the Original Iron Man
The Hulk
Medusa
Dr. Doom
The Scarlet Witch
Professor X
Cyclops
Magneto
The Red Skull
Nick Fury?
but the last few puzzle me.
Who is the woman with white hair and a blue face mask behind Kirby and Cap?
Is that Magneto to the left of Wanda?
Who's in front of her, right behind cap? The Silver Surfer? the Mandarin?
Of all of these, it's the white haired lady that puzzles me the most.
Replies
Maybe that's Granny Goodness behind him?
It could be blond hair and a mask other than blue. Everything in the painting is either white, blue, or a combination thereof.
It appears under the Gallery section of Ross' website:
http://www.alexrossart.com/index.asp
OK, so say it's blond hair and another color mask... who does that suggest? Not Ororo...
Not Carol Danvers.... Sue Storm? How likely is this?
Marvel Girl, Jean Gray?
I don't have a guess, but I'm uploading the picture from Ross' site, which is slightly wider (not cropped).
I couldn't find the image at Ross's website (I was hoping to find a larger version); has it been taken down?
All the figures seem to be Marvel characters. In fact, Silver Age Marvel characters. Otherwise I’d expect one of the Eternals to be there, and none seems to be.
In the version of the image posted by Richard the figure to the left of Wanda is clearly Doom. The head to right of the Hulk is probably the Red Skull, although the shadow on the forehead above the brow is a bit odd. Magneto’s helmet is above Cyclops (the forehead piece and design along the edge of his helmet above the eyes can be seen).
What I initially thought were the goggles of another figure can be seen between the Skull and Magneto. My first guess was this was Mentallo (from the SHIELD strip), but I think the handling of the nose isn’t right. My current favoured guess is that it’s the modern-day Nick Fury, showing his eyepatch (on the right, the character’s left) and the top of his nose, with his other eye obscured by shadow. You can see the band that holds on the eyepatch on the right.
I didn’t think the woman behind Kirby was wearing a mask at first (like Rob, I initially thought she was Granny Goodness), but it now looks certain to me she is. Her nose and mouth can be seen next to Kirby’s hair; she’s probably too pretty to be Granny. The mask is cut so that it doesn’t cover her nose and it seems to have a slightly jagged lower edge near the nose. It might be Medusa, but in the images by Kirby I checked he didn’t give the mask a jagged lower edge. He also often gave the top of the mask a clear edge instead of hiding it under the hair, but the cover of Fantastic Four #54 is an exception.
I think the figure to the left of Cap is Heimdall. Kirby varied his design, but he seems to be wearing a helmet with a substantially open face, and to have a moustache and beard. The white line to the left of him that crosses Dr Doom’s face could be the edge of his shield. The character seems to have a high collar.
I couldn’t make out the Wasp for a long time. But since you named her, I finally spotted her in front of Thor. (Until I realised it was her I thought what is in fact Thor’s button was part of another helmet.) I was thrown by the thing to the right of Kirby’s left shoulder for a while; it’s Thor’s helmet, of course.
The picture is under the heading "Art for Sale", and then "New Art for Sale" on the drop-down menu.
He's selling it (presumably the original) for a mere $10,000. The page says it's 10" x 11". I did the math on the pixels and the proportions match 10x11, so this is the entire image.
the shadow on the forehead above the brow is a bit odd.
I get the impression that some of the unexplained shadows and possibly the vertical streaks of light are to mar the image so it can be identified as an unauthorized version.
My current favoured guess is that it’s the modern-day Nick Fury, showing his eyepatch (on the right, the character’s left) and the top of his nose, with his other eye obscured by shadow. You can see the band that holds on the eyepatch on the right.
I'm not seeing what you describe, but I don't know why Kirby would be associated with the revisionist Nick Fury. He never drew him.
Thanks, Richard. By the modern-day Fury I mean the older version from the SHIELD series, rather than the young version from Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos. The bridge of the nose is two light bits sticking up from Thor's hair, and the left side of his face (on the right, since he's facing us) is adjacent to Magneto's helmet.
On reflection, the figure to the left of Cap, who I identified as Heimdall, has to be the Silver Surfer, as it's very implausible he would have been left out (due to his importance, and since he was Kirby's idea as well as design). If so, the white line is the edge of his board. Kirby drew the Surfer without ears, which is how, if it's him, he appears here. I think the "collar" is the Surfer's left hand, held at an angle with the palm down (a gesture expressing denial/anger/rejection of somebody's wishes).
Against this interpretation, Kirby drew the Surfer with detailless white eyes. However, I notice that the eyes of all the other figures are obscured, and in some cases (the Hulk, perhaps the Thing, perhaps Wanda) closed. I think the comics characters are mourning Kirby (hence Thor has his helmet off). Ross's handling of the Surfer's eyes (if it's him) might fit with this somehow.
(corrected)
Alright, I'm sold.
I agree with Doom in the upper left hand corner, and just in front of him (with the board at an angle,) is the Silver Surfer.
I think that's Magneto over on the right, behind Scott, and I agree with the Red Skull. I had not seen the face behind HIM, and after the discussion above, I'll buy that it's Nick Fury's eyepatch.
The two that surprise me are Medusa, who I will agree to (never thought of her) due to the mask... and given all the rest of the Original Avengers are present, I'm noticing an absences. No Antman/Giantman.
It seems like he should be in there somewhere, and I'm looking at what's on Cap's right (our left) shoulder in front of the surfer's chin very carefully. By rights, that's where I would have put him.
I also note conspicuous absences of Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Johnny Storm, Quicksilver and Hawkeye. Didn't Jack design them all?
Damn, I wish I had $10,000 for the original, but I'd buy a framed poster.
I finally see the Nick Fury image. I was looking in the wrong place.
I almost said the Silver Surfer earlier, but was put off by that spikey image between Cap's shoulder and the Surfer's chin. What is that?
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