Jack Kirby, ackowledged as the most prolific and dynamic comic artist of all time, was asked how he managed to come up with the idea of some of his more unusual characters.

"I realised I had to find with something new..I couldn't depend on gangsters forever. And so for some reason I went to the Bible, and I came up with Galactus. And there I was, in front of this tremendous figure, who I knew very well, because I always felt him in my life, and I knew I certainly couldn't treat him the same way I would have treated any ordinary mortal character.

"And I remember in my first story I had to back away from him, in order to resolve that story... of course the Silver Surfer is the fallen angel: when Galactus relegated him to Earth, he stayed on Earth, and that was the beginning of his adventure.

"They were the first gods in comics, and so I began thinking along those lines. I began to ask... everybody else, other societies, all had their gods, but what were ours? What was the state of our society, and where were our mythic figures?

"I'm a guy who lives with many questions...because I was never able to resolve them. I try to ask what's out there, and I can't resolve that... I don't know if anybody can. I sure would like to hear the answers... to know the ultimate answer, and I find that search entertaining.

"You know, if my life was to end tomorrow, I would be satisfied... I'd have to say the questions have been terriffic."

(Kirby, Sci-fi TV interview 1989)

Galactus was an interpretation of cosmic forces indifferent to human values and ambitions. Kirby assumed life could take forms as varied in size and power as does solid matter.

Kirby's greatest curiosity concerned the actual makeup of our universe and man's relation to it.

He reasoned that Earth was a tiny speck of matter in an infinitely large creation, and that forces far beyond our control would not concern themselves with our fate.

Despite this fundamental insignificance of the human race, Kirby emphasised the mind of man as being the key to all questions, perhaps even ultimately to answer the question of immortality itself.

Always the value of all life was held paramount, and the essential nobility of the human being its saving grace.

"I tried to make my characters relate to the human condition. The Hulk, I feel, is someone who is inside all of us... the ability to transcend our own limitations when the need arises.

"I made Captain America very patriotic... patriotism is a feeling that runs very deep. I feel that the deeper the appeal of a character, the larger the audience it will gather." (Kirby, 1989 TV interview)

Kirby's stories appealed so widely due in part to his focus on the human point of view. Many episodes illustrate the human reaction when confronted by the vastness of the Universe, best summed up by one character who was almost rendered speechless, declaring "it's so big... we're just like ants...ants..."

He realises immediately he is doomed, and in the final panel declares "as for me, I'll soon learn the answer to the greatest mystery of all..the final answer!"

This page follows on from the episode shown above. It is worth quoting in full, as it shows a remarkable philosophy, as voiced by a character faceing his last moments of life, and reflecting on the human condition in general:

"There is so much more yet to learn..so much more to see and marvel at... what a pity it all must end so soon..before I have a chance to unravel the myriad mysteries of this strange, uncanny Universe..

"But there will be others, those who come after me... and they will unlock the secrets of the cosmos one by one: for the mind of man is the greatest key in the world... the key which may one day open the door to immortality. And each of us, in his own way, does what he can for those who will follow.

"That is the only true legacy we can leave to those we love.. that we have made the world a little better than when we found it."

Who can argue with this? But in 1989 his former employers, Marvel Comics, refused to return his artwork to him unless he signed a contract guaranteeing he would not sell the artwork on. If he failed to do this, Marvel reserved the right to delete his name as creator of virtually the entire stable of Marvel characters (a billion dollar industry for which he had only ever received a fee for drawing the pages).

In a TV news interview, Kirby replied, "These people were saying I couldn't even give some of the art to my grandson if I wanted to. Well, honesty and fairness and the American way isn't just a corny phrase... it's the way people should deal with each other, it's the way things should be."

The cover to the right is from one of Kirby's favourite projects, his 4th world trilogy, the last significant work he undertook in his career. The story portrays the evangelist Glorious Godfrey, a beacon of intolerance who rouses the crowds with cunning, energetic speeches to attract them into his spiritual army.

This spiritual group is, of course, no more than a platform for power, and Godfrey retains complete control as its head. He provides his followers with a special uniform and a helmet which disguises their identity, and blesses them with "justification", with which they are entitled to do anything to anybody.

Armed thus with the ideals of another man, they turn from ordinary people to ferocious exponents of whatever Godfrey requires... being justified to destroy other people's lives in the process, but feeling absolved of any personal guilt or blame.

The similarity to personality cults is obvious, but it has an even greater parallel in countries like Rwanda, Serbia, and Sierra Leone, which in our own time have seen inhuman carnage as the result of the lust of just one man.

"You're born with a soul--God wants you to do something with it, not give it away. Nobody has the right to tell you what you should do with it.

"What I try to say is that you've been given a life, and you have to live that life. I couldn't live it for you... and I can't die for you either... when it's time for you to die, you're the one that has to go, not me."

(Kirby, 1989 discussion with a fan at conference).

Kirby's most popular character was the Silver Surfer, whose inspiration was religious: "The Silver Surfer is the way I feel when I read the Bible," Kirby admitted in a 1989 conference.

Ancient parables hold that the soul of man is tied to the human body by a silver cord, which anchors it to the flesh. In a like manner, the Surfer was imprisoned on Earth by Galactus, as punishment for defying the planet-consuming deity when he set his sights on Earth.

The Surfer is initially gifted with immense naiivete, of which he is soon disabused by his harsh experiences at the hands of humans. His power enables him to harness cosmic forces, but his power is always used with discretion and nobility. Introduced within the context of a Fantastic Four story (The FF represented the four natures of man: physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual) the Surfer immediately attracted intense interest among fans and in the media.

In his first encounter with a human, he is encouraged to eat some food, whereupon he declares, "You actually consume these foreign morsels? Galactus was right.. the wonders of the universe are truly without limit."

In the accompanying panels he takes revenge on the evil Dr Doom, who planned to subjugate the Earth by stealing the Surfer's power. As he wreaks his vengeance, the Surfer concludes, "Throughout the galaxies, on every distant star, one truth is known..that which is sown must one day be reaped."

In the late 1970's, Kirby was asked to design the look and feel of a film based on Roger Zelazny's Hugo award winning novel, Lord of Light. An associated theme park was also planned, using the Kirby-designed sets from the film, and more than $10m was in the bank to fund these projects when, due to unfortunate circumstances related to the City council organisers, the projects were abandoned.

A central premise of the story is the freeing of technology for the good of all mankind, a notable idea before the advent of the personal computer and the internet. Another key concept is the basing of this technological society on the Hindu mysticism from Ancient India.

"This film is going to have a tremendous impact in the world, it will show enormous strength. It will allow the Eastern man and the Western man to relate to each other. And once mankind relates, they will never again have to fight. They will understand each other's needs and isiosyncracies.

"I believe that this film and the way we are conceiving it could contribute to saving the world. If I had not been invited to be involved, I would have gone out of my way to make sure that I could be. I felt I had to be involved."

Jack Kirby, 1917 - 1994