1. So I have a few thoughts on Jack Kirby, the Kennedy assassination, @aoscott, @tnyfrontrow, movie franchises and open narratives.
-
-
5. Mr. Fantastic & Thing were both war veterans, like Kirby and J.F.K. With trim hair (whitening on sides), Mr. Fantastic looks like one of those Kennedy era ramrod executives: Kennedy himself or McNamara.pic.twitter.com/3P4HgF7HWG
Show this thread -
6. Kirby once told his assistant (and future biographer) Mark Evanier that the Kennedy assassination had a big impact on his art.pic.twitter.com/HxzDD7RKN0
Show this thread -
7. How did JFK's assassination change Kirby's work? As Kevin Ainesworth argued in Jack Kirby Collector, it changed Kirby's narrative strategy. Pre-1963, Kirby's stories were tight, one-and-done. After, he moved to open-ended, sprawling stories.
Show this thread -
8. According to Evanier, this is likely the comic Kirby was working on when he heard JFK died. Notice plot point is Mr. Fantastic (JFK stand-in) wounded.pic.twitter.com/CclhyJloAp
Show this thread -
9. JFK's assassination seems to have turned Kirby away from classic beginning-middle-end narratives to open-ended, unresolved soap operas where it is just one-thing-after another. Life goes on narratives.
Show this thread -
10. In JFK's death was the seeds of what Sean Howe calls "the snowballing Marvel Universe, which expanded to become the most intricate fictional narrative in the history of the world: thousand upon thousands of interlocking characters & episodes."
Show this thread -
11. The smartest reviews of new Avengers flick (by
@aoscott &@tnyfrontrow) have keyed into the sprawling overstuffed nature of Marvel Universe, and demands it makes on audience comprehension & narrative coherence.Show this thread -
12. Of course, Kirby's narrative shift, a product of an artist reacting to the chaos of the 1960s, has now turned into a perfect tool for capitalist Hollywood to make endless films about the same characters; franchising.
Show this thread -
13. Opened ended narratives & universal franchising do pose problems for art, which I explore with my colleagues
@Jo_Livingstone &@alex_shephard here: https://newrepublic.com/article/148198/comics-killing-movies …Show this thread
End of conversation
New conversation -
-
-
This Tweet is unavailable.
-
I realize this is a late answer, but: it wasn’t until 2002.
- Show replies
-
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.