Kubrick And Kirby

If ever there was a match made in bizarro world heaven it was the one that occurred in 1976 when Marvel Comics commissioned Jack Kirby to adapt 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY for their new tabloid sized comic book line. The 72 page adaptation was written & penciled by Kirby with inking duties carried out by Frank Giacoia. The almost 2 times larger than the regular comic-book format suited Kirby's outlandish pop style, but this was a great talent merely going through the motions. Kirby's script although based on the final film also drew on Clarke's novel & earlier drafts of the shooting script & pretty much eradicates the story of all it's non-verbal sense of spectacle & wonder.

Kubrick's official view of this travesty isn't on record but considering that upon completion of the film he had all models, sets, blueprints & most physical records of his achievement destroyed in order to prevent MGM re-using his designs ad infinitum, as they had done with FORBIDDEN PLANET, I think it's safe to assume that he wasn't impressed.

The hurt didn't end there, the publication of the Marvel Treasury Special was merely a forerunner to Marvel's ongoing 2001 series which launched in December of that year. Pictured here are the front & back covers of the Treasury Special & several pages of Kirby's original pencils.